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| This was a GREAT way to end my week... |
The past few days
have been somewhat adventures for me. After being bedridden for two days, I was
finally checked in to the hospital for sixteen hours. My first time of being in
the hospital, and it had to be in London. At least it will be a story to tell
later on! Once I was released from the ULCH, my chaperone and I rushed to our
lodging, spruced up and rushed down to Shakespeare’s Globe to catch As You Like It.
As
You Like It was the second show we watched at the Globe Theatre. One thing
that I love about Shakespeare is his choice of language. Although it can be difficult to comprehend
Shakespearean scripts, watching it come to life onstage brings new life and
meaning to the text. Comedy is a huge entity
in Shakespeare that I do not truly understand until I see it performed before
me. It was hard for me to NOT smile watching As You Like It.
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| Audrey and Touchstone about to get married by Sir Oliver Martext and Jaques as witness partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com |
“…I will name you
the degrees.
The first, the
Retort Courteous; the second, the
Quip Modest; the
third, the Reply Churlish; the
Fourth, the
Reproof Valiant; the fifth, the
Countercheque
Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with
Circumstance; the
seventh, the Lie Direct. All
These you may
avoid but the Lie Direct; and you may
Avoid that too,
with an If.”
On each degree
leading up to the seventh and final degree, he added a silly representation and
continued acting out these motions every time he had to reinterpret it to other
characters.
Another character I found extremely
humorous was the leading lady Rosalind. After her father was banished by his
brother Charles, her uncle and cousin Celia took her in. One day at the court,
a wrestling match between Charles the wrestler and Orlando, Rosalind’s
infatuation took place. Michelle Terry playing Rosalind, while keeping true to
the text, showed the giddy and comedic effect of a young girl having a crush.
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| Celia and Rosalind www.britishtheatreguide.info |
“He calls us
back: my pride fell with my fortunes;
I'll ask him what
he would. Did you call, sir?
Sir, you have
wrestled well and overthrown
More than your
enemies.”
In this segment,
Terry added outrageous energy and excitement, making it seem as though a fan
was meeting her favorite celebrity for the first time! Because she favored
Orlando, the winner of the wresting match, she soon followed her father’s
banishment due to “committing treason.” Cecily ran away with Rosalind because they
shared a bond much closer than sisters.
Celia dressed as
a shepherdess named Aliena and Rosalind as a man named Ganymede, ventured out
to the Forest of Arden in hopes to find Rosalind’s banished father. Along the
way, the two incognito women find out that Orlando is also in the forest
looking for his love Rosalind. Discovering Orlando’s love letters posted to the
trees, 'Galymede' devises a plan to help cure Orlando from his love by “pretending”
to be Rosalind and have Orlando woo her everyday.
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| Orlando and 'Ganymede' aka Rosalind www.londonist.com |
“He was to
imagine me
his love, his
mistress; and I set him every day to
woo me: at which
time would I, being but a moonish
youth, grieve, be
effeminate, changeable, longing
and liking,
proud, fantastical, apish, shallow,
inconstant, full
of tears, full of smiles, for every
passion something
and for no passion truly any
thing, as boys
and women are for the most part
cattle of this
colour”
I found this
subplot hysterical because it is a woman dressed as a man pretending to be a
woman. Terry let her feminine qualities shine through her mannish façade making
it even more comical.
It is hard to fathom that we are over half way done on this trip here in
London. As Celia said and I related, “I like this place and willingly could waste
my time in it.”
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