Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Utah Shakespearean Festival

So in the late 1980's, every summer, a group of college students from BYU would go down to Cedar City to see the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

This group included four couples, one of them my parents. And became known as the Neilar G Harcow PhD group. 

No, I'm not going to explain the name. Just laugh at it, cause it's awesome.

So in the 20+ years since, this group still gets together every summer to enjoy a week of good humor, nerdy discussions, and some quality Shakespeare. And I grew up going every year. And I LOVE IT.

My parent's friends and their families are more like family of my own than anything else. I have a whole extra set of Aunts and Uncles and Cousins who I get to enjoy the company of every year (however briefly). 

This group of people are ones that I hold dear to my heart, and am so blessed to have in my life, and one of the top five reasons I wanted to attend BYU... so I could be several thousand miles closer to them ;)

So this weekend I went with one family down to see some of their fall plays, something I have never done because of the whole- I'm-2,000-miles-away thing. But I totally took advantage of being here, for this year they did two plays:

Hamlet and Stones in His Pockets.

Now I was THRILLED that I got this opportunity to go down, because I have never seen either of these plays, and was really quite excited to see them.

Now, you'll ask, What? How can an avid Shakespeare fan such as yourself not have seen Hamlet before? Well, I shall explain my friends:

I have read the play at least three times. I have seen several movie versions. And, to be quite honest, Hamlet is not even close to my favorite. I guess one could say I'm a Shakespeare hipster, it's too "mainstream" for my taste.


I'm sorry. I needed to break for a minute and laugh ridiculously. I crack myself up. I'm ridiculous.

hehehe, Anyway...(wipes tears from eyes) So I was excited to see it performed on stage, and excited because its Shakespeare festival. I knew they'd do a freakin awesome job.

And they totally did! Costumes and such were set in modern times, even Hamlet's sword was a switchblade. The guy who played Hamlet was phenomenal. Totally mental from the start! 

Something that I thought was quite interesting. There was quite a bit of bizarre and quite inappropriate kissing. Meaning, Hamlet totally smacked one on his uncle, and Ophelia got her brother really really good. At first I was totally creeped out by this, and weirded out that a director would choose to incorporate this. And then it hit me. It totally emphasizes the inappropriate familial relations present in the families, and just how generally screwy everyone is in the play.

And then there was Stones in His Pockets. This is not a Shakespeare, but the Festival does 3 Shakespeare and 3 Non-Shakespeare every summer, one of the the Non's being a Musical. That musical goes into fall as well, and then one Shakespeare and one Non are chosen for Fall as well. Stones in His Pockets was this fall's Non. 

Now, this was done a few years ago, with the actors


 and David Ivers



Back then I was to young to see it, but my parents and the other adults did. When they came back, they RAVED about it for what felt like forever. Which made me want to see it desperately, but sad because I didn't think I'd get to see it with these two ever again, for the Shakespeare Festival never repeats two plays with the same actors in a different season, and Brian and David have been my two favorite actors there for years!

Oh. But they did! And I was especially thrilled because its the Fall that I'm out here!! Oh bless them!

AND IT WAS SO AMAZING! I highly recommend reading or seeing the play.
It's so amazing because of its ability to be hilarious, depressing, hopeful, delightful, thought provoking and just plain sweet all at once.

And the really great part of it all? Just two actors. On stage. The whole time. They play all of the parts. Male and Female, old and young, with totally different personalities too. And they make you feel like there are multiple characters on stage, by only changing their voice and movements. It's truly amazing, a real work of art. And it takes so much skill to play those parts. So much. And of course, Brian and David just outdid themselves. I truly loved it.

And then probably the best part of the Shakespeare Festival? The actors are just real people. Anytime during the season, you're just as likely to find them at any of the nearby restaurants, having conversation with a friend, just living their lives. They are just the sweetest people!

So as we drove down, my "Auntie" asked me if I saw either David or Brian after the show, to sign my ticket for her son, who is currently serving a mission, and was quite upset that he would be missing Stones in His Pockets (I would be too!). Well, by luck I did see them! And I got them to sign my playbill!


:D I do hope he likes it! Maybe it'll make up for not getting a chance to see it.

But here's something really quite interesting that's coming up for the Shakespeare Festival. Both Brian and David have been made Artistic Directors for the Festival, and have made a huge number of changes in order to further fundraising and the like in order to expand the festival. One of their goals is to "Complete the Canon" in the next ten years, and play all of the Shakespeares plays in that time. VERY COOL!

So of course, this summer, we went back as a family and marked off which ones we had seen or not! So I'll list 'em off for ya! Be impressed by my Shakespeare watching skills! :D

Comedies
-The Comedy of Errors-- Seen 2009
-Much Ado About Nothing-- Seen 2003, 2010
-Taming of the Shrew-- Seen 2004, 2008 (also an all male production in Middle School that was really odd...but cool.)
-As You Like It-- Seen 2002, 2009, and 2012(Shakespeare in the Park this year)
-The Two Gentlemen of Verona-- Seen 2008
-Twelfth Night-- Seen 2007
-Love's Labor's Lost-- Not Seen :(
-Trolius and Cressida-- Not Seen :(
-A Midsummer Night's Dream-- Seen 2011
-All's Well That End's Well-- Seen 2011(Shakespeare in the Park)
-The Merchant of Venice-- Seen 2010
-Measure for Measure-- Not Seen :(
-The Merry Wives of Windsor-- Seen 2006, 2012

Histories
-King John-- Not Seen :(
-Richard II-- Not Seen :(
-Henry IV Part One-- Not Seen :(
Henry IV Part Two-- Not Seen :(
-Henry V-- Seen 2009
-Henry VI Part One-- Not Seen :(
-Henry VI Part Two-- Not Seen :(
-Henry VI Part Three-- Not Seen :(
-Richard III-- Seen 2011
-Henry VIII-- Not Seen :(

Tragedies
-Titus Andronicus-- Seen 2012
-King Lear-- Seen 2007
-Romeo and Juliet-- Seen 2005, 2011 (Starred in 2007) ;)
-Macbeth-- Seen 2010
-Julius Caesar-- Not Seen :(
-Antony and Cleopatra-- Not Seen :(
-Hamlet-- Seen 2012
-Coriolanus-- Not Seen :(
-Othello-- Seen 2008
-Timon of Athens-- Not Seen :(

Romances (the really bizarre category that doesn't really exist)
-Pericles-- Not Seen :(
-The Tempest-- Seen 2001
-Cymbeline-- Not Seen
-The Two Noble Kingsman-- Not Seen
-The Winter's Tale-- Seen 2004

So that makes 20 out of 38! How many have you seen? :D

The first Shakespeare I saw was The Tempest... I was seven in 2001. Also, if you look at this, you can tell what sort of category I'm lacking. I've seen nearly all of the comedies but two, but only two of the histories. Well, that's cause, what exactly can you take a kid to? Well, the funny stuff of course! I haven't really been old enough to see some of the more complicated plays until I was a teenager, and of course, the histories tend to get played the least out of everything else... bleh. But I do have to say, how many 18 year olds have seen Titus Andronicus? And enjoyed it? 

(yeah, if you don't get why thats kind of a big deal, please, go update yourself on Shakespeare, I promise, it hasn't changed in a long time.)

Oh, and of course, lemme just mention the Rubster's views...

-Much Ado About Nothing-- 2010
-Midsummer Night's Dream-- 2011
-Romeo and Juliet-- 2011
-Merry Wives of Windsor-- 2012
-As You Like It-- 2012

Not bad for a 9 year old huh? Especially in a three year time frame! :D

So I'll tell you know, Shakespeare is worth it. I've loved every moment of it since minute one of The Tempest, and I'm so glad that Neilar G Harcow gets together every summer... it makes everything SO much better!

Huzzah!

P.S. My goal: See every Shakespeare play by the time I'm 28... so ten years from now. And read every single one by the time I'm 23, five years from now. :)

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