Monday, May 20, 2013

Love's Labour's Lost (Act 5, Scene 2)

I had the privilege to watch Love's Labour's Lost by Shakespeare. There are certain advantages to watching Shakespeare being performed as opposed to just reading it. You are able to overcome the limitations of written literature, such as a lack of gestures and facial expressions. I was able to see the look of anguish on Ferdinand's face when he says "the sudden hand of death close up mine eye!" There were times when I thought their facial expressions were a little too dramatic, but somehow that adds to the appeal of Shakespeare. I always had a hard time understanding plays like "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet" in high school, but watching Love's Labour's Lost made me realize something - this is the way Shakespeare intended for his work to be seen. He wanted it to be performed and set it up to be that way. He wanted the costumes, the gestures, the scenery, the facial expressions. It actually made me wonder about the scriptures - what if we performed Alma like Love's Labour's Lost?

2 comments:

  1. What a cool thought! I have never seen "Love's Labour's Lost" but I would like to see it now from how you described it as the way Shakespeare intended for his work to be seen. Wouldn't it be interesting to actually meet Shakespeare? What would he be like, someone who has all these profound thoughts in his head all the time - or do you think he had to go to a special place in his head to find all this material?

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  2. How and where did you see it? What production company performed it and when? For those who know nothing about the play, what could you briefly tell them about it?

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