Sunday, July 26, 2009
Greetings, Shakespeare Fans
Well, I'm back from Cedar City, Utah. Didja miss me? Didn't think so. Every year we go up at least once to the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City. It's the three exits just around mile 60 on Interstate 15. This year we saw three Shakespeares and one Coward. Noel Coward, I mean.
The Shakespeares were As You Like It, A Comedy of Errors, and Henry V. All well done, although As You Like It isn't as funny as most of his other comedies. I read once that it was his "popular demand" play wherein he put all the stuff fans said they wanted more of. Okay, but it just isn't as good. Now, A Comedy of Errors is pretty outrageous, start to finish, and I'd recommend it to anyone. As for old Harry (the name people called Henry V,) his story is interesting, but it is, after all, a history lesson. A reasonably accurate one, but also one that paints Harry as one heck of a fine king. That St. Crispin's day speech is probably memorized to this day by English school children. Still, he did great things while he lasted, and the play is a lot more fun than reading about it in some moldy tome.
We also saw Private Lives by Noel Coward. It's funny as anything. See it if you can.
We've about done what one can do in Cedar City. Seen the museum, the stores, eaten at most of the restaurants (forgettable, mostly,) got gas at most of the stations, even driven up to Cedar Breaks National Monument a couple of times. It's pretty, and the entire atmosphere is as if a big chunk of the "old" America is still alive and kicking. The small town where I grew up isn't like that anymore, but Cedar City is.
They have a livestock festival in the fall. The picture to the right is from the one in 2008. The big parade features about a gazillion sheep, and every line shack ever occupied in Iron County, Utah. See? Told you we'd done it all in Cedar City! Next time we're going to check out Parawan, the original site of Mormon settlement in Southern Utah. There's a cafe there that's supposed to be pretty good.
Meantime, if you have the means, by all means check out the excellent productions in this years Utah Shakespearean Festival. Good stuff, Maynard! The title link will take you there.
Steve
The Shakespeares were As You Like It, A Comedy of Errors, and Henry V. All well done, although As You Like It isn't as funny as most of his other comedies. I read once that it was his "popular demand" play wherein he put all the stuff fans said they wanted more of. Okay, but it just isn't as good. Now, A Comedy of Errors is pretty outrageous, start to finish, and I'd recommend it to anyone. As for old Harry (the name people called Henry V,) his story is interesting, but it is, after all, a history lesson. A reasonably accurate one, but also one that paints Harry as one heck of a fine king. That St. Crispin's day speech is probably memorized to this day by English school children. Still, he did great things while he lasted, and the play is a lot more fun than reading about it in some moldy tome.
We also saw Private Lives by Noel Coward. It's funny as anything. See it if you can.
We've about done what one can do in Cedar City. Seen the museum, the stores, eaten at most of the restaurants (forgettable, mostly,) got gas at most of the stations, even driven up to Cedar Breaks National Monument a couple of times. It's pretty, and the entire atmosphere is as if a big chunk of the "old" America is still alive and kicking. The small town where I grew up isn't like that anymore, but Cedar City is.
They have a livestock festival in the fall. The picture to the right is from the one in 2008. The big parade features about a gazillion sheep, and every line shack ever occupied in Iron County, Utah. See? Told you we'd done it all in Cedar City! Next time we're going to check out Parawan, the original site of Mormon settlement in Southern Utah. There's a cafe there that's supposed to be pretty good.
Meantime, if you have the means, by all means check out the excellent productions in this years Utah Shakespearean Festival. Good stuff, Maynard! The title link will take you there.
Steve
Labels: Reviews
