I had two amazing experiences this week: outdoor live theatre.
First I saw Antony and Cleopatra by a Company of Fools (http://fools.ca/)
. It was wonderful. A simple set, great, wonderful acting, and lots of
humor. The actors kept changing roles which they managed and performed
very well. The audience was mainly families with their children. Some
had spread a blanket on grass and had their supper right there. Some sat
on lawn chairs.
Then I saw The Fan by Odyssey Theatre (http://www.odysseytheatre.ca/)
: they do a lot work with masks, which I adore. This had an elaborate
stage, beautifully detailed costumes, and impressive lighting. This was
also in the park, but there was seating on benches arranged on a slope.
Odyssey does that a lot in Ottawa; a couple of years ago, they had play
readings in the park. That was a great experience as well.
This must be the way theatre is meant to be: open space under the stars
(or the sun), ordinary people coming from work and watching a good
performance. There was no surprise as I am sure we all knew the story at
least in first case, and in the second we could read most of it in the
program. We were there to see the performance, the acting, to watch live
human beings strive to communicate, to excel.
If you have never watched theatre under the stars, give it a try. You will not regret it.
