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Its so rare to have two performances of this extraordinary caliber in one production that Im planning a second trip to Mary Stuart. Ignore all the blather about the correctness - or lack thereof - of period dress and decorum. This is a brilliant production. Period.

posted on 06/18/2009 at 8:41:00 PM

Dear Erich Sage, Have you considered that the lack of differentiation and bleak costuming that you so decry might, in fact, BE a concept? I believe the plays intention was to show two antithetically motivated woman who were both tied and imprisoned in a world of political intrigue they were born into. Elizabeth, with your adoration of her history costuming aside, lived as a "virgin" in a cold castle, constantly fearing attack and uprising from all sides. Despite their two natures, the woman were remarkably similar. I think this was the point. Which you missed. Youre right--we younger-theater goers do notice more than youd think

posted on 06/06/2009 at 12:35:00 PM

I treated it as a play, not a history lesson. I dont think it ever claimed to be one. It was written by a German and was theater which is an art form not an encyclopedia. I thought that the acting was excellent all round, the staging effective if a bit minimalist but a very satisfying theatrical experience even if every word was not as spoken by the actual particpants in the action and the costumes not exactly period. I could tell who was who. In a word, excellent theater

posted on 06/03/2009 at 1:46:00 PM

In spite of my initial thought that this was yet another old warhorse that didnt need to be brought onto a Bway stage, I became extemely excited by the potential of this production after seeing a clip of the show in a tv ad. I looked forward to further fireworks and bought a ticket. I ended up being very disappointed. Many people will read my words and think, This is just carping and These are such inconsequential l things to criticize. However, if in your theatre-going, you are continually bombarded by, what?, carelessness, sloppiness and just plain Wrong, it becomes extremely difficult to concentrate on the performances and the drama onstage. It pulls focus, you lose concentration, you are no longer in the play and eventually, in my case, it makes me angry. Doesnt anyone do their homework anymore? With a computer on every lap, theres no excuse not to google. Ive seen too much of this in the theatre for far too long now and it makes me seriously doubt the talent and creativity of our directors, designers and the producers. Ultimately, the questions are, to what extent does this affect the performances of the actors on stage and couldnt this eventually affect young serious theatre-goers in a negative way. Just for the record, theyre smarter than anyone might think and our older theatre-goers just know better. These theatrical faux pas do not go unnoticed. They just need to be exposed more often. I have to begin my Complaint by saying that left the theatre thanking god for three brilliant actors, Janet McTeer, Harriet Walker and once again, the blessing of Brian Murray on a New York stage. I had praise for no one else. Sloppiness. Laziness? Lack of a concept? Were you aware that Fotheringay, that dank, damp and dark castle way north where Mary Stuart spent her last days and was purportedly colder than most English castles looked EXACTLY like the Court of Queen Elizabeth I? Same dark lighting, a few plain grayish benches or a like table or chair. Not a nice place. I wouldnt have chosen a minimalist approach myself, but I did respect it until its design and execution made no sense. Would it have been that difficult for some brightly colored tapestries fall from above covering the dark brick back wall, the lights bumb up and center, a throne for a Queen not bejewelled or overdone, but a seat of power. More follows: Elizabeth was dressed in a mostly black dress some gold globes adorned the gown but they were easily overcome in that dim stage lighting. This is not Elizabeth Tudor. She By this time in her life she already The Virgin Queen, made up, dressed and adorned as Gloriana and even at times when heads were falling into buckets, Tudor courts were never dark places that look was more appropriate for the devout, fundamentalist Catholic courts of Spain. Whatever its problems and this court did indeed have share of hidden daggers and conspiracy, a bright court, a stylish one, full of learned men, acting troups did plays, its women were noted to be quite musical and so one. So the absence of Elizabeths court on a set that was posing as Elizabeths court, was false and quite jarring. I have to add, it was confusing at times to the theatre-goers around me. Further: Why the hell is Elizabeth Tudor wearing a predominantly black gown; never did she wear anything lighter. Elizabeth Tudor was a brilliant politician and no stranger to vanity. Theres probably a great deal of truth in a biography I once read: She probably wore black only twice: the first time ironically, for reasons which become obvious when you see the play: When she is informed of Mary Stuarts exectution; and the second, probably at the death of Robert Dudley, Lord Leicester There must have been other times that dictated mourning garb, however, the Virgin Queen worked very hard to sustain that image and shall we just say that black was not her color. Finally, in a monarchy, where everything works in a strict hierarchy, from the Chancellor to the Archbishop of Canterbury and even among the hard-working Commons who were the clerks at court, why would the men who enjoyed The Queens Presence all be dressed in similar contemporary business suits. Again, who is who? and where are we? As I mentioned earlier, I dont mind a minimalist approach. I also dont have a problem with contemporary dress in period dramas. But something went wrong in this production: the court of a powerful queen is portrayed as seemingly no different than one of the worst castles in the kingdom and used as Mary Stuarts prison. I would have used restraint with that dim lighting. This wasa volatile time in Englands history due to isnt it always? religion, but it was also a great time and Elizabeth is arguably the greatest monarch to wear the English crown. All that dim makes you think youre in a drama of the so-called Dark Ages... ...and when the Jailor of Mary Stuart could pass for the two greatest men at court at that time, these are not small things. Im not carping. Really. Do your homework. Have a concept. Follow it through intelligently. Its a good thing. It will serve both your actors and your audiences quite well. Otherwise, why not just do readings? In this case, the play would have been about the performances and the play. I wouldnt carp about that, but wouldnt it be sad if thats what our dramas were reduced to?

posted on 04/16/2009 at 5:06:00 PM

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