An Evening With The Bored, er I mean Bard

Last night was the evening for us Tuckers to have ourselves a little bit of culture. Imagine holding up the pinkie on your hand as you drink a bottle of Bud Lite. That’s about as cultured as it usually gets around here.

But, last evening was the opening night of the production of Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in the Park, presented by Shakespeare Dallas. Do y’all ever go to anything like that? It’s a wonderful opportunity to spread out a picnic on a blanket under the stars and breathe the aroma of DEET. I know, it’s not healthy to smear that stuff all over you, but one needs insect repellent here in Texas. I know you ain’t even going to believe this, but Dallas mosquitoes have been known to carry off a full grown heifer to feed on it.

Fortunately, the thunderstorms that were in the forecast didn’t make it here, and the mosquitoes were relatively few. Even better than that, we didn’t have to take our own picnic. I’m a Shakespeare Dallas member, and we were invited to the opening night cast party with a table filled with delicious finger foods and beer and wine to drink!

UNfortunately, I was plumb tuckered out, so to speak. After two glasses of wine, I sprawled out on our blanket. Not long into the show I fell fast asleep! I did rouse a couple of times, but I missed most of the play!

Fortunately, my kind husband shook me awake every time I snored so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. But, it didn’t take for long. I do remember bits and pieces of it. Especially a lovely version of “The Dark Night of the Soul” which was sung during a love scene with Romeo and Juliet. Here’s Loreena McKennitt’s version of it, if you want to hear.

I asked Mr. Tucker to review the play for you, and this is the gist of what he said (he used big words, but I’m translating it into language that I can spell):

“It was an ambitious production on a minimalist stage, depicting the Capulets and the Montagues as rival gangs. Before the play began, gang members from each family came onstage to divide the audience into “sides.” Each side of the audience was urged to raucously cheer for their gang. Regretfully, once the play began the script was faithful to the text, and the beginning momentum fell flat. The lead players were not terribly impressive. However fine performances were delivered by Juliet’s Nurse, Lady Capulet (who depicted the aura of a blowzy woman on a soap opera), the Apothecary (who was portrayed as a down on his luck, streetwise drug pusher), and Mercutio. In fact, Mercutio stole the show with shocking pink mohawk, engineer boots and gang apparel. His extremely bawdy performance was probably in keeping with the Bard’s intent.
Unfortunately, I had a difficult time hearing much of the dialogue, because there were some glitches with the sound system and Shelly snores so loudly there was excessive wind noise.”

Fortunately, since I have season passes, we will get to go again and perhaps see what we I missed. Perhaps by then they will be past the opening night jitters and the play will be in full swing. But, I’ll need to plan a picnic next time. Any ideas? What do you consider essentials if you picnic in the park?

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Tagged as: Artsy Fartsy Stuff, Dallas, review, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in the Park, Talkin' 'bout Texas