Look About You

Last night we went to see another play at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton. This one was Look About You, a comedy written by an anonymous playwright around 1595. It was a farce with a lot of disguises, mistaken identities, guys in drag, actors mimicking other actors' mannerisms, etc., and it was really, really funny. Sean liked it, even though mistaken identity is probably his least favorite plot device, and something that he dislikes about Shakespeare's comedies, like Comedy of Errors, in which there are two sets of twins and it's basically one giant case of mistaken identity. We saw that at the Yale Rep theater in college, a production that I chiefly remember for the fact that there was a little loft in a corner of the stage where one actor, in costume, was effectively the foley artist, clashing pans and shaking beans to make the sound effects for what was going on below.

I thought this play was actually a bit funnier than Shakespeare (even though I'm almost afraid they'll take back my English major-ness for saying so). That's probably due not only to the amount of snark/sarcastic wit in the play itself, but also to the talent of the actors at the ASC. The plays we've seen there have all been excellent, and the atmosphere is so awesome!

I'll really, really miss this place once Sean leaves Virginia. Their spring season, which goes until June 19th, right when I'll be leaving for Vermont, includes Measure for Measure, which I've neither read nor seen, and Macbeth, which I've seen twice before, and...meh? Of course, it might be worth seeing what they make of it! But here's the rub: after I leave they're doing The Tempest and Hamlet. Dammit!