Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: Dracula

Dracula scared me.

I'm not in the habit of being scared at the theater. Even when I'm supposed to be. It's all pretend, right? Make believe. Acting.

Still, something about this old classic really frightened me!

It was never Count Dracula who scared me. By the time the lights in the theater dim, you're prepared for him. You're watching the shadows, waiting for him to appear. But that makes you put your guard down for a supporting cast that will play on your tension. I definitely won't spoil those scenes for you, but it's not Giles Davies' Dracula that sends shivers down your spine in this production.

Sometimes, during intermissions, I'll make notes in my iPhone about a show. This time I wanted to note Davies' crazy (and required!) Transylvanian accent, and I unintentionally coined the term "Draccent." You're welcome.

Davies is good, though I was surprised how little of a role the title character actually has in the performance. This leaves plenty of stage time for a lovable doctor, a coquettish vampiress, a richly German Van Helsing, and a handful of other roles that are just as entertaining.

I will mention that the most memorable performance came from the lunatic Renfield, but who can ignore a man in the deepest throes of Hamletness? Words, words, words!

I enjoyed the play from the start: an introduction to Dracula by the mesmerizing Renfield. However, I'll paraphrase my seat-neighbor: "I really like the lighting in this show-- but it is hot as hell in here." Seriously, by the end of Dracula I was ready to run from the theater. There are drawbacks to a packed house, I suppose.

I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention WVXU-- I won our tickets through a random drawing on their site. I couldn't love that station more!

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: http://cincyshakes.com/
Dracula (at CSC): http://www.cincyshakes.com/dracula.html

CSC: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged!)

I don't want to spend a lot of time writing about places that I've already been... but it's difficult, with a theater such as the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Every time you visit for a new show, it's an entirely different experience. Plus, as one of the actors pointed out, the audience is the best PR engine for them. I'd hate to not pass on word about a great show happening in Cincinnati.

And so: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged!). A gaggle of girlfriends invited me out to see this on Friday night, and even though I've seen the show a hundred times (errr, I have the DVD), I was pumped to see it live for the first time. (And, of course, to visit CSC again.)

The script is hysterical. If you've already seen it, see it again. If you haven't seen it, please for the love of all that is holy, make it happen. The cast of this show is boisterous, energetic and hilarious.

At dinner before the show, one of my friends (an Abridged! virgin) was asking if she'd be able to understand the show as someone not-so-much into Shakespeare. The answer is yes, yes, a thousand times yes. The entire show is sort of written around the idea of introducing you to Shakespeare, and putting the bard's plays into more modern (and more side-splitting) contexts. So if you'd considered skipping the show because you aren't an English scholar, don't worry your pretty little head.

June 4th, 2010 to June 27th, 2010
Showtimes: Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Prices: Adults $26, Seniors $22, Students $20*

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: http://www.cincyshakes.com/
Abridged! info page: http://www.cincyshakes.com/season-fifteen-wrap-party-cakes-ale.html

Flying Pig #5: Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

I knew without looking that this pig must be Hamlet.

Earlier I blogged about my first trip to the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company downtown. Naturally, this is where Hamlet lives. A bit about the pig skull from the Cincinnati.com interview with artist Brian Heim:

I wanted a real pig skull so I found a pig head at a butcher shop, borrowed my grandmother's pressure cooker and boiled it for about seven hours. It was a really strong smell.

Niiiice. Another bit I like, which I hadn't noticed:

Words from Hamlet's monologues are written in silver around his clothes, as if they are stitched in thread.

Hamlet's Pig Profile: http://www.cincinnati.com/bigpiggig/profile_072200.html
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company website: http://cincyshakes.com/

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company: All's Well That Ends Well

Soon I'm going to write a post strictly about how much I love my Enjoy the Arts subscription, but suffice to say that's how I ended up downtown at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.

...For the first time. Another huge cryin' shame for an English major such as myself.

The current show is All's Well That Ends Well, which is one of the few popular Shakespearean plays that I haven't read or seen performed. As it turns out, I very much dislike the story. (A shock to me! I could have written this post as a perfect Elizabethan sonnet!)

But the CSC was wonderful. I adored the comfortable, intimate theater and the simple set work. The staff was helpful, the cast was wonderful-- one of the main characters was an understudy running script-in-hand due to a regular cast illness and I was still impressed by his performance.

Despite my distaste for All's Well, I'll definitely be making it back to Cincinnati Shakespeare Company soon. They have an upcoming one-man show about Edgar Allan Poe that I'd love to see, and a Christmas show that sounds like a lot of fun. Even after my ETA subscription expires, but it'd be worth it to pay full price for a ticket to see upcoming pieces in their series.

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company website: http://cincyshakes.com/
Enjoy the Arts website: https://www.enjoythearts.org/