This year's outdoor performance was
Two Gentlemen of Verona, an early Shakespeare play with a preposterous plot. We bought our tickets just outside the peony garden, where many blossoms are still near their peak, and walked down the hill into the meadow where the actors and musicians were arranging themselves in Elizabethan attitudes.
A fine rain was falling as we walked around the hill to where the players were gathering. A few audience members had umbrellas -- we had raincoats. As the play began, the evening sun began to shine. Beautiful light continued throughout the performance.
The first act started in one of the open meadows, below a hill where a "sheep" was sitting. A group of musicians and a singer performed the song "Tell me where is fancy bred..." They played other well-known Shakespeare songs throughout the play as well.
As in last year's presentation of
The Tempest (see
Shakespeare in the Arb), the stage moved around the Arboretum, and the audience followed a leader with a flag, to re-seat themselves on the grass at various points. It's a fun way to do it!
The sheep in the meadow was stuffed -- but Crabbe the dog, a character in the play, was a real dog. His role is to watch respectfully while his master (a lowlife servant) goes on in a very funny and buffoonish way. The players hammed up the broad comedy throughout the play, much to our enjoyment. A baby fussing in the audience was the only problem, as far as I'm concerned.
This weekend we went to the Ann Arbor Summer Festival out of curiosity to see acrobats dangling from a helium balloon. It's a strange art form (if you can call it art). I'm sorry to say, it was a little disappointing.
