My Shakespeare season started early this year with my first trip to Berkeley Rep to see a fantastic production of Macbeth. This was my first trip to Berkeley Rep, and I was motivated by the fact that the play was starring Francis McDormand (from Fargo and Almost Perfect) and Conleth Hill (from Game of Thrones). It also included a couple of familiar faces from CalShakes, including James Carpenter. The acting was really outstanding. For better or worse, I was seated front row center, five feet from the stage, and I could really see the nuance of the acting. You know a play has got you when you catch yourself holding your breath.
The theater is not that large, and the stage fairly compact, but the staging was very effective. Some background image image effects were used with powerful results without being distracting. In one case only one character was at the front of the stage play-running towards the audience, with the background image being like a movie effect; with me being so close to the stage and him right in front of me, it was a very effective effect.
I used BART to go up there, and it was nice to visit downtown Berkeley again. I definitely am going to be following up with this theater company. Considering it’s the 400th birthday year for Shakespeare, this was a great way to start my season.
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In addition to my epic foreign vacation, I still managed to see quite a bit of theater. I wasn’t quite as driven as last summer, but I saw almost as many plays, skipping only Santa Cruz this summer. I’ve seen a total of 16 plays this summer and into the fall, 11 Shakespeare plays, and 5 other plays, produced by 6 different Shakespeare companies, in 3 different states. It also brings the count of live Shakespeare productions I’ve seen to 127. I also managed to knock off one more previously unseen play from the Shakespeare canon, leaving only 4 plays that I haven’t seen.
This afternoon I picked up Bob and Blanca and we went over into the city to see the 
They also kept in the language that emphasized the rhyming poetic nature of the words. The downside of using such young actors was they really weren’t up to delivering the Shakespearean lines; but amazingly they did remember all their complicated lines quite well; they just lacked the maturity to understand the meaning of all the words as they delivered them. I could pick on a lot of little things, like ultimately distracting 70s background music, and seemingly out of context pictures projected up on the back of the stage, but ultimately it came together well. And the final post-climax scene was quite moving. I always love a good Romeo and Juliet, and this one, while not great, was enjoyable.
On a brisk night, I saw my last play in Ashland for the year in the big Elizabethan theater, Antony and Cleopatra. The last time I saw this was almost 25 years ago, so I didn’t remember any of it. The stage setting was fairly plain, but used to great effect in moving back and forth between more than 40 different scenes, the various locations flashed up in a light sign which made it clear. The acting was very good as usual, and the play was quite enjoyable, albeit with a tragic ending.
This afternoon I saw the Eugene O’Neill play, Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the 
After an early morning drive, much of it in a light rain, I made it up to Ashland for my brief visit to the 
Don John was played by a wheelchair bound woman, which actually worked. Two noteworthy aspects of this production: 1) the plot of Dogberry and the watch, which I usually find tedious, was fun with Dogberry cruising around on a Segway and not being as annoying as I usually find him; 2) interestingly in the end, although Hero and Claudio finally get to marry, it showed that there was still a lot of distance between them after her public shaming. I found that interesting, and a more realistic portrayal. Even tough I preferred CoSF’s production, this was an enjoyable way to start my visit. 125
I saw the last play of 
After a bit of a rest, we went across the street to the beach access. We discovered it on our boat ride, that right below the restaurant where we ate dinner, they have an area down the cliff face, by the sea, where you can lay in the sun and swim in the sea. There was an entrance fee, but then you got as much food and drink as added up to that fee before you had to pay more … a great deal. It also gave me chance to take a dip and have a swim in the Mediterranean Sea. It was pretty nice. It was quite warm (I think warmer than our swimming pool) but a bit rough. But it was fun to get out and have a little swim. We also had some nice food and drinks (including a light hamburger that used lettuce leaves rather than bread for a bun). It was nice to stay there and watch the tour boats slowly sail by. We stayed until we watched the sun setting into the misty mountains … quite beautiful and peaceful. All in all, a very nice day.
We’ve eaten at a few local restaurants to sample the local cuisine. One, Paşa Bey Kebapçisi was well rated by Yelp, so we checked it out. We ordered the house specialty Pasa Kebab, and said yes when asked if we also wanted a salad. Then the food started coming … and seemed not to stop. Breads, Mediterranean salad, a variety of sauces and peppers. Couldn’t come close to finishing it. Then they started bringing deserts (for free). The food was so good we went back another night.
