Hamlet at The Guthrie
"Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves,
what is't to leave betimes?"
- Hamlet: Act V, Scene ii
Lori and I went to see Hamlet at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on Thursday. We like seeing Shakespeare and of course Hamlet is as good as it gets. But this performance was special because this is the last play being performed at the Guthrie Theater on Vineland Place. They are building a new theater on the river that opens this Summer. Founder Tyrone Guthrie opened his theater in 1963 with the performance of Hamlet and now Artistic Director Joe Dowling closes it with Hamlet.
It was a little sad, as you might expect. I don't know how many plays we have seen there. Shakespeare, Albee, Chekhov, Aeschylus, Chaucer, OK, a LOT of Shakespeare. We've taken the behind-the-scenes tour, seen where they make all their costumes, furniture, and props; seen below the proscenium stage where the elevator raises and lowers actors and props like magic before the audience.
The fact is that even when I have seen a play there that I didn't like, I still admired the quality, the thoroughness, and the imaginativeness with which the Guthrie team approaches every production. It is a feat. It is an event. It becomes a memory that I never had before.
And it follows that it is the people of this great company that make these productions great -- not the building. These people will change address and work the same magic in a new space.
But it is sad, still. Part of any memory is the space in which it was created. And these Guthrie memories of mine become memories once more removed -- a little more remote because the space cannot be visited any more. When Horatio said, "Good night, sweet Prince" I was a little choked up and I'm sure I was not the only one.
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves,
what is't to leave betimes?"
- Hamlet: Act V, Scene ii
Lori and I went to see Hamlet at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on Thursday. We like seeing Shakespeare and of course Hamlet is as good as it gets. But this performance was special because this is the last play being performed at the Guthrie Theater on Vineland Place. They are building a new theater on the river that opens this Summer. Founder Tyrone Guthrie opened his theater in 1963 with the performance of Hamlet and now Artistic Director Joe Dowling closes it with Hamlet.
It was a little sad, as you might expect. I don't know how many plays we have seen there. Shakespeare, Albee, Chekhov, Aeschylus, Chaucer, OK, a LOT of Shakespeare. We've taken the behind-the-scenes tour, seen where they make all their costumes, furniture, and props; seen below the proscenium stage where the elevator raises and lowers actors and props like magic before the audience.
The fact is that even when I have seen a play there that I didn't like, I still admired the quality, the thoroughness, and the imaginativeness with which the Guthrie team approaches every production. It is a feat. It is an event. It becomes a memory that I never had before.
And it follows that it is the people of this great company that make these productions great -- not the building. These people will change address and work the same magic in a new space.
But it is sad, still. Part of any memory is the space in which it was created. And these Guthrie memories of mine become memories once more removed -- a little more remote because the space cannot be visited any more. When Horatio said, "Good night, sweet Prince" I was a little choked up and I'm sure I was not the only one.
posted by David at 4:01 PM
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