On September 14, 2009 I was able to attend my first Shakespeare play As You Like It. To make it even better I got to see it at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. Lucky right? Reading and seeing Shakespeare’s plays are a completely different experience. I was assigned to write about how they were different, and how in his plays there can be so many ways it can be interpreted. My friend Lauren and I wrote this amazing essay so you should read about how we felt they were completely different! Plus look at the pictures of the Globe. It was a lot smaller then a lot of us were expecting, but it was still so amazing.
Mandi Allen
Shakespeare Review Assignment
As You Like It
Reading the play As You Like It and seeing it performed were two completely different experiences. While reading the play, your imagination creates each character’s individual personality that you believe they are portraying in the play. After seeing the play performed on stage it is easy to see how many ways Shakespeare’s language can be interpreted. Often while reading his writing, Shakespeare’s wit can be hard to see as humor and sarcasm, but is much more obvious to understand with talented actors presenting it. Voice inflections, body language, and stage presence, none of which are written in the play, have a large impact on how the play is seen, which makes it very open for interpretation.
We went together as a group to see As You Like It at The Globe Theater on September 14, 2009. We loved it! We spent much of the time laughing at the many witty comments or the silly dancing of Touchstone. Seeing this play made us realize how funny Shakespeare really can be and why people have enjoyed watching his plays for the past several centuries. Not only was the play entertaining with the funny sarcasm and jokes, but it was also created in a way that the audience could feel and experience the emotions that the characters were portraying. Although the characters were fantastic and did a beautiful job of presenting the play, being in the Globe Theater made it that much more exciting and real. Knowing that you are in Shakespeare’s original theater and being able to interact with the actors brought the play to life, and made you feel you were moving back into Shakespeare’s time.
One example of different character interpretation is Touchstone. He is known as the fool in the play, and while reading the play we thought he was just that. His lines seemed more stupid than comedic throughout the entire script, but our opinions changed after seeing the play. Although it wasn’t in the script, Touchstone dances throughout the entirety of the production and was, in our opinion, one of the funniest characters in the play. However, our experience could have been completely different if we had seen a different cast member play the role or a different director manage the production.
Another example of a different character interpretation would be Celia. While reading the play it seems as if she is just there with Rosalind instead of having her own personality and character. However, leaving the actual production she was one of our favorite characters. Her interaction with the audience, giddiness, jumpiness, and facial expressions made it feel like she was one of the characters you could really connect with. With her great and fun personality it almost felt as if she brought out the best characteristics in Rosalind.
Touchstone and Celia are just two of many examples of how each character in a play can be interpreted in many different ways. Overall, the production of the play brought out a whole new side of Shakespeare, it is easier to understand and was more entertaining than reading the play because of the interaction with the characters, the body movements, facial expressions and being in the Globe Theater. It made us realize that Shakespeare allows people to open and use their imagination.
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