I went to the free Shakespeare in the Park show in Boston Common. I've done so every summer I've lived in Boston since returning from Maine. This year's show was "Othello."
The actors were very good--no weak links this time, I'd say. Desdemona sounded so much like Helen Hunt, though. It was weird. Iago was such a good sonofbicth bastard. Othello was handsome and powerful. There was a lot of chemistry between the Desdemona and Othello of this production. Every time they were near each other, all I could hear in my head was Stevie Wonder's 1991 hit, "Jungle Fever". Tee hee.
They set this Othello in Fascist 1930's Italy. The set was stark concrete made of grey. Sound, lights and production were good. Idiot people would occasionally sit on there knees, ignorantly blocking the view of all the people behind them (grr) and at one point a young man wearing a clown costume and tall be-pompommed dunce's cap sat fairly close to the front. I actually took it upon myself, on behalf of the hundred sitting behind him who now could no longer see half the stage, to kindly remove his hat. He did so sheepishly. Honestly, W T F???
The weirdest thing about Shakespeare in the Park in Boston is you hear car sirens, notice low-flying planes, see skyscrapers and then watch a 400 year old play. Amazing, that Shakespeare.
If you go, bring a picnic. I brought Parsley and Boston Lettuce Salad with Lime Dressing, Tomato Basil Mozzarella sandwiches and unsweetened iced tea. Click the links for Recipes.
If you take the T, do watch out for the MBTA Yellow DO NOT CROSS Police tape, which may be cordoning off the site of a stabbing. One lady, laden with cooler and lawn chair, completely ignored such at Downtown Crossing tonight and heard it from the security guard. Yikes, man. I could see the blood splatterings and everything. It was very Othello, only, quite sadly, not fiction...