Sold-Out Weekend

I had mentioned a while back that I had planned on going to the Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale, but it sold out pretty quickly.  The Theatre Centre is just too far from where I live for me to shuttle out there and try to get on the wait list.*  Too bad.

Interestingly, the two things I am seeing this weekend are sold out - Shaw's You Never Can Tell at the George Brown Theatre School and Othello by Shakespeare BASH'd at the Monarch Tavern.  As it happens, You Never Can Tell wasn't actually sold out, or rather many of the students who had been allocated the remaining seats never showed.  There were at least 10 free seats.  (I'm pretty sure Othello is truly sold out, though that doesn't mean a couple of people won't fail to show up.)  It had its moments, particularly during a tense family dinner and some of the mugging by the younger two daughters, but I didn't love it (either the performance and certainly not the script).  I would also say that this group seems to be having a bit more trouble remembering lines (compared to past classes).  It is possible that is due to the strain of doing two shows in rep.  I did think their Caucasian Chalk Circle was quite good.

The broader issue is that I have kind of fallen out of love with Shaw.  He is nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is (and nowhere near as witty as Wilde).  I also wasn't too impressed when I learned one of the more interesting lines (about a man who says interrogating him would be like breaking a butterfly upon the wheel) was lifted almost word for word from Alexander Pope!  I then went ahead and skimmed Don Juan in Hell and found it really dated and boring.  I am absolutely not going to attempt to see it (combined with Man and Superman) this year at the Shaw Festival, and quite likely, going forward, will never see any Shaw plays at the Shaw.  I did see Saint Joan a couple of years ago, so I already checked that box.  I suppose there is a small chance that some day I would check out Heartbreak House or Major Barbara or even Mrs. Warren's Profession, but I'm much more likely to see them if they came here as a UT student production or at a storefront theatre.  I'm still very much on the fence for Shakespeare's Henry VIII at Stratford, but I just enjoy visiting Stratford so much more, I'll probably end up going anyway.

It's still quite cold out, which doesn't really help my mood, but it may only be another couple weeks before the chill lifts.  Here's hoping.

* I did get an email suggesting that The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale will make a return visit, which would make a lot of sense, so I'll keep my eyes open for that and pounce this time around.