Shakespeare In Central Park, plus a Mini-Review of The Seagull
Written: Jul 25 '01 (Updated Apr 20 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great entertainment, FREE
Cons: Standing on line to get tickets. Minor distractions like helicopters, chilly night air.
The Bottom Line: Short intro to Shakespeare in Central Park with a mini-review of The Seagull, the short run (July 24-Aug 19, 2001) play at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
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| soothsayer's Full Review: New York |
There is just something wonderful about sitting outdoors in a theater watching a play with chirping blackbirds and sparrows in the background readying themselves to sleep; or glimpsing a black crown night heron, flush black against the sky, skim over the nearby treetops to roost in the trees.
Shakespeare in Central Park is one of those really good events that one should experience once in a while. What better way than to spend a few hours in the evening than to watch performances by great actors on stage for free. Did I just mention free? You bet.
The Public Theater, founded by the late Joseph Papp, has been mounting free plays for the benefit of the public at the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park for over 20 years. A lot of stage and screen stars have done roles here like Patrick Steward in “The Tempest”; or just recently, Joe Morton (the scientist who dies in Terminator 2), in “Measure for Measure”. There are two month-long productions every season, one occurs in June, the other in late July.
Many of the plays are good; sometimes so good they continue on in a Broadway theater. When that happens, you can boast that you saw it first in Central Park. Watching plays in Central Park, however, is not without its distractions. Sometimes helicopters buzz overhead, and the evening air can get quite chilly, but despite the minor annoyances, the audience is treated to good entertainment, and a bit of education.
A few years ago, the Public Theater began devoting the latter half of the two show season to non-Shakespeare plays. The second half of this season was no different with the mounting of The Seagull, a play by Anton Chekhov, running from July 24-August 19, 2001. Everyone has been talking about this particular production. No other show before it brought with it the kind of crowd frenzy I saw on opening night, and with good reason.
The Seagull Mini Review
This is a new adaptation by Tom Stoppard, directed by Mike Nichols, and features an all-star cast in a play about individuals held together by family ties, but entangled in a web of love, fame, fortune, jealousy, and obsession.
Meryl Streep plays the merry, but lonely Arkandina who chases after the handsome, yet awkward Trigorin (Kevin Klein). Trigorin, himself a famous writer who views fame more as a hindrance, loves Arkandina while chasing after Nina (Natalie Portman), a youthful actress in search of fame. Complicating matters is Arkandin’s son, Konstantine (Philip Seymour Hoffman). He is a deeply depressed writer jealous at the fame achieved by Trigorin. Konstantine not only confides in Nina his hopes and obsessions, but loves her as well. Philip S. Hoffman gave a fine performance, so did Meryl Streep who was quite animated on stage, even doing a cartwheel at one point.
Not to be missed is Christopher Walken who was jovial in the role of Sorin. John Goodman, cast in the support role as Shamrayev, was nice as well, but with such a tiny part to play, was a big waste of talent. Debra Monk was cast in the role of Polina, Shamrayev’s wife. Masha (Marcia Gay Harden) is Shamrayev’s daughter, the black wearing spinster married to Medvedenko the schoolteacher (Stephen Spinella), but really in love with Konstantine. Doctor Dorn (Larry Pine), what does he know?
The stage was simply set with slender birch and elm trees, recycled over from the previous Shakespeare in Central Park production, Measure for Measure. The only big addition was an elaborate two-story ivy covered estate house in the background. In the last two acts, the scene shifts to “inside the house” with rustic wooden furniture.
The Seagull not only is a humorous, but tongue-in-cheek as well. It is humorous to see how all the roles played by the cast actually paralleled the real world lives of the cast. Natalie Portman, who plays Nina the aspiring actress, is herself a college student studying drama. Meryl Streep, a famous actress, also plays one on stage. John Goodman, who is just too big for any role, figuratively speaking, was cast in a tiny one here. There was also a point in the play where the cast themselves became the audience watching a play within a play.
All in all, the cast seemed to have a good time, so did the audience. I suspected people came to see stars, not acting. I was wrong; the cast handled their parts really well, and gave fine performances.
Tickets might be hard to get because of all the stars in this production, as well as the adaptation by Tom Stoppard. For this show, the guaranteed ticket cutoff for the two early morning ticket lines is 2 hours earlier than usual. The number of reserved tickets normally held for donors, but redistributed to the standby line at 8pm, is smaller than usual. If you are hemming and hawing over whether or not to see it, Soothsayer says yes, go see it. I managed to get front row slightly off-center seating without waiting more than an hour on line, I would tell you how, but this review is already too long. ;)
The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov
July 24-August 16, The Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
81st Street in the middle of the park, next to Turtle Pond
Free.
How to get tickets
Even though the plays are free, the production is not. The cost can run into the millions. This year the cost for the season was whopping 3 million. Much of it is paid through donations and sponsorships. With a sizable donation, one can not only get a tax deduction from the IRS, but also at least one pair of reserved tickets to a show of your choice. Big corporate donors get more tickets. However, not everyone uses the reserved tickets, and so they are given away to the public.
To get a guaranteed seat to a show, one has to stand early enough on the morning standby line either at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, or downtown at the Public Theater. Tickets are given away two per person at 1pm. Of course, you know the argument on why they don’t just give away tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis before 1pm. If you do not get a ticket in the morning (or get one of the 50 ticket vouchers for the 50 people who just missed out on getting a ticket), there is an evening standby line. The standby line is for the tickets some sponsors stingily held until the last moment. The seating is sometimes a little better. These tickets are given to the voucher holders first (two per person), and finally to the standby line (one per person).
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Recommended:
Yes
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