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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0659  Thursday, 13 July 2006

[1] 	From: 	Aaron Azlant <azlant@gmail.com>
	Date: 	Wednesday, 12 Jul 2006 12:55:14 -0700
	Subj: 	Re: SHK 17.0651 Against All-Male Productions

[2] 	From: 	Kathy Dent <kathryndent@hotmail.com>
	Date: 	Thursday, 13 Jul 2006 14:45:04 +0100
	Subj: 	RE: SHK 17.0651 Against All-Male Productions


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Aaron Azlant <azlant@gmail.com>
Date: 		Wednesday, 12 Jul 2006 12:55:14 -0700
Subject: 17.0651 Against All-Male Productions
Comment: 	Re: SHK 17.0651 Against All-Male Productions

With all due respect, I think that Mr. Bloom may be overestimating the 
degree to which an actor would need to call attention to the fact that 
he was playing multiple characters on two counts.

First of all, in the productions that I have seen where actor doubling 
is used, it is always extraordinarily obvious to an audience -- though 
not often a point of dramatic focus -- that the same actor is playing 
multiple characters. This is especially the case if that actor is 
especially skinny or large or has some degree of fame, no matter how 
skilled a performance he conducts.

Secondly, Shakespeare breaks the fourth wall of drama repeatedly in his 
career, referencing contemporary events, the business of theater- 
writing or -acting, members of the audience (as he does implicitly in 
/Macbeth/) and so on. I don't presuppose that any of these minor 
punctures of an audience's suspension of disbelief are capable of 
derailing the entire performance; indeed, an audience can usually be 
counted on to laugh enthusiastically in such moments.

Consider, for instance, the sequence /Wayne's World/, when Mike Myers 
starts narrating to the camera, or better yet, /The Wizard of Oz/, when 
the Scarecrow is surprised by the non-diagetic score. Both are reliable 
laughs that an audience usually delights in.

--Aaron

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Kathy Dent <kathryndent@hotmail.com>
Date: 		Thursday, 13 Jul 2006 14:45:04 +0100
Subject: 17.0651 Against All-Male Productions
Comment: 	RE: SHK 17.0651 Against All-Male Productions

From: William Proctor Williams:

 >Oh, please stop rising to the bait!  It only encourages him.
 >One posting and 6 responses!  Charles must be very pleased.

HEAR, HEAR.

Kathy Dent

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