jethrien

I'll have to jump on the "omg BAM's seats are so uncomfortable" bandwagon. The view was amazing. The incredibly numb butt, less so. I know they've got a whole "abandoned theater" aesthetic going, but there really isn't an excuse for cushions that un-cushiony.

However, Patrick Stewart as Macbeth was magnetic once again. This is the second time I've seen him live. Good god, that man has stage presence. I was a little overwhelmed by the audtiovisual stuff - the projections and the background sounds got a bit much for me here and there. But the way they staged the Banquo scene - damn. There's usually a big argument over whether to have Banquo's ghost onstage and have everyone but Macbeth not see him, or to have Macbeth reacting to something that not even the audience can see. This production decided to have it both ways. They start the banquet scene. Macbeth has a side conversation with the guy who killed Banquo. The background music gets progressively more unnerving. The witches, who have been involved in most of the scenes as nurses/maids/etc, serve the soup, carrying enormous knives behind their backs. A projection of blood diffusing through water creeps out from the door. Macbeth stands to give a toast. The elevator drops. Banquo bursts out covered in blood and jumps up on the table, striding along through the dishes while the rest of the guests continue to eat and converse without noticing. He stops at the head of the table, thrusts his finger out, and Macbeth screams and falls over his chair. Blackout. Act break. After intermission, the lights come up...on the beginning of the banquet scene. They run the entire thing again, this time from everyone else's point of view. Macbeth has the conversation with the murderer, but we can't hear it. The witches have no knives. The music is normal. Macbeth stands up to give a toast, and then screams and falls over his chair. For no apparent reason. It was awesome.

In other news, my quilt is off to a good start. My mother and grandmother gave me a hand and some pointers. Everything but the border is cut out, and a lot of it is pieced together at this point. Yay!