Public critiques offer much insight

There are at least two reasons to see more than one of the productions at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. First, you never know which plays you'll respond to. Second, an important part of what the USF is all about is the free, public critiques.

Sample:

Monday: During a preshow discussion, fest founder Fred Adams is quoted as having said, "If you find any deep meaning in 'The Comedy of Errors,' please tell someone immediately." But the next morning, at a seminar in a grove of low-hanging pine and blue-spruce trees, Shakespeare scholar Ace Pilkington argues that the story is about loyalty and self-identity.

Tuesday: Just before a performance of "Henry V," Adams says he likes Henry as a man, even though some think his actions barbaric. The next morning, a young woman complains that the celebratory mood at the end of the play is spoiled by a downer of an epilogue. Pilkington says the epilogue simply reports events that actually happened. I wanted to respond with, "Just because events really happened, doesn't mean they're appropriate for a particular play."

Wednesday: A communications mishap results in Adams not showing up for the preshow talk. I'm lost. How am I supposed to know what to think of "As You Like It" without Adams' expert story synopsis? In the grove, a middle-age woman wants to know how long the characters were hiding in the forest. Moderator (and former Utah theater critic) Nancy Melich says, "I don't think Shakespeare gave a whit about time."

Thursday: New Americans Playwright Project director Charles Metten gives a preshow "The Secret Garden" audience some symbols to especially look for. The next morning, a woman says she felt uncomfortable with the issues of child abuse raised (but not much dealt with) in the musical. Pilkington notes that in 1906, when the show takes place, "There was no such thing as political correctness."

Friday: At the preshow for "Foxfire," actor Michael Harding asks the audience to think about whether his aggressive real estate character is a good or bad guy. On the grove, a young man tells me he liked the play because there were no good or bad guys. "Just people."

Saturday: At the preshow for "Private Lives," education director Michael Don Bahr asks if anyone has ever seen a Noel Coward play. The first two who respond mistake Neil Simon and Eugene O'Neill for Coward. No worries. The festival is full of "novices" and people such as Bahr go out of their way to make them welcome. The next morning, a woman says, "(This play) is about four people that I'd never want to meet." Melich responds with, "A critic once said, 'It's a plotless play that has nothing to say, but says it with pure joy.' "

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.