Two Steps Away From Ashland…I would rate this performance very “high!”  The concept is great, the interpretation of 12th night form a 70s perspective is wonderful. The acting was flawless – everybody was great. I only noticed once or twice when Sir Toby stumbled over his lines instead of his feet.  The choreography was also perfect. Especially the “Valentines.”  Another added bonus was the on-stage (what I will call for lack of a better term) “bricolage” at the end of the intermission. Brilliant in more ways than I have time to tell.  The music was wonderful – the schticks were amusing – without fail. OK – now for the harsh negatives.First, the on-stage band during the pre-show was way too loud. And, the quality of the performance was way too low. This is not a rock concert – recorded music would work just as well. A band might be added later – if one of suitable skill could be found – to play a tune or two at the start of the play – leading to the duke’s opening line.Second, there was an annoying inconsitency to the songs… some performers sung along while others were lipsynching. One or the other – please. Along those lines, we were seated near the front. And, as such, it was very strange to see actors moving their mouths in front of us, while the sound of the music came from the speakers behined us. Any way to move the speakers to the front so the picture matches the sound?On a smaller note, the Duches was a little distracting. Her costume (and tats) gave the impression that she was more into bondage and discipline than peace and love – something not reflected in that character. Striking and sexy – sure… but not in sync with the rest of the performance. I was distracted from enjoying the play when I found myself trying to read her thigh.Addressing the two big issues will make a strong step in the right direction.For the next interation of this brillian adaptaction, you should (as I’m sure you’ve considered) make it a full-blown musical using performers who can both sing and act!Many Thanks for a wonderful performance!

“Shakespeare…was a walking, talking, breathing sexual pun. His name meant Wanker – to shake one’s spear. His Christian name was a pun on prick, cunt and sexual desire. But the names also meant someone strong and courageous. And with this particular Will Shakespeare, they stood for someone unafraid to shake others out of their complacent assumptions about sexual identity, politics, war, and morality.”  Filthy Shakespeare, by Pauline Kiernan, p. 9Shakespeare’s work is timeless, largely because he addressed such fundamental aspects of humanity, including all that is human sexuality. Don’t miss this season’s Marin Shakespeare performances, you’ll become a fan for life of this particular company’s renditions of the plays by the greatest “Wanker” of all time.

We’ve been bringing our children and their friends since our children were 6 and 9 (10 seasons ago).  Not being very cultured or well-read ourselves, we were skeptical but figured “What could we lose at a Pay What You Will performance?!” We got hooked with the first performance we saw!!! And we’ve been telling friends and converting youth into Shakespeare fans ever since.  So many of the plays stand out, as do many of the performers, the talented direction, the fabulous sets, creative costumes….But I must tell you that one actor never fails to convert even the person(child or adult) who believes s/he will never like Shakespeare (and, of course impresses every last one of the ardent fans …. He is Darren Bridgett. Whether in comedies or tragedies, something about the way he delivers his lines and the pauses and the inflections and the movement of his hands and eyes and every facial feature, something about his total immersion in the character even as he breaks to eat audience members’ snacks, communicates the meanings of not only his lines but the entire scene to even the youngest audience members, even the most reticent, even those who don’t speak English fluently (much less Shakespearean English). Whenever he’s in a play it’s a must see for the whole family and everyone we know!! Others who stand out as having a special talent for playing these roles in a way that makes them accessible to today’s commoner (like us) include William Elsman, George Maguire, Scott Coopwood, Jack Powell…hmmm there are so many and I certainly don’t wish to offend by leaving someone out ….Every year the whole troupe is fabulous, I wish we had had the opportunity to “blog” since the beginning when the performance were fresh in our memories (or maybe you’ve saved some of the comments submitted on the audience survey sheets so you could transfer them to this website… we always wrote comments of praise on ours…we have never been disappointed!!!  Thanks for everything!

The arts are SO important to humanity, especially in such confusing times as we are currently living. Even if you think you don’t like or don’t understand Shakespeare, you should attend at least one of Marin Shakespeare Company’s performances.  This year’s non-Shakespeare performance (they always do one) is The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and it was a RIOT!!! Our children and our whole family have been laughing at these comedies for over 10 years and we’ve been moved by their tragedies for just as long. The actors are so skilled at portraying the humor and the tragedy that even people who don’t speak English fluently thoroughly enjoy themselves at these performances.   Attending Marin Shakespeare Company’s summer performance should be a staple family tradition in every family!!!!

2007′s Complete Works was an All-Star cast!  Darren Bridgett, Jarion Monroe and Ryan Schmidt could not have been surpassed in their perfect execution of comedic timing, inflection, mannerisms… just everything… it was perfect!!!  Thank you!!!  Encore, Encore!!

To this day, when my children’s friends say “Oh I hate Shakespeare… we have to read Romeo and Juliet and blah blah blah….” My children respond ‘then you haven’t seen it performed as it should be”… like in Marin Shakespeare’s 2005 rendition with Andy Butterfield and Julia Motyka….and it’s not just because they were impressed at how long Andy could simultaneously hang from that balcony and play his lines so perfectly.  I admit that most of the kids we bring to the Shakespeare performances prefer the comedies, but all the preteens and teens who were with us at Romeo and Juliet understood every nuance, every sentiment of the play and enjoyed the whole thing!!!Thank you!!!

In 2005′s The Knight of the Burning Pestle,, you were amazingly hilarious!!! You all really captured how WIlliam Shakespeare was a living, walking, breathing pun! We brought lots of kids to that one and you turned them in to Shakespeare fans!!  Thanks again!

We all wish we could have seen last year’s performance of Amadeus over and over and over! All the actors played fabulously, but of course, there is no more perfect actor for the part of Salieri than William Elsman!! His performance brought even my 15 year old son back several times, but it was not enough…That play was perfect and we hope you bring it back for an encore performance some year soon!!! 

Marin Shakespeare’s rendition of The Importance of Being Earnest was so well directed, cast and performed that it was a LOL, ROFL, hilarious standing ovation experience that succeeded in portraying every bit of biting satire and irony the author intended and more!!! We had our children with us and our relatives who had just arrived from out of the country. Everyone laughed out loud AND experienced moments of deep contemplation of the philosophies presented in this great work! Even our family who does not speak English fluently could understand everything because of how well the performance is presented by all involved!!!!  The leads were ALL impeccable, in top form!!!  Also, it was great that there were no small parts AND no small actors!! Every player contributed to this all around Fabulous theater going experience!  Thank you so much!!!  Here’s to another 20 years!!!!

We saw “Twelfth NIght or All You Need is Love” last night. I am not a fan of musical theatre, was not forewarned, and would have walked out, except for the fact that it was directed in a very clever way and though I did not bend over from laughter, as about 12 others in the audience were, I was heartily amused during 9/10ths of it.  My complaints are: too much music allowed the Duke of Orsino’s character, to lack dimension. Although the actor is blessed with vast charisma, he seems to be reacting to the funny musical score and little else.  My freind V., who accompanied me to the play, thought the way that the way the Maharishi yogi was played was “stupid”. I thought the yogi appeared vacuous and because of this I was bored by that part of the performance.  If 2 or 3 of the shorter musical snippets were excised, even I, a person who up until I saw this play, hated all musicals, would have given it an A+, as it was played because of the extensive music which got in the way of the development of two characters, only an A. By the end of the first act I was surprised how much I loved it.  I also thought the Valentine dancers, and their costumes were superb.  Thank you Marin Shakespeare for surprising me, with a very cleverly directed play. p.s. you might forwarn others by advertising this play as ‘Twelfth Night’ played as a 60′s hippie musical.