05 June 2008

On Antony and Cleopatra. And the new Nationals Stadium.

On Sunday, I went with a lovely date to see Antony and Cleopatra put on by the Shakespeare Theater Company.

My date and used to live together until she saw fit to get married. Now and again, I can tear her away from her perfectly amiable husband, and we have a meal. This time, we went to Zola (a quite nice restaurant in next to DC's Spy Museum) ate very delicious fare, and then we concluded our evening with a play.

Now, Antony and Cleopatra is one of my favorite plays in all of Shakespeare (my second favorite tragedy) and my date smartly commented "expectations for this play are always going to be high." I will fully admit that I was expecting nothing but perfection from this production, and while I didn't quite get what I was looking for, it was still quite a solid and clever production of the play. I'm not sorry I saw it.

The one part of the play that I think that informed a great deal of the play is one of my favorite lines from the first act. Cleopatra says, "I'll seem the fool I am not Antony/Will be himself." In this case, I think that the play's director took this line much too much to heart and allowed Cleopatra, the regal Cleopatra, the gifted Cleopatra, the sexbomb Cleopatra, to mewl, whine, and hop and skip like a child.

Other than that, and the fact that I found Antony a bit too shouty, the play was really well done. And while the costumes seemed a bit more traditional (and quite fetching, I might add) the set was sleek, minimalist, and modern, much like another set I happened to see tonight.

That set, my friends, was the new Nationals field at Navy Yard.

As an architectural space, I find it to be a wonderfully innovative, sleek and retro modern meets modern contemporary stadium. I think that it is a welcoming egalitarian space where fans from all parts of the park can see the game; I find the variety of foods and concessions just wonderful and I found that I loved all of the Cardinals (and Nationals) fans who were present for the game.

I'm still getting used to the fact that Washington has a baseball team. I will always be an Orioles girl (yay Camden Yards!) at heart, but this new stadium is something that I like a great deal. I plan to go again when it is not raining and the gods of weather do not ruin my evening of fun.

Fortunately, I got to attend the game with one of my favorite Redbirds fans of all time and I learned about the history of the team, the best players and all the stuff I would be too embarrassed to ask normally.

Update: I'll probably be at the first game of the double header tomorrow.

4 comments:

JordanBaker said...

I'm so excited that I finally get to see a day game. And yes, I realize that saying "finally!" when the stadium's been open for a whole month and a half is kind of ridiculous, but whatevs.

Anonymous said...

take me out to the ballgame....
i cant wait to see it...
knowing you liked it..makes me wanna go more..
sigh..
xoxo

Claven said...

I find it odd that almost every new ballpark since 1992 is more or less based on Camden Yards. OK, inspired by Camden Yards. I don't like Petco in San Diego a whole lot. Its not that its bad. Its that its not up to snuff when compared to its inspiration. M&A Park or whatever the Giants stadium is called each year, does meet the mark in my opinion. However I do take issue with the concessions (ignoring that there have NEVER been beermen in California stadiums). I don't care about the sushi or anything like that. But a Chardonnay cart? I know its Northern California, but its still beisbol.

Anonymous said...

JB is the best baseball buddy/teacher. I am nervous to go to a game without her. Other people get irritated when you ask them to check your work on the scorecard.

DYING that you saw A&C! DYING!