One More Actor Out of Work

It's great fun to sit in the open amphitheatre at Dominican University in San Rafael, crack open a Merlotski (they give wine and veggie chips to reviewers), take off the overshirt that you needed when you left the Little House in the Fogbank, put your feet up on the empty wooden bench in front of you, which is only two rows back from the actors, heave a deep sigh of contentment and then watch brilliant performers slog their way through a rather timeless piece of Shakespeare for the next three hours. Yesterday it was "Antony and Cleopatra" and that play is not considered one of the major Shakespearean masterpieces.

Plotnik and Ducknik must concur with this assessment. We call it timeless because you keep looking at your watch and time seems to have stop-oppppp-oppppppppppped.

But the tortas from El Taco Loco were delicious, that Plot and Duck brought in to eat during the intermission, and the wine and chips and birds overhead and all the Romans stabbing themselves to bloodless death and Egyptians putting poisonous snakes in their brassieres led to a very pleasant afternoon that only took maybe 45 minutes too long.

The snake was rubber. One more actor out of work.



Marin Shakes is an organization you have to love. The people are so enthusiastic and happy to have you, and you really couldn't watch Shakespeare in any better a setting, and that includes the Old Globe in London where you have to stand up the whole time. Standing up the whole time to watch Antony and Cleopatra would be cruel.

Plotnik looked around at yesterday's audience -- since it was a Sunday 4pm curtain the local retirement village had bussed in a good portion of the audience. Plotnik found it very thoughtful that although the official Press Opening had been the previous evening when Plot and Duck were down in Mountain View, they saved his little Thank You pack for him -- two bottles of wine, two plastic glasses, one bag of veggie chips, one bag of organic trail mix, press information, two free seat cushions and two free seat backs.

Take THAT, A.C.T.!

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You may read the San Francisco Theater Blog review of "Antony and Cleopatra" here.