If there’s anything at which the Prenzie Players excel - and the theatre group excels at quite a few things - it’s the ability to convey the meaning of Shakespeare’s words to those who may have trouble following the dialogue and, therefore, the plot. (I.e. me.)  And that strength is all the more important in the Prenzies’ current undertaking, Troilus & Cressida.  While watching the opening-night performance, I rarely understood what exactly was going on by way of what was said. But thanks to the passion behind how it was said, I was neither bored nor disinterested.

Long-considered impossible to stage, Troilus & Cressida takes place in the later years of the Trojan War.  Achilles (Steve Quartell), the Greeks’ hero, has removed himself from battle, preferring to spend his days with his lover, Patroclus (Cole McFarren), and enjoying a love-affair-through-letters with the daughter of Priam (Matt Moody), the king of Troy.  Priam and Agamemnon (Patrick Flaherty) endeavor to bring Achilles and the Trojans’ hero, Hector (David Furness), face-to-face on the battlefield - a plan that, for the Greeks, involves a scheme to first pair Ajax (Matt Mercer) against Hector, enticing Achilles back into action.

While their names make up the title of the play, the story of Troilus (Andy Koski) and Cressida (Jaci Entwisle) makes up but a fraction of its telling.  This is unfortunate, however, as their storyline - a romance that ends with the handing over of Cressida to the Greeks - is the clearest of any in Shakespeare’s script.

Troilus & Cressida is a theatrically complicated twist of time, a confusing back-and-forth between the Greeks and Trojans, with the audience witness to events that take place in two locations simultaneously.  Thankfully, to make the chronology of events clearer, director Maggie Woolley cleverly incorporates a radio announcement with the time of day at the top of the opening act (with the Trojans), and then does so again at the top of the second act, starting the same day over again (with the Greeks).

Helping to visibly distinguish the two warring sides within her peach color palette, Woolley and fellow costume designer Cait Bodenbender dress the characters in distinct patterns and levels of finery.  The Trojans wear leather armor, fine suits, and even underwear meant to convey a greater wealth than the Greeks, who are clothed in camouflage pants.

Woolley has also assembled a cast of committed actors who seem to hold nothing back either physically or emotionally; space limitations prevent me from mentioning each, though every actor deserves accolades.  Of particular note: Quartell offers a balance of cockiness and disinterest; Furness presents the heroic Hector as both strong and admirable, and displays a caliber of acting ability that’s equally admirable; McFarren (who also portrays Paris) is believably enamored with Quartell’s Achilles; Entwisle creates a likable Cressida in a script that makes that a tough task; Denise Yoder seems completely comfortable with the language and physical representation of Pandarus; and Moody, as one of the Myrmidons, well-embodies the play’s perception of the Greeks as lowbrow. (Moody’s ad-libbed lines, however, are all-too-often delivered louder than the script’s actual dialogue.)

While each actor seems to know exactly what his or her character is saying, none seem as fluent with the language as J.C. Luxton, who delivers Ulysses’ lines as if this were the way Luxton actually spoke in daily life.  He’s also not tripped up by rhymes, which do affect the naturalistic cadences of some of the other actors.

And I would be remiss not to set Stephanie Burrough apart from the others.  Her Helen of Troy is good, but her camp whore, Thersites, is amazing.  With loose and brazen physical movements, she brings humor to a character who has led a humorless life.  It’s fun to watch from the audience, but Thersites’ humor is also clearly a coping mechanism for the character, and that Burrough is able to present it as one is a testament to her strength as an actress.

I am somewhat relieved to say, based on my conversations with others, that I was not the only one who struggled to understand the plot of Troilus & Cressida.  I think that’s Shakespeare’s fault.  It’s to the Prenzie Players’ credit, though, that I was not bored, and actually quite enjoyed watching the show… despite my confusion.

For more information, visit PrenziePlayers.com.

Posted: March 22nd, 2010 under Television.
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As expected, I was wrong about the final results of this season’s Dancing With the Stars.  I said Gilles should win, with Shawn in second and, thus, Melissa in third.  That’s not how it happened.  Shawn won it all.  In my opinion, she shouldn’t have.

I understand I’m saying this in Shawn’s homestate of Iowa, where fans are strong.  Don’t get me wrong, though.  I’m not saying Shawn didn’t deserve anything.  She was consistent throughout the competition, even improving on her fluidity.  She deserved to be in the top three.  She even deserves second place.  Again, she did not, in my opinion, warrant a first place finish.

I took time to go back and tally the total judges’ scores.  Adding up all scores earned this season, Shawn has a total of 401.  Gilles, on the other hand, earned a total judges’ score of 419.  That’s a full 18 points ahead of Shawn.  Averaging it out, Shawn earned an average score of 26.7 per dance.  Gilles earned an average of 27.9, a full 1.2 points ahead of Shawn per dance.  And yet, Shawn beat Gilles.  (For what it’s worth, Melissa scored 400 for an average of 26.6)

I will still argue Gilles is the stronger dancer and proved to be the stronger dancer throughout the competition.  I will also, however, acknowledge that this season, more than any other, has been more a popularity contest than a dance competition.  Shawn won the popular vote and that’s why she won.  My congratulations to her.  I just wish there were a judges’ trophy and a viewers’ trophy instead of just one.  Perhaps it would overlap sometimes and one star would win both.  In this case, however, I think Shawn would’ve won the viewers’ trophy, with Gilles taking the judges’ trophy.  This would’ve also proved valuable back when Stacy Keebler danced.  She deserved to win and could’ve taken the judges’ trophy.

Posted: May 20th, 2009 under Television.
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Battlestar Galactica

Make Me a Supermodel

Celebrity Apprentice

Dancing With the Stars

Hell’s Kitchen

Posted: March 13th, 2009 under Personal, Television.
Comments: none

The competition’s show is on in the background.  I don’t get into that “us vs. them” mentality.  But, I am bothered by the fact they’re now running a movie review of a movie you and I can’t see in the Quad Cities.  “Crossing Over” starring Harrison Ford opens today, but in limited release and not in our area.  So, why run the review?

I’ve made the same mistake, though.  I prepared a review ahead of time only to discover the day of that it was also opening in limited release and not in our area.  But, once I discovered that, it was too late.  Graphics were made and there was no turning back, other than to not run the review at all.  In hindsight, I would have pulled it completely.  Live and learn.

Posted: February 27th, 2009 under Film, Personal, Television.
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The only thing I watched last night was True Beauty.  It’s so bad, but I’m so addicted!

The wrong person went home, especially based on how he responded to the truth behind the competition.

Posted: February 11th, 2009 under Television.
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It was a movie-free evening last night, which is somewhat unusual in our household.  Instead, we settled down to watch a little HGTV, which is relaxing for me.  It’s a passive viewing experience, but with enough education material to not feel like it’s a complete waste.  For me, it’s perfect viewing for a low key hour or two.

Last night’s show of choice was House Hunters International, which follows a couple as they look at three houses to consider purchasing overseas.  I missed the start of the show, so I actually don’t know where this episode was centered.  I do know it was in Latin or South America, however.

The couple had a small child and wanted to move away from the beach.  What?!?  Who wants to move away from the beach?  They actually said, “We just want a break from the beach.”  WHAT?!?  Oh, this sunning on the beach and soaking in the surf is too much for me, darling.  Why don’t we take a vacation and work for a few weeks?  Maybe if I lived fulltime on the beach I’d understand.  But I don’t.  However, I’m willing to live there for a while in order to better understand if someone would like to provide a beach home for me to use!  No?

What I like about House Hunters is you get to see three homes, get to know the couple a little bit and then try to guess which one they’re going to pick.  I’m actually pretty good at it, if I may say so myself.  On this episode though, not so much.  That’s because this episode did not reveal a wild card before the couple revealed their choice.  I thought I had them pegged, but they chose the last place I thought they would pick.  They did so because the condo called and offered a new and bigger unit than they (and we) first saw.  I was not amused.

Actually, I was.  It was all fun and relaxing and prepared me well for bedtime.

Posted: February 10th, 2009 under Television.
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Okay, I realize I risk losing whatever respect you may have for me, but I love the show True Beauty on ABC.  While recognizing how terrible the show is, I can’t help but watch it.  It is my guilty pleasure.

With blushing cheeks, I will admit that I was first drawn to the show for the beautiful people.  I mean, an hour of eye candy isn’t all that bad, is it?  With the first episode, however, I was hooked.  These beauties are arrogant, delusional and not the most beautiful people in the world.  It’s so much fun!

But, it’s also bad.  The challenges to test the contestants’ inner beauty are not solid challenges.  Last night, the inner beauty challenge was to see if each contestant would help their partner make a video.  Really?  It could be a test of the inner beauty of teamwork, but that’s not how it played out.  Chelsea, my favorite, failed the challenge simply because she couldn’t figure out how to work the camera.  It wasn’t lack of motivation nor lack of desire to help her teammate.  It was a legitimate lack of understanding of how to work the camera.  And this led her to the hall of beauty where she was sent home.  Not really all that fair.

As I said, Chelsea is/was my favorite contestant.  She may come across as arrogant, but I think it’s a front.  I think she’s trying so hard to fit in with this group of people, who she thinks are more beautiful than she, that she’s not showing her true self.  I detect a good heart, a bit of a lack of confidence and some uncertainty in her.  She does have an inner beauty, but she masks it in order to fit in with the group and, as she’s said to a reporter in her home town, to try to win the game.  She didn’t, though, being sent home because she couldn’t figure out how to work a camera.  When they showed her the video that showed her inner ugliness, they even had to stretch to really put stuff together.  Her stuff wasn’t really that bad.  Joel, on the other hand, has plenty of footage to showcase his inner ugliness.

Posted: February 3rd, 2009 under Television.
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