Sonnets

Last night I went and checked out The Complete Sonnets Festival, put on by the newly formed Classical Actors Ensemble at Intermedia Arts. The performance I saw was the second half of the two-part festival showcasing all 154 of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Filled with cameos from local favorite performers such as Jennifer Baldwin Peden, Barbra Berlovitz, Bruce A. Young, Sasha Andreev, Karla Grotting, Joe Chvala and Bain Boehlke, the performance was intended to be a fundraiser for the company, although unfortunately the night I went to see the show the house was only moderately attended.

At two and a half hours, the evening ran a little long, although there were definitely some gems. Jennifer Baldwin Peden's lovely sung performance of Sonnet #43 and Sasha Andreev's sung performance of Sonnet #27, (both directed by John Miller-Stephany and composed by Andrew Cooke) were among my favorite moments of the evening. Also, Joe Chvala and Karla Grotting danced a sweet interpretation of Sonnet #60.

For the most part, though, I preferred the performances of sonnets that weren't too "acted". In a number of scenes, sonnets were strung together and turned into a script of sorts. I didn't like these scenes as much because I felt that first of all I wasn't able to really listen to the words of the poem because I was too busy following the action of the scene, and also I felt that in a number of instances the words were misinterpreted in order to fit the put-upon circumstances of the scene.

In fact, by far the most rewarding performance was that of Bain Boehlke, who went on at the very end and just sat in a chair and read his sonnet. More than any of the other versions, Boehlke made me hear the words of the poem, and allowed me to appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's language.