The last play you saw?

This is semi-unrelated to the topic of reading plays, but what was the last play you saw, and what was your favorite line from it? The last one I saw was Aurelia's Oratorio. It's kind of a surreal, dreamy play. The only part I didn't like was that, in the spirit of Charlie Chaplin, the director's father, it was almost completely lineless.
What about you guys?

The last play I saw was The Boys Next Door-- my high school put it on. It's about a group of 4 mentally challenged men (two retarded, one a schizophrenic, and one suffering from extreme paranoia and nervousness) and their caretaker. I was worried that the play would come off as bigoted or demeaning, but it was very well done and very meaningful. I was in tears by the end (not surprising, I cry in everything).

My favorite line... well, it's hard to really choose one, because to understand the meaning or humor of most of the lines, you have to be able to see them act on stage or understand things that have happened in the play previously. One thing that was really funny was that one of the retarded men was obsessed with donuts and constantly brought them up-- the situations in which those interjections were placed were hilarious. But I'd say my ultimate favorite was when the other retarded man talked about how a society should be judged by how they treat their most needy members, not their best, and how, even though he had the mind of a 4 year old, he was still a person with feelings. It was a very emotional and powerful scene.

The last play I saw was Romeo and Juliet. Granted, it was on video rather than stage, but it's still watching a "play." I've now seen two versions (and read it several times on my own free will). Why? I couldn't tell you because the story and most of the characters annoy the heck out of me. I think I keep trying to think of different ways to make the story end up right; I think that if I hope hard enough, maybe they won't die in the end. It's stupid, but I keep watching and reading, watching and reading, hoping that the next time the end will be different.
The last film version I watched was the 90's version with Leonardo Dicaprio, set in Verona Beach rather than Verona. I thought that the whole modern premise was really promising, especially since they kept all the Shakespearean words in; I wanted to see that. I was excited because this Romeo + Juliet film was supposed to follow the plot really closely and everything (unlike other versions), but I found it to be little more accurate than other versions and not worth the somewhat cheesy (despite expectations) setting. It was a bad movie, in my opinion. I much prefer the 60's version even though they cut out even more parts of the original play.
My favorite line is probably always going to be "O, I am fortune's fool!" outside of anything Benvolio says.

I would like to see one truly, entirely accurate book/play film. I, in my limited experience, have yet to find one, though I'm sure I will one day.

My last was "Out of Order" by Ray Cooney, my theatre group performed it, and I got to be everybody's assistant Next April, we are performing "The Crucible", and I SO want to get a part. Next week our new stage director will do a casting, sort of, to get to know us and see how he can do it. Geez, I'd take just about any part.

I just hope they don't want me to be John Proctor's bitter wife...

Kelsey- I feel the same way you do about Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is possibly my least favorite character from true literature, but I keep reading and rereading Romeo and Juliet in hopes that it will change.
Solveig- I'm seeing "The Crucible" in a few weeks, I'll make sure to post what I think.

[offtopic] Can anyone see my avatar?

"Romeo and Juliet" is good because of the language. The plot is weird. Really, true love at fourteen? Not bloody likely.

Hmmm... I can't see it, can anyone else?

Blah, I hate Romeo and Juliet. I love Shakespeare's language and writing style, but I hate reading his plays, because in my opinion, Shakespeare is meant to be seen and heard, not read. Romeo reminds me of your typical arrogant jock who thinks he can do whatever he wants to do, and Juliet is a dramatic little girl. The characters annoy me and the premise of the plot is annoying to me-- true love at 14? Fourteen year olds can't feel romantic love worth dying for.

I like Shakespeare's other stuff, though. A Midsummer's Night Dream, The Temptest, Twelth Night, and Hamlet are good.

Last year, I saw Spamalot on Broadway and this year, since it's my last year in high school, i saw the high school production of Once Upon a Mattress. I really haven't very many plays.

Last year, I saw the fantastic production of "Holding the Man" in the Sydney Opera House. It is the staged autobiography of the main character, who infected his lover with AIDS, watched him die, and then died himself. That was one tearful night.

I think the last play I saw was "Les Miserables", back in high school, because two of my best friends were in it. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was kind of depressing for me, I'm into more upbeat things usually, but I liked it.

Didn't really have a favourite line, but I loved the song "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." It was very moving and it was done extremely well.

Romeo and Juliet is one of the only Shakespeare plays I don't much care for- except that when you catch all the horribly dirty jokes thrown in it's hilarious. Unfortunately if you're the one person in your English class laughing at the jokes aside from the obviously insane teacher, generally folks assume you must be crazy. I do agree with Epiphany though, Shakespeare's works are meant to be performed. I didn't actually begin to like them until I'd seen a performance.

I did see Rent on video fairly recently, and I loved the entire thing. I keep trying to convince my mother to watch it but she won't because she 'doesn't want to see a movie about gay people.' Sigh. She's usually far more open-minded than that.

Little Orphan Annie

It saw it in highschool. The guy that played Daddy Warbucks was great, but I wanted to ring the neck of the girl that played Annie. She was annoying and she couldn't act if her life depended on it.

My drama class went to see a dress rehearsal for a production of Millicent Scowlworthy a few weeks ago. It's pretty weird, but I like it.

Hamlet by the brilliant "master of disaster" William Shakespeare.

I didn't see it live, but rather on a video.

It is such an awesome play. And although it's a tragedy, there's a whole lot of humor packed into those five acts...

Although...hmm...

I have a question. Do musicals count? If so, then I saw Peter Pan and Cinderella. I love children's fairy tales. They take me outta this world.

Zara Sahana 007 wrote:

Hamlet by the brilliant "master of disaster" William Shakespeare.

I didn't see it live, but rather on a video.

It is such an awesome play. And although it's a tragedy, there's a whole lot of humor packed into those five acts...

Oh thank the gods, I'm not the only one who was laughing during Hamlet!

I love the play, but when we read it in English I'd be cracking up off in my back corner (me and a buddy stole the teacher's desk and he thought it was hilarious so he let us sit there) and the only other person so much as grinning would be the instructor.

I especially liked when Hamlet was going on about the clouds when they were all indoors.

GuardianSaiyoko wrote:

I did see Rent on video fairly recently, and I loved the entire thing. I keep trying to convince my mother to watch it but she won't because she 'doesn't want to see a movie about gay people.' Sigh. She's usually far more open-minded than that.

I've been meaning to watch that... is it good?

Epiphany wrote:

GuardianSaiyoko wrote:

I did see Rent on video fairly recently, and I loved the entire thing. I keep trying to convince my mother to watch it but she won't because she 'doesn't want to see a movie about gay people.' Sigh. She's usually far more open-minded than that.

I've been meaning to watch that... is it good?

I absolutely loved it and thought it was great. I'd definitely recommend it.

Last play I saw was The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Well, actually I was in it, but my part wasn't that big and most of my time was spent watching. I loved being in it though. And I loved the play. The story is so tragic, and the actors played it wonderfully, considering they were all in high school. I got very close to crying during that final scene between John and Elizabeth, if you can believe it.

I'm going to see Phantom of the Opera in a couple of weeks, which makes me insanely happy.

M

I'm really glad you guys laugh at Shakespearean humor too. I'll be cracking up in the back of the class and everyone just stares at me...
As for Romeo and Juliet, I do believe wholeheartedly that you can truly be in love at any age. I just don't think that Romeo and Juliet were anywhere close to it. The thing is that they never form an emotional connection- they never really talk and learn about each other and have friendly arguments and those lovely moments of just holding hands and being with the person you love. Instead they go from meeting to kissing to getting married to sex to dying, with little in between. I rather think that it was intentional on Shakespeare's part...

On Saturday I saw the play adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It was pretty awesome. I loved the lighting during Bromden's soliloquies in the first act. He had mini-monologues during scene changes, and in the first few the lighting shows the machine he sees. Nurse Ratched did a really good job; she was a bit less...heartless than I expected, more human, but still managed to send chills down my spine and make me hate her at the end. I was a bit worried about McMurphy because I'd heard he wasn't very good, but I personally liked him. He had a lot of energy and he played the character well (though I still prefer Jack Nicholson). And Billy Bibbit was probably the best of the cast. Everything that he did was so perfect for the character; his voice, his expressions. People (including me) were crying when he died. It followed the book pretty well; not perfectly (there was no fishing trip and the only Chronics were Bromden and Ruckley), but well. And I loved the theatre; it was really small, which made the play feel more personal.

I just saw Rent, with Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. I loved it. It made me cry. So much better than the movie!

I would love to see a play again. It's been so long. There is a theatre in Providence called Trinity Repertory Company with a pretty steady troupe of actors who put on a number of plays each year, and sometimes more well-known actors come in to play some roles. My wife and I used to go there at least once or twice a year at one time, but unfortunately kids, a house, lack of time, and general finances have kept us away for a few years. Right now they are doing "Cabaret". Hopefully someday soon we'll get back.