Some of you may recognize Nina Sosanya as Rosaline: she costarred with Tennant in Casanova [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon U.K.] — which I’ll get around to reviewing soon — as well as in the Doctor Who episode “Fear Her.”
(If the RSC followed the same procedure as they did with Hamlet, then these photos were taken at the dress rehearsal.)
And the British press is starting to talk about the production, too.
I’ll post my thoughts on the show by tomorrow, hopefully.
*sigh*
And when Love speaks the voice of all the gods
Make heaven drowsy with the harmony.
*sigh*
“And when Love speaks the voice of all the gods
Make heaven drowsy with the harmony.”
especially when it speaks with a scottish accent.
When are they going to do Love’s Labors Won I wonder?
every time I see that first picture you posted, I become dumbfounded
I remain unconvinced by Elizabethan fashions …
Reviews are good – especially for Tennant.
“I remain unconvinced by Elizabethan fashions …”
unconvinced of what? the Elizabethan clothing was more an impression than a slavish rendering… it really added to the light, frothy atmosphere of the first 9/10ths of the play. they clothes looked as if they were worn frequently and comfortably. the fabrics were beautiful, but soft. some the absurd characters (the wonderful Don Amato, played by the amazing Joe Dixon and his little companion Mote) had absurd costumes, but the others wore theirs like “real” clothes… david tennant even climbs the tree in his.
I’m only going by the pictures, I haven’t seen the play (owing to being currently in New Zealand). I mean the doublet and hose look generally – in other settings as well as this, for example Shakespeare in Love – doesn’t do much for anyone! Though the ladies’ dresses are gorgeous.
” I mean the doublet and hose look generally – in other settings as well as this, for example Shakespeare in Love – doesn’t do much for anyone!”
i guess the elizabethans thought they did, since they doublet and hose were all the rage at the time… (and, i’m sorry — but did you see DT with the unbuttoned doublet? come on! is that not delicious?)
i’m not certain, but perhaps 500 years in our future, people will say “those suits and ties sure didn’t do much for anyone, did they? although some of the ladies’ lingerie was gorgeous!”
Well, I’m afraid I agree with the person I saw quoted – I think it was Gregory Doran – who said something along the lines of DT not suiting tights. He’s too skinny for tights. Give me the Doctor’s pinstripes anyday. In the end, I must clearly be a child of my time. :)
I think suits and ties, having basically originated in the 18th century, will be here longer than doublet and hose.
What’s nice about the clothes, as bronxbee noted, in this production — at least the guys’ clothes, corsets can *never* be comfy — is that they feel like *clothes.* They don’t feel like “costumes.” Tennant throws off his jacket at one point in exactly the same way as any one of us would throw off, say, a denim jacket. Moth — Don Armado’s sidekick, played in a gender-switcheroo by the wonderful Zoe Thorne — uses the pantaloons as pockets, to hide whatever crap he has to be carrying around. These are lived-in clothes.
And maybe Tennant *is* too skinny for hose. But plenty people are “too fat” for jeans or miniskirts or whatever, and we all still wear them anyway. Fashion is fashion, even if it doesn’t suit us, and most of us try to find a way to wear whatever’s popular even if we look silly in it. Because we think we’d look more silly not wearing it.
Nina Sosanya was also in an episode of People like Us with David Tennant. It was called the Actor (guess who?) and it’s pretty funny in a cringeworthy office sort of way.
I will break the mold and say that I do love me a gentleman in pumpkin pants. As a chubster, I find a subtly low neckline can often distract from my gutular region – just as Mr. Tennant’s unbraced doublet delightfully distracts from the skinny legs.
Speaking of clothing, what do the audiences in Stratford wear? I am a dresser-upper, and often I find myself somewhat overdressed for the theatre, especially in London. While I applaud people enjoying Shakespeare in jeans and casual clothes, will I look absurd in slightly more fancy than work clothes?
bronxbee and I went to the theater in Stratford way dressed up, and did not look out of place. People were wearing everything from jeans-and-tees to not-quite-evening-clothes. You won’t look absurd at all, nerdycellist.
Well, I won’t look absurd because of my clothes! I might dress down a bit for Oedipus and Ivanov in London – it depends on how much room is in my suitcase.
Thanks for the sartorial update. Can’t. Wait.
“… He’s too skinny for tights. ”
well he is very slender, it’s true… and his legs are thin, but they are shapely — there’s a nice calf and ankle there.