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tiarnanabhfainni · 2 years

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Leaba an Dáiríre do Áine Moynihan

Le Simon Ó Faoláin

Níl na fathaigh ar fad imithe as an saol. An lá fé dheireadh, is mé ag siúl an mhadra Taobh an tseanfheirm’ éisc i mBaile Uí Shé Chonac an Bradán Feasa.

Bhí Sailor ag déanamh a ghnó, mise seasta Ag ligint orm nár thugas seo fé ndeara, Nuair a chuala splais dhiamhair Laistigh den chlaí pollta.

Isteach liom gur leanas an glór timpeall ar charn bairillí meirgeacha is bhí sé ann ina aonar in umar coincréide: an Bradán Feasa.

Ní stopann bradáin riamh ag fás, mura dtugann fé áit a mbreithe chun síolraithe agus báis, É sin, nó mura mbeireann

Iascairí orthu ina líonta, Is bhí sé seo chomh mór le cráin mhuice, A eití ina ngiobail, a ghainní gan ghile, A chneas leath-ite ag fungas,

An fheoil nochta Chomh garbh san le feiscint le langa Oíche Nollag: an mhilseacht silte as.

Agus maidir lena stór clúiteach eolais, Is baolach go raibh san scaipthe chun na ceithre harda Ag an dementia

Ach fós bhí sé ag déanamh gaisce leis féin – lúba á lúbadh is gach pirouette – Ar bharr an uisce chun an t-am a mheilt go Lá Philib a’ Chleite.

Molann mo chairde liom (siadsan nach cairde samhailteacha iad) na finscéalta is na miotais A chaitheamh uaim,

Nach fiú cac a’ tsnaig iad Is sinn ag strácáil leis an dtéamh domhanda, nó an easpa leathanbhanda.

Ach bhí sé ann gan ghó – an Bradán Feasa – ina aonar, in umar coincréide sa Ghaeltacht.

#gaeilge #filíocht #90 fan gcéad cinnte gur meafar don ghaeilge atá sa dán seo #it's not exactly subtle

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brickdubois · 7 years

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My Review of Pacific Overtures

Well, John Doyle has left me all at sea with this Pacific Overtures. The show opens with a neo-brechtian prologue where Megan Masako Haley enters the stage and states at the rest of the cast, who are standing offstage at the end of the runway. They bow and George Takei announces via voiceover "Nippon, the floating kingdom..." The entire cast wears modern garb. As they sing "The Advantages of Floating In the Middle of the Sea" they use different fabrics to create adornments that represent... status? How connected to the ancient ways each character is? Heaven if I know. The show ends along the same lines, but whatever "frame" Doyle is using it is I cannot begin to comprehend. Perhaps Megan is in a museum and is looking at a picture of Japan from 1862 - and she wonders how Japan has come so far in less than 200 years? Your guess is as good as mine. To explain how Doyle has cut the show, think of it like this: a production of The Seagull that focus entirely on Konstantin and Nina. Any scenes without them are cut. Or maybe even a Follies that is centered around Sally, Ben, Buddy, and Phyllis with all other songs cut. So we'd have time for "Beautiful Girls", "In Buddy's Eyes", and "Could I Leave You?", but say goodbye to the montage, "I'm Still Here", and "One More Kiss". Gone are all the side stories that The Reciter... recites. "Chrysanthemum Tea", "March to the Treaty House", and "The Lion Dance" are cut. Doyle does not even attempt kabuki style, and as a result, the show seems lopsided and unfocused. Before "Poems", the show has been centered almost completely around Kayama and Manjiro. But there is about a half an hour ("Welcome to Kanagawa", "Someone In a Tree", and "Please Hello"Pacific Overtures previews where they disappear completely. With the entire script intact, this makes perfect sense. The show is not about these two people, it is about larger ideas and the show has delved away from them before. The Reciter interrupts them to tell stories, various other scenes with minor characters are played out, and the audience knows not to expect a perfect through-line of a story. But without these diversions, the show seems to forget about the two main characters and ignore them for an odd amount of time. Doyle seems to have missed the entire point of the show. Pacific Overtures is not about a samurai and a sailor and how their relationship changes through time. It is about the forced westernization of Japan and how an entire culture and way of life was destroyed along with it. Kayama and Manjiro change along with the country and their opposing views on the events are touching, but they are not the centerpiece. Pacific Overtures is perhaps the only musical about ideas rather than people, moreso than even Sunday In the Park With George. It is also a deeply moving musical about ideas, its power retained through its form. You would never get that from this production. The cast is good, with my major exception being Steven Eng. Neither his voice nor acting seemed in the same world as anyone else. Megan Masako Haley is wonderful in a thankless role (a cypher added for this production, as well as the briefly seen Tamate). Ann Harda was lovely, though out-of-place when surrounded by men (Megan's role seemed to be from the present, visiting the past, so it was odd that a woman was involved in the "traditional" cast of the show). George Takei seems to have lost a bet. He has virtually no lines and still manages to mess them up. He shows no warmth, and, considering the concept of this production, serves no purpose to the piece. He is there purely as a star to sell seats. Doyle has directed the cats to have sort of a "wink wink nudge nudge" attitude towards the audience about some of the lines and lyrics. It is awkward and feels disingenuous to the piece, Weidman, and Sondheim. The orchestra sounds lovely, and fill up the small space quite well. The actors are heavily mic'd, for some reason, and they still muddle their words. "Please Hello" was garbled, with most of the cast gasping to get the words out. The lyrics you could hear were mostly unintelligible, especially from the British and Dutch Admirals, and in the choral section that ends the song. Ann Harada seems to have gotten the key changed for her french section at the end, but for the choral end she is so uncomfortable in the register it was hard to hear any of her words. "Welcome to Kanagawa" was so unfunny it was hard to see why it was kept in. "Next" is cut to shreds and does not feel like a finale at all. But "Someone In a Tree" is gorgeous, moving, and all around thrilling. If any part of this production is worth it, it is the eight minutes they sing this fantastic song. Some of the best music and lyrics ever written, and the staging was simple and almost elegant (apart from some haphazardly thrown paper made to look like leaves). Just cups of tea, and history, and someone in a tree... Sondheim says, "Content Dictates Form". Doyle has thrown form away and is left with a confused, half-baked production that is unlikely to initiate new fans for the piece or please old ones. If recent productions of classic shows have been billed as Arthur Miller's The Crucible or Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie, there is no doubt how Classic Stage should bill this as. Call it John Doyle's Pacific Overtures, because it sure isn't John Weidman or Stephen Sondheim's.

#Pacific Overtures #Stephen Sondheim #John weidman #John doyle #classic stage company

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