"The course of true love...

Magnet #1249 - Course of true love

...never did run smooth."

- Lysander, A Midsummer Night's Dream

I'd been holding this magnet that I think I picked up at BEA for ages, figuring I'd use it for the Much Ado magnet post...but then they had that gorgeous David Tennant/Catherine Tate magnet.

So instead, I'll use it for the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Winter's Tale that I saw over the weekend. The RSC is visiting this summer, and have taken over the Park Avenue Armory - and when I mean, taken over, I mean, they up and built a whole darn theatre inside the giant hall.

Built to mirror their home theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Armory theatre is seriously three to four stories, with a stalls level, mezzanine and balcony. It's amazing. Mind you, it's hard for the oldies to get up and down off the barstool like seating in the mezz, but it's really very clever. And I've never seen such a nicer crew of ushers, even as some of the oldies were crotchety to them.

The Winter's Tale production itself was both simple and complicated, with moments of craziness that freaked me out a bit, intertwined with some chuckleworthy moments.

But as with most productions, I like to go into the theatre knowing as little about the production, the story or anything. That includes the reviews. In fact, after I finish writing this magnetpost, I'll go check out the NYTimes review.

This ignorance can sometimes be a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because I go in with a clean slate, not knowing if I'll like it, not predisposed to someone else's opinion running around in my head. A curse, because if I've never read the play or seen the movie, then I have absolutely no idea what the story is about.

I won't lie - I've never read the play, all I know is that it's the title for one of my fave Dawson's Creek eps ever. (Points if you know what episode that is.) But, as I watched this story of one man's jealousy destroying his family and kingdom, I realized it was not for me.

No matter how well acted or produced, or how terrific the production is...or even if they had a bear (yes, a bear), I just did not like the story at all. No surprise there, I think I may just be destined to not like Shakespearean tragedies. Maybe wanting happy endings makes me a simpleton, but I can live with that.

Nonetheless, if you get a chance to see the RSC this summer at the Armory - do it. So. Very. Cool.

eta:
Yep. Simpleton, it is.

Art is art

Magnet #1206 - Art is Art

I picked up this magnet, not surprisingly, at the MoMA, home of art that continually challenges me.

Ya'll know I love my art plain and sweet, and representative of what it's supposed to be. That I pretty much eschew avant garde work for pieces that appeal to me, that I can easily understand, and don't make me think too hard.

That's not to take away from avant garde, that's to say that while I deeply respect creativity, I'm at my core, a very lazy spectator.

That being said, I love cool shit.

And will go wherever in the City I can find it.

This weekend I went over to the Park Avenue Armory - a place that's taken me 16 years to discover - for the last day of Ryoji Ikeda's The Transfinite installation. No, I didn't know who Ikeda was, either, but just seeing the pictures and videos of the strobey lights and data and lit walls and people and general craziness, I knew I had to go.

I was not disappointed at all. The installation was in the supergiant drill hall, and had a front and back side, with different vantage points of the work. It was seriously a visual assault on the eyes and the ears, with strobey lights and pounding rhythms, blocking out all serious thought. At least til you opened yourself up to the experience, and just let it pulsate through you.

As my sister said, when she saw the videos, it was very Intersect-y, like on Chuck. Overall, it was definitely one of those quintessential New York experiences that have to be, well, experienced, rather than magnetblogged about.

So, here ya go, the front side, with all the light patterns on the floor and wall:


And then the backside of the installation, with all the data and numbers:


Finally, there's a whole set of interiors that you should see at the Armory, rooms designed by folks such as Stanford White with details like Tiffany windows. The place is a must-see, even when there's not a big installation in-house.