The Weekly Tickle Brain: March 9, 2015

The Good Tickle Brain newsletter for March 9, 2015

The Weekly Tickle Brain March 9, 2015 The Week in Comics The Week in Social Media Mya Recommends: There is Nothing Like a Dane/Thane

The Week in Comics TUESDAY Tomorrow the RSC is live-broadcasting their production of Much Ado About Nothing! (They're calling it Love's Labour's Won and are presenting it as a sequel to Love's Labour's Lost, but it's still definitely Much Ado About Nothing.) To celebrate, here's a guide to all you need to know about the play!  Check out my other All You Need To Know About [Insert Play Here] guides!  THURSDAY Oh Pericles. You're such a wonderfully bizarre play.  In case you haven't seen Pericles, it starts out with the noble Prince Pericles visiting the kingdom of Antiochus, whose beautiful daughter is up for grabs to whoever can solve a mysterious riddle. Of course, if you get the riddle wrong you die. That's the way these things usually work. Seriously, Antiochus, that's the best riddle you could come up with? I defy you to write a riddle about an incestuous father-daughter relationship that is more obvious than that.  The Week in Social Media I didn't do anything on social media this week, as I was busy working on some other website-related projects. Sorry. By way of apology, here is a GIF of Ian Holm as Puck from the 1968 Peter Hall film. I hope that made your day better. Mya Recommends... Twelfth Night (Shakespeare's Globe, 2012) This production has received a lot of press recently, having transferred to Broadway in 2013 with Stephen Fry and Mark Rylance (the latter of whom won a Tony for his efforts). It also happens to be one of the most thoroughly entertaining stage performances captured on film. Filmed at the Globe Theatre in London in 2012, this is famously an "Original Practices" production, which means it operates with the conceit that it is following standard Elizabethan theatrical convention. This means no fancy light or sound cues, no changeable scenery, strictly Elizabethan costumes... oh yes, and all the actors are male. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the three "women" are the stand-out performers. Johnny Flynn's Viola initially strikes you as a bit grating and one-note, but as the show progresses her inherent insecurity and uncomfortableness in the role she is forced to play comes to the fore and is immensely endearing. As a man, Flynn is able to portray Viola with an open vulnerability which might, paradoxically, undermine a female actor's portrayal of the same role. However, it is Mark Rylance's tight-laced Olivia and Paul Chahidi's buxom Maria that ultimately steal the show. Rylance's Olivia blossoms from a wounded and repressed mourner into a flighty, confused, passionate and somewhat bumbling lover, while Chahidi's Maria (and her commendably ample bosom) is able to wring laughter from throw-away lines, presenting a wry and long-suffering servant with a streak of mischievousness a mile wide. Special mention to Stephen Fry, who is undoubtedly the most sympathetic and put-upon Malvolio I have ever seen. Indeed, his Malvolio is positively lovable, which, of course, makes his downfall more agonizing than ever. Similarly, the late Roger Lloyd Pack's affably incompetent Sir Andrew is a wistful joy to behold. This production is brimming with visual gags and some slapstick, but it is, ultimately, the fantastic and unerring comic touches of the actors that make this such an enjoyable show. Its sense of fun is so pervasive that it is definitely one of the first videos I would reach for in order to show someone who is not a fan of Shakespeare precisely what all the fuss is about.