Drama streak

Last month i blogged about going to Stanford summer theater here. Combined with Oedipus from SST, i went for three plays in three weeks.  This post is a review.

Stuffed and Unstrung -
Website - http://www.stuffedandunstrung.com/home.html
This i got to know through SHN Broadway stream and was quite curious by reading about it. A combination of improv and puppetry, very interesting. Again, i have seen only one or two improve before and so far, i have found it interesting but have realized that i do not have the context (the american slang) to get a more complete experience. But this idea of combining improv with puppetry sounded very interesting and indeed it was. Modi and me went to see it, there are about 100 puppet heads sitting on  a stand and there are 6 artists who take different roles for different scenarios. Suggestions for each act come from audience and even though the audience is trying real hard to give cheesy or double entendre like scenarios, the artists handled them very well.  Puppets are also very well done  and the artists change their voice to match the puppet's character. Highly recommended! May again go again.

Cymbeline
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbeline
Modi and i were sitting at Philz on this saturday evening. Having worked all day, i was feeling a little bit tired, philz break was always welcome. There we saw this poster of Shakespeare in the park and today it was the Tragedy of Cymbeline. Modi asked - chalna hai? and a play in the park is always interesting, so we went.
It was performed at the park at Cupertino.  The setting of the stage was just too good, they built a stage on the water pond and people were sitting on a small grass hill giving it like a amphitheater like get-up. The play was done very well, it was a free play yet the performers were quite professional. It took me some time to understand the accent but after reading the wikipedia page, it all made sense. Since it was all done in open, it became quite cold once it got dark and wearing shorts, sitting on a grass soon got a little uncomfortable, but the play was good enough, we didnt move. Donated some money after the show was over.
A good experience with no planning. Thats the best kind, if you know what i mean :)