Kelli Firmin- The Country Wife- Text vs. production

The Country Wife video was easier to follow than reading the play. I am a visual person so I do enjoy seeing things in comparison to reading. The play had many characters and at times it was hard to keep in line who was who and who belonged to whom. I thought Mr. Horner was the main character of the play. His claim to be impotent brought him so much attention from a wide variety of upstanding women in London. The Pinchwifes were an interesting couple. Mr. Pinchwife kept his wife locked in her chambers to prevent her from having a lover and learning of the outside world of the city. This did not last long once she saw a play and learned of things from her sister in law. It was acceptable at that time to have a wife who had a lover. The word cuckold was a new one to me. Mr. Horner acted with great passion and was a true master of his game. Mr. Pinchwife was annoying after awhile, Poor Mrs. Pinchwife acted as an innocent young bride but was quick to accept the affections of Mr. Horner. I may have acted the same if I were kept locked up in a chamber and secluded from the rest of society. I did not expect the strong sexual content but it was humorous than the others. I did love the costumes of this video very appropriate for the time period.

The Country Wife / Helen Williams

I just love this play, my only problem is the multiple characters, they are so difficult to keep up with. Just when you think you know them all, then another one.I will like to see this play as a soap opera cast by the crew of  the Young and the Restless. What a great watch it will be, plus the ratings for the television channel.

Like all the previous plays I have watched so far, we are again dealing with societal plagues and problems. The element of jealousy and deceptions are very prevalent in the play. Then the hostility between couples ,Mr Pinchwife almost claim a life.

Why in the world will a man proclaim himself to be impotent just to get some attention from the opposite sex. Only in the 16th century. I bet men of our generation will be too embarrassed  to talk about it, even worse, most are not telling their physicians.I figure the only reason the Cialis and Viagra advertisement promised  discrete sale and packaging to their customers is to protect their identity.

Mr Horner does deserve the title of Master of the game of Love, pretending to be impotent , he goes around cuckolding all the spouses. Mr Pinchwife is an idiot, he got so jealous that he almost murdered  poor Margery. Who can blame her for looking for love, having being locked up in the closet several times. I can not wait to watch this play again.

Matthew Chenevert: The Country Wife

The Country Wife

So let me get this straight….. you can actually get MORE women with this plan? What a strange and crazy idea!

I have to admit that I’m not surprised that yet another one of our plays for review is sexually centered.
This one was funny. Even, I , as a man had never thought this strategy would work.

What struck me with this first was that there are things that people seem to be relate to eternally, and one of them is sex. I even learned a new word……cuckold! Or something like that.

It is easy to read compared to Lysistrata.

Concerning the plot, once again the best well laid plans (no pun intended) seems to backfire on poor Mr Pinchwife. Even the names were tongue-in-cheek. Fidget? Squeamish? Horner? I mean come on, this guy had a great sense of humor.

I think Helen will be happy to see that the women of this play don’t seem to have any hesitance of sexual promiscuity with men other than their husbands. Of course the husbands are implied to be at blame for driving their wives to the arms of the “impotent” Mr Horner.

While the premise caught my attention right off, the ease of the read and the success of the master plan Mr Horner laid out was funny. I’m sure a live audience found a lot of humor in the unfolding of the events.

The video of this will be very interesting. I’m expecting a lot and I hope to not be let down!

Kelli Firmin- The Country Wife

This play was a very long read and had multiple characters that was hard to keep up with who belonged to who. It was a comedy of some sort that had many sexual overtures. The main character to me was Mr. Horner. He had all convinced he was Eunuch. The information was spread by a Quack. It seemed to spark the interest of women rather that shun it. It took awhile after reading the play to realize who was the country wife. Mr. Pinchwife keep his wife Margery Pinchwife very secluded from the city life in London. The main entertainment that seemed to be popular were the plays. At the plays the women would wear a mask similar to a mardi gras for comparison.
Mrs. Pinchwife received an idea of what a play was like and then wanted to be able to go into the city and see the sights and mingle with others. I found it confusing who was married to whom and who was whose mistress, etc. That seemed to go hand and hand and the husband's seemed ok with that arrangement. It was odd how one could be promised to wed one such as Alithea to Sparkish while Harcourt was professing his love for her at the same time. The play overall was confusing and watching the video did help clear the characters up with whom belonged to who. It was one of the least of my favorites thus far. I will say that sexual freedom was promoted in the 1600's. Infidelity was accepted and expected. Switching lovers seemed appropriate. The 200 pages of reading seemed to loose my interest after awhile but the video was better. Can't wait to see what is next.

Tartuffe scene analysis/ Helen Williams

I really enjoy watching the video. More interesting to see Madame Pernelle, Orgon self righteous mother exercise that much authority and power over her son’s household. She strikes me like a case of a “mean mother-in law”. The elderly character begins the scene by chastising her family members. She condemns them for talking too much, about their growing foolishness everyday and how they are too free with money.

She is also convinced that Tartuffe is a wise and just man, and that the rest of the household should follow his instructions. She is so convince and wants everybody to believe that Tartuffe is the authority as far as sin is concerned… well, except for Orgon. This is more of a modern day soap opera. At the end, we see how Tartuffe “a man of God " uses his connections to swindle his generous host out of his wealth and his wife. Madame Pernelle is the last to finally realize Tartuffe’s hypocrisy.

Kelli Firmin- Tartuffe Script vs. production

The video Tartuffe was much more entertaining than reading the play. All the characters seemed to put a great deal of emotion into their acting and characters. Orgon was one of my favorites. He was so blindsided by Tartuffe. He took him into his home treated him as a brother and put his needs before his own wife and children. He thought Tartuffe was of saintly being. One of the last scenes VII was the climax of the play. After all the family tried to convince Orgon of Tartuffe’s hypocrisy and he finally heard for himself, Orgon thought he would lose everything. Orgon was thinking he was about to be arrested and Tartuffe took pleasure in seeing that happen.

The tables then turned for Tartuffe for he was the one the officers were arresting. He was proven to be a traitor and hypocrite. Orgon was pardoned and able to rejoice with his family. Orgon finally realized what a fool he had been and allowed his daughter to be allowed to marry Valere as they both hoped and wanted. In the end it was a good moral lesson. Not everyone is as they seem. When something or someone in this matter seems too good to be true it is usually the case. Nothing is at it seems.

Matthew Chenevert: Tartuffe Text v Prod

Matthew Chenevert: Tartuffe Text vs Production Analysis

I like the production! While it was busy it was still much better to watch. My gut impression of the production was they tried hard to take you back to the era in which the play was written. The text did not follow the wording of the play ver betum but instead an effort to make it rhyme was a big undertaking. It did keep it interesting though! Initially when I was orienting myself to the characters I was having a bit of trouble since the text was different but it all came together.

In the opening scene I like the way people sprang to life as the play got started. There was great chemistry between the actors and quality of the stage, roles and twist on the original text had me hooked. I was constantly listening for how they were going to rhyme certain words. Who ever took the time to do all that work should get a pat on the back.

They also jumped right in to the performance. No real build up or dead space. Pretty much there was action all along which was great. Tartuffe was really not the best part of the play. It was how the different characters were aligning against or for him, with no real middle ground.
As it turns out the first scene set the tone and ended up stating exactly was was to happen as the play unfolded. Easily the best part of the play. Although there were no real weaknesses. I enjoyed the video version much more than the text.