Gary ~ May 7

 

The Play's The Thing, or It's All About Me!

 

Speaking of Hamlet, as I did yesterday, if perhaps somewhat obliquely when I adapted his famous "To be or not to be: That is the question" monologue to suit my own purposes, I have him very much in mind today as I contemplate my own upcoming role in this summer's Woodstock Shakespeare Festival  production of Twelfth Night, where I will not be playing Hamlet, of course, but rather a character that I believe shares some of Hamlet's characteristics and personality traits, although  now that I think about it, I may be exaggerating things a little here  and perhaps elevating my character to a higher level than is warranted, given the fact that  Sir Andrew Aguecheek, is hardly the main the character in the play and serves mainly to bring some humor and some irony to the scenes in which he appears. Nevertheless, from my point of view at least, Sir Andrew IS the main character in this romantic comedy, and it is my intention to make the play all about ME.

 

Not that I am intending to steal the show by any means, although of course that would be very nice (indeed!), and I think that must be the secret desire of all actors, no matter how big or how small their role might be in any particular play.  They may not admit it, but I certainly have no issue with letting the cat out of the bag here, although naturally I would never let the director or his very volatile wife, who is the real person in charge, the power behind the throne, if you will,  get wind of my secret, hidden, though not very surppressed desire to have people pick up their lawn chairs after having seen one of  the upcoming outdoor productions of Twelfth Night at the Comeau Property- Woodstock's Central Park, turn to their friends and loved ones, who are also getting up from their blankets or beach chairs,  and say something like, "My God, I can't believe how great that guy who played Sir Andrew Aguecheek was.  He should be on Broadway,"  or maybe, "That Sir Andrew guy should definitely have his own TV series or do a Netflix special of some kind."

 

It's not that I am an egotist or anything like that, I am simply following the advice of Dencarlo, my acting coach, who always tells me, "Make the play about YOU!"  So if I am paying Dencarlo good money to shape me into a great actor, I would be remiss if I didn't do just what he says.

 

So that, precisely, is the task at hand.  I am starting out in that noble effort by envisioning an updated Wikipedia entry for Twelfth Night to read thus:

 

"Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602. The play used to center  on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck, but after Gary Falk's BOFFO performance as Sir Andrew Aguecheek at the Woodstock Shakespeare Festival's 2024 production of the play at the Comeau Property- Woodstock's Central Park, most directors and producers of the play have made Twelfth Night all about Gary, we mean, Sir Andrew. If this causes Shakespeare to roll over in his grave, we ask you, Whose problem is that?"

 

If only!

 

Or, as we used to say back in  my Born-Again Christian days, "Lord, hear our prayer!"

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