On with the show; this is it (Twelfth Night asynchronous viewing party!)

[radiantfracture]

Welcome to the asynchronous viewing party for the The Space all nonbinary/trans staged reading of Twelfth Night, introduced by Sir Ian McKellen! Yay!

Come in. Get comfy (or pleasantly uncomfortable). Grab some snacks. Etc.

The purpose of this post is to act like an oddly static Discord, to wit: I'll live-comment here as I watch the reading, and you are invited to do the same, whenever you watch the stream, so that the end result is a braiding-together of our viewings, a co-viewing and conversation in slow time.

I'll see if I can timestamp. I might not be that together tomorrow morning.


§rf§

Notes

The show starts at 11 am July 25 my time (Pacific) / 7pm Greenwich.

(Book here if you haven't yet.)

Comments

[wildeabandon]

Thanks for organising this. I'm not going to be able to watch the show live, because I'll be at the theatre watching a musical about drag queens, but I'm going to try to fit it in over the weekend, so will swing by this post when I do.

[sabotabby]

Have the best time!

[lexicalcrow]

negl I had forgotten this was happening! Thanks for the reminder, I just booked a ticket. :D Looking forward to checking back in here when I get a chance to watch it. I hope everyone enjoys it! <3

[radiantfracture]

-10 minutes (10:50 am) I have just accidentally commented the trans pride flag three times in a row in the pre-show chat.

[radiantfracture]

(3 mins after 11, 22 mins into the stream) 521 people now! Small for a stream but big for a party.

[cosmolinguist]

"This is for joy, love and people coming together through theatre. If you're at a watch party, if you're curled up with a laptop alone, you are not alone." <3

[radiantfracture]

I'm not tearing up it's my allergies

[radiantfracture]

11:15 Sir Ian!!!! In all his shaggy glory.

A little history lecture of the theatre! So charming.

It used to be a church. Now Sir Ian has a stained glass window with his name on it.

He said we were out there in the ether so now everyone is saying hello from the ether

[radiantfracture]

11:20 Sir Ian reminiscing about Twelfth Night as the first Shakespeare he saw and was in.

Calling upon each of the performers as he talks about their parts. So sweet. The best aspect of each part. This is so charming.

[radiantfracture]

11:23 Now we're shading Derek Jacobi for being an authorship doubter

[cosmolinguist]

Imagine being called cute by Ian McKellan. I'd be wearing a t-shirt that said "Ian McKellan called me cute" every day for the rest of my life.

[cosmolinguist]

Sorry I can't do the timestamps like you, rf, the way we're watching means I can't see them.

[cosmolinguist]

omg they're doing self-descriptions!!! I feel so loved. And it's such a great way for the actors to express themselves.

[cosmolinguist]

I especially like that the people who will be speaking in a variety of voices/accents have warned us so we know it's still them.

[radiantfracture]

11:30+ Really lovely round of self-descriptions and introductions from the cast, who seem awesome.

A lot of trouble with the sound and captioning, so people are captioning in the chat.

[cosmolinguist]

Aw how lovely that people are pitching in.

And now I'm told the performance has surtitles.

[radiantfracture]

Act I Sc i (11:38) We are getting some very plummy Shakespearean voices, delight

[radiantfracture]

11:43 Honestly, this sound is great compared to many livestreams I've attended. But it is still very useful to have people live captioning and putting the stage directions in the chat. Especially the stage directions, since this is a reading.

[radiantfracture]

Act I sc iii (11:45) I think I might have been tempted to cut this elaborate Tudor flirting

[radiantfracture]

Act I sc iv (Viola/Cesario at the duke's) - I think Valentine the doorkeeper is doing a Riff Raff from Rocky Horror voice

[cosmolinguist]

I adored the fool in this play as a teenager. I fear this says a lot about me, haha.

[cosmolinguist]

Oh I like that they're she/her-ing the fool in the text as well.

[cosmolinguist]

Something about Olivia's accent absolutely perfectly suits how she's haranging Cesario. :)

[radiantfracture]

12:09 (Act 2 Scene 1)

Antonio rescues Sebastian and they celebrate apparently by getting hot and heavy together. A very reasonable interpolation.

[cosmolinguist]

I remember this being where, as a sheltered college srudent of a more innocent (less interneted) era, I learned the word homosocial and the debate about whether these two were that or homo*sexual*.

[radiantfracture]

Act II Scene II

Cesario is delighted that Olivia did not clock them

[cosmolinguist]

I definitely found this much more relatable than I did when I last saw this, half a life ago. :D

[radiantfracture]

Act III Scene III

Feste goes electric and we get a fun acid-rock "The Rain it Raineth Every Day"

[radiantfracture]

Act III sc iv Orsinio lectures on love to a walking bass

[cosmolinguist]

They're doing a good job getting the music in to this just enough, without it being too much, I think.

[radiantfracture]

Act III sc iv

My favorite scene of course. So much that's delicious here

ORSINO My life upon ’t, young though thou art, thine eye
Hath stayed upon some favor that it loves.
Hath it not, boy?

VIOLA A little, by your favor.

ORSINO What kind of woman is ’t?

VIOLA Of your complexion.

ORSINO She is not worth thee, then. What years, i’ faith?

VIOLA About your years, my lord.

ORSINO Too old, by heaven.

[cosmolinguist]

I love it too. "But mine is all as hungry as the sea..." Men can't be entrusted with power, they're too emotional.

[radiantfracture]

Act III Sc iv

And the killer

VIOLA
I am all the daughters of my father’s house,
And all the brothers, too—and yet I know not.

[cosmolinguist]

This one...definitely hits me different these days! Oof.

[cosmolinguist]

Time for Count Malvolio!

[cosmolinguist]

I love watching an actor have fun with this.