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Mar. 11th, 2012 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elle_white On Friday, I saw Dickens' Women, and it was brilliant! Miriam Margoyles was wonderful and engaging.
The play begins with the calming piano introduction of John Martin. However, it's abruptly interrupted by Miriam Margoyles who bursts on stage as the hilarious, alcoholic nurse, Sarah Gamp from Martin Chuzzlewit. And from there, Miriam Margoyles chronicles Charles Dickens' life and how his relationships with women shaped the way he wrote them.
While Miriam Margloyes passion for his work came out in every character she played, she wasn't afraid to talk about his flaws, either. She even makes a point of portraying him a more complex person than his common public image of a "jolly, jocose gentleman," as his daughter Kate put it. Margoyles takes note of Dickens' fixation on seventeen-year-old girls. She explains that it stemmed from the death of his sister-in-law, who died in his arms at the age seventeen. I was surprised and happy when candidly declared, "I find them all rather icky, actually ... for obvious reasons." I feel like Margolyes treats the characters with a respect that Dickens didn't always give them. A fun and quirky scene between little Nell and Mrs. Jarley from The Curiosity Shop shows how she does new things with Dickens' work while still respecting and retaining the defining characteristics of it.
There are times when she switches between two characters in one scene. The scene where she plays Miss Corney and Mr. Bumble from Oliver Twist while narrating their actions is brilliant and hilarious. She also reads two excerpts from Great Expectations, Pips first and second meeting with Miss Havisham. And the performance is haunting and mesmerizing.
There is so much power in all of her portrayals, but the most amazing ones for me were of the lesbian Miss Wade from Little Dorrit and the lonely, confused spinster, Miss Flight from Bleak House. Miriam Margolyes is deeply engaging, modulating her voice in a way that immediately captures the character and tone for the scenes. It perceptively captured Dickens as a writer and a person. I thought it was brilliant!
Miriam Margoleys will be going to the U.K next, then the U.S. So some of you might get to see her one day!
I got the CD version of the play, and she signed it for me! That was exciting! I was really nervous in line, but she was so friendly!
The play begins with the calming piano introduction of John Martin. However, it's abruptly interrupted by Miriam Margoyles who bursts on stage as the hilarious, alcoholic nurse, Sarah Gamp from Martin Chuzzlewit. And from there, Miriam Margoyles chronicles Charles Dickens' life and how his relationships with women shaped the way he wrote them.
While Miriam Margloyes passion for his work came out in every character she played, she wasn't afraid to talk about his flaws, either. She even makes a point of portraying him a more complex person than his common public image of a "jolly, jocose gentleman," as his daughter Kate put it. Margoyles takes note of Dickens' fixation on seventeen-year-old girls. She explains that it stemmed from the death of his sister-in-law, who died in his arms at the age seventeen. I was surprised and happy when candidly declared, "I find them all rather icky, actually ... for obvious reasons." I feel like Margolyes treats the characters with a respect that Dickens didn't always give them. A fun and quirky scene between little Nell and Mrs. Jarley from The Curiosity Shop shows how she does new things with Dickens' work while still respecting and retaining the defining characteristics of it.
There are times when she switches between two characters in one scene. The scene where she plays Miss Corney and Mr. Bumble from Oliver Twist while narrating their actions is brilliant and hilarious. She also reads two excerpts from Great Expectations, Pips first and second meeting with Miss Havisham. And the performance is haunting and mesmerizing.
There is so much power in all of her portrayals, but the most amazing ones for me were of the lesbian Miss Wade from Little Dorrit and the lonely, confused spinster, Miss Flight from Bleak House. Miriam Margolyes is deeply engaging, modulating her voice in a way that immediately captures the character and tone for the scenes. It perceptively captured Dickens as a writer and a person. I thought it was brilliant!
Miriam Margoleys will be going to the U.K next, then the U.S. So some of you might get to see her one day!
I got the CD version of the play, and she signed it for me! That was exciting! I was really nervous in line, but she was so friendly!
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on 2012-03-11 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-12 12:16 am (UTC)