When Will Shakespeare was combining his considerable imagination
with quill pen in the late 1600’s writing Much
Ado About Nothing, we doubt that he mused, “I wonder how this will play in
Sweden?” From our viewing of the play last
week, the bard can be assured that both time and geography have not muted the
joy of watching the merry war of love betwixt Benedict and Beatrice and the many
misadventures of the play’s mingled stories.
No less imaginative was the troop of English speaking actors
who performed the play typically requiring 19 characters with only six cast
members. A few cut scenes, actors
disguised with hats and false moustaches or a metal bucket placed atop their
heads and unspoken license from the audience as actors slipped between roles, carried
the evening. |
| Palace and Gardens |
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| Palace Theater on Right |
We also experienced a few per-performance misadventures of
our own. After a minor adventure of
subway and bus travel beyond our previous limits, we arrived at the grounds of
Drottningholm Palace only to find shuttered doors on the large palace theater. Although Drottningholm Palace is the
sprawling primary residence of the Swedish royals, the place appeared
closed. Questions about the whereabouts
of the performance posed to a lone, young handsomely dressed palace guard left
us no better informed. However, witnessing
our wanderings, the young guard made inquiries via phone and eventually pointed
us deeper into the formal palace gardens.
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| Open Theater in the Gardens |
Our search for the “theater” ended with the discovery of people
on benches in a cozy hedge park. Okay;
it was to be an evening of Shakespeare under the stars. Although the evening was overcast and a bit
chilly and breezy, Jay’s overcoat served as warm comforter. We stayed glued to our front row seats.
As our time slowly comes to a close here in Sweden, we are
struck by the easy flow of our lives in Stockholm. We know an easy flow of living awaits us when
we return to Atlanta in October. Shakespeare
will then be savored from a dinner table at the Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree
Street. It will be a familiar and
comforting environment, but the absence of a smartly dressed palace guard will
be sorely missed.
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