AIM IM ALL”S WELL

AIM IM with WS and LJ on 12/13/08

8:12 PM
WS: still away?

8:56 PM
LJ: here

9:29 PM
WS: col now too?

LJ: ameaning what

WS: it meant cool not col

LJ: whats a happenin muskat

WS: i replied to the uvic mail
quite an honour man
it’s the number one site on shakes in my mind

LJ: is it now
well get em to let you do some lecturing

WS: i’m hoping something might come from it
it’s also posted on the shakespeare post site which has got a few readers.

LJ: what did ya post
you still blogging

WS: about to do a blog on all’s well that ends well. the blog is posted.
yep starte again i was blogstipated
weird fuckin play man

LJ: yeah just saw it last night
very wierd woman manipulation
cowardly soldiers
lost kings

WS: the fuck

LJ: great chambermaids

WS: ill bet
now i’m reading from a woman’s perspective
if the guys are such dorks and the femmes manipulating the situation
plus the religious shit that’s in there
proddy versus catholic. fuckin saint jaques
who the fuck is he?
where did you see it

LJ: dont know
fraire jagues of nursery rhymes?

WS: lol

LJ: new school / actors studio

WS: good point
so a youthful cast?

LJ: too youthful & a bad mix of method & non method director
very few performances of note
the chaimbermaids were good

WS: fuck that tell me concept
modern dress

LJ: turn of the century – france
just pre ww1

WS: and Florence
cool

LJ: bare stage
no design – minimum props

WS: accent on the words

LJ: not even

WS: really dense fuckin language btw

LJ: theyre trained method
and the director is an old shakespeare director
with no method training

WS: so lots of lust and rejection and pomposity

LJ: it was boring except for the writing
fortunately it wasn’t over mugged or over played
it felt like a cover-band performance, each one awaiting their turn to speak
non of the give & take one expects in regular conversation

WS: that’s the respeck for shakespeare thing

LJ: lots of bodies standing idly on the stage

WS: but the chambermaids were hot?

LJ: not reacting to the goings on in the dialog
they interacted well with each other & surroundings
though they spoke a paltry 10 lines tween them
but set the mood & character reaction
think of it as the 2 hapless pirates in pirates of the carib, who keep getting swept up in the action
yet their expressions cue in the audience

WS: betram and Parolles
Bertram

LJ: as to how to react to events
is it outrageous or merely another day in the park

WS: exactly

LJ: the maids provided that with their interaction
and facial expressions

WS: what the fuck is going on at the heart of this story?

LJ: if women treated men as men treat them in manipulation

WS: Bertram’s a knob. Parolles on the page sounds believable. helena a bit to Reese witherspoon connivy
explain further that last point

LJ: ok
role reversal in the sexes
think of all those great stories where the ‘man’ ugly as sin etc… manages to win the heart of the fair maiden through some conniving & mischief
now here is helena wanting the learned doctor son who gets called to court
he is a bit naive & under the influence of the scalliwag captain
looking to make a name & a life for himself
all this is cut short when marriage is thrust upon him with one he considers not his equall (she was a maid or such in the household)
there is the lecture of the value of the virginity & weathered pears
besides the point

WS: this where the text is better
it is the point

LJ: way better

WS: he’s a Count btw
his mther is the Countess

LJ: the rest of the characters manipulate just as much as helena

WS: exactly

LJ: on;y her quest is manlove&child

WS: Helena is the physicians daughter

LJ: while others is social status

WS: she cures the French King who grants this wish she has

LJ: yes but bertam is also a physician

WS: No he’s a Courtier going to the Court of France to advance his ambitions

LJ: hes the son of a lady who was married to helena’s pop?
the beginning is unclear

WS: the king of France is sick and thinks he’s gonna die and his best physicians have told they can do nothing more for him.
I agree
on the page it’s a lot of deep character work and interelationships and dense mannered language
But then bertrams mum the countess who employed helena’s father as a physician sees helena’s cow-sickness
and sends her after Bertram

LJ: the maids let it slip, they are the catalists

WS: she arrives at Court and makes this weird deal with the king
i’m gonna look at that

LJ: yeah its a wierd play

WS: it’s a reversal of the commoner getting up into the noble’s affairs

LJ: it gives her the power of the king to back up her wants

WS: coz frankly it could never have happened you’d think. Social snobbery has a long history.
exactly his word is god’s word
bertram backs down like the neo-phyte he is
sets up his escape plan with Parolles help and encouragement
and then becomes a hero
all the while unsuspecting of his companion’s utter incompetence until some one tells him and they set the trap for Parolles
the pirates of the carib comparison was spot on
it doesn’t fit genre either
it’s one of the problem plays
the fashion of the time of writing was satire
but i could see it working as a romcom
adam sandler and reese witherspoon and Johnny Depp
a dark romcom with all sexual puns exploited etc
the vrgin quibble is excellent
first view of the roguish cap’n

LJ: bertram’s lament is basically this: i have come of age, i want to venture forth and earn my manhood rites including earn a woman & here he is given one at court

WS: so it’s a coming of age story

LJ: he is governed 7 ruled by women (his mother) till the point he runs & joins the army
yes & part of that is the whole virginity thing

WS: which was shown forgive the pun to be nothing

LJ: which both he & helena are obsessed by

WS: which remains a fair thought to lie between a lady’s legs
so he’s a virgin too?

LJ: sure

WS: american pie kind of gags
40 year old virgin

LJ: look how he woes the other girl when an army of whores is camped by the army

WS: woes or woos?

LJ: nope me thinks he is a lad

WS: he becomes a lad or is one already
did court life corrupt him immediately and entirely?

LJ: hence the power of ‘captain’ parolles over him with stories & deeds

WS: zackly

LJ: the old lord sees strait through parolles in the first day of court

WS: i love that guy

LJ: yep – seen – done – dealt with it all, an elder statesman

WS: those lines about parolles are wc fields incorporated

LJ: why would he want to flog off his daughter on bertram in the end?

WS: there can be no kernel in this light nut; the soul of this man is in his clothes.
yeppers totally freakin weird
dynastic and political continuity?

LJ: not really mentioned, perhaps he is such a hero that his daughter is smitten by him too

WS: maybe bertram has gathered street cred

LJ: but funny that he just ‘lost ‘his wife & has another woman thrust upon him

WS: girls love the bad guy too
weired

LJ: yay nay – the florentine girl he woes – then denies in court, the whole business with the rings & the letter

WS: Lafew the old guy also says to Parolles:Methinkst thou art a general offense, and every man should beat thee. You are not worth another word, else i’ll call you knave
that fuckin ring thing and bed-trick thing is classic too.
and the letters
all used indivdually in earlier plays but now fashion dictates bring in one bring in em all for that plush effect
the clown is an equivocal bastard that’s for sure
he talks in paradoxes and antitheses
it’s a mind workout reading this stuff
seeing should be easier

LJ: yes, the basic plot points are easy to follow

WS: but the density and stupidity of what is said and what is done and how is mind-boggling
knaves and fools sir
virtue and virginity sir
ooh suits you
is your virtuous sir
wife
ill bet she is
In every thing i’ll wait upon his will, Helena says at the end of act 2 scene 4
Pure filth sir
what? will?
her wait ing on it sir
how heavy is she sir?
try these
The History Channel – Podcast
Military History Podcast
i downloaded some on to mypod
you got a nyphone?
if not why not?
it’s an extension of your computer and then some at least for the snack users

LJ: yep got an iphone

WS: cool huh?

LJ: handy thing

WS: lol
hey can i use this chat as a blog?

LJ: sure

WS: we basically covered the play in a very weird way over this equally weird medium

LJ: yep, fielding a call right now

WS: ok over and out

LJ: got to go over some work shite for the next half hour or so

WS: laters