2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Many stories the theater is ready to tell its audience. Productions by famous authors are of interest to many. Especially if it is an unusual, extravagant and controversial act. Today, viewers can watch the play "Love Potion". Feedback on the production will help draw conclusions about whether it is worth going to this production or not. The plot and interesting facts will be discussed in the article.
About the play
The basis of the play "Love Potion" (reviews from the audience will be discussed later) was the famous play by Niccolò Machiavelli "Mandrake". It was written five hundred years ago and made a lot of noise in its time thanks to its sharp, bold satire to the point of insolence and merciless denunciation of the morals and mores of the society of that time. The play is no less interesting to this day.
The author did not spare hypocrites, bigots and hypocrites in his accusatory farce, therefore both the premiere of the play and each subsequent production of it were always scandalous and shocked the audience.
Aboutauthor
The name of Niccolo Machiavelli is known to every more or less educated person. The great medieval philosopher, thinker, writer, poet and politician immortalized himself with a single phrase "The end justifies the means."
A cynical politician who believes that state power should be based not on morality, which can be neglected in the name of a good goal, but on profit and strength, Machiavelli, however, severely criticized the decline in morals in contemporary society.
Modern production
Today, medieval Florentine comedy has been adapted to the acute issues and complex realities of modern life. The author of the new, modernized text is Kirill Persikov, whose play Love Potion was staged by Moscow director Konstantin Bogomolov under the auspices of the Art Partner XXI theater agency.
As a result, the cumbersome and wordy comedy of the sixteenth century turned into a witty fast-paced farce with colorful characters, modern jokes and masterful acting improvisations.
According to reviews, the play "Love Potion", based on direct communication between the actors and the audience, does not leave anyone indifferent. The audience who visited the production leaves directly opposite reviews about it. Some scold the play for its vulgarity and primitiveness, others praise it as an example of "killer" humor and a source of excellent mood.
Storyline
The play is based on quitetrivial plot. An elderly we althy resident of Florence, Don Nitsch, has an attractive young wife. As usual, the young nobleman Kallimako is in love with her. In order to see his beloved without arousing suspicion in her husband, he pretends to be a doctor, whom Don Nitche, alarmed that his wife cannot give him a legitimate heir for too long, invites her.
Of course, Kallimako himself could not organize all this intrigue. It was conceived and implemented by Ligurio, a cynic, a joker, a wit, who does not have strict moral principles, which allows him not only to shamelessly help his lover to deceive her husband, but also artistically fool the overripe beauty Sostrata, yearning for male attention.
He proved that the thesis of the author of the comedy "The end justifies the means" is applicable not only in politics, but also in personal life. According to the audience, incendiary dances and funny couplets are organically woven into the action of the play "Love Potion" (Moscow), which makes it even more vivid and spectacular.
Cast
The successful choice of the cast played an important role in the success of the production. Reviews of the play "Love Potion" in St. Petersburg indicate that the virtuoso duet of Maria Aronova (Sostrata) and Mikhail Politseymako (Ligurio) became its decoration. Their sharp dialogues, sparkling humor and brilliant improvisations cannot leave the audience indifferent.
Supporting roles in the playalso performed by talented actors. Don Niche was played by Sergey Stepanchenko, his wife Lucretia - Anna Dubrovskaya. In the role of Kallimako, Ignat Akrachkov showed himself perfectly.
The cast of the performance changed from time to time, and the roles in it were played by such actors as Viktor Dobronravov, Dmitry Miller, Dmitry Prokofiev, Vyacheslav Grishechkin, Grigory Siyatvinda, Stepan Abramov. The duo Aronov-Policeimako has always remained unchanged, thanks to which the play was a success on many theatrical stages.
Staging style
The rating of the performance "Love Potion", according to reviews, is approximately eight points out of ten. His style is unusual, and therefore sometimes causes rejection among some viewers. The whole performance is built on the basis of acting improvisation and free communication with the audience, which adherents of the traditional Stanislavsky system cannot put up with.
The tone for the whole performance is set by the performers of the main roles, which, in fact, are the audience. One of the reviews about the play "Love Potion" with Aronova says that in a duet with Policemako they make up a "lethal mixture" of humor and are simply created for playing together on stage. The viewer, who has visited this performance several times, notes that in their improvisations, the actors, adhering to the main plot line, almost never repeat themselves.
Negative reviews
Some reviews about the play "Love Potion" make you wonder if it's worth going to it at all? Spectators write about the performance,that all this is amazingly vulgar, all the humor is below the belt, the jokes are flat and outdated, and the actors are grimacing and rude to the audience.
In addition, viewers note in their reviews frank "blunders" during improvisations, for example, "relax by the sea in Florence."
Most of the negative reviews point to the weakness of the director's production, which is not saved even by the professional acting of Aronova and Politseymako, who "drag" the entire performance.
It is worth noting that part of the audience left during the intermission, without waiting for the end of the performance.
Positive feedback
Well, everyone's perception of humor is different. And, as mentioned above, this play has always enjoyed scandalous fame and split the audience into ardent fans and ardent opponents. This is evidenced by numerous positive reviews about the play "Love Potion".
Viewers recommend it to those who want to laugh heartily and have a great time. The performance is light, sparkling, positive, filling the hall with bright positive emotions.
So, for example, some claim that they were skeptical when they went to see the play. However, despite the fact that an outright farce takes place on stage, it seemed incredibly funny. You just need to discard the previously formed ideas about the dramatic theater and accept the game according to completely different rules. And then the viewer will be able to get guaranteed pleasure both from the acting and from the interpretationclassical piece.
To go or not to go, that is the question
So, after reading the reviews of the performance "Love Potion", it is difficult to understand whether it is worth going to see it. You can come to a certain point of view. If you are a representative of the older generation, a supporter of conservative views on life in general and on the theater in particular, if you are not a fan of the Full House and Around Laughter programs, if you are an intellectual and a connoisseur of subtle humor, this show is not for you.
If you want to “turn off your brains”, relax and just laugh heartily, if you are not afraid of all kinds of experiments, including theatrical ones, and if you are not shocked by “below the belt” humor, feel free to buy a ticket and get your portion of the pleasure of the performance. In the end, actors are people too and have the right to just have fun on stage. The main thing that they do is talented and professional.
The production deserves attention. The game of actors, the unusual style of staging will interest the sophisticated viewer. This performance will allow you to have fun and just relax. Knowing what to expect from the production, you can tune in to its correct perception. In this case, the performance will leave a lot of positive emotions and provide a good mood.
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