Shakespeare in the Park
The Summer Challenge: Day 8
I have always had an appreciation for Shakespeare and his plays, however this was the 1st time I had ever watched a live performance of one. Michael and I decided for our anniversary this year that we’d head on over to Delaware Park for Romeo and Juliet. We didn’t really know what to expect and it was certainly an experience.
Shakespeare in Delaware Park began in 1976 and is the 2nd largest (and oldest) free, outdoor Shakespeare theater in the country. It’s nestled in Delaware Park in Buffalo and attracts thousands and thousands of people throughout the summer. We were in awe of the number of people in attendance at last night’s performance! The photo below was posted on their Facebook page.
We were about 1/2 way up the hill and but I was able to get some photos of the stage and the actors. I kept my photos to a minimum because 1. I was there to watch the play and not just take photos and 2. The audience was extremely quiet and I found out that my camera shutter is quite loud in dead silence. I got a few glaring looks from a nearby man but it’s not like I was snapping photos every 2 minutes; more like every 15-20 minutes. I took very few photos throughout the 3 hour performance, so I kept it to a minimum. 🙂
The actors did a decent job with the dialog and portraying the characters but we (as in Michael and I) both kind of felt that it was lacking the iambic pentameter that Shakespeare is known for. We both agreed that maybe we’ve just been exposed to the polished, hollywood versions of the play that we had super high expectations. It’s not as though we thought it was a terrible performance or anything and did enjoy it for what it was.
Seeing as though we had never been there before, we didn’t know what to expect. We laughed the entire time we were waiting for the show to start (we needed to wait about 2 hours) because we were probably the most under-fed people there. We brought a couple drinks (water for me and iced tea for Michael), unlike the thousand people around us. They had wine (and wine glasses), fancy cheeses, and lots of other food packed into their picnic baskets. To each there own, but I had never thought of bringing a 5 course meal (I’m not exaggerating) to watch this play. lol
It was very late when the play was over (10:30pm) and I am glad that we had the experience of the show. It was really neat to watch but I doubt that either one of us will be asking to go again anytime soon.
One thought on “Shakespeare in the Park”
About Jules
Hiya! I’m Jules and I am the Weekend Housewife… I am a graphic designer during the hours of 9-5 during the week and the rest of my time is spent being a mommy, a wife, a cook and baker, a memory keeper and photographer and a crafter.
Those Shakespeareans are quite fancy, aren’t they? 😉 5 course meals in picnic baskets, who has that kind of time? Shakespeareans! hehehe I’m so glad that you got to experience it. Maryland has something very similar but we’ve never attended. Great photos as always.