Aloha Means Wig

Restoration Comedy opened and its too glorious to blog about. Now I'm in Merchant of Venice with Daniel Fish directing. He's horrifyingly smart and right-on with that play, which I have to say, is one of my top five favorites ever, the oevure of Amy Freed naturally excepted. Andy Murray (Graziano) called me a "poof" within fifteen seconds of the first rehearsal, emblemizing the whirligig of tolerance found within the world of the piece itself. Delia Mac Dougall (Nerissa) tromped on my favorite line of the play during the read-through. I had neither the heart nor the nerve to tell her that this play was called The Merchant, and not the Merry Wives, of Venice. The Oxford Shakespeare footnoted "bosom lover" as "close friend," overlaying the problems of the play by continuing five centuries of tight-bunned scholarship (as in "Gosh, that librarian's bun of hair must hurt" rather than "Work those glutes, girl!"). The cast is awesome. David Chandler and Jenny Bacon who play Shylock and Portia are so good the Simon Wiesenthal Center'll send 'em a plaque before its over; I'd bet on it, if Lutherans were any good at betting.