I saw "Zastrozzi - The Master of Discipline" at Douglas College (virtually, of course) on Wednesday evening. It is a play written by George F. Walker based on a novel by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It is a strange story based on murder and revenge and philosophy and I didn't like the production much. It might have been because it was on Zoom but it seemed very talky and false and I don't think they really caught the edgy kind of humour that I think is there. I think the only way you can play this script is to really camp it up a lot and only the actor playing Victor (the tutor of the enemy of Zastrozzi) seemed to understand that.
Of course, even though I didn't like it, it was still an interesting experience -- to see it on Zoom and to see them performing at an appropriate distance. All the fight scenes were two metres apart and so the person would strike out and then the recipient of the slap would react, even though they weren't close at all. Just like when we start to learn stage fighting. The actors remained on stage throughout and provided sound effects from the upstage which I have seen before and always enjoy. I like the idea that the artifice is right in front of you. That's a Brechtian thing, and we all know how much I love Brecht.
This is our last day of Spring Break! I hope you got lots of sleep and are going to relish the weekend before we hit the books again. You can check out "Zastrozzi" on the Douglas College website. It is on this evening at 7:30. You just go to the website and scroll down to "events", click on "Zastrozzi" and then click on the Zoom link. It is free!
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