Many stories are ready to tell the theater to their viewers. The performances of famous authors are of interest to many. Especially if it is an unusual, extravagant and controversial action. Today, viewers can watch the performance "Love Potion". Reviews of the production will help to draw conclusions about whether it is worth going to this production or not. The plot and interesting facts will be considered in the article.
About the play
The play “Love Potion” (audience reviews will be discussed later) was based on Niccolo Machiavelli’s famous play Mandrake. It was written five hundred years ago and in its time made a lot of noise thanks to the sharp, bold to audacity satire and the merciless denunciation of the moral and customs of the society at that time. The play is no less interesting to this day.
The author did not spare hypocrites, hypocrites and holy men in his accusatory farce, therefore, both the premiere of the play and each subsequent production of it were always scandalous and shocked the public.
about the author
The name Niccolo Machiavelli is known to every more or less educated person. The great medieval philosopher, thinker, writer, poet and politician immortalized himself with the single phrase "The end justifies the means."
A cynical politician who believes that state power should not be based on morality, which can be neglected in the name of a good goal, but on profit and strength, Machiavelli, however, severely criticized the decline of morals in his modern society.
Modern staging
Nowadays, medieval Florentine comedy has been adapted to the acute problems and difficult realities of modern life. The author of a new, modernized text was Kirill Persikov, whose play "Love Potion" was staged by Moscow director Konstantin Bogomolov under the auspices of the Art Agency XXI theater agency.
As a result, the cumbersome and verbose comedy of the sixteenth century turned into a witty dynamic farce with vivid characters, modern jokes and masterly acting improvisations.
According to reviews, the performance "Love Potion", based on direct direct communication of the actors with the audience, does not leave anyone indifferent. The audience who visited the production leaves directly opposite reviews about it. Some blame the play for vulgarity and primitiveness, while others praise it as a model of "killer" humor and a source of good mood.
Plot
The play is based on a completely trivial plot. Don Nich, an elderly rich resident of Florence, has a young attractive wife. As usual, a young nobleman Kallimako is in love with her. To see his beloved, without arousing suspicion from her husband, he impersonates a doctor whom Don Nitsche, alarmed by the fact that his wife cannot give him a legal heir for too long, invites her to her.
Of course, Kallimako himself could not have organized all this intrigue. It was conceived and implemented by Ligurio - a cynic, joker, wit, who does not have strict moral principles, which allows him not only without a twinge of conscience to help her lover deceive her husband, but also artistically fool the head of 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 opinion of the audience, incendiary dances and funny couplets are organically interwoven into the action of the “Love Enough Potion” (Moscow), which makes it even more vivid and spectacular.
Cast
An important role in the success of the production was played by the successful choice of the cast. Reviews of the "Love Potion" play in St. Petersburg indicate that its decoration was the virtuoso duet of Maria Aronova (Sostrata) and Mikhail Policeitsimako (Ligurio). Their sharp dialogues, sparkling humor and brilliant improvisations can not leave the audience indifferent.
Supporting roles in the performance are also performed by talented actors. Don Nitsche 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 has changed from time to time, and roles in it were performed by such actors as Viktor Dobronravov, Dmitry Miller, Dmitry Prokofiev, Vyacheslav Grishechkin, Grigory Siyatvinda, Stepan Abramov. The duet Aronov-Policeitsimako always remained unchanged, thanks to which the performance was successful in many theater stages.
Stylistics
The rating of the “Love Potion” performance, 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 to the traditional Stanislavsky system cannot accept.
The tone of the whole performance is set by the leading performers, on which, in fact, the audience goes. One of the reviews about the play “Love Potion” with Aronova says that in a duet with Policeimako they make up a “killer mix” of humor and are simply created for playing together on stage. The audience who attended this performance several times, notes that in their improvisations, the actors, adhering to the main line of the plot, almost never repeat.
Negative reviews
Some reviews of the "Love Potion" play make you wonder if it’s worth it to go at all? The audience writes about the performance that it all went astonishingly, all the humor below the waist, the jokes are flat and outdated, and the actors are grimacing and rude to the audience.
In addition, viewers note frank "mistakes" in their reviews during improvisations, for example, "relax by the sea in Florence."
Most of the negative reviews point out the weakness of the director's production, which even the professional game of Aronova and Policeitsamako, who “drag” the whole performance, cannot save.
It is worth noting that part of the audience left during the intermission, without waiting for the end of the performance.
Positive reviews
Well, the perception of humor is different for all people. And, as already mentioned above, this play has always enjoyed scandalous fame and split the audience into ardent admirers 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.
For example, some argue that they were skeptical about going to the play. However, despite the fact that there is an outright farce on the stage, it seemed incredibly funny. You just need to discard previously formed ideas about the drama theater and accept the game according to completely different rules. And then the viewer will be able to get guaranteed pleasure from both the actors' play and the interpretation of the classic play.
To go or not to go is the question.
So, after reading the reviews of the "Love Potion" performance, it is difficult to understand whether it is worth going to it. You can come to a certain opinion. 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 program “Full House” and “Around the Laughter”, 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 humor “below the belt”, feel free to buy a ticket and get your portion of the performance pleasure . In the end, the actors are also people and have the right to just have fun on stage. The main thing that they do is talented and professional.
The performance deserves attention. The game of actors, an unusual style of staging will interest an experienced spectator. 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.