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Theater review: Amadeus
Nov. 17th, 2019 02:10 pmSaw Amadeus at the Folger Theater on Friday night! It was amazing and absolutely bonkers and I loved it.
The plot of Amadeus is basically that Salieri found Mozart so annoying he decided to fistfight god. More accurately, or less flippantly, Salieri is so jealous that God would give such musical talent - the musical talent he had begged and bargained with Him for - to someone so vulgar and obnoxious that he decides to thwart God via his supposed vessel on earth, by destroying Mozart's career. I assume there's no historical basis for any of this, but it certainly made for an interesting drama.
The play is kind of structured as an extended monologue on Salieri's part; it doesn't so much break the fourth wall as not bother to construct one in the first place. Someone I was chatting with at intermission said that in the movie, Salieri's narration is included as a voiceover, and I'm curious about how that changes things; I feel like it would come across as more passive, less personal? Like, in the play, one gets the sense that Salieri's narration is conjuring up everything else that happens on stage.
The aesthetic of this production can best be described as "manically baroque"— Salieri's sober black coat, even with the addition of embroidery and lace later in the show, stood in stark contrast to everyone else's bedazzled pastels, and Mozart's multicolored wigs; the stage was framed with what looked like giant harps, with gold 'strings' that formed walls that could be lurked behind in plot-significant ways.
I think what made the story work so well is that both Salieri and Mozart were, in their way, sympathetic characters. Amadeus's Mozart is indeed vulgar and obnoxious - a flighty, filthy-mouthed fop with a laugh like the screech of a violin playing the wrong note - but there was something endearing in his sheer enthusiasm, and then, of course, he's such a wreck by the end of the play, you can't help but pity him. Salieri is objectively the villain of the piece - attempting to destroy one's rival, professionally and personally, certainly does not make one the good guy - but he's also the narrator; he takes the audience into his confidence, so of course we're on his side, at least at first. Still, in the end, I couldn't help but pity him, too— the self-described "patron saint of mediocrity," even his attempt to ensure he'd have some sort of legacy by encouraging the rumors that he poisoned Mozart - preferring infamy to being forgotten - failed; he couldn't even die with the dramatic flair he wanted.
The plot of Amadeus is basically that Salieri found Mozart so annoying he decided to fistfight god. More accurately, or less flippantly, Salieri is so jealous that God would give such musical talent - the musical talent he had begged and bargained with Him for - to someone so vulgar and obnoxious that he decides to thwart God via his supposed vessel on earth, by destroying Mozart's career. I assume there's no historical basis for any of this, but it certainly made for an interesting drama.
The play is kind of structured as an extended monologue on Salieri's part; it doesn't so much break the fourth wall as not bother to construct one in the first place. Someone I was chatting with at intermission said that in the movie, Salieri's narration is included as a voiceover, and I'm curious about how that changes things; I feel like it would come across as more passive, less personal? Like, in the play, one gets the sense that Salieri's narration is conjuring up everything else that happens on stage.
The aesthetic of this production can best be described as "manically baroque"— Salieri's sober black coat, even with the addition of embroidery and lace later in the show, stood in stark contrast to everyone else's bedazzled pastels, and Mozart's multicolored wigs; the stage was framed with what looked like giant harps, with gold 'strings' that formed walls that could be lurked behind in plot-significant ways.
I think what made the story work so well is that both Salieri and Mozart were, in their way, sympathetic characters. Amadeus's Mozart is indeed vulgar and obnoxious - a flighty, filthy-mouthed fop with a laugh like the screech of a violin playing the wrong note - but there was something endearing in his sheer enthusiasm, and then, of course, he's such a wreck by the end of the play, you can't help but pity him. Salieri is objectively the villain of the piece - attempting to destroy one's rival, professionally and personally, certainly does not make one the good guy - but he's also the narrator; he takes the audience into his confidence, so of course we're on his side, at least at first. Still, in the end, I couldn't help but pity him, too— the self-described "patron saint of mediocrity," even his attempt to ensure he'd have some sort of legacy by encouraging the rumors that he poisoned Mozart - preferring infamy to being forgotten - failed; he couldn't even die with the dramatic flair he wanted.
