{"id":2218,"date":"2015-01-25T11:09:36","date_gmt":"2015-01-25T17:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/?p=2218"},"modified":"2015-01-25T19:33:19","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T01:33:19","slug":"matamore-imagery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/?p=2218","title":{"rendered":"Matamore Imagery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Herein’s a repository of imagery I associate with Matamore, from Tony Kushner’s The Illusion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I first saw The Illusion<\/em> at the Court Theater in 2010. Their Matamore was played by a leading-man rather than a character actor. Likewise, he was dressed less as a braggadocio and more as a straight-up musketeer.<\/p>\n

\"Timothy<\/a>

Timothy Edward Kane as Matamore, with Michael Mahler as “The Son” of many names, in the Court’s 2010 production. Photo by Michael Brosilow<\/p><\/div>\n

The Court’s Matamore was also more multilayered than the script would seem to entail. His scene with Lyse in the second act showed a great self-awareness, defeat, and a quiet romanticism, rather than continued falsity and bellowing. Although this subtlety is something I hope to bring to performance as well, I no longer feel (as I once did) that a ‘sincere warrior’ costume is necessary for this three-dimensional character to exist.<\/p>\n

The Court also gave Matamore a second, simpler (and more Jesus-y) costume for later, when his more three-dimensional nature was revealed. This means he actually appeared simpler, cleaner, and more honest at the very end, which was interesting.<\/p>\n

\"Matamore's<\/a>

Matamore’s initial costume, followed by the “honest” post-retreat costume. Sketches by Jacqueline Firkins.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Peter Bartlett as Matamore in Signature Theatre’s 2011 production. Photo by Joan Marcus<\/p><\/div>\n

From what I’ve seen, the more traditional Matamore is made up in finery and fake honors, like Signature Theater’s. Since I’m rather short (and a bit on the doughy side), a braggart costume would presumably be more successful than any attempt to dress me up like a sincere warrior. Ultimately, however, I think any costume that denotes pretension would work. Bartlett’s Matamore (right<\/em>) reminded me instantly of my performance as Mozart in Amadeus<\/em><\/a>, around this time last year…<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>

Me as Mozart and Mack Heath as Salieri in World Stage’s Amadeus. Photo by Zach McLain<\/p><\/div>\n

Although equally admonished as a braggart and a fool, Shaffer’s Mozart is above-all a child in an adult world, and it is this attribute that I think is most charming about Matamore: a child, trying desperately to succeed in a grownup world he does not understand. This naivety of character, I think, would be nicely complimented by my short stature and relatively impish appearance.<\/p>\n

Below is a collection of imagery I associate with Matamore. Chief among them is the Onion Knight, an inept child-warrior of exaggerated appearance. This, more than anything, is how I see Matamore right now: a little boy playing at manhood with exaggerated finery. I particularly love the plume and the pantaloons, but that’s just me.<\/p>\n

\""Onion<\/a>

“Onion Knight” from Final Fantasy Tactics<\/p><\/div>\n

\""Onion<\/a>

“Onion Knight” from Final Fantasy 3<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Leviathan.<\/a>

Leviathan. “Trullish chambermaid, do you think That such a gross Leviathan as myself would stoop To spy upon my future Queen?”<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Capitano,<\/a>

Capitano, a stock character of Commedia<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Baron<\/a>

Baron Munchausen, a legendary German liar and lunatic<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Baron<\/a>

Baron Munchausen, legendary German liar and lunatic<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Fiery<\/a>

Fiery Heart. “The Queen of Iceland?” “Will not let me rest; pursues me in her sled; And wants my fiery love to thaw Her frozen marriage bed.”<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Moon<\/a>

Moon Cavern. “The moon… It’s cold and bleak up there, they say. Perhaps in a cave, on a comfortable rock, Viewing the expanse of some lifeless lunar desert, I’ll learn to dream smaller, less tumultuous dreams.”<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Herein’s a repository of imagery I associate with Matamore, from Tony Kushner’s The Illusion. I first saw The Illusion at the Court Theater in 2010. Their Matamore was played by a leading-man rather than a character actor. Likewise, he was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theater-stuff"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9u111-zM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2218"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2238,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218\/revisions\/2238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jaredmcdaris.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}