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In Act 1, Scene 2, I chose the character Bottom. He is the man who tries to take over Peter Quince’s lead involving the craftsmen’s production of the Pyramus and Thisbe story for Theseus’s marriage celebration. When receiving a first impression of Bottom in the written version, I viewed him as a man who has an outstanding belief in his own abilities thinking he was perfect for every part in the play. Bottom, however, was really not as great as what he perceives as he frequently makes a lot of mistakes in his acting.
In the Bennet version, they portrayed Bottom in a different type of appearance. He was viewed with a lot of humor mainly when he says the lines “An I may hide my face, let me play Thisby too. I’ll speak in a monstrous little voice: “Thisne, Thisne!” (1.2. 42-43) Here, Bottom was viewed with humor in which he was totally unaware of as his speech is overdramatic and confidential as his other fellow actors thought were hilarious. Bottom compared to my first impression from the written version is very different the way he acts in the Bennet version with his character of being very outgoing.
On the other hand, in the Dromgle version, Bottom’s character is interpreted similar to the written version of what I thought his character to be as a first impression. He is very arrogant and serious as the way he is acting makes it seem that he doesn’t care what Peter Quince has to say at all. Bottom shows this when he states “Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the scroll. Masters, spread yourselves.” (1.2.12-13) The interpretation of Bottom’s character here shows that Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence meanwhile he frequently is making mistakes.
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I have a hard time deciding which is my favorite Bottom, but I think one is the Dromgoole version. He does look older, but it’s also such a different kind of fool. We know from the lines that you point out that Bottom is at the very least overly optimistic about his abilities. Most versions pick up on that as arrogance. But Bottom is also quite loving and enthusiastic for others (he says the play is good before he’s even read it!). There lies the interesting thing about Bottom: he’s a likable ass (pun intended… you’ll see). He means well. In the Domgoole version Bottom is kind of a classic fool. Although he also seems like maybe he’s a stoner like in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. We all know that person, too!
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The character I chose was also Bottom Act 1 Scene 2. In the book, Bottom seemed like he was outgoing and very passionate about being a part of Quince’s production. He asks Quince what’s the name of the production and then he says “A very good piece of work, I assure you and a merry.” (1.2. 14-15) When Bottom says this it makes it seem like he’s excited and eager to be a part of the production that he could not contain himself he wants to know everything about it.
In the Bennet version, we are introduced to Bottom who is played by a young male actor who comes in the scene with a lot of energy and ready to get things started. Out of all the actors waiting in the room, he’s the more outgoing one because we see he asks all the questions from whats the production about and whos playing what in it. When he takes out his phone and starts filming himself and proceeds to record flute I thought that was sort of obnoxious I felt as if he didn’t care for what others had to say in that moment he just felt like doing whatever he wanted. I also thought that him offering to play every part was very obnoxious because the production wasn’t a one-man show other characters were going to be portrayed by the actors standing in that same room.
In the Dromoogle version, Bottom is played by a much older man with long hair and much more facial hair this made me think that maybe he wouldn’t be so arrogant I felt that since he was older he would be more mature. When Bottom began his lines I knew it was going to be the same or more arrogance you can even see how the audience laughs at him when he thinks he can play all the characters alone. He kept interrupting Quince while he was trying to tell the other actors whom they were going to play which made it seem like he wanted to be the center of attention.
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Age is an interesting observation (and maybe related to what I wrote to Chris, too). The youthful arrogant kid (the art student!! or YouTube star, of course!) is more loveable than an old arrogant guy (Theseus? Egeus? Oberon?), but a foolish old man is also funny. Perhaps because these play with opposites (inexperience imagines knowledge; experience forgets knowledge!).
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