Post by Steve on Feb 7, 2024 22:39:41 GMT
Saw this tonight and thought it was terrific.
The music has too many minor keys for my taste, potentially too samey and sad, but what is wonderful about the piece is how the whole is massively greater than the sum of its parts, as the cheeriness of the book counterbalances said sad saminess until it is no longer sad and no longer samey.
The same goes for the plot, which is ultra high concept and phoney, but the very human relatable characters similarly suck the pus of contrivance right out of this wound.
Big picture is the piece is unique, charming, romantic, involving, intriguing, funny and moving.
Grace Mouat and Jacob Fowler are both wonderful, and work wonderfully together, creating real chemistry, with Fowler a revelation.
Some spoilers follow. . .
I didn't see the livestream of this piece during lockdown, featuring real life couple, Hadley Fraser and Rosalie Craig, so I can't compare, for those that did.
The high concept set-up of this two-hander is that Ben (Fowler) has forgotten his prior relationship with Ami (Mouat). This allows Mouat's Ami to romance him all over again, without revealing their prior relationship lol!
We cut back and forth between the "Before" (first relationship) and "After" (second relationship) timelines for the duration of the show.
Because Fowler's Ben is unaware of the first relationship in the After segments, he is perpetually the nervy skittish fast-talking sensitive intelligent witty charmer, while Mouat's Ami gets to comically (and romantically) play him like a fiddle for vast chunks of the running time. This is an intrinsically funny set-up, which acts as a much-needed counterpoint to the wistful, minor-key, plaintiveness of the music.
And the actors act the hell out of this set-up, even at this (typically affordable) first preview. Fowler's ability to be sweetly sensitive, as well as foot-in-his-mouth nervous and klutzy, as well as fast-talking and witty, and make that all add up into something supremely endearing and charming, is key to the enjoyment of this piece.
And Mouat beautifully allows her character to appreciate all these qualities of Fowler, even as we do, which is why their chemistry feels so lovely.
No, I generally would not listen to such minor-key sad samey music (one song is like an inferior version of Keane's "Somewhere only we know," without the major key lift), but as part of this show, and to my absolute surprise, it really really works, and the plaintiveness compliments the character work to make a magnificent whole that touched me tonight.
4 and a half stars from me.
PS: Running time was 1 hour 30 minutes (8:05pm - 9:35pm), played without an interval.
PPS: All seats and angles looked as if they afforded good views, with the director sitting in what would typically be thought of as the furthest back, most extreme side view, tonight, and to my eye, she would have got a view almost as good as anyone else, so equitably is this piece blocked.
The music has too many minor keys for my taste, potentially too samey and sad, but what is wonderful about the piece is how the whole is massively greater than the sum of its parts, as the cheeriness of the book counterbalances said sad saminess until it is no longer sad and no longer samey.
The same goes for the plot, which is ultra high concept and phoney, but the very human relatable characters similarly suck the pus of contrivance right out of this wound.
Big picture is the piece is unique, charming, romantic, involving, intriguing, funny and moving.
Grace Mouat and Jacob Fowler are both wonderful, and work wonderfully together, creating real chemistry, with Fowler a revelation.
Some spoilers follow. . .
I didn't see the livestream of this piece during lockdown, featuring real life couple, Hadley Fraser and Rosalie Craig, so I can't compare, for those that did.
The high concept set-up of this two-hander is that Ben (Fowler) has forgotten his prior relationship with Ami (Mouat). This allows Mouat's Ami to romance him all over again, without revealing their prior relationship lol!
We cut back and forth between the "Before" (first relationship) and "After" (second relationship) timelines for the duration of the show.
Because Fowler's Ben is unaware of the first relationship in the After segments, he is perpetually the nervy skittish fast-talking sensitive intelligent witty charmer, while Mouat's Ami gets to comically (and romantically) play him like a fiddle for vast chunks of the running time. This is an intrinsically funny set-up, which acts as a much-needed counterpoint to the wistful, minor-key, plaintiveness of the music.
And the actors act the hell out of this set-up, even at this (typically affordable) first preview. Fowler's ability to be sweetly sensitive, as well as foot-in-his-mouth nervous and klutzy, as well as fast-talking and witty, and make that all add up into something supremely endearing and charming, is key to the enjoyment of this piece.
And Mouat beautifully allows her character to appreciate all these qualities of Fowler, even as we do, which is why their chemistry feels so lovely.
No, I generally would not listen to such minor-key sad samey music (one song is like an inferior version of Keane's "Somewhere only we know," without the major key lift), but as part of this show, and to my absolute surprise, it really really works, and the plaintiveness compliments the character work to make a magnificent whole that touched me tonight.
4 and a half stars from me.
PS: Running time was 1 hour 30 minutes (8:05pm - 9:35pm), played without an interval.
PPS: All seats and angles looked as if they afforded good views, with the director sitting in what would typically be thought of as the furthest back, most extreme side view, tonight, and to my eye, she would have got a view almost as good as anyone else, so equitably is this piece blocked.
