kps
Auditioning
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Post by kps on Mar 12, 2018 16:58:22 GMT
I saw this on Saturday evening.
Most of the play's demerits have been outlined by other posters above, however I wanted to focus on the Weird Sisters in this post.
I simply cannot understand what Rufus sought to achieve with their role in this production. Much of their dialogue has been cut from the play, stripping the play of its supernatural qualities, and the actresses are often deployed as bizarre dressing for the stage, draping uncomfortably from IKEA totem poles. Without the intrigue of the Weird Sisters, the plot is incredibly simplistic and frankly dull.
Additional thoughts:
The less said about the appalling B-Movie set, the better. Rory Kinnear's delivery was like that of a misfiring firearm. Malcolm was well acted, given the circumstances. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the £15 seats (row C in the stalls, central). I would certainly sit there again, for a superior production. The quality of productions at the Olivier has been on the slide for months now. I was fortunate enough to swerve Common, Salome, etc. more by luck than by judgment. The Dorfman & Lyttelton, meanwhile, has played host to many plays that I have thoroughly enjoyed in recent years (John, The Flick, Angels in America...). Hopefully this can be arrested, and soon.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2018 0:03:15 GMT
Well. Oh my. Good old Rufus, attempting to show us just what you can do with half a flyover and a load of bin bags. Turns out, not a lot. Despite being dropped into one of the ugliest, grottiest sets I think I've seen in quite some time, Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff attempt to act up a storm as the MacBs. Unfortunately they fail rather spectacularly.
Having said that, you do get a load of plastic bags on a few sticks to distract your eyes, an inventive use of a job lot of Chucky doll heads and some HI-lari-O.U.S witches, one of whom has obviously wolfed down a whole pack of Percy Pigs by herself as she careers around the stage like a toddler on the hunt for a second glass of orange squash. You almost get some pole dancing from them towards the end which would have perked things up no end but alas, they bottle it, although they do some rather marvellous sliding down a pole acting that many a fireman would be jealous of.
On the plus side, Malcolm is played by the rather foxy Parth Thakerar who is altogether far more delicious than the entire production and is almost worth the ticket price alone. I said almost. But I do thank Rufus all the same.
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Post by peggs on Mar 20, 2018 9:36:44 GMT
@ryan the actual production is never going to match the amusement of your review.
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Post by n1david on Mar 20, 2018 12:38:41 GMT
I thought that nothing could match my disappointment at the NT's Macbeth but that disappointment compounded by getting home and realising I was at the same performance as @ryan and I was not able to share a G&T or 17 in the interval (this was the sort of production that warranted it).
Not much to add to previous comments except to note that it really is spectacularly ugly - what are people wearing for goodness sake? There's no consistency to the look, it's just "stick some more stuff on the stage to make it look odd". The other thing of particular note was Rory Kinnear - we know he can perform Shakespeare wonderfully, so the pauses, the lack of rhythm and the odd accent must have been directorial decisions which only served to accentuate the artificiality of the whole construct.
I am sufficiently intrigued to go to the set of platforms on 30 April - I am very keen to hear Rufus Norris explain his vision for this production, and see how Rory and Anne-Marie talk about their performances.
I'm glad I have the RSC production later this year to look forward to, and I've got another helping of the gruesome twosome on Sunday in the opera version at the ROH. It's turning into quite a Macbeth year.
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Post by peggs on Mar 20, 2018 16:40:45 GMT
Oh yes let us know what the platforms throw up.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2018 17:11:43 GMT
I thought that nothing could match my disappointment at the NT's Macbeth but that disappointment compounded by getting home and realising I was at the same performance as Ryan and I was not able to share a G&T or 17 in the interval (this was the sort of production that warranted it). Oh @n1david, what a shame. We'll have to do it next time. Although when you say "share" a G&T, I hope you mean that we have one each and not one drink with two straws because I need to be clear from the start, I don't share my gin. I am sufficiently intrigued to go to the set of platforms on 30 April - I am very keen to hear Rufus Norris explain his vision for this production, and see how Rory and Anne-Marie talk about their performances. Can you ask them a question for me? I want to know what happened to Parth Thakerar's hand? He had it in a sling in the first half and then what looked like a cast in the second half. Ask them if he is OK and whether he needs someone with great cheekbones called Ryan to administer first aid. Oh yes let us know what the platforms throw up. Judging by how vomit-inducingly ugly the show is I doubt there's much left to throw up to be perfectly honest.
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Post by n1david on Mar 20, 2018 17:50:36 GMT
Can you ask them a question for me? I want to know what happened to Parth Thakerar's hand? He had it in a sling in the first half and then what looked like a cast in the second half. Ask them if he is OK and whether he needs someone with great cheekbones called Ryan to administer first aid. I just assumed that this was a costume decision... Given the gaffer-tape armour and the doll-parts witches' outfits a hand in a cast seemed quite normal, really... And don't worry, the sharing of a single drink was never on the cards - I'm a Scotsman and don't share my alcohol. Although, going back to Macbeth, I was pleased to see that whatever apocalypse had occurred on Planet Dunsinane, Irn Bru still survived...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2018 18:00:19 GMT
I just assumed that this was a costume decision... Given the gaffer-tape armour and the doll-parts witches' outfits a hand in a cast seemed quite normal, really... Oh that could be it. I assumed that he hurt it trying to make a daring escape from this production but your suggestion makes more sense really.
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Post by lynette on Mar 20, 2018 18:51:33 GMT
Oh, I thought he had been wounded in the recent battle and so was a less effective warrior... reminds me of Frances Barber's stick in King Lear. A brilliant piece of characterisation methought. No, she had fallen off her bike.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2018 0:56:23 GMT
I saw this tonight and agree with most of the reviews on this thread. However, there were lots of schools in tonight and during the performance they were so quiet, obviously so engrossed in what they were watching. At the end they all gave a big cheer - especially for McDuff and Kinnear. So, if the kids like it Norris must be getting something right.
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Post by Jan on Mar 21, 2018 6:54:21 GMT
I saw this tonight and agree with most of the reviews on this thread. However, there were lots of schools in tonight and during the performance they were so quiet, obviously so engrossed in what they were watching. At the end they all gave a big cheer - especially for McDuff and Kinnear. So, if the kids like it Norris must be getting something right. Maybe they were cheering because it was over.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 21, 2018 9:42:27 GMT
I am seeing it tonight (couldn't persuade friend to cancel as she's a big Rory fan, even though she has a slipped disc!) and dreading it. But I must say colleague's partner took their son to it and she said they both really enjoyed it - and they're not into Shakespeare at all - so maybe Rufus is on to something and the audience it works for is the one that doesn't normally watch Shakespeare. Which wouldn't include any theatre critics or most regular NT-going theatreboard members....
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Post by Snciole on Mar 21, 2018 10:29:45 GMT
I am sufficiently intrigued to go to the set of platforms on 30 April - I am very keen to hear Rufus Norris explain his vision for this production, and see how Rory and Anne-Marie talk about their performances. Can you ask them a question for me? I want to know what happened to Parth Thakerar's hand? He had it in a sling in the first half and then what looked like a cast in the second half. Ask them if he is OK and whether he needs someone with great cheekbones called Ryan to administer first aid. Ryan and Parth earlier.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2018 11:53:26 GMT
I am seeing it tonight (couldn't persuade friend to cancel as she's a big Rory fan, even though she has a slipped disc!) and dreading it. But I must say colleague's partner took their son to it and she said they both really enjoyed it - and they're not into Shakespeare at all - so maybe Rufus is on to something and the audience it works for is the one that doesn't normally watch Shakespeare. Which wouldn't include any theatre critics or most regular NT-going theatreboard members.... I also think that if you're young and/or don't get to the theatre often just the act of being there is thrilling and something quite mediocre can be elevated to the extraordinary just by the fact that live people are there right in front of you - that was my experience as a teenager anyway. Add in people that I recognised off the telly and I could well have wet myself, let alone cheered.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 21, 2018 12:51:40 GMT
I am seeing it tonight (couldn't persuade friend to cancel as she's a big Rory fan, even though she has a slipped disc!) and dreading it. But I must say colleague's partner took their son to it and she said they both really enjoyed it - and they're not into Shakespeare at all - so maybe Rufus is on to something and the audience it works for is the one that doesn't normally watch Shakespeare. Which wouldn't include any theatre critics or most regular NT-going theatreboard members.... I also think that if you're young and/or don't get to the theatre often just the act of being there is thrilling and something quite mediocre can be elevated to the extraordinary just by the fact that live people are there right in front of you - that was my experience as a teenager anyway. Add in people that I recognised off the telly and I could well have wet myself, let alone cheered. You do have a point - but the teenager in question does get taken with his mum (she skipped this one and sent the other half as she can't handle stage blood) at least a few times a year, so the novelty of that should have worn off by now.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2018 15:06:34 GMT
I am seeing it tonight (couldn't persuade friend to cancel as she's a big Rory fan, even though she has a slipped disc!) and dreading it. But I must say colleague's partner took their son to it and she said they both really enjoyed it - and they're not into Shakespeare at all - so maybe Rufus is on to something and the audience it works for is the one that doesn't normally watch Shakespeare. Which wouldn't include any theatre critics or most regular NT-going theatreboard members.... I also think that if you're young and/or don't get to the theatre often just the act of being there is thrilling and something quite mediocre can be elevated to the extraordinary just by the fact that live people are there right in front of you - that was my experience as a teenager anyway. Add in people that I recognised off the telly and I could well have wet myself, let alone cheered. Yes...I wondered if the students were so engrossed because they’d been studying the play and know it well but were thrilled to see it suddenly brought to life and in such a way. However there were two older girls a few rows behind us who tried hard to contain their scornful guffaws but gave up when the witches came on and started imitating their voices and the witchy sound effects. I would complain about them on the bad behaviour thread if they hadn’t provided me more entertainment than the action on stage.
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Post by foxa on Mar 21, 2018 16:29:05 GMT
We're in tonight. Front row of the circle. I'll be the one next to a man looking furious at being dragged to another dubious show...
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Post by Snciole on Mar 21, 2018 16:32:18 GMT
We're in tonight. Front row of the circle. I'll be the one next to a man looking furious at being dragged to another dubious show... Praying hard for Mr Foxa tonight. Knees and everything.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 21, 2018 23:12:23 GMT
Eurgh.
What an ugly, dull production - only rising to the height of ‘creepy’ a couple of times. Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff are better than this.
The school group sat behind us were not impressed either.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 8:00:03 GMT
I wonder what kind of Macbeth Robert Icke would deliver....
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Post by foxa on Mar 22, 2018 9:11:53 GMT
Mr Foxa didn't demand to leave at the interval - so that's something.
The positives: I liked the huge rampy thing as it was first positioned, suggesting that the story would spill out towards the audience. When it was used, it encouraged the best staging in the show. (However they lost faith in it and were constantly shunting it to one side and bringing in measly, mean little sets instead. Plus they missed a trick - it was crying out for someone to skateboard down it.) Kinnear delivered the lines about 'a tale told by an idiot' well. The second half held my interest more than the first half.
The negatives: The world of the play. It seems odd to have a play about ambition, reordering the hierarchy and the importance of the king set where there is no clear hierarchy and the only perk of being king is getting to wear a red suit. Otherwise, Duncan was sitting on plastic chairs (sometimes covered with a plastic sheet - why?) and sleeping on the tiniest and thinnest of camp beds.The food, still packaged in little boxes for the feast, could have been lifted from a particularly poor motorway service station. Mr Foxa wondered if the Macbeth 'castle' was an abandoned Butlins resort. Also the weird sisters didn't seem weirder than a lot of the other characters - say the sparkly dress bobble hat person who danced on a table or Fleance who was running around covered by a large cardboard box looking like SpongeBob SquarePants. The relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth just didn't happen - Mr Foxa wished it had the intensity of the publicity shot. You had to question Macbeth's judgement if he thought he'd chosen good murderers, one of whom seemed to struggle with and then give up on opening his little tinny of beer. Is he really the person for job? The music and lighting did nothing to add to the atmosphere or storytelling. At one point a witch was crouched over a smoke machine so it looked like she was farting smoke - was that the desired effect? (If so, I think it could have been a good running gag.) In another scene, Macduff found himself suddenly and confusingly out of the light and looked pissed off. Or maybe he was acting - who knows.
I asked Mr Foxa what he liked best about the production and he said he thought Kinnear was at least trying things. He had a longer list of what he didn't like including (and he was bizarrely adamant about this) the doctor wearing wellies - 'So is the queen of the realm being treated by a vet - just so wrong! - and Macbeth having his armour taped on ('Surely the king of the realm wouldn't need, etc. etc. ') A big palaver was made of the taping and then just moments later he takes if off. What was the point? As I think has been mentioned before, black bin bags and guys arriving in camouflage are always bad signs.
The auditorium was pretty full at the opening, but a number of people left at the interval - including the people to either side of us. (What did we do?) The audience was attentive (lots of school groups in the circle) and the applause was reasonably warm at the end.
So for us - two stars, maybe a shade less - somewhere in that region.
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Post by kathryn on Mar 22, 2018 10:54:49 GMT
Yes, agree with a lot of that. Why does Macbeth want to be King? I know that’s one of those questions that was nonsensical to ask when the play was written, and so the text didn’t need to answer, but if you’re doing a modern setting and it looks like being King gets you nothing but hassle and the odd person bowing, it’s necessary to answer it in some way in your design.
Armour being taped on when he’s just Glamis is fine if when he’s king he gets proper good armour and a bunch of attendants to deal with it. If not it just seems like a pointless design quirk.
I was not keen on the way Rory was speaking a lot of his lines - he seemed to swallow a third of his words. I’m sure it’s something to do with using the wrong rhythm and emphasis - and I’m sure it was a deliberate choice - but it doesn’t half make him a chore to listen to.
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Post by peggs on Mar 22, 2018 11:46:20 GMT
Again foxa I'm sure your review is much more entertaining than actually watching the production, nt should def use some of these quotes, who wouldn't be intrigued by the promise of a bobble hatted dancing person or a child in a cardboard box?! 🤗
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Post by foxa on Mar 22, 2018 12:08:39 GMT
To anyone who knows him, 'Mr Foxa didn't demand to leave at the interval' should appear on posters.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 16:46:56 GMT
Again foxa I'm sure your review is much more entertaining than actually watching the production, nt should def use some of these quotes, who wouldn't be intrigued by the promise of a bobble hatted dancing person or a child in a cardboard box?! 🤗 Not to mention the weird sisters "farting smoke". Lol!
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Post by fiyero on Mar 22, 2018 17:03:03 GMT
I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I booked before reading (some of) this thread. I just wanted to add a matinee to the day I'm seeing Fun Home and never seen anything at the National. Surely it will be an experience anyway?!?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 17:22:47 GMT
I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I booked before reading (some of) this thread. I just wanted to add a matinee to the day I'm seeing Fun Home and never seen anything at the National. Surely it will be an experience anyway?!? Oh absolutely! The show is pretty rotten but some of it is funny (unintentionally I'm sure but anyway we take what we can) and I love The Nash. It may look like a multi storey car park from the outside but inside it's a gem. If you like concrete. The Olivier is one of my favourite theatres, I always like going there and I don't think I've ever had a rubbish view, no matter where I've sat in the past. The bar staff are usually delightful and the cloakroom people are very nice when you have to put your bag in, AND they're very efficient I have always found. The bookshop is really interesting and if you can eject someone nursing one of the tables to use the free wifi with a bottle of water that they've brought in themselves then the food isn't half bad either. You'll love it. Not the show necessarily but The Nash definitely. Enjoy!
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Post by lynette on Mar 22, 2018 17:36:46 GMT
Ryan so right. Nice place to park your coat, browse a book, use yr laptop, have a drink, eat something. Pity not much good for plays.
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Post by peggs on Mar 22, 2018 17:48:53 GMT
Ryan so right. Nice place to park your coat, browse a book, use yr laptop, have a drink, eat something. Pity not much good for plays. I probably go there as much as a stop gap place as to see plays but that said don't seem able to stop booking the plays.
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Post by lichtie on Mar 25, 2018 9:17:17 GMT
Saw this on Friday. Oh dear.... Best thing I can say was that they must have shortened it considerably as the running time came in at just under 2.5 hours including interval. Even the ticket desk were saying it would be 10 minutes longer, so another one truncated from previews it seems in order to stop the audience fleeing. (Seemed to work, not may left). The staging here really was a case of WTF. And then there was Banquo's ghost peering through the windows of a cheap diner... The actors barely seemed to actually interact with each other meaningfully either. One of those 15 quid shows I'm glad I didn't pay more for.
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