2,353 posts
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Post by zahidf on May 1, 2018 9:30:05 GMT
Anyone going to this? I'm going on Thursday. Is down for 3 hours 20 minutes with two intervals.
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888 posts
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Post by lonlad on May 1, 2018 23:47:30 GMT
Saw it in NY. Good luck is all I will say for now.
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294 posts
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Post by dani on May 4, 2018 14:50:28 GMT
Anyone going to this? I'm going on Thursday. Is down for 3 hours 20 minutes with two intervals. How was it? I am going the week after next. |
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2,353 posts
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Post by zahidf on May 4, 2018 15:08:47 GMT
Anyone going to this? I'm going on Thursday. Is down for 3 hours 20 minutes with two intervals. How was it? I am going the week after next. 2 stars. Was decently acted but it a little dull and WAY too long at 3 hours 20 minutes. |
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294 posts
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Post by dani on May 4, 2018 21:58:39 GMT
2 stars. Was decently acted but it a little dull and WAY too long at 3 hours 20 minutes. Oh, yippee. |
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1,316 posts
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Post by tmesis on Jun 2, 2018 17:23:02 GMT
Well it's now down to a manageable 2 hrs 40 and I found it enjoyable and absorbing. As some critics have pointed out it shows a debt to both Stoppard and Kushner but inevitably is not quite in their league. However, this ambitious meander through a century of Soviet history is very well handled with constant changes of time and scene that come together very skilfully. Cracking performances from the seven actors, with Steve John Shepherd particularly charismatic.
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Post by orchidman on Jun 2, 2018 18:03:24 GMT
The writing just isn't good enough to pull off the concept or the disparate plotlines. Couldn't help wondering what insight a young-ish American playwright has into the Russian psyche and history. Most of the themes were done so much better in 1984.
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1,848 posts
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jun 2, 2018 22:36:43 GMT
A pleasant surprise, enjoyed the playfulness especially the opening scene which sets up a meal to remember.
As previously stated Stoppardesque in its perspicacity, a rare play where I would have liked to see one of the early unedited previews, in its current form the convoluted arc can obscure the fragility of truth which is predominately defined by the loudest voice.
“Art is the lie that enables us to realise the truth”
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Jun 3, 2018 8:23:28 GMT
A few days back went to see the show Downstairs at the Hampstead (disappointing) and wondered if I would have done better to have booked for this. From the above...not sure.....
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404 posts
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Post by dlevi on Jun 8, 2018 8:18:34 GMT
I found the programme notes far more interesting than the play itself. I didn't feel that the three strands actually connected in a theatrical way and felt that the dialogue was neither witty or trenchant - just sort of getting the information and thoughts out there. For me the soup scene was the best realized in the play despite the cheapness of the performance by the actress playing the Grand-mother. I stayed for the whole show but the theatre was only about 2/3 full by the time it was over. People even fled during the pause between Act Two and Three and I thought : you made it this far why not stay for another half an hour?
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