1,103 posts
|
Post by mallardo on Jun 14, 2019 5:35:13 GMT
The play is called Orpheus Descending for a reason - the parallels to the Orpheus/Eurydice story are there front and centre, including the setting which surely is, metaphorically, at least, Hell on earth. I don't this production downplayed that. It's as explicit as it can be.
|
|
|
Post by sfsusan on Jun 15, 2019 11:00:31 GMT
I may be too literal-minded, because I can see the mythic parallels on a very abstract level, but not in the details. Val doesn't come to town to rescue his lost love, he doesn't bargain with the god of the underworld to gain her, he doesn't look back at the last second and doom her (or does he... the last scene happened so quickly that I don't remember every detail). So I can buy the set-up as being similar to the myth, but I think it diverges pretty quickly. But I could well be missing the plot (literally).
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2019 12:54:56 GMT
I may be too literal-minded, because I can see the mythic parallels on a very abstract level, but not in the details. Val doesn't come to town to rescue his lost love, he doesn't bargain with the god of the underworld to gain her, he doesn't look back at the last second and doom her (or does he... the last scene happened so quickly that I don't remember every detail). So I can buy the set-up as being similar to the myth, but I think it diverges pretty quickly. But I could well be missing the plot (literally). And that shows the flaw in this production that it does not universally communicate it's intention or message. If people can leave feeling they're "missing the plot" then there's something wrong.
|
|
|
Post by scarpia on Jul 12, 2019 20:05:34 GMT
I wasn't expecting much given this play's history, but my love of Tennessee Williams's better and more successful work meant I had to go, and I can't say I found this bad. The play takes a while to warm up, but there are some great moments, particularly in the second act, and all in all I was glad I went. I was particularly impressed by Jemima Rooper as Carol. Seth Numrich, though I liked him in Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic, seemed a bit miscast here.
|
|