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Post by peggs on Jan 29, 2021 0:52:16 GMT
Sticks? Was this even worse that the balloons that have scarred lynette ?
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Post by Jan on Jan 29, 2021 13:41:05 GMT
Sticks? Was this even worse that the balloons that have scarred lynette ? Oh yes much worse - in this one the fight scenes between the Montagues and the Capulets were depicted metaphorically through the medium of Morris dancing. So it was integral to the production, the balloons were just peripheral.
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351 posts
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Post by cirque on Jan 29, 2021 16:18:05 GMT
Oh God-I remember....awful and before Greg Doran's stewardship......still,the rot is thorough.
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Post by Jan on Jan 29, 2021 16:53:50 GMT
Oh God-I remember....awful and before Greg Doran's stewardship......still,the rot is thorough. For me the Peter Gill one, which only came 2 years before, was even worse, it was like a pre-war rep production with costumes to match - tunics and tights all round.
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5,593 posts
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Post by lynette on Jan 29, 2021 21:44:08 GMT
Thank you for these wonderful memories guys. You know, I have not seen a really good R&J; maybe the David Tennant one back in the dark ages..
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 29, 2021 23:33:51 GMT
I have never seen a R&J that I enjoyed. Part of this is that Juliet is such a poor central character. I can find nothing engaging about her and that makes it unwatchable
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1,010 posts
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Post by David J on Jan 30, 2021 11:16:10 GMT
I find Romeo and Juliet starts off as a romance/comedy with some sword fighting here and there. Then probably the most interesting characters die off by the interval and the second act is a slow slog of a tragedy watching the planets line up for the lovers to die.
Only production I've liked was the Rupert Gould one
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351 posts
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Post by cirque on Jan 30, 2021 13:03:42 GMT
Goolds was good....Terry Hands with the iron balconies and the figure of Death stalking Verona......long time ago but,really Hands knew how to deliver on his stages.
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Post by Jan on Jan 30, 2021 16:02:39 GMT
I saw a definitively good R&J touring production by John Caird for the RSC. Daniel Day-Lewis and Amanda Root. Just perfect. Roger Allam as Mercutio I think. The great Robert Edidison as Friar Lawrence.
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572 posts
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Post by princeton on Jan 30, 2021 16:48:10 GMT
Gosh I'd forgotten that production which toured in rep with A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was their 1983 small scale tour which played school halls and leisure centres (ah those were the days) and my first R&J. I saw it at Castleford High School - in their sports hall. Roger Allam was indeed Mercutio - and he and Penny Downie were Oberon and Titania in the Dream. I wonder whether it's one of those plays which simply seems less good the older you are from the main characters.
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Post by Jan on Jan 30, 2021 17:59:23 GMT
Gosh I'd forgotten that production which toured in rep with A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was their 1983 small scale tour which played school halls and leisure centres (ah those were the days) and my first R&J. I saw it at Castleford High School - in their sports hall. Roger Allam was indeed Mercutio - and he and Penny Downie were Oberon and Titania in the Dream. I wonder whether it's one of those plays which simply seems less good the older you are from the main characters. Daniel Day-Lewis played Snug the Joiner in "Dream" - one of the greatest bits of luxury casting ever.
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Jan 30, 2021 19:17:26 GMT
Sticks? Was this even worse that the balloons that have scarred lynette ? Oh yes much worse - in this one the fight scenes between the Montagues and the Capulets were depicted metaphorically through the medium of Morris dancing. So it was integral to the production, the balloons were just peripheral. Oh my! Morris dancing with sticks instead of fighting? They got that, that isn't what the sticks are in morris dancing right? My only live seen R and J was that emo one at the globe with the fancy dress YMCA with a dancing dinosaur and a setup that meant you couldn't see the entire second half unless you were tall as they barricades the edge of the stage with giant flowers. So my experience would seem to fit in with others. I can remember reading it at school and thinking they were ridiculous for choosing to die for love, I clearly hadn't hit any great emotional heartbreak at that point. I quite liked the last rsc one when it was streamed last year, the one some critics got all excited as it was a 'diverse cast' which I think just meant the actor playing Romeo wasn't white. The Globe did some talks last year on race and mental health around the team that had been going to do R and J there which were very interesting. Looking at the use of language and race references in the text and around brain development in teens. Was quite insightful. But I suspect it's a play I'm never going to really like.
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3,927 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 31, 2021 13:28:40 GMT
Thank you for these wonderful memories guys. You know, I have not seen a really good R&J; maybe the David Tennant one back in the dark ages.. Does the MacMillan ballet count? Because I love that. (I've never actually seen the play live.)
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Post by ceebee on Jan 31, 2021 13:42:39 GMT
I saw a good RSC R&J many years ago with Julian Glover as Friar Lawrence - think it was the Adrian Noble era. Enjoyed it very much. Good old days - teh company is unrecognisable from the company I used to watch regularly in the 1990s.
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4,596 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 31, 2021 13:50:38 GMT
Thank you for these wonderful memories guys. You know, I have not seen a really good R&J; maybe the David Tennant one back in the dark ages.. Does the MacMillan ballet count? Because I love that. (I've never actually seen the play live.) I'm going to say no it doesn't count. Soz! I do remember a thread about which was better original or adaption. I think most agreed that West Side story and Kiss me kate beat the originals
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Post by Jan on Jan 31, 2021 18:16:26 GMT
Does the MacMillan ballet count? Because I love that. (I've never actually seen the play live.) I'm going to say no it doesn't count. Soz! I do remember a thread about which was better original or adaption. I think most agreed that West Side story and Kiss me kate beat the originals "Merry Wives of Windsor" and the Vaughan Williams opera "Sir John in Love": Both equally poor. But, switching media, "Apocalypse Now" is better than "Heart of Darkness".
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 1, 2021 11:48:08 GMT
I'm going to say no it doesn't count. Soz! I do remember a thread about which was better original or adaption. I think most agreed that West Side story and Kiss me kate beat the originals "Merry Wives of Windsor" and the Vaughan Williams opera "Sir John in Love": Both equally poor. But, switching media, "Apocalypse Now" is better than "Heart of Darkness". Verdi's Falstaff vastly superior to Merry Wives.
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Post by Cleo on Feb 7, 2021 12:55:24 GMT
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4,966 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 7, 2021 16:41:44 GMT
At least the Garfield Weston Foundation still likes the RSC. Of the little over £30 million in grants announced earlier this week, £750,000 was awarded to the RSC. That's the same as the Globe, but only half what the National Theatre was awarded. There isn't even a branch of Primark in Stratford!
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5,593 posts
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Post by lynette on Feb 8, 2021 14:21:18 GMT
So the Dream isn’t the play then? Must admit I am a little confused.
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2,349 posts
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Post by zahidf on Mar 12, 2021 8:08:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2021 23:01:21 GMT
Was quite looking forward to seeing Miles Jupp in The Comedy of Errors last year, as he was brilliant in The Life I Lead as well as his other acting and comedy appearances. I hope he'll still be on board for this.
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351 posts
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Post by cirque on Mar 19, 2021 17:07:25 GMT
Looks like Greg has given us 2023
Tempest As You Macbeth Antony and Cleo
in todays Telegraph.......
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5,593 posts
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Post by lynette on Mar 20, 2021 12:51:00 GMT
Yep, read that: the ones without published versions except for the Folio. Interesting. Could be good with a couple of big names and decent directors. I live in hope.
By the way, I did watch Dream ( I know you are all panting fo know about it) and it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was something that was probably fun to do and a learning process for new techie skills, but had nothing to do with Shakespeare and very little to do with theatre in that it was all ‘filmed’ albeit with audience interaction. Personally I hope this isn’t the way theatre is going.
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Post by Jan on Mar 21, 2021 15:23:10 GMT
Looks like Greg has given us 2023 Tempest As You Macbeth Antony and Cleo in todays Telegraph....... So he will have finished the full cycle by then ? So we will have had Henry VIII by then ? Which other ones were left ? Quite an uninspiring selection, I think I'll join those complaining about too many Macbeths - I held back on The Bridge one but not now. A&C is very dull unless he has got absolute star actor for it (which he won't have).
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 21, 2021 16:34:52 GMT
Looks like Greg has given us 2023 Tempest As You Macbeth Antony and Cleo in todays Telegraph....... So he will have finished the full cycle by then ? So we will have had Henry VIII by then ? Which other ones were left ? Quite an uninspiring selection, I think I'll join those complaining about too many Macbeths - I held back on The Bridge one but not now. A&C is very dull unless he has got absolute star actor for it (which he won't have). I am sure Tony will make a lovely Cleo.
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Post by Jan on Mar 21, 2021 17:54:45 GMT
So he will have finished the full cycle by then ? So we will have had Henry VIII by then ? Which other ones were left ? Quite an uninspiring selection, I think I'll join those complaining about too many Macbeths - I held back on The Bridge one but not now. A&C is very dull unless he has got absolute star actor for it (which he won't have). I am sure Tony will make a lovely Cleo. Sher has played Prospero before - it was a no good Lion King-themed production - but I wouldn't put it past him to have another go.
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5,593 posts
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Post by lynette on Mar 22, 2021 7:13:24 GMT
Well with Ian McKellen playing Hamlet, what can we expect? Are they scouring the Italia Conti for a promising King Lear aged about 10 and a half?
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Post by Jan on Mar 22, 2021 7:27:32 GMT
Well with Ian McKellen playing Hamlet, what can we expect? Are they scouring the Italia Conti for a promising King Lear aged about 10 and a half? We must suspend judgement on McKellen until it has opened, but the apparently radical concept for the production is not matched by the prosaic nature of the director, venue, and the rest of the cast. I should say that in his prime McKellen was the best stage actor I've ever seen, bar none, so I'm generally well-disposed towards him.
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351 posts
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Post by cirque on Mar 22, 2021 17:08:09 GMT
RSC open kindness shop in Stratford.
What the hell......
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