259 posts
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 21, 2016 18:21:57 GMT
John Galworthy's "Strife" has just opened at Chichester and is Bertie Carvel's debut as director.
I did the play for O-level many years ago and I remember enjoying it but I've never seen a production until now. I was interested to see whether it would grip a contemporary audience or if it is a museum piece. The play deals with industrial conflict in the steel and tinplate industry in South Wales in 1909. In a recent interview in the "Telegraph", Bertie Carvel talked about the fate of TaTa Steel and how relevant he saw the play.
This production starts with a clip of BBC's John Humphrys announcing a news item on TaTa and then there is a brief selection of clips about recent industrial disputes. The stage becomes a foundry and what appears to be a molten steel bar is hoisted over the stage. The bar then become the table at which members of the board of directors sit to discuss the strike in the Trenartha Tinplate Works. Some of the newspaper reviewers thought Carvel was trying too hard to demonstrate the relevance of the play but the opening sequence got a round of applause at the matinee I attended and it helped to enliven what is a slowish start to the play with quite a bit of exposition.
The strike is an unofficial one and the union negotiator wants the men to moderate their demands. Their leader, David Roberts (played by Ian Hughes), refuses as for him the strike is one of principle. The board members, concerned about how much the strike is costing the company, urge the chairman John Anthony (William Gaunt) to seek a compromise. But Anthony built the company from scratch and is resolute he will not give in. This confrontation and what it costs the two men I found gripping. William Gaunt stepped in to replace Julian Gover, who was originally cast in the role but became ill. As the strike takes its mental and physical toll on Anthony, I became concerned by how frail Gaunt seemed (He appeared a bit more robust for the curtain call) but his speech towards the end where he justifies his outlook was impressive.
The strike also creates conflict between the workers and this comes to a head at the end of the first half in a dramatic scene. Some humour is provided by the well-intentioned but patronising attempts of Anthony's daughter Enid (played by Lizzy Watts) to intervene.
There was some race and gender blind casting; I could accept Asian board members with the connection to the purchase of TaTa Steel but I wasn't so sure about the butler being played by a woman.
As I was coming away, I heard one man say: "If you want escapism and jollity, "Half A Sixpence" provides it but this play makes you think." I'd agree with that. |
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433 posts
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Post by DuchessConstance on Aug 21, 2016 19:32:54 GMT
Bertie Carvel's directing debut, at the Minerva. Runs till mid-Sept.
Strident political play about a Welsh mining strike in the early 1900s, a firebrand Unionist clashes with the elderly owner of the company.
The set design and some of the extraordinary sound and design features that introduce the play and set the scenes are striking and memorable. There's a clever technique used to link the events of the play with historical and contemporary events, placing it in a wider context. Some of the speeches are gripping, and the women's scenes have a lot of heart.
The play is a bit wordy at times and no one could accuse it of being too light-hearted, but well worth a trip to Chichester if your taste in theatre runs to the more political. Fabulous performances across the board. Nice to see a bit of gender-blind and race-blind casting (which works well).
And decently shortish, meaning it's possible to do as an evening trip and still get back to London at a not indecent hour.
All in all, a remarkably assured and polished debut. This will certainly not be the last we see of Mr Carvel that side of the stage.
(TheatreBoard regulars: No dogs, no nudity, a lot of 'confetti' (fake snow), exemplar toilet facilities!)
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3,471 posts
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Post by showgirl on Aug 22, 2016 3:55:11 GMT
Well done, emsworthian, for starting this thread, as I was sure others would have seen, or be seeing this and I just hadn't the heart myself as I can never manage anything like as informative and balanced a post as yours.
I was really looking forward to this, the more so since the 4-star press reviews had been published, but it tested my patience - though I think the perennial concern about the journey home courtesy of Southern Rail didn't help.
The production is impressive overall - staging, acting, etc - but to me this was an example of the type of work which has been mentioned elsewhere on this board recently, in that I think the material itself is inferior and lifted by that production. It reminded me acutely of plays by Harley Granville Barker; not surprisingly as this dates from around the time of Waste, which I also found rather wordy and dry, though I "enjoyed" that more.
All in all I couldn't recommend this but accept that I am in the minority.
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259 posts
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 22, 2016 7:04:13 GMT
I was really looking forward to this, the more so since the 4-star press reviews had been published, but it tested my patience - though I think the perennial concern about the journey home courtesy of Southern Rail didn't help. I'm afraid that my sympathy for the steel works strikers in the play was somewhat undermined when I got to the station and found that the train I had been planning to catch had been cancelled due to industrial action.
BTW it is Julian Glover who had originally been cast in the play - not Gover. I spotted my mistake after the edit time had expired.
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3,471 posts
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Post by showgirl on Aug 22, 2016 7:11:07 GMT
I was really looking forward to this, the more so since the 4-star press reviews had been published, but it tested my patience - though I think the perennial concern about the journey home courtesy of Southern Rail didn't help. I'm afraid that my sympathy for the steel works strikers in the play was somewhat undermined when I got to the station and found that the train I had been planning to catch had been cancelled due to industrial action.
BTW it is Julian Glover who had originally been cast in the play - not Gover. I spotted my mistake after the edit time had expired.
Hah, I share your Southern-related pain: it always takes me 2 trains each way to get to Chichester now, even on the days of normal service (not that there have been any of those lately), but going home on Saturday it took me 3 and longer than the duration of the play itself. This must be impacting on the theatre's business, though patrons who travel by train seem to be in the minority. |
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433 posts
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Post by DuchessConstance on Aug 22, 2016 15:21:05 GMT
I'm quite glad that there are still people in theatre who are serious-minded and political and want to make theatre of ideas.
Even if most of the time I'd rather be seeing Literally Anything Goes Wrong for the fourteenth time.
(Incidentally, emsworthian and I started threads at almost the same time, and I asked for them to be merged - just to explain the odd tone of mine.)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 17:09:29 GMT
Mischief Theatre should definitely do Literally Anything Goes Wrong, by the way!
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375 posts
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Post by ctas on Aug 29, 2016 17:25:31 GMT
Picked this over Sixpence for my annual trip to Chichester last weekend and loved it. The start with the audio clips of steel in the news throughout history was so gripping and worked to get you immediately stuck into the play. I loved the acting, a nice piece altogether. Hope for a transfer for this one.
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