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Post by peelee on Dec 8, 2016 19:52:59 GMT
Yes, it is being staged in the Lyttelton.
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211 posts
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Post by peelee on Dec 8, 2016 17:58:30 GMT
I attended the first preview of 'Hedda Gabler' and while I was happy enough with the evening I cannot say that I was stirred by what I had seen or heard. It is a beautifully designed production as regards minimalist decor, the changing lighting and soundtrack, but what is being acted out by characters is also uninvolving, often rather quiet and contributes to a kind of bright, white antiseptic production. I didn't care about any character in this production, I wasn't waiting keenly to discover what they'd see, do or what would happen to them next.
Kate Duchene as Juliana, the aunt, appeared early; her presence was well-defined and she was easy to hear, which had me thinking that what was to follow generally was going to be similar. Seated in mid-stalls, I could just about hear some of the quiet characters but sometimes missed parts of the dialogue, so I hope that audience members further back and above in the circle were able to follow what was going on. Best of the others were Rafe Spall and Chukwudi Iwuji and whenever they appeared storyline developments became clearer. Though I agree with others above for whom what was done to a manuscript seemed no more than a bit of passing punctuation, while later a scene featuring dripping blood was about as interesting as watching some piece of Turner Prize performance-art.
We had restricted-view seats but that sounds far worse than the rather good view actually was on the night. It would have helped a little if on looking at stage-right the sofa was turned a little so that in a few scenes two or three characters weren't lined up sideways-on to the audience in such a way that it reduced the impact such characters might have had on the audience. Where a first half scene-change could be accompanied by the so aptly chosen Joni Mitchell song 'Blue', melancholic and exquisite, after the interval the play seemed to drift a bit before coming back to life. Though the performance ended at 10.05pm, at least five minutes earlier than the projected 2 hrs 40 mins including twenty minute interval, at least 5-10 more minutes could have been cut from that flagging second 'half'. Allow for it being the first preview, so once into its run it'll all get better, no doubt.
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Post by peelee on Oct 23, 2016 15:48:05 GMT
I've been looking forward to this for a while, and will be seeing the play this coming Wednesday.
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Post by peelee on Oct 23, 2016 13:34:42 GMT
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Post by peelee on Oct 23, 2016 13:17:27 GMT
This proved to be a very satisfying theatre experience. Good writing, good ensemble acting, and musical interludes linking stages in the story that moved things along nicely. Slow to begin with, 'talky', a little static, yet really very engaging as the scenes passed. I'll definitely look out for the rest of what this writer intends to do in bringing the story up to the present.
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Post by peelee on Oct 22, 2016 9:15:42 GMT
You'll probably enjoy next Saturday. The stage play at the National Theatre, London, in the 1970s was far better than the later-made film.
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Post by peelee on Oct 9, 2016 13:03:48 GMT
An unusual, interesting piece of music theatre that is well produced and well performed by a talented group of players. I'd not normally attend this kind of thing but was glad that I indulged my curiosity this time and was rewarded with good storytelling and lyrics that ranged from sharp to something rather softer where appropriate. Until recently Elmer Rice was no more to me than a name I saw in books and articles every now and again for no reason I could remember, yet I now feel more clued-up about who he was and what he contributed.
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Post by peelee on Sept 23, 2016 16:23:35 GMT
I'm looking forward to this. I haven't seen Ruth Wilson on stage since she played a modest, rather drippy role in a Maxim Gorky play, Philistines, in 2007 at the National. A play I managed to see just a week after I saw another Gorky play I had long wanted to see on stage, The Lower Depths, put on at the Finborough Theatre. The quality of the two productions were on a par — both good.
I haven't seen any version of Hedda Gabler since the RSC made a film, Hedda, in the mid-1970s, starring Glenda Jackson.
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Post by peelee on Sept 23, 2016 9:03:33 GMT
I had never seen the play before getting the chance to attend the production that was put on at the Arcola Theatre, East London, a couple of years ago. It was well played and good fun.
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Post by peelee on Sept 22, 2016 19:11:19 GMT
This not often performed play by Tennessee Williams has been revived and is running at Print Room at the Coronet, the Victorian theatre and later cinema just along from Notting Hill Gate tube station in West London. Williams wrote the play in the 1970s, but according to director Michael Oakley writing in the programme it was said to be based on an unproduced screenplay called All Gaul is Divided that had been written in 1950. That is, written between two stage play hits, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur is set in a sweltering tenement apartment in St Louis of the 1930s. Its four characters, all female, are as sparky as characters in other Williams play, but in this there are near-farcical comic moments. In this engaging production they are played by Debbie Chazen (and I had only recently read David Eldridge's In Basildon in which she played Jackie) Laura Rogers, Hermione Gulliford and Julia Watson.
Its scheduled run from 12 September to 7 October would be worth other theatregoers taking advantage of.
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Post by peelee on Sept 22, 2016 16:39:34 GMT
Well done, Mary Berry, well done, Mel and Sue.
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Post by peelee on Sept 22, 2016 16:35:24 GMT
This is getting a screen showing, so some unable to get a ticket for the play at the theatre will get a chance to see it in some form.
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Post by peelee on Sept 3, 2016 16:55:52 GMT
Having seen a fine production of this play at the Barbican (it may have been in its RSC days) some years ago, I'd looked forward to seeing this at the National. It is a good play that can work so well, but when I saw this production early in its run it seemed to need tighter directing and some editing as there seemed to be characters in scenes whose presence struck me as odd and unthought-through. I didn't think that the co-directors or whomsoever, were on the socialist Sean O'Casey's wavelength at all.
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Post by peelee on Aug 15, 2016 18:39:00 GMT
How do I attach a little picture left-screen by my username? I'm tempted to put something up but have no idea where to look for the how-to details on here.
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Post by peelee on Aug 15, 2016 16:45:54 GMT
Excellent news! Well done, the Arcola Theatre! A well deserved second run for this fascinating play. I hope they've got the original cast, too.
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Post by peelee on Aug 14, 2016 15:40:29 GMT
This was interesting enough but nothing special, and the stage design was unkind to actors and audience alike. Also I think that having seen a related play recently, I was prejudiced when watching 'The Deep Blue Sea' at the National the other night. 'Kenny Morgan', recently at the Arcola Theatre was the better play, and about as well acted. It was more convincingly set in its time period, and was a better production. It also had fewer acres on stage for the actors to have to cover. If there could be a few scene changes at the National for its recent revival of 'A Taste of Honey', and for 'The Plough and the Stars', couldn't something similar have been done for 'The Deep Blue Sea"?
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Post by peelee on Jul 29, 2016 13:35:55 GMT
Tomorrow afternoon, Saturday 30 July at 4.00pm and for a couple of hours thereafter, BBC Radio 4 Extra is to broadcast Chekhov's 'The Seagull' as adapted by Martyn Wade. It features Diana Quick, Alex Jennings, Robert Glenister and Helena Bonham Carter, as well as Edward Petherbridge and Kate Buffery. It was recorded on location and was first broadcast in 1993. Early birds can catch it at 6.00am if they so wish: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07mcn2s
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Post by peelee on Jul 28, 2016 16:33:18 GMT
A well told story and a brilliant film. See it on the big screen while it is still showing in cinemas. We saw the 2D version but there is also a 3D version.
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Post by peelee on Jul 28, 2016 16:28:24 GMT
I only ever saw the film which featured the young Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar. The Vaults, at Waterloo, I thought had been closed not long after a few plays were put on there approximately 5-6 years ago. It is an atmospheric venue and probably is perfect for this kind of play.
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Post by peelee on Jul 28, 2016 16:21:49 GMT
The Finborough sells play texts but not always, e.g. one play that is currently running there. The Royal Court sells them as/in lieu of a programme, and I very much approve of that. The Tricycle has sometimes sold play texts, which I always buy in the way that usually I won't buy a programme there. Hampstead Theatre usually offers the play text. I was pleased to be able to buy the text of the splendid 'Kenny Morgan' at the Arcola recently. They sell for £4 or £5 while the play is running at those theatres.
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Post by peelee on Jul 27, 2016 23:13:46 GMT
Kenneth Branagh was more convincing in the title-part of that production of 'Ivanov' that Michael Grandage presented with three other plays (at Wyndhams?) that year, whereas the rendition in this latest play contributes to a tediousness that made the play coming to an end a small mercy. To my surprise in this series of plays just opened at the National, 'Platonov' worked better than 'Ivanov, the latter seeming as if had been rewritten in some passages involving the three old men posing with each other. I thought 'The Seagull' worked well and I could see why it has been staged as often as it has.
There were some outstanding performances. Yes, Peter Egan was very good in the plays he appeared in, and in 'The Seagull' Anna Chancellor was excellent, but I was especially impressed by Des McAleer who appeared with real presence and so clearly defined in all three of these plays.
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Post by peelee on Jul 26, 2016 21:33:45 GMT
It must have been the referendum vote to Leave the EU — Samuel West just can't go on, you know.
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Post by peelee on Jul 25, 2016 14:59:44 GMT
Trump or Clinton — what a choice to have to make.
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Post by peelee on Jul 16, 2016 20:57:28 GMT
I attended the second preview of 'Platonov', which production is very good. What work and thought has been put into the look of the thing at both centre-stage and the sides. The cast do a great job with this young man's early play. Only personal criticism being that as some of it got 'screechy' and melodramatic in the last few minutes, I couldn't wait for it to end. It had me thinking that some of it could be shortened. But do not be deterred, the audience response at the end was very warm and enthusiastic.
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Post by peelee on Jul 14, 2016 8:28:57 GMT
Gawn Grainger has been around London theatre for some time.
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Post by peelee on Jun 23, 2016 16:35:15 GMT
This play has no interval, so if you're in the habit of walking out halfway through then this play is designed to let you walk out before you even walk in.
While watching this play, I found my mind wandered.
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Post by peelee on Jun 19, 2016 13:43:54 GMT
I am pleased that this play which ran at the Old Red Lion Theatre, by Angel, Islington, a good production I saw in December and which ran until January, has been given a run at Trafalgar Studios. Discovered relatively recently in Arthur Miller's papers and this 'first play' staged to tie in with his centenary, it is both autobiographical and is fascinating for the way in which several later Miller storylines in his best known plays echo and appear in embryonic form here. Make allowance for it having been the work of a young man and enjoy the 'real find' this is. Also there's no need for 'spoilers'; just go and see the play and enjoy the experience of the unfolding drama.
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Post by peelee on Jun 17, 2016 10:19:40 GMT
Fond memories revived as an audience member of classic RSC days at the Aldwych Theatre in the 1970s, and of the wonderful John Wood playing Henry Carr.
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Post by peelee on Jun 16, 2016 16:44:24 GMT
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Post by peelee on Jun 16, 2016 16:32:24 GMT
A very good play that deserves a longer run perhaps in the West End of London if it cannot be scheduled at the Arcola for a while. Everyone in the seven-strong cast convinces that they are who they are playing. The writing, direction and production design are well thought through and atmospheric; it's as if we are there in Camden Town 1949. Well done, the Arcola Theatre.
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