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Post by joem on Aug 11, 2023 22:06:12 GMT
Arrived today, great to see Edinburgh so much cleaner than last year although pedestrians are still treated abominably. Their safety and mainly convenience are completely of no interest to the authorities.
Attendants
Three young female flight attendants sing, mime and impersonate passengers and other characters whilst telling anecdotes about their working lives with Applesby Air - an airline which sees Ryanair as too posh. A fun watch with three hard-working actresses attacking their parts with gusto. Rather short though, at a mere 20 minutes, and it is more revue than play, you could mix the different scenes around and it wouldn't affect the outcome.
Meet Me By The Stranger
Three same-sex couples on the verge of breaking-up have unrelated trysts by a statue (known as The Stranger) somewhere in northern England but their lives overlap to add to the problems. Some good lines and acting but it does end up being a bit like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" without the jokes.
On The Evils of Tobacco
A version of Chekhov's short story. This is a one-man show, with very little actually said on tobacco, and Andrew Hogarth gives a good account as the battered husband seeking solace away from his overbearing wife (or so he describes her) in lecturing students and getting his woes off his chest. Some improvisations with members of the audience (yours truly included) gives it some extra chance/variety along the journey.
Did You Eat?
What starts as a simple tale of the differences between Korean and American cultures - the phrase "Did You Eat?" covers a whole multitude of meanings in Korean - and the experiences of a Korean immigrant to the US, develops into a family tale and ultimately a harrowing account of abuse and the appalling manner in which Korean girls were (hopefully in the past tense) treated and discriminated against for the "crime" of not being boys. A committed and impassioned performance from writer Zoe Kim in this one-woman show which left some of the audience in tears.
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Post by joem on Aug 10, 2023 15:39:42 GMT
Does anyone know the song to which 'Willem' let's rip his dance moves in act two? Is it 'Wake Up' by Arcade Five. Thanks At the risk of sounding pedantic.... it's Arcade Fire.
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Post by joem on Aug 3, 2023 22:59:49 GMT
Oh wow! I have watched all the Ghibli films and this is my absolute favourite. Loved Totoro but so, so looking forward to seeing this!!!
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Post by joem on Jul 20, 2023 21:24:52 GMT
I have fond memories of playing the baddie in an amdram production many decades ago - so long ago it still had it's original name - it is certainly one of Christie's finest thrillers but, unfortunately, the changes to the plot made for the film and stage versions weaken it.
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Post by joem on Jul 19, 2023 20:09:06 GMT
The performance of Patriots I went to see Will Keen, the actor playing Putin, was booed at the curtain call. I know all about the panto tradition but drama isn't panto, if you don't know the difference between a character and an actor you have a serious problem. In panto booing the villain is a bit of a laugh, in straight theatre it's simply rude and ignorant.
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Post by joem on Jul 8, 2023 21:42:52 GMT
I was really looking forward to seeing this, Pinter and Beckett together on stage - what's not to like??? Add the intriguing configuration that Pinter was a keen amateur cricketer and Beckett actually played first-class (this is a fact not an adjective) cricket and you wonder what they'd get up to with a bowl or bat.
The truth is... not that much really. This play by Shomit Dutta overflows with admiration for the two twentieth century giants and with love for cricket as well. But unfortunately homage though it might be it is very slight - absurdist in nature - and relies on the audience's knowledge of cricket and the two playwrights' work for laughs in order to work. Without this knowledge the play will pass over your head with a few laughs, yes, but it could really be anyone on stage. Laurel and Hardy. Darby and Joan. Vladimir and Estragon.
Such plot as there is, which unwinds after the cricket game, consists of a mixture of Waiting for Godot and The Dumb Waiter with references to other works by the terrible twosome (Krapp's Last Tape, The Caretaker) to raise a knowing laugh or smile. Less pertinently Edward Thomas - not a playwright, a poet from a much earlier generation, and of unknown aficionadoness to cricket - is brought in by setting the second part of the (one-act) play in Adlestrop the eponymous railway station of his best-known poem - and the poem quoted in case we missed the reference.....
This is not a bad play, it's a clever play in many ways. But it's clever in a self-conscious way, relishing its cleverness at the expense of all other considerations. Like writing-by-numbers or for a thesis.
Stephen Tompkinson and Andrew Lancel (as Beckett and Pinter) work well together and catch something of the writers' characters, at least insofar as their public personae, and the setting - cricket pavilion then railway station is economic and effective. But if you crave cricketing excitement I think the current Ashes series offers stronger fare.
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Post by joem on Jul 7, 2023 23:00:32 GMT
Ok, I can tick this one off the list. The sweltering heat at The Space wasn't quite suggestive of bleak, wintry Scandinavian angst but to be fair to the audience (decent turnout) they put up with this in good grace for the entire evening.
The play is indeed quite tangled and it wasn't easy at first to get who was plotting what against who and why but all was gradually revealed and everything tied up. The style is Shakespearean/Elizabethan, with heightened language and subplots informing on the action. It doesn't share much with Ibsen's masterpieces but the character of Lady Inger does show some of the strength of Ibsens's later female leads - the same could be said though of the main female roles in other early plays such as The Feast at Solhaug and Olaf Liljekrans.
The production was ok, I did feel some of the tenser moments needed to be highlighted more, perhaps varying the tempo. Ivan Comisso did indeed stand out for his fine performance as the Danish schemer/lover.
Last night tomorrow in case people want to support a worthy enterprise from Ottisdotter's production team.
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Post by joem on Jul 6, 2023 23:06:26 GMT
Yes, this is enjoyable and has some excellent lines. To see these two icons is always a pleasure; McKellen is well within his comfort zone, Allam has to work a little harder - he also had a few problems with lines tonight.
The play itself is a harmless love story, funny and poignant in parts, good on anti-ageism, but it does seem to skim over the surface of life somehow. It feels too light-hearted to go into depth even when sad things happen. Interesting detour into cancel culture which might have merited deeper delving.
Disappointing for a play with so much dog content not to see a single mutt on stage (although there was plenty of bitching).
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Post by joem on Jul 6, 2023 9:17:47 GMT
I have tickets to see this at the Edinburgh fringe. Sounds interesting!
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Post by joem on Jul 6, 2023 0:13:49 GMT
I have never, ever seen a play with/about ghosts which has come remotely close to scaring me. It really is the final (uncrossable) frontier insofar as my theatre-going experience is concerned.
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Post by joem on Jul 5, 2023 23:08:43 GMT
Must admit I went to see this largely on the strength of Daniel Mays as it's not really my type of musical - so glad I made it this week before his hiatus - but this is a superb, feisty production which deserves all the plaudits it's getting. The staging is fantastic and the direction too.
The four leads were great. However, for me, show was stolen tonight by Cedric Neal as Nicely-Nicely Johnson who brought the house down with his rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat".
Delighted the Bridge has this huge success. I do worry though whether it will fall off the radar for some of its regulars, hosting one production for a whole year. Wouldn't it make sense to transfer?
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Post by joem on Jul 5, 2023 14:52:27 GMT
James Graham is an amazing playwright, he has an uncanny finger on the country's pulse and manages to make dramas out of news stories, political events, whatever.... but always finding a dramatic conflict with which to explore ideas beyond the basic narrative.
This is no different and I believe he may achieved the wonderful feat of bringing new audiences into the theatre. The audience (crowd?) on Monday night was somewhere between a theatre audience and a football crowd, joining in on chants they recognised and cheering mentions of the teams they follow.
It was a play of two halves. The first was I think more exciting, pure entertainment, the audience getting that little thrill where they recognise characters and events but with the heightened reality that being on a stage brings to them. Although there wasn't a ball in sight and I knew the outcomes, some of the recreated penalty shootouts were genuinely tense and dramatic.
The second half where Graham brings in other themes is slightly (very slightly) less absorbing but it makes its points and does so effectively. Racism, leadership, identity - what it means to be English (there is no English anthem in football, only the UK one), violence... the British do beat themselves up a lot, we are no longer world leaders in football hooliganism and haven't been for years. I was reminded at the conclusion of Larkin's "An Arundel Tomb" - quite something, for a play about what is still such a macho sport to evoke these feelings.
Can you enjoy this play if you know nothing about football and care even less? Well, of course. It is a potent piece. I don't have to be a fan of world wars to appreciate Downfall.
Great work from the ensemble and the high standards you'd expect from Joe Fiennes and Gina Mckee. I think Graham's got another winner here, I expect this to transfer to the West End. The National is on quite a run! Well done lads.
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Post by joem on Jul 4, 2023 21:56:12 GMT
Although the subject matter is obviously very worthy I thought the core material a bit stretched because it is (naturally) very Semmelweis-centred. Rylance gives a great performance, as is to be expected, but I do sometimes wish he'd choose a more "boring" character to inhabit. Can't remember the last time I saw him acting with a straight bat.
The music and dance works a treat and, together with the lighting in particular, creates a great period effect and atmosphere. The stage does look a bit cluttered at time with the large cast on stage, especially when there's dancing on the sides. I do wonder whether a wider stage might not have been more effective?
Very good supporting performances from the cast, especially Pauline Mclynn as the nurse Anna Muller. A treat to watch all in all.
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Post by joem on Jul 3, 2023 9:28:53 GMT
Having read the posts here on the Chocolate Menier's latest offering I went zither with trepidation and ended up.... relieved. Certainly no-one can accuse this of being a masterpiece but it is no better and no worse than many other musicals I have watched over the years.
On the plus side: the stage is nicely done, evocative but neutral enough to suggest most of the crucial arenas. It is an atmospheric piece and the first song sets the scene and ambience and period very well (unfortunately there are few musical highlights after that). The singing is good if not spectacular and the musicians do their work effectively too.
Minus side. The songs aren't strong enough, at times it feels like a play with music. Too much jaw-jaw and, as tends to happen in musicals, this is of a flat informative nature, which is fine when it's between great songs but less so when it bridges nondescript music. Sightlines are terrible in certain seats, despite not having been warned on booking there are severe restrictions on some of the side seats. Why on Earth is Harry Lime given an English accent?
I noticed that at one point the film music was quoted for a few notes - there was a recurring motif which referenced but didn't copy it - and wondered if this was a copyright issue?
Sam Underwood as Holly Martins carries the show, in narrative terms, and did well. Natalie Dunne was good as Anna Schmidt but (I felt) a bit within herself. Simon Bailey as Orson Welles, sorry I meant Harry Lime, is flashy and extroverted (he actually has a passing resemblance to the Artemus Gordon character from tv's "The Wild Wild West". The ensemble work well together.
I was expecting a 1/5 and got a 2.5/5 but there were empty spaces - perhaps 10 to 15% - and not sure this augurs well. Has to be said the audience were supportive and appreciative.
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Post by joem on Jul 2, 2023 21:12:23 GMT
I would really love to see this again. I last saw the Richard Harris revival and was astonished I missed news of the Regent's Open Air a few years back until it was too late.
It may be corny, it may be naff... but I was brought up on Arthurian legends and it still stirs up something from deep down inside....
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Post by joem on Jun 27, 2023 21:21:31 GMT
I am booked back at the wonderful flat we stayed at last year, after an absence of over forty years (!!!) and have booked 26 events for 6 days so far. Sunday is looking relaxed so far (just one play) in case I make it to Stirling Castle. If not, will have to add a few more.
Not risking the rail strikes. Flying there and back.
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Post by joem on Jun 26, 2023 22:16:46 GMT
I have just learnt that this has gone up a couple of notches! It's on for 18 performances in December at the New National Theatre in Tokyo! Coals to Newcastle???
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Post by joem on Jun 15, 2023 20:37:52 GMT
Only ever saw her once on stage I'm afraid, in "Rose" but obviously one of the modern greats. RIP.
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Post by joem on Jun 6, 2023 20:12:25 GMT
I enjoyed this but ultimately it is a slight play about the theatre made more intriguing by the on-stage portrayal of three important actors (in different ways).
Gielgud v Burton is a clash more interesting in the mind than in the flesh because Gielgud was by nature a fighter. So the occasional barb hits home but he is best operating from a distance whilst Burton (drunkenness permitting) is more of a close fighter. Thorne has to bring in other issues to pad the play out and in the end it does move along pleasantly and gives us some laughs and some interesting, subtle, dramatic moments. Nothing new of course, we all know about Burton's drink problem and the volcanic nature of his relationship with Taylor is hinted at here. Gielgud's problems with the law, cottaging etc, are also well known and were well presented in "Plague Over England". I have to say that good as Gatiss is, Michael Feast was perfect, especially in his capturing of Gielgud's voice, in the latter play.
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Post by joem on Jun 3, 2023 22:51:40 GMT
I concur with earlier posts. This is a bit creaky plot-wise (its concerns and scandals would barely raise an eyebrow nowadays) but it is well done and passes the times pleasantly enough. Some witty lines and good sparring between Clive (Clive Francis) and Hugh (Nicholas le Prevost) as they revive their ancient rivalry - wronged husband v Lothario - over Kitty (Jane Asher) who is very good as the aged belle of the ball. You can see why references are made to Wilde and Coward, but Maugham is better at witty than gritty.
Superb, understated performance from the chaise longue. Is it not time was nominated for an Olivier in a supporting role?
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Post by joem on Jun 3, 2023 0:24:33 GMT
... the rest of the furniture looked dowdy The trusty chaise longue has been deployed so often at the OT that there's no wonder it's looking dowdy. It's the perfect furniture item for in-the-round productions because it doesn't block the view of the front row when no-one is sitting on it. I struggle to think of a production there when it hasn't been pressed into service. I sort of agree that as the husband had an interest in interior design they might have made more effort with the set but spending more money on the actors instead has paid off here. Somerset Maugham, who was gay at a time it was illegal, was unhappily married to a wife who was an interior designer. As in the plays of Rattigan and Coward it is interesting to speculate on which relationships in the plays are really based on gay relationships and which characters in the plays are discretely signalled as being gay. I mean, the husband in this right ? I don't remember the chaise longue in "The Misfortune of the English" or "Two Billion Beats"......
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Post by joem on Jun 1, 2023 22:15:28 GMT
Having originally confused this with Andrew Davies' 1979/80 play of the same name which was a star vehicle for Glenda Jackson, I missed it at the Park but saw it tonight.
Obviously very static, an 80 year old woman sitting on a park bench on her own for two and a half hours does not make for an action-packed thrill-fest, but Maureen Lipman really is very good indeed in telling us the tale of this Jewish survivor from World War Two. Might this even be a career high point? She catches the deceptively rambling but sharp as needles nature of her character and gives a storming performance - racing through a whole gamut of emotions and beyond. Yes, the script is a bit too long and sometimes rather "Hollywood Jewish" with some jokes Groucho himself would have been pleased to quip, but it is poignant, warm, engaging and funny.
Lipman was also great with an ad-lib when someone blew their nose really loudly (did he/she really have to be that loud?) breaking the fourth wall - admittedly the whole of the monologue is addressed at the audience anyway - to remark that she thought it was someone from her retirement home, which is where we were at in the play when this happened.
I often praise theatre staff and would to do so again here but I can't. The Ambassador's really needs to get its act together. One person checking all tickets soon creates a long queue even in a smallish theatre. Once inside the usher directed us to the wrong entrance and they wouldn't sell programmes upstairs but no worries you can get it at the interval. Yeah but how do I check out who's in the cast before it starts??? Next a ten minute delay due to some issue with seats and, finally, the ushers were most in evidence before the end of each half when they would trundle down the noisy, creaking steps to break the tension at crucial points in the performance. Can't they wait till the curtain falls to move for goodness sake?
Still, at least the performance was worth it!
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Post by joem on May 31, 2023 22:11:46 GMT
Ah...The Mousetrap of musicals!!! Still fun and with some good songs but I must say its longevity mystifies me a little. Must be the audience participation and the fanbase, that's the how, the why I will leave it for someone else to explain!
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Post by joem on May 31, 2023 11:10:29 GMT
Caught this revival of a play by Harvey Virdi at the Theatre Royal Windsor (a new venue to me!) last night early in its tour.
This is a play aimed at British Asian audiences (though I am not and it appeals beyond its catchment area) since it deals with a family with issues, secrets and problems and how they cope with them (or not). Plenty of in-jokes, tropes and familiar cultural references which had the audience rocking in recognition. Even a few phrases in Hindi or Punjabi which had me worried at first but tailed off.
Starting off as a bright comedy with the central issues of Sunita a "difficult" unmarried older daughter reaching her 40th birthday and an absent father who is busy working in India - turns out for like 20 years. The awkward preparations for the celebrations (unwanted by Sunita) by her mum, brother and sister-in-law are complicated when mum invites her English builder to the party.....
Well-known actress Divya Seth Shah plays the mum (I last saw her in the film English Vinglish) and the whole cast is on good form and play well together - Rameet Rauli as the daughter-in-law has a particularly good comic touch and gets many of the laughs.
More thoughtful in its second half than it appears in the early scenes, this is a decent well-written play with ideas on family, self and - in its way - a celebration of positive multi-culturalism.
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Post by joem on May 29, 2023 23:47:47 GMT
Freudian slip there....make it Sonia.
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Post by joem on May 29, 2023 23:14:03 GMT
The play will run for two hours with no interval. Suspect there's going to be a lot of peeing on the heath.
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Post by joem on May 29, 2023 23:00:31 GMT
I would concur with the previous post. Although the plot is basically 90% culled from historical events - or their differing interpretation by various players - this is indeed a fascinating account of a time of turmoil in Russia and the former Soviet Union which, sadly, has us wondering about what-ifs and what-might-have-been if things had been handled differently.
Morgan has chosen to call this play "Patriots" and give it a slant which considers different forms of patriotism. In making his selections, the playwright has given us his version of a set of truths for dramatic effect and, whilst probably much closer to the truth than (say) Shakespeare's Macbeth, undoubtedly Berezovsky's patriotism and sense of purpose have been exaggerated to create a tragic hero from a rather more shabby real figure. He needs to be heroic so we can contrast him with the cold, calculating amoral or faux moral Putin.
It did not feel overlong in any way, difficult to see what could be cut without mutilating the play, and the solid ensemble performances are topped by a strong one from Will Keen and a towering one from Tom Hollander; at times a mountebank, at times a shaman showing the art of the possible with his mathematical notions of infinity. Excellent staging, good use of lights, sound, music, multi-media - the whole kaboodle. Goold and Maria Friedman have delivered a pretty stunning production.
Quibbles: if you are going to do a play where the actors should be speaking in a foreign language in British regional accents you must have ALL the characters following the rule, else have them all speaking English with "appropriate" foreign accent. Second (stronger) quibble - and this is for the audiences and not the production team - this is NOT pantomime! You DO NOT hiss the villain at a curtain call in serious theatre! It's the actor you are booing, not the character.
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Post by joem on May 29, 2023 0:28:35 GMT
Interesting adaptation by Timberlake Wertenbaker of the 1953 novel by Henri-Pierre Roche which was made internationally famous by Francois Truffaut's film starring Jeanne Moreau
A play about a threesome or about a modern way of living and loving? At the time it was set (action starts in 1907 although the novel made it much later) it would have been revolutionary - the woman has the upper hand and the men's deep friendship would be seen as at the very least homoerotic now. But I do get the feeling that love and lust merge in the author's mind as do friendship and narcissism. In the end the loves and friendships in the play are mostly self-serving.
The staging was simple but effective, an abstract blue on white background somewhat reminiscent of Matisse is neutral but attractive and the use of the water effect with bubbles for the two scenes which involve jumping into the Seine were realistic and dramatically well used. Good acting by the three-strong cast, pared down from novel and film.
Imaginatively directed by Stella Powell-Jones, the new artistic director, the Jermyn Street Theatre rarely disappoints and it certainly didn't on this occasion.
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Post by joem on May 26, 2023 21:27:51 GMT
Managed to catch this tonight before it finished. Very good writing - some lines were laugh out loud but also strong emotional stuff - and acting, and an interesting, illuminating analysis of an important episode in the fight against racism in the US entertainment industry. My one quibble is that it could easily have been a radio play, it was fairly static and the action did little to inform on the dialogue. But a very worthy (in the right sense of the word) work.
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Post by joem on May 24, 2023 21:07:02 GMT
I will free the Theatre Royal Stratford East from my gaze permanently. Sure they'll breathe a sigh of relief.
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