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Post by theatrefan62 on Nov 16, 2023 12:52:25 GMT
People please have your flu and or Covid jabs if eligible I had both, and guess what? Yeah not sure what the lecturing on jabs has to do with anything or changing the situation. My dad had both and still ended up in ICU in a coma this month from flu (not covid). Jabs don't stop people getting sick or spreading it. |
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Post by sfsusan on Nov 16, 2023 17:10:34 GMT
Jabs don't stop people getting sick or spreading it. But they do reduce the spread of it as well as the severity if you do get ill. |
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Post by Jan on Nov 17, 2023 22:19:24 GMT
I think what’s gone wrong here is it has been badly directed. They should have brought in an experienced director. They could have told Ken to dial it down and stop channeling Brian Blessed in the first half, and also concentrated more on the supporting roles. But the main thing they could have done is not cut it to a 2hr schools version where all that’s left is the basic plot.
Still, I’ve seen worse productions of this play. 3*
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Post by ceebee on Nov 17, 2023 23:11:19 GMT
I think what’s gone wrong here is it has been badly directed. They should have brought in an experienced director. They could have told Ken to dial it down and stop channeling Brian Blessed in the first half, and also concentrated more on the supporting roles. But the main thing they could have done is not cut it to a 2hr schools version where all that’s left is the basic plot. Still, I’ve seen worse productions of this play. 3* Channelling Brian Blessed... "Goneril's alive?" |
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Post by Jan on Nov 18, 2023 9:42:45 GMT
I think what’s gone wrong here is it has been badly directed. They should have brought in an experienced director. They could have told Ken to dial it down and stop channeling Brian Blessed in the first half, and also concentrated more on the supporting roles. But the main thing they could have done is not cut it to a 2hr schools version where all that’s left is the basic plot. Still, I’ve seen worse productions of this play. 3* Channelling Brian Blessed... "Goneril's alive?" Ha ha. But really, if you haven’t seen this yet watch out for it. There are comments here about the strange way he phrases lines and certain words and his hammy approach but it is all pure Blessed. I assume it is deliberate. Of course BB played King Lear fairly recently but had to withdraw due to illness - maybe this is Ken’s tribute to him. Similarly the actor playing Cornwall sounds really uncannily like Simon Russell-Beale. |
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Post by ceebee on Nov 18, 2023 13:35:12 GMT
Channelling Brian Blessed... "Goneril's alive?" Ha ha. But really, if you haven’t seen this yet watch out for it. There are comments here about the strange way he phrases lines and certain words and his hammy approach but it is all pure Blessed. I assume it is deliberate. Of course BB played King Lear fairly recently but had to withdraw due to illness - maybe this is Ken’s tribute to him. Similarly the actor playing Cornwall sounds really uncannily like Simon Russell-Beale. Yes, I agree - I thought Cornwall was superb but very SRB with staccato delivery and menacing but slightly camp. I found KEn quite boomy but was not offended by hos performance. I'm not sure I'd see Lear-lite or similar as a habit but the production was a nice way to waste two hours |
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Post by Jan on Nov 18, 2023 14:10:56 GMT
Ha ha. But really, if you haven’t seen this yet watch out for it. There are comments here about the strange way he phrases lines and certain words and his hammy approach but it is all pure Blessed. I assume it is deliberate. Of course BB played King Lear fairly recently but had to withdraw due to illness - maybe this is Ken’s tribute to him. Similarly the actor playing Cornwall sounds really uncannily like Simon Russell-Beale. Yes, I agree - I thought Cornwall was superb but very SRB with staccato delivery and menacing but slightly camp. I found KEn quite boomy but was not offended by hos performance. I'm not sure I'd see Lear-lite or similar as a habit but the production was a nice way to waste two hours Agree. I had £20 lottery front row seats and they were excellent so for me it was well worth seeing. If I was 4 rows back and had paid £250 then not. |
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Post by ilovewemusicals on Nov 18, 2023 20:37:46 GMT
Sir Kenneth spotted me staring at his six-pack. It’s not well defined but definitely there. He’s too old for me though.
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Post by ceebee on Nov 18, 2023 23:31:13 GMT
Sir Kenneth spotted me staring at his six-pack. It’s not well defined but definitely there. He’s too old for me though. King Leer |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Nov 20, 2023 7:44:40 GMT
Saw it a couple of days ago, and it's okay? It's a serviceable production and, with its Hamiltonesque pacing, it must be the first time I watched Lear without ever getting bored, but together with the play's challenges they also cut its emotional rewards: there is no getting around the fact that in focusing on the plot, they neglected the emotional depth.
I think the real problem of this production is being in the West End and having Kenneth Branagh Inc. in the leading role. It would be much better off touring the country with a familiar name as Lear: GCSE and A-level students everywhere would enjoy it much better than your regular 3-hour-something Lear, and it's a very accessible introduction to the play for a young theatergoer.
The lines were beautifully spoken – congrats to RADA on its attention to diction – but the cast is definitely still unexperienced. I liked Corey Mylchreest. So many lines from Lear, Gloucester and Kent focus on (old) age, and the contrast between what you see and what you hear is particularly jarring: Branagh himself is a vigorous and virile Lear that could pass for a man in his 40s! Seeing him play with his staff during the opening scenes made me wonder why he didn't just play and direct himself as Prospero, which feels more appropriate for his age and his late-stage-Olivier acting style.
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Post by Jan on Nov 20, 2023 7:56:30 GMT
So many lines from Lear, Gloucester and Kent focus on (old) age, and the contrast between what you see and what you hear is particularly jarring One good rule of thumb for casting in King Lear is that Gloucester should be played by an actor who would be entirely suitable in all ways to play Lear himself but who simply lacks the profile to be cast as Lear. Kent is a tricky one, I saw McKellen himself fail in that role, gender swapping it here didn't do much one way or the other. |
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Post by cavocado on Nov 25, 2023 21:17:53 GMT
This was such a wasted opportunity. I couldn't see any reason for squeezing it into 2 hours, but so much was lost by doing that. I felt unmoved by scenes which I'd normally find gut-wrenching. I don't think that was due to bad acting, more that there was no time to give weight to what was happening and being said, no time for the audience to think.
An actor in his 60s is not too young to play Lear, but playing him with vigour and a lack of physical vulnerability for much of the play didn't work for me.
Of the younger actors Corey Mylchreest as Edmund and Deborah Alli as Goneril were the standouts.
I'd give it 2.5 stars. It was certainly no worse than a lot of recent Globe and RSC output, but someone else directing (with a slower pace) and more depth and experience in the supporting cast could have made this a 4 star production.
Looking forward to seeing what Danny Sapani (age 53) and Yael Farber do with the play at the Almeida next year.
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Post by n1david on Nov 27, 2023 19:06:21 GMT
Offering a couple of freebies to this on Wednesday night - please see post in Noticeboard.
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Post by jr on Nov 29, 2023 21:28:25 GMT
Saw today's matinee. Quite boring.
I wanted to ask: both Branagh and, at times, other actors mark their R's quite strongly. Is that any particular accent? An affectation? A way of delivering the verse?
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Post by ceebee on Nov 29, 2023 22:29:56 GMT
Saw today's matinee. Quite boring. I wanted to ask: both Branagh and, at times, other actors mark they R's quite strongly. Is that any particular accent? An affectation? A way of delivering the verse? It's what some call the RADA "R". |
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Post by Fleance on Nov 30, 2023 1:59:51 GMT
So many lines from Lear, Gloucester and Kent focus on (old) age, and the contrast between what you see and what you hear is particularly jarring One good rule of thumb for casting in King Lear is that Gloucester should be played by an actor who would be entirely suitable in all ways to play Lear himself but who simply lacks the profile to be cast as Lear. Kent is a tricky one, I saw McKellen himself fail in that role, gender swapping it here didn't do much one way or the other. Michael Bryant comes to mind, in my first Lear (NT), with Anthony Hopkins. Bryant was a great Gloucester. I saw that McKellen Kent as well (Brian Cox as Lear), don't remember much about it. |
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Post by joem on Dec 4, 2023 23:04:36 GMT
I have no doubt that Kenneth Branagh is a well-meaning guy (despite being a Tottenham fan) and that helping out RADA was one of the driving motivations behind this production BUT I have to say it ends up feeling like very good youth theatre rather than the loftier heights you expect to be reached in a West End production.
The cuts made to the text mutilate the play, all it does is cut down the running time but even then a couple of the key pathetic (in the right sense) speeches are delivered rather briskly by Wor Ken instead of milking them for dramatic effect. Branagh's Lear looks too young and spry to be retiring from tyranny and his fall makes him petulant rather than tragic. Unsympathetic casting doesn't help either, I am very relaxed with flexibility in this but seriously, what did we gain by having a female actor play Kent? Sum total: a cheap laugh from the audience when she declares "I'm a man!".
I don't want to knock it too much because I think the idea comes from a good place but Branagh surrounded by students in a chopped-up text doesn't sound great and ended up being deficient. I don't think someone new to the play would have got what it's about and that's a shame because it might dissuade them from going back to the theatre or to Shakespeare.
3/5 if I'm generous.
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Post by ceebee on Dec 5, 2023 7:20:58 GMT
I have no doubt that Kenneth Branagh is a well-meaning guy (despite being a Tottenham fan) and that helping out RADA was one of the driving motivations behind this production BUT I have to say it ends up feeling like very good youth theatre rather than the loftier heights you expect to be reached in a West End production. The cuts made to the text mutilate the play, all it does is cut down the running time but even then a couple of the key pathetic (in the right sense) speeches are delivered rather briskly by Wor Ken instead of milking them for dramatic effect. Branagh's Lear looks too young and spry to be retiring from tyranny and his fall makes him petulant rather than tragic. Unsympathetic casting doesn't help either, I am very relaxed with flexibility in this but seriously, what did we gain by having a female actor play Kent? Sum total: a cheap laugh from the audience when she declares "I'm a man!". I don't want to knock it too much because I think the idea comes from a good place but Branagh surrounded by students in a chopped-up text doesn't sound great and ended up being deficient. I don't think someone new to the play would have got what it's about and that's a shame because it might dissuade them from going back to the theatre or to Shakespeare. 3/5 if I'm generous. King Lear supports Spurs? Well who knew. Nothing can come of nothing... |
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Post by joem on Dec 5, 2023 7:29:35 GMT
I have no doubt that Kenneth Branagh is a well-meaning guy (despite being a Tottenham fan) and that helping out RADA was one of the driving motivations behind this production BUT I have to say it ends up feeling like very good youth theatre rather than the loftier heights you expect to be reached in a West End production. The cuts made to the text mutilate the play, all it does is cut down the running time but even then a couple of the key pathetic (in the right sense) speeches are delivered rather briskly by Wor Ken instead of milking them for dramatic effect. Branagh's Lear looks too young and spry to be retiring from tyranny and his fall makes him petulant rather than tragic. Unsympathetic casting doesn't help either, I am very relaxed with flexibility in this but seriously, what did we gain by having a female actor play Kent? Sum total: a cheap laugh from the audience when she declares "I'm a man!". I don't want to knock it too much because I think the idea comes from a good place but Branagh surrounded by students in a chopped-up text doesn't sound great and ended up being deficient. I don't think someone new to the play would have got what it's about and that's a shame because it might dissuade them from going back to the theatre or to Shakespeare. 3/5 if I'm generous. King Lear supports Spurs? Well who knew. Nothing can come of nothing... Odd I know... he should be supporting Newton Heath maybe? |
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Post by ceebee on Dec 9, 2023 21:29:53 GMT
Enjoyed the matinee today. Pace less frenetic than earlier in the run. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Post by Marwood on Jan 1, 2024 23:43:54 GMT
Its transferring to The Shed in New York in ‘Fall 2024’ if anyone is interested (I saw it advertised while seeing Here We Are there last week)
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