Globe All Seasons

Times gives it 5 stars. Stage gave 3.

Indeed. I usually agree with him on most of his reviews but it is obvious to me he is being careful with this one. Even previous tweets he made about the play always swept the main issue under the carpet: the transing of a powerful female figure seen as progressive- and failing to spell out why the people having an issue with this are in any way bigoted. 

If I was a critic I'd be scared of losing my job or being banned from theatres for not praising this one.

When the new orthodoxy surrounding any gender related issue is that controlling, we are a very dangerous period for freedom of thought and expression

I've noticed that a lot of reviews tweeted by the reviewing site only include stars for 4/5 star reviews and omit them when reviews are less enthusiastic. I could be wrong about three star reviews, and maybe that changes. Being generous, the reviewing site doesn't want to have their less glowing reviews reduced to a star rating shared across the internet. Being cynical, they know that high star reviews generate clicks from fans, who would ignore a 'bad' review, but would be tempted to click to find out.

Three stars is a decent enough review IMO, but some fans of specific actors have unrealistic expectations.

Finally got around to seeing "I Joan."

I don't know about all the politics of it, or how the Globe advertised or spoke about the production, but my experience of this from the pit is that it is the most entertaining show of the Michelle Terry era, on a par with "Nell Gwyn," as far as original plays go. I absolutely loved it!

Some spoilers follow. . .

Like Henry VIII or Cromwell or any famous figure, I really don't think this play dents Joan of Arc and her legacy one little bit. There is simply no way that the historical Joan of Arc turns from a female into trans because of this production, simply because Joan of Arc is too well known a figure to be altered by any representation at this point, and will be the subject and object of a billion different interpretations in future.

Nor do I think this is a piece that advertises or promotes anybody adopting a lifestyle or whatever. It is just a liberal plea to allow everyone to get on with their own thing without being persecuted for it.

The play certainly isn't anti-female, as the Joan in this play's most controversial assertion, and the one that gets her the most blowback in the plot, is that she experiences "God" as female, using the "she" pronoun to describe "God," not "he" or "they" for that matter.

All that said, what the experience of this production is actually like (for me, anyway) is a propulsively driven, hilarious comedy drama with an infectious joy for simply being alive.

It is about characters sliding down a massive wooden slide from an impossibly high height, which is both propulsively exciting to watch but also evokes nostalgic playful childlike wonder and a hankering back to the joys of very big slides

It is about Jolyon Coy's Dauphin acting the child, at times parading around in underpants, evoking for me Oliver Chris's amusingly over-emotional Duke Orsino from the National's "Twelfth Night," but with even more infantile comic precision, such that I was belly-laughing.

It is about the urgency of large wind instruments and insistent percussion, such that the war scenes, evoked by thrilling dancing, are some of the most vigorous and energising that I've seen.

It is about Isabel Thom giving a magnificent central performance, in their professional debut as Joan, part Leslie Caron, part street poet, part athlete, all infectious joyous engagement with plot and action.

It is about a helium-fuelled Adam Gillen going pink in the face as he overheats from the pressure of his repressed identity as a callow courtier to become someone who explodes with passion through the catalyst of Joan's open agency

This play is so funny, such moment to moment fun, it somehow even makes Joan's downfall enjoyable by its comic depiction of religious persecution carried out by rigidly robed religious figures wobbling like weebles (but they don't fall down), vibrating more furiously every time Joan says something even slightly controversial.

If there is a flaw to this production, it is that Joan's speeches are cleverly written to fit both historical facts as well as to speak to trans identity, and sometimes that duallism is lost, and you just hear a speech about identity, when you expect a speech about even more than that.

But overall, I think this production is glorious, the first production I've seen of Terry's era to match Emma Rice's love and joy in humanity as a whole.

It's wonderful, and deserves a life beyond October 22. 4 and a half stars from me.

TITUS

will have all female cast and candles trimmed for deaths.

Feel the terror

any thoughts,ideas,wishes for new season....?

be great to have full on Histories in Main S[pace....

neil constable resigns.

"Freshly announced today, the London landmark venue has cut its number of £5 tickets from 600 to 300, with a number of £10 tickets also available. The Globe said today: "Since 1997, the Globe has proudly offered £5 standing tickets. Hundreds of the most economically accessible ticket in a major UK theatre will remain available for every performance, and now hundreds more will be available at £10 as well. Audiences are advised to book early to secure them."

The Globe added that: "A limited number of £5 tickets will also be released close to each performance, providing a last chance way to access the cheapest tickets. Further details will be announced in spring 2023."

Sounds like they need to get some extra audience money in


"Speaking yesterday in a pre-season roundtable, artistic director Michelle Terry acknowledged that programming and choices had to be done with a "commercial imperative" in mind – acknowledging just how turbulent the UK economic and theatre landscape currently is. She also emphasised that she would always remain resistant to a removal of £5 tickets in their entirety, despite "endless discussions" on the subject."