247 posts
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Post by barelyathletic on Sept 20, 2016 10:11:33 GMT
Some wonderful reviews for this. Five-stars from the Telegraph. Plus a few naysayers. I can see why. It's a mixed bag. A beautiful script, gorgeous to look at and some rudimentary physical theatre that doesn't really add much to what we already have. An odd collection of British accents. Bad Australian ones would have been worse, but surely they could have tried to get it right? Especially as the play remains resolutely Australian in its detail. An uneven range of performances too. The women are the strongest here. Imogen Stubbs surprisingly so. But Matthew Barker makes the most of his big moment, silencing the teenage titterers. By the interval of the production several of my large group were reduced to emotional wrecks. By the end, even I succumbed and shed several tears. But still a production that didn't quite satisfy. Read it and weep indeed.
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3,575 posts
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Post by showgirl on Sept 20, 2016 12:05:52 GMT
I'm glad you posted this, barelyathletic, as though I saw the play last week, I knew someone else would make a better job of the first comment than I would.
Largely I'm in agreement: I couldn't understand why they would keep the Australian setting yet have a cast with so wide a variety of English regional accents; I thought the physical theatre - not that there was much of it - added nothing other than delaying proceedings and above all I felt the plot was stuffed far too full of issues for its own good, to the point of losing credibility. I admired the performances nonetheless but the play left me unmoved.
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247 posts
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Post by barelyathletic on Sept 20, 2016 13:09:11 GMT
I'm glad you posted this, barelyathletic, as though I saw the play last week, I knew someone else would make a better job of the first comment than I would. Largely I'm in agreement: I couldn't understand why they would keep the Australian setting yet have a cast with so wide a variety of English regional accents; I thought the physical theatre - not that there was much of it - added nothing other than delaying proceedings and above all I felt the plot was stuffed far too full of issues for its own good, to the point of losing credibility. I admired the performances nonetheless but the play left me unmoved. Thank you. Your opinion was definitely shared by some in my group who, like you, found it overly issue driven. Others absolutely loved it. I think it reads beautifully on the page. I just didn't feel the production, despite some strong elements, did it justice. Would love to see it done in a more naturalistic way, focusing on the text. I was moved in the end both by the emotion of the writing and particularly the female performances. Despite my reservations I'd still recommend it as a piece worth seeing. It will certainly have people talking. |
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