213 posts
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Post by peelee on Jul 23, 2017 10:43:09 GMT
I agree with a couple of critical comments upthread, but this is a thoughtfully put-together, interesting play and in places cleverly so. It holds the attention and indeed the audience has to concentrate. Although some characters say rather more than others, those quieter others have dramatic force for the way in which, though their presence is of marginal concern to the protagonist, still they make their presence felt.
Some very good performances, especially from Justine Mitchell, Hannah Rae and Lorna Brown, though actually it is unfair not to acknowledge others in what is a good cast. Watching them all was time well-spent. Set design helped greatly, with scene changes as simple as could be.
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45 posts
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Bodies
Jul 25, 2017 7:22:57 GMT
via mobile
Post by publius on Jul 25, 2017 7:22:57 GMT
I saw this last night and concur with the majority of praise given on here.
This is a good play with an interesting story and some wonderful moments of acting.
Overall it's not as powerful as Yerma - as suggested somewhere else in this thread - but there are quite a few gut-renching and harrowing scenes which are worthy of such comparisons: without any spoilers I would say that there's a particular moment in the play with Salma Hoque which is amongst the most powerful I have encountered in a long while.
As said above, it is cruel to single out anyone from a wonderful cast but Jonathan McGuinness deserves a lot of respect for his solid performance in a play he was not cast for and just a few days ago was reading from a script on stage and watch out for Hannah Rae. I don't believe it is far fetched to draw comparisons with her and the early Billie Piper. She has great stage presence and will go on to have a very successful career.
4 stars from me.
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1,064 posts
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Bodies
Jul 27, 2017 17:07:25 GMT
via mobile
foxa likes this
Post by bellboard27 on Jul 27, 2017 17:07:25 GMT
@parsley said to book this
So I did
He was not wrong
Excellent
Thanks
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Bodies
Aug 10, 2017 17:06:31 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 17:06:31 GMT
Finally caught this earlier in the week.
I fluctuated between finding it genuinely engaging and probing as the inter-personal issues and relationships dominated the foreground (great dialogue, and strong performances), and then hugely disappointing as the political backdrop to surrogacy and first world guilt took hold in an unsubtle, didactic, and melodramatic manner.
This play is dripping with questions of social responsibility, and cannot successfully camouflage its colours within the drama. By the end I felt a bit like I'd just watched a 90-minute charity appeal video.
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