Beginning - Dorfman

Saturday night for me. A few empty seats particularly at the sides, but I guess with a low key cast and play, this is to be expected. 

Played "end on" with a wide stage, I did think that people at the sides would have had long periods looking at the back of the heads, and quite a lot of the action took place at the sides of the stage (by the sofa, or fireplace/table) or the back (in the kitchen alcove). Some lighting issues but I expect this will improve.

So pretty much only directed front on. Fortunately, that was where I was sitting.

The Dorfman restricted view tickets are distinctly below par. There are some seats, regularly priced at £15, where if you were to sit as a person would sit in a seat for an end-on production, you would see maybe 1/5th of the stage, a solid metal pillar, and the people next to and in front of you. For £15 I'd want at least 1/3rd of the stage.

Eldridge's In Basildon at the Royal Court a few years ago was excellent and quite underrated. It was funny, moving and had a cast to die for, so my hopes would be high for this too as it has two excellent actors also.

Laura has had a housewarming party in her impressive new flat in Crouch End. Danny has stayed behind and is now embarrassed at finding himself alone with the woman he has been eyeing all night. He needn't worry - she wants him there. But he's incredibly anxious and fretful, cringingly so. Why? It's not as if he has to make a move on her. She does it for him, letting him know in no uncertain terms that she's his for the taking. Yet still he dithers.

All this is in the first ten minutes of the play. The rest of the play, another 100 minutes or so, is one long stall. Danny will do or say anything not to have sex with the woman he says he wants to have sex with. As a male I can sympathize to some extent. Performance anxiety is always lurking in such situations. But Danny takes it to new levels of insecurity forcing Laura to spend all her time as the goddess of reassurance. She calls him a dick - and he is. So why is she so determined to have this quivering bundle of nerves? What does it say about the other men in her life?

Nearing the halfway mark playwright David Eldridge senses he's gone as far as he can go with this setup and introduces a new and more serious theme which allows both characters to open up their lives to each other - and this is an improvement. But still, it's all so drawn out and repetitive.

If it actually entertains for a great deal of the time it's down to the actors. Justine Mitchell and Sam Troughton are both superb. She has the advantage of playing a character who acts in a credible way and makes sense and she fills the role with a radiance and an inner anguish that is irresistible. What a marvellous actress she is. Troughton works hard and gets the laughs and, to his infinite credit, makes Danny a sympathetic character in spite of himself. The two work brilliantly together although the underlying passion which is the excuse for their connection is not particularly evident.

I'm perhaps underrating the play a bit - the audience I was with clearly loved it and identified with it. Danny's excruciating self doubt obviously hit home with many. But, for me, it was one of those evenings where I kept checking my watch. In so-called "real life" the situation would have been resolved in those first ten minutes. That it isn't in this case seems more about artifice than life.

Damn, I was hoping I'd caught it before anyone saw! Now changed.

You still wear a watch?

Critics' views very mixed: Theatrecat (Libby Purves, but reviewed by a young male in this case) 4 stars; Whatsonstage 5 stars but British Theatre Guide less enthusiastic. Some have said one character is underwritten, whereas for some it's the other; some have said it's too slow and drawn-out, resulting in a loss of interest, whilst others find it engrossing but painful to watch in its soul-baring accuracy.

I too take my digital watch, which has a backlight, solely in order to be able to check the time in the cinema and theatre. I do so discreetly as I keep it in my bag, so no-one else will see the light, let alone what I am doing - I don't want to offend any actors if I'm sitting close enough for them to see.

Maybe worth a thread of its own but I think the read/don't read reviews, posts, etc, in advance is a personal preference. I like to read as much as possible (and I always look at spoilers), partly to help me decide whether to book if I haven't already done so and partly because I don't always follow the plot (e.g. in the case of a Stoppard) from the performance itself so appreciate any insights others provide.

Plus I look out for mentions of things I would prefer to avoid, e.g. mime, puppetry, audience participation.

I would have said that the reviews were pretty positive. Actually, they need them to be, since there are still a reasonable number of unsold seats (no star names etc).


Standard 5 stars 
www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/beginning-theatre-review-magnificent-twohander-about-loneliness-of-metropolitan-living-a3657591.html 

Whats on Stage 5 stars
www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/reviews/beginning-dorfman-national-theatre-troughton_4487https://www.ft.com/content/e6727078-aff2-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e1300.html

Guardian 4 stars
www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/oct/13/beginning-review-national-theatre-dorfman-david-eldridge

The Times 4 stars (paywall)

Financial Times 3 stars but reads better than that. 

The reviews are pretty unanimous about the high quality of the acting. Interesting that the issue of the space (oops, sightlines) between the characters highlighted the physical and emotional gulf. 

I am so glad I went to see this before the reviews, since I am always tempted to have a glance and then inevitably read too much. Some of the articles give far too much away, but I guess they have to write something. But no need to spoil things. 

As for looking at watches, I did wonder how they would stretch things out to 1hr 45 (at the time). Despite being engrossed, I looked at my watch a couple of times. Having a " real time" (started in the early hours) clock on the wall of the set did probably set that off too!

Parsley - good to see you back. I wanted to see what you thought. I agree that the comparison with Yerma is relevant, but that play was dominated by one character in her ruthless pursuit of her goal,  whereas here it was much more even handed. Per my original post, I found this far more interesting and believable in terms of the characters. It sounds like you did too until that issue was introduced and you enjoyed some of the acting and writing though?! 🤔


9.5/10 for me. Lost half just in terms of the way in which the "issues" were introduced, but still worked because of the acting and characters.

I caught the matinee today and was pretty much blown away by the whole production. Like popcultureboy I had pretty much written off David Eldridge after Knot of the Heart, and I sort of hated In Basildon when I saw it a few years ago at the Royal Court. So I'm not even sure why I bought a ticket for this. But I'm glad I did. Unlike Heisenberg which seemed foolish and endless, this play has two lonely people at its center who are entering a period of their lives where their personal and professional prospects are narrowing. They've made some unfortunate choices and now are dealing with the consequences . This one night which could be casual and forgotten takes on an importance to both of them for different reasons and yet they find their common ground and take a chance on changing their lives. Pitch perfect performances and direction make this not only one of the most surprising plays of the year but also one of the most satisfying. I wouldn't be surprised ti see it produced throughout the country in the next couple of years and well remembered around awards time.