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Post by Jan on Aug 29, 2018 6:08:07 GMT
Hmm. Were any of you the tall chap on his own on the aisle in row H on the ground level? I was in H44 next to the pillar. Had a nice chat with him in the interval and got a theatreboard vibe but didn’t ask if he was on here. You gotta ask! On the lines of..do you know, or I always check on..etc. Mind you a bit sad if we only suspect people on their own! (Don't start, we've had that going to Theatre on your own thread. ) Didn’t you organise badges one time to aid identification ? Sadly the Globe have cancelled their “A Game at Chess” reading so I miss the opportunity to try to identify learfan amongst the elderly throng. |
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Post by learfan on Aug 29, 2018 10:56:09 GMT
You gotta ask! On the lines of..do you know, or I always check on..etc. Mind you a bit sad if we only suspect people on their own! (Don't start, we've had that going to Theatre on your own thread. ) Didn’t you organise badges one time to aid identification ? Sadly the Globe have cancelled their “A Game at Chess” reading so I miss the opportunity to try to identify learfan amongst the elderly throng. Takes one to know one! |
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Post by theatremad on Aug 30, 2018 9:26:29 GMT
Saw this last night. I cant feel the love for this one as much as others.
Frankly bored of Boyd's ghosts, been too many now. Found some too funny (neck brace for example) to take it seriouspt.
Stunning to look at, and some genuinely powerful moments (virgins, death of his queen to name a couple) but too self-congratulatory for me.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2018 11:13:22 GMT
I've now read Tamburlaine and Tamburlaine 2 from the Penguin Classics edition - couldn't spot any obvious cuts in the Boyd version so I assume he has trimmed some of the wordiness while keeping the plot intact. A few interesting changes:
The murder in Tamburlaine's first scene in part 1 isn't in the text. So it makes more sense that Zenocrate goes off with him willingly.
Callapine (Bajazeth's son) doesn't appear and isn't mentioned in part 1.
Boyd has reordered the scenes in part 2 so Tamburlaine appears earlier - in the text he doesn't turn up till the final scene of act 1
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Post by learfan on Oct 13, 2018 18:21:32 GMT
Saw this at today's matinee. Thought it superb, jude owusu in the title role was mesmerising. Shocking start and lots of blood and all the Swan's bell and whistles on show. Recommended. Still puzzled why the RSC has more draconian security entering the auditorium than the WE. Apparently they are installing security bollards in Waterside, maybe there is intelligence that Stratford is a target?
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Post by Fleance on Oct 13, 2018 18:56:43 GMT
There was a pretty good production of Tamburlaine the Great at the Swan in 1992, with Antony Sher in the title role; also starring Malcolm Storry and Claire Benedict, with Toby Stephens, Jonathan Cake, and Sophie Okonedo in various smaller roles. Terry Hands directed.
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Post by Jan on Oct 13, 2018 20:04:25 GMT
There was a pretty good production of Tamburlaine the Great at the Swan in 1992, with Antony Sher in the title role; also starring Malcolm Storry and Claire Benedict, with Toby Stephens, Jonathan Cake, and Sophie Okonedo in various smaller roles. Terry Hands directed. Yes. That was one of the very few times I thought Sher was well-cast and was convincing - not many others, Richard III, Tartuffe, at a push Macbeth and Leontes. |
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Post by learfan on Oct 13, 2018 21:31:14 GMT
There was a pretty good production of Tamburlaine the Great at the Swan in 1992, with Antony Sher in the title role; also starring Malcolm Storry and Claire Benedict, with Toby Stephens, Jonathan Cake, and Sophie Okonedo in various smaller roles. Terry Hands directed. Yes. That was one of the very few times I thought Sher was well-cast and was convincing - not many others, Richard III, Tartuffe, at a push Macbeth and Leontes. Yep, caught that at the Barbican, spectacular. We will always disagree about Sher. |
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Post by lichtie on Oct 21, 2018 20:37:15 GMT
Count me in the list of those who enjoyed this - though doubt I'd want to go see a full version of both parts, Webster really does seem to get off on violence at excessive length. Jude Owusu is excellent.
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Post by learfan on Oct 22, 2018 6:12:45 GMT
Count me in the list of those who enjoyed this - though doubt I'd want to go see a full version of both parts, Webster really does seem to get off on violence at excessive length. Jude Owusu is excellent. Or even Marlowe. |
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Post by lichtie on Oct 22, 2018 7:11:21 GMT
Count me in the list of those who enjoyed this - though doubt I'd want to go see a full version of both parts, Webster really does seem to get off on violence at excessive length. Jude Owusu is excellent. Or even Marlowe. Yes, late night brain fade moment there! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 8:58:36 GMT
In fairness, Webster *does* seem to get off on violence at excessive length, it's a very understandable mistake to make.  |
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Post by lichtie on Oct 22, 2018 12:35:18 GMT
In fairness, Webster *does* seem to get off on violence at excessive length, it's a very understandable mistake to make. Indeed, though I was genuinely thinking of the author of Jew of Malta and Dido whilst busy typing.... It's the casual "oh another dead one" that seems to me to permeate Marlowe, whereas Webster just seems to live in Hell. |
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Post by crabtree on Oct 22, 2018 12:39:44 GMT
Yes, I remember the previous RSC Tamburlaine with Sher hanging upside down from ropes whilst doing big speeches. Sadly I don't remember the rather glorious jonathan Cake in it....I wish I did.
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Post by David J on Oct 27, 2018 19:54:21 GMT
Oh Michael Boyd how I missed you
In all seriousness this feels like a watered down version of The Histories. The violence, the ghosts, Tom Pipers design, the costumes. Different music composer but clearly Michael Boydgave told him to use the histories score
Is it just as effect. Not really. The ghosts don’t feel effective without a few figures cloaked in red to beckon them away to hell. The cast lack that oomph that the histories ensemble had and the lead doesn’t quite convince as this murderous tyrant
Still this is taking me on a nostalgia trip so count me happy
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Post by David J on Oct 27, 2018 22:05:46 GMT
The doubling could be more effective if the actors didn't play their next role right after their last. It was a bit disconcerting seeing the actress go from Tamburlaine's wife to his next rival within the next scene.
The second act did feel more of a chore to get through with the repetitiveness. And you'd think you get a satisfying conclusion where Tamburlaine gets his comeuppance, but instead, you get a drawn-out death scene with him constipated.
I'd be interested what was cut out of the two-part version. This version did go at a "this happened, and this happened, and this happened" pace and you have to really concentrate to follow whats going on with dozens of rivals replacing the last lot.
But I'm not sure I want to see the 2 plays if judging by what I saw tonight. To be honest I've now seen most of Christopher Marlowe's plays in some form or another, apart from The Massacre at Paris, and to me they don't have the most cohesive and engaging stories. The one exception would be The Jew of Malta, but only because it is a precursor to Shakespeare's Richard III.
So this was an alright production with some memorable moments (the virgins scene) but the story isn't brilliant and Michael Boyd does use some old tropes of his whilst forgetting how they were effective in the first place.
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Post by lynette on Nov 10, 2018 23:46:09 GMT
Well you can never cut enough with good old Tambers. Could have done with shaving off another ten minutes. But a very good evening's entertainment. Excellent performances, good clear direction, good blood and clanging. I enjoyed it very much. And the language! Wow, it picks you up and carries you along with some fab set piece speeches and real poetry. Lucky Elizabethens to have this knock their socks off. Considering the content I thought there was less shouting than in Troilus last night.
Rosy McEwen who played Zenocrate is very good isn’t she?
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Post by lynette on Nov 10, 2018 23:49:57 GMT
Ps I saw the Sher version too, as did most of the audience I think judging by the interval and ladies' loo chat. Sher was more brutal. Jude Owasu is more of a charmer.
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