32 posts
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Post by oldstager on Sept 6, 2018 11:50:37 GMT
After touring in the USA for two years this fascinating "play" was a hit on the Edinburgh Fringe and is now playing at the Soho Theatre until October 13.A truly original piece of theatre created by its two performers it is a challenging hour for the actors and the audience. It is deliberately shocking in its content - politically and sexually - and, at times, a very uncomfortable experience. (WARNING: some audience participation unavoidable). It is unlike anything else on the scene at the moment and worth a visit if you're in the mood for a challenge.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2018 13:14:49 GMT
I saw this in Edinburgh and, unlike with the other American hit The Octoroon with which it has a kinship and which I loved, I didn't particularly take to it. My experiences with contemporary American plays are mixed at best* so others who respond to them more readily may like it more than me.
In the end I found the tone to be all over the place and the framing device as being a copout (making it unbearably light at times). As I say, some of the audience found these bits hilarious but it wasn't for me.
* With the good reviews for Dance Nation I'm giving that a go though and The Wolves is still on my radar (again, two plays that have some similarities).
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546 posts
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Post by drmaplewood on Sept 7, 2018 13:27:18 GMT
I saw this at Edinburgh too and was equally surprised at the 5* reviews. The two performances are excellent and have great chemistry, but I found the message and "shocking" bits really obvious and contrived.
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294 posts
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Post by dani on Sept 8, 2018 11:15:24 GMT
I thought this was dross. I've seen only one review from here that wasn't enthusiastic, plus one from when it was in America. The scathing American review, www.newcriterion.com/blogs/dispatch/a-prison-of-ideas, quotes this from the programme notes, about the original game that inspired the play, part of a history lesson one of the authors sat through. If I'd seen this before booking I'd have made a mental note to avoid the play: The game was a pedagogical effort to concretize the Underground Railroad. It is also a glaring example of our predilection to contextualize and teach the American system of slavery in liberally dramatized terms that amplify noble and uplifting narratives. If we interrogate the mythos of the Underground Railroad we uncover an apparent need to make systematic exploitation, degradation and objectification palatable. Why is it that we love to narrativize ourselves in ways that propagate the very violence we proclaim to upend? |
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2,480 posts
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Post by zahidf on Sept 19, 2018 14:12:52 GMT
Saw this last night
Had rather a lot more nudity and graphic sexual content than I was expecting.
It was very funny in places but was a bit too odd for me
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511 posts
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Post by Deal J on Sept 19, 2018 17:15:55 GMT
Not "Mornington Crescent: The Musical" then?
(Leaves thread disappointed)
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2,743 posts
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Post by n1david on Oct 6, 2018 23:12:13 GMT
No. Didn't work for me. There are a hell of a lot of ideas in this show, but none of them are fully evolved. It plays around with liberal attitudes to race, with modern teaching methods, with sexual racial stereotypes.
But, it plays with all this stuff, and delivers on none of them. The two actor/creators give impressive performances, but to no end. Sad!
Oh, and audience participation is pretty minimal. But hubby did get a chocolate.
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