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Post by crowblack on Oct 2, 2018 10:22:55 GMT
So much can get the chop from the final two acts to make it pacier I think they could speed things up without losing anything, if they are being precious (is it still an A level set text?) - there were many times where I was thinking wrong word emphasis and too slow. If they just sped it up they'd have got more sense out of the language and a sense of urgency. |
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Post by lynette on Oct 2, 2018 10:50:26 GMT
I don’t think it is A level text these days.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 2, 2018 10:58:43 GMT
So much can get the chop from the final two acts to make it pacier I think they could speed things up without losing anything, if they are being precious (is it still an A level set text?) - there were many times where I was thinking wrong word emphasis and too slow. If they just sped it up they'd have got more sense out of the language and a sense of urgency. Yes I agree with the "precious" aspect (the soothsayer particularly, who I don't think was particularly strong). I loved the flashbangs and the spinning ruins in the battle scene, that gave a great bit of urgency! |
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Post by Jan on Oct 2, 2018 11:19:18 GMT
Just as one always wonders how directors will deal with the bear in Winter’s Tale there is always an air of anticipation as the Battle of Actium approaches in A&C - I’ve seen some appallingly shoddy work with model ships and choreographed sailors.
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Post by crabtree on Oct 2, 2018 11:43:33 GMT
Ah but Enobarbus' speech about the barge - pure perfection, as are Cleopatra's final speeches. 'I have immortal longings in me'. brilliant.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 2, 2018 13:45:16 GMT
I don’t think it is A level text these days. Lucky them. A level and degree for me... that barge speech brought back instant classroom flashbacks! |
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Post by lynette on Oct 2, 2018 18:09:05 GMT
Just as one always wonders how directors will deal with the bear in Winter’s Tale there is always an air of anticipation as the Battle of Actium approaches in A&C - I’ve seen some appallingly shoddy work with model ships and choreographed sailors. I saw the model ships! Where was that? RSC? Do you think it would ruin the theatrical experience to have video stuff for the sea battles in the background with the scenes between Ant and Cleo played in front? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2018 18:51:17 GMT
I’m going to bring something up an bit unrelated and maybe not a big issue for most people, but when I saw Ant and Cleo I noticed that the programme for it no longer has the poster image on but now has the title of the show and is not very appealing and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it and thought it was just for Cleo but I have seen online that the programme of I’m Not Running is this format and I really don’t like it and hope it doesn’t stick for the rest. This is a very much first world problem but how do othe people feel?
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Post by crowblack on Oct 2, 2018 19:03:10 GMT
It might be a first world problem, but I thought it was very dull - looks like a menu. The programme contents and size are actually pretty good, and it's a shame to waste the opportunity to showcase some good, attractive design on the cover. I hope it isn't going to be a 'thing'. |
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Post by learfan on Oct 2, 2018 19:42:57 GMT
It might be a first world problem, but I thought it was very dull - looks like a menu. The programme contents and size are actually pretty good, and it's a shame to waste the opportunity to showcase some good, attractive design on the cover. I hope it isn't going to be a 'thing'. As you say not a massive thing but it looks cr*p. Why does it say "official programme" on the cover? Do the NT think us punters get confused. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 2, 2018 22:39:03 GMT
They've done that before, in 2003/2004, for Edmond, The History Boys, many other plays at that time.
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Post by nash16 on Oct 2, 2018 23:50:55 GMT
I’m going to bring something up an bit unrelated and maybe not a big issue for most people, but when I saw Ant and Cleo I noticed that the programme for it no longer has the poster image on but now has the title of the show and is not very appealing and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it and thought it was just for Cleo but I have seen online that the programme of I’m Not Running is this format and I really don’t like it and hope it doesn’t stick for the rest. This is a very much first world problem but how do othe people feel? Total agreement. What made us both laugh was they now also say "Official Programme". 😂 Is someone flogging fake NT probs outside now? Lol. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 3, 2018 5:58:34 GMT
Is someone flogging fake NT probs outside now? Lol. If they are then they will say Official Programme on them too - the NT obviously haven't thought of that. On the whole I think the programme covers should match the posters and the posters should be designed by artists and not just be production photos of the actors. I remember some good RSC ones designed by the cartoonist Ralph Steadman for example. |
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Post by learfan on Oct 3, 2018 6:15:23 GMT
Just as one always wonders how directors will deal with the bear in Winter’s Tale there is always an air of anticipation as the Battle of Actium approaches in A&C - I’ve seen some appallingly shoddy work with model ships and choreographed sailors. Speak for yourself, its never occurred to me. |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 3, 2018 8:08:52 GMT
Just as one always wonders how directors will deal with the bear in Winter’s Tale there is always an air of anticipation as the Battle of Actium approaches in A&C - I’ve seen some appallingly shoddy work with model ships and choreographed sailors. Actium is the big sea battle that Antony should have fought by land, right? If so - this production approaches it with radar, with a big screen, and with flashing lights. It's pretty cool. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 3, 2018 8:57:09 GMT
Just as one always wonders how directors will deal with the bear in Winter’s Tale there is always an air of anticipation as the Battle of Actium approaches in A&C - I’ve seen some appallingly shoddy work with model ships and choreographed sailors. Actium is the big sea battle that Antony should have fought by land, right? If so - this production approaches it with radar, with a big screen, and with flashing lights. It's pretty cool. Yes I gather it must be cool due to the number of reviewers who have included spoilers about it. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 3, 2018 9:00:53 GMT
Just as one always wonders how directors will deal with the bear in Winter’s Tale there is always an air of anticipation as the Battle of Actium approaches in A&C - I’ve seen some appallingly shoddy work with model ships and choreographed sailors. Speak for yourself, its never occurred to me. I was using "one" in the same way the Queen does as a purely personal pronoun, as in "One is not amused" when Maureen Lipman comes on. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2018 23:37:43 GMT
I went with a friend
She left at the interval
I left about 10 mins into the second half
Sophie Okonedo was funny
And would make a good panto dame
Modern Shakespeare has been so bastardised by directors it’s sickening
Rarely does anyone succeed in updating it well
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2018 6:48:56 GMT
Oh P, I'm not quite sure if you're insulting Sophie Okonedo or genuinely praising her comedic talents but that's probably one of my favourite quotes about an actor for some time. I hope they put it on the poster.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 4, 2018 7:56:16 GMT
Modern Shakespeare has been so bastardised by directors it’s sickening Rarely does anyone succeed in updating it well But Pompey and his actual submarine!! All the stars for whoever made that update. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 4, 2018 10:45:57 GMT
Modern Shakespeare has been so bastardised by directors it’s sickening Rarely does anyone succeed in updating it well But Pompey and his actual submarine!! All the stars for whoever made that update. You should spoiler that, though several reviewers have mentioned it of course. The worst used to be Charles Spencer, he’d exhaustively list every single staging surprise in a production. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2018 18:43:12 GMT
I went with a friend She left at the interval I left about 10 mins into the second half Sophie Okonedo was funny And would make a good panto dame Modern Shakespeare has been so bastardised by directors it’s sickening Rarely does anyone succeed in updating it well Sophie Okonedo was funny And would make a good panto dame I read today that Okonedo reckons that she had only ever seen the Carry On version of the play. Parsley vindicated. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 9:20:35 GMT
Well. I think it should be a rule that all Shakespeare plays should be done and dusted in 100 minutes tops. For such a slight story they don't half drag it out. In the words of Baccara in their 1978 Eurovision Song Contest classic 'Parlez-vous français', 3 and a half bloomin' hours is just "too much Maria". On the plus side, you get Sophie Okonedo giving us her best Frankie Howard impression as Cleopatra in some lovely frocks. She was almost upstaged by a giant corsage on one of them which threatened to chew off an ear in 'Little Shop of Horrors' style and I think a little "no missus, titter ye not" would have gone down a treat but I'll overlook that for the joy of seeing her cope in a yellow ruffled number without corpsing. How the costume designer got her to wear it without losing a limb is a minor miracle. You also get two scene stealing performances from Fisayo Akinade as Eros (there really seems to be no show he cannot steal) and Sardon Yelda as a wonderfully camp Pompey who no doubt would have been delighted to have spent all his time surrounded by seamen. But really, the whole thing is worth it for the set. Not only does Cleo's palace remind me of a hotel I once stayed in on a delightful trip to Tangier but then you get your money's worth from the revolve when it turns into . . . {Cleopatra. Comin Atcha.}
. . a gigantic SUBMARINE! Yes, you read that right. A submarine. At The Nash! I almost gave it a round of applause. The great unwashed loved it, Ralphie getting belly laughs for every mildly amusing line. Or perhaps they were just laughing at his palazzo trousers and bolero jacket at the beginning. I couldn't really tell through the boredom. |
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Post by peggs on Oct 11, 2018 11:27:11 GMT
We're you there last night @ryan and I missed you?! I wonder if you were one of the people I stared at near the beginning whilst I wondered if I was going to be as bored as parsley. Damn. Yes those trousers were particularly bad, what a lot of outfits Cleo had and people do laugh at odd things.
I warmed into it but it took quite a time to get there.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 11:59:19 GMT
We're you there last night @ryan and I missed you?! I wonder if you were one of the people I stared at near the beginning whilst I wondered if I was going to be as bored as parsley. Damn. Yes those trousers were particularly bad, what a lot of outfits Cleo had and people do laugh at odd things. I warmed into it but it took quite a time to get there. Oh the shame of it but I was on the back row of the circle with the riff raff I'm afraid. In a way I'm glad as I sometimes like to live dangerously and see how the other half live and also because I would have been particularly narked orf if I'd paid any more to see it. I was wearing some gorgeous trousers in a small brown check and a green knitted polo. I looked rather dashing last night so I'm disappointed that you missed me. In all honesty, there were a few sh*ts 'n' giggles in it but I couldn't wait for them both to peg it really (pardon the pun). If I could have, I'd have hunted out the snake and brought it out on stage myself just so that the interminable night would end. I think it was because they were just such an unlikeable pair. I was Team Tunji all the way. Fisayo Akinade splashing about in the swimming pool was the highlight of the whole evening. |
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