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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2023 20:21:38 GMT
Saw this last week on a nice discounted ticket. I thought it was fine. Mike and Lucas were obviously brilliant. My main gripe with this play is that the director said this: 'Ennis could be a straight man going through a complex negotiation of his sexuality' And Dan Gillespie Sells said: 'we're reluctant to call it a queer story' Why downplay if the characters are gay. A fair amount of theatre going audience is likely gay and its not like the show was visiting a town with a more "conservative" older audience. |
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Post by midge on Jul 31, 2023 20:29:35 GMT
Saw this last week on a nice discounted ticket. I thought it was fine. Mike and Lucas were obviously brilliant. My main gripe with this play is that the director said this: 'Ennis could be a straight man going through a complex negotiation of his sexuality' And Dan Gillespie Sells said: 'we're reluctant to call it a queer story' Why downplay if the characters are gay. A fair amount of theatre going audience is likely gay and its not like the show was visiting a town with a more "conservative" older audience. Yeah, I'm so confused as to what their intentions were |
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Post by intoanewlife on Jul 31, 2023 20:51:41 GMT
I don't consider Ennis to be gay, Jack yes, but Ennis is a much more complicated beast.
While there is no doubt that he 'loved' Jack, falling in love with a man doesn't make someone gay, especially when it is someone who because of their past has a lot of trouble falling in love with anyone or even knows what qualifies as love.
The fact he was never with another man whereas Jack was says a lot.
It's very similar to the Celie situation in The Colour Purple.
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Post by midge on Jul 31, 2023 22:41:26 GMT
I don't consider Ennis to be gay, Jack yes, but Ennis is a much more complicated beast. While there is no doubt that he 'loved' Jack, falling in love with a man doesn't make someone gay, especially when it is someone who because of their past has a lot of trouble falling in love with anyone or even knows what qualifies as love. The fact he was never with another man whereas Jack was says a lot. It's very similar to the Celie situation in The Colour Purple. Ennis is for sure an interesting character, and his approach to his sexuality in the film makes for a fascinating character study. I don't think we truly saw the extent to Ennis's struggle portrayed on stage. The story he tells Jack about his father definitely adds context to his reluctance to succumb fully to his feelings. While Ennis might not be gay, his story is certainly a 'queer' one, so for DGS to say it's not a queer story is baffling to me. Of course it's multifaceted, but it's also deeply queer. |
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Post by BVM on Jul 31, 2023 23:20:00 GMT
Gosh I definitely thought Ennis was gay from the play (though a gay that had struggled greatly with his sexuality). Never seen the film or read the book.
Beyond me how any of the creatives could not think they've mounted a queer story but there we are....
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Post by starlight92 on Aug 1, 2023 11:36:50 GMT
Saw this last night, largely on the back of recommendations here (I was put off at first by a YouTuber's review in which they said they found it boring). I'm glad I did, what a beautiful, moving show! I've never seen the film so went in not knowing how it would end, and let's just say there wasn't a dry eye in the theatre. Great music too. And the two lead actors were fantastic.
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 1, 2023 12:52:34 GMT
What an interesting life this has had.
First, a very well written, moving short story.
Then turned into a major Hollywood film with two straight male leading men that was a hit.
Then it got turned into an opera and now a play.
I wonder under what incarnation it will turn up next.
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Post by mattnyc on Aug 1, 2023 13:19:09 GMT
What an interesting life this has had. First, a very well written, moving short story. Then turned into a major Hollywood film with two straight male leading men that was a hit. Then it got turned into an opera and now a play. I wonder under what incarnation it will turn up next. Next years Palladium Panto? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2023 2:04:30 GMT
Next years Palladium Panto? Julian as a gay cowboy might be seen as typecasting? |
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Post by mattnyc on Aug 2, 2023 4:12:29 GMT
I can see Paul Zerdin right now with a cowboy puppet joking about where Paul’s hand is.
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Post by interval99 on Aug 6, 2023 22:17:14 GMT
Major show stop when saw it on July 25th.
About 20 mins in and Mike is having trouble with the tent and it's ropes get caught in the sunken hotplate top . In character he tells for Lucas to help him and they get the tent up and Mike goes in but moments after the band have started stage hand comes on and stops the show, lights come up and suddenly the wild open plains have six stage hands trying to fix the the front crossbar.
After a few minutes the actors go off ands it's over 15 mins before its fixed. Normally the curtain comes down and can limit the distraction but in the round its there in front of you killing off scene setting done so far.
At least two audience members made their escape and didn't return which seems a bit early to decide they didn't like the show and wonder why they made the expense and effort to turn up in the first place.
Amazingly when it did restart Mike and Lucas did manage to build the chemistry and hold the story together, both really do bring a status and performance which holds this fragile show together and gives the reason to see this show.
The show cd is 12.99 and Eddi and the band sound great but it's barely 30 mins worth of music and while an enjoyable listen in the car, at the show its hard to see what difference they made being there live against a tape playback of which is used several times anyway.
Possibly if there hadn't been the show stop it may have have been able to build momentum but its just too many short moments and it's seems no one told the director its in the round as it's practically played to front seats (block with row b29 to b41), so many times the big emotional scenes were played out with a third to half the audience seeing only the back of the actors.
There was enough moments to show a staging of brokeback has potential but this really didn't work.
Mike and Lucas really do bring top level acting skills and fully inhabit their roles and are worth seeing even in a otherwise flawed production.
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Post by andys on Aug 8, 2023 22:49:47 GMT
A one hour show stop this evening. Still really good though.
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Post by iwanttix on Aug 9, 2023 11:36:41 GMT
A one hour show stop this evening. Still really good though. Bloody hell, that's nearly as long as the whole play! I saw on twitter they celebrated their 100th performance |
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Post by marob on Aug 9, 2023 13:29:51 GMT
Curious piece this. The music is really evocative. The two leads give great performances (especially when they were right in front of me during the tyre-iron story.) I don’t know if it’s a weak script or if it’s just the challenge of trying to tell a story about someone who’s very taciturn and closed-off, but there’s something unsatisfying about it.
I saw the matinee of Guys and Dolls on the same day, where despite standing for three hours the time whizzed by. The 90-odd minutes here felt rather long.
Which makes it sound like I didn’t enjoy it. I did. It’s a really worthwhile show. Nearly a week later I find it still pops into my thoughts now and again. It just feels like it doesn’t quite gel together.
This was my first trip to @sohoplace. For a new-build it’s disappointing to see the seating is just as cramped as their other venues. From where I was sitting in the stalls the upper levels opposite looked like one row of seats on a narrow ledge, with a rail in front and a black wall directly behind. Did not look like an appealing place to sit at all. I think it made the space feel very enclosed. Made me appreciate the Royal Exchange more.
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Post by dillan on Aug 9, 2023 14:20:10 GMT
Looks like on Twitter that the stage broke last night which caused the long show stop.
I went to get dayseats this morning and the staff were all discussing it and they said 25 people had asked for a refund! lol
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Post by colelarson on Aug 11, 2023 0:00:18 GMT
Saw this this Thursday afternoon and glad I saw it as it works well as a staged piece.
I liked that older Ennis Del Mar (Paul Hickey) is always on stage looking back at his past and doesn't say much but shows his raw emotion,by saying nothing it speaks louder than words!
I thought the younger Ennis (Lucas Hedges) and Jack (Mike Faist) had great chemistry and I did find the relationship tender and moving.
I feel we could have done with more; maybe putting it in to 2 parts with an interval and longer songs,as they were pretty and helped add to the story. Eddi Reader’s live vocal is superb and the accompanying band also sublime.
The supporting cast Emily Fairn and Martin Marquez play their parts well. The scene where Emily as Alma confronts her husband about his "fishing" trips was very well played and this is Emily's stage debut, keen to see what she does next.
Shame with some of the staging as when the actors were facing away dialogue was harder to hear snd some props need to be moved, I felt sorry for the folk opposite me who must have had the tent blocking their view for quite a while!
As the show finishes this Saturday the merch is now on sale!
My final thoughts are about the theatre as this was first trip to @sohoplace. I'm surprised for a new build how badly organised it was! When I got there everyone was loitering in the downstairs area which didn't have enough room for us all to wait and on the stalls level no toilets. The seats reminded me of non comfy cinema seats when they could be glorious and non cramped!
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Post by mattnyc on Aug 11, 2023 9:33:36 GMT
I have a ticket for tomorrows matinee that I can’t use, if anyone wants it.
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 11, 2023 9:50:11 GMT
I have a ticket for tomorrows matinee that I can’t use, if anyone wants it. Put it on the Noticeboard mattnyc |
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Post by mattnyc on Aug 11, 2023 11:37:33 GMT
I have a ticket for tomorrows matinee that I can’t use, if anyone wants it. Put it on the Noticeboard mattnyc Thank you. Hadn’t even seen that board will definitely use in the future!  |
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Post by callum on Aug 12, 2023 10:46:08 GMT
Saw this last month - low-key and understated but anchored by two superb performances. One particular moment where the emotion on Mike Faist’s face was truly shattering.
Underwhelming ticket sales are a bit of a puzzle as it feels like the kind of thing that would have had done gangbusters at St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. Perhaps a shorter run in somewhere like the Young Vic or Almeida would have helped
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Post by westendrebecca on Aug 12, 2023 10:51:16 GMT
Anyone know if you can take curtain call photos or videos at this? Don’t want to break the rules! |
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 12, 2023 11:34:33 GMT
Anyone know if you can take curtain call photos or videos at this? Don’t want to break the rules! I'd recommend checking with the Ushers but I don't recall seeing anyone doing it when I was there. I know they were quite strict, even preventing photographs being taken of the set before the show started! |
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Post by westendrebecca on Aug 12, 2023 12:26:39 GMT
I'd recommend checking with the Ushers but I don't recall seeing anyone doing it when I was there. I know they were quite strict, even preventing photographs being taken of the set before the show started! Ok thank you! I’ll double check but I thought the answer might be no as I haven’t seen many online! Thanks for the heads up about before the show too |
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Post by anthony40 on Aug 15, 2023 13:25:11 GMT
Simple question. Whilst I appreciate that this has closed at the Soho Place, is it closed definitely? Or are there plans to tour this with different male leads?
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