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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 27, 2019 11:00:30 GMT
Oh and the front row get a lovely little surprise as the show begins courtesy of Geoffrey Lumb... {Aha, yes, Geoffrey Lumb}and his bum! |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 27, 2019 12:06:08 GMT
Gathered my thoughts on this one!
The first half is a bum-number - or maybe that's just the Lyttleton's very firm seats. Denis O'Hare is the show stealer and I actually can't give an unbiased view on him as his Tartuffe reminded me instantly of a very close friend of mine (down to the topknot...), so I was predisposed to love him.
The text update itself was very skilful and even with the ridiculous plot points, the acting was good enough to make it feel natural. Kitty Archer was by far and away my favourite as daughter Marianne - she was adorable and played a fine line between "spoiled brat" and "sheltered young woman".
Enjoyed the little bit of theatre trickery with the set in the second half (no spoilers from me) - but I imagine the stalls are the best place to see it, I don't know if others in the circle had the same effect?
We got a sneaky upgrade to come forward a few rows. Shame this isn't selling particularly well - I think it's a very good production of a seminal text.
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Post by david on Feb 27, 2019 22:55:05 GMT
This gets a thumbs up from me after watching today’s matinee performance. While it does take a while to get going in Act 1, it’s only when Denis O’Hare arrives does the play really come alive. He was absolutely fantastic to watch and delivered his lines with great comic timing and I agree with previous posts that he does steal every scene he is in and the play does lose a litte energy when he is not on stage. Act 2 is definitely the stronger of the two Acts both in pace and humour.
The other cast members also gave some great comedy performances with Olivia WIlliams and Kevin Doyle particular standouts. I thought Kitty Archer as the daughter struck a nice balance of portraying her character who wanted to be independent but still wanted her fathers money and the comforts of staying at home.
In terms of the writing, I thought it was well done both in trying to put a modern spin on the text (with various modern references dotted around) but still retaining the darker elements.
Being in Row B of the stalls, the stage effects of Act 2 looked impressive and I can see a nod in the final effect to An Inspector Calls.
For a mid week matinee the auditorium looked busy, though there where a few empty seats around me.
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Post by mallardo on Mar 1, 2019 7:49:34 GMT
This one didn't ultimately work for me. Yes, Denis O'Hare was great, a nice combo of foolishness, deceit and menace but Tartuffe, a conman and hypocrite, cannot really be turned into a social revolutionary bent on bringing down the ruling classes with an army of street people. It's completely at odds with the nature and point of the play - or at least Moliere's play. Nothing against the updating, it's a play that should be updated, but not in this blunt, crude way with cheap laughs abounding. And of course the spectre of Trump and Trumpishness hangs over the whole thing. Perhaps that's unavoidable these days.
I loved Olivia Williams though, her scenes with O'Hare were highlights. It's always fun to see two fine actors throwing themselves into their roles with 100% commitment. But I didn't think director Blanche McIntyre brought much to it. Her surprise entrance bit for several of the characters wore out its welcome quickly. I suppose it suited the farcical OTP tone of this production but that tone was the real problem for me.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Mar 1, 2019 8:35:28 GMT
Denis O'Hare is really good in this but I din't care much for this production. The first half was really slow and, although things improved a bit in part two, overall it was quite disappointing.
Glad I only went for a £15 ticket in Stalls row D. Incidentally a friend was trying to buy three £15 tickets for Wednesday this week but the website wouldn't let it buy more than two so he gave up. I believe it's a good thing when the National limits the number of tickets for a particular production when the demand is high. However, there was plenty of availability for this. The funny thing is that the National ended up papering the show on Wednesday as it was really quiet, and my friend ended getting 3 great seats for free!
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Post by mallardo on Mar 1, 2019 11:00:48 GMT
This one didn't ultimately work for me. Yes, Denis O'Hare was great, a nice combo of foolishness, deceit and menace but Tartuffe, a conman and hypocrite, cannot really be turned into a social revolutionary bent on bringing down the ruling classes with an army of street people. It's completely at odds with the nature and point of the play - or at least Moliere's play. Nothing against the updating, it's a play that should be updated, but not in this blunt, crude way with cheap laughs abounding. And of course the spectre of Trump and Trumpishness hangs over the whole thing. Perhaps that's unavoidable these days. I loved Olivia Williams though, her scenes with O'Hare were highlights. It's always fun to see two fine actors throwing themselves into their roles with 100% commitment. But I didn't think director Blanche McIntyre brought much to it. Her surprise entrance bit for several of the characters wore out its welcome quickly. I suppose it suited the farcical OTT tone of this production but that tone was the real problem for me. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Mar 2, 2019 22:37:09 GMT
Had it’s moments but didn’t quite work as well as the RSC production where the motivation of Tartuffe was more coherent.
The classic ‘deus ex machina’ is made even more absurd by being doubled up with the usual, and the motivation of Tartuffe.
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Post by chameleon on Mar 4, 2019 0:25:54 GMT
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Post by lynette on Mar 4, 2019 11:56:23 GMT
Yes I read the twitter thing above. Looks like a proper little spat. But the interesting note is that Theo Bosenquet ( spelling, sorry) says the critic guy blocked him when he criticised, ie wrote a review about his play.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Mar 6, 2019 17:14:27 GMT
Welp. I booked to see this again. £15 front row seat people, you can't go wrong. Mostly because of Denis O' Hare {Spoiler}{Spoiler - click to view}
bathing his bollocks out of a champagne bucket. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2019 17:27:28 GMT
OMGay. I think I may be in love with John Donnelly. Tres hilair!
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Post by Marwood on Mar 6, 2019 19:20:52 GMT
Been getting a serious amount of papering emails for this over the last few days, but after the Theatre Royal Haymarket version last year (which was not the car crash that some people made it out to be) I just don’t have any enthusiasm whatsoever to see this so soon after.
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Post by lichtie on Mar 8, 2019 13:36:58 GMT
Saw this last weekend. Quite a few entertaining bits. Passed the time OK. Really didn't gel into anything coherent. The RSC staging got most of the motivation bits sorted out within their updated context spot-on - this one just lacked any real sense of conviction. And the revised ending here was rubbish.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Mar 11, 2019 10:00:52 GMT
Saw again on Sat, I love Denis O' Hare and now have a most inconvenient crush on the man.
I got a Truth, Friend card! It has a lovely smudge of "dirt" (probably a delightful brown shade of eyeshadow by Mac) from Tartuffe's grubby mitts.
Special mention for the awesome people I was sat with - a range of ages, some with friends, some on their own - I did wonder if one of them was someone on here but didn't want to ask her! They were all friendly and very funny.
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Post by ali973 on Mar 13, 2019 8:56:11 GMT
It seems that they wrote this new version and went straight to rehearsals without any development time in the middle. I'm sure a simple workshop would have flagged a few of its problems.
Tonally, it's jarringly all over the place and can't decide if it's a comedy, a satire or a dramedy..and whenever it gets to a point that it could be profound, it chickens out and delivers a very cheap punchline. Act 1 drags and almost nothing lands until Tartuffe appears and he steals the show. Otherwise, any non-Tartuffe scene is 10 minutes too long. It also can't decide if it's a classic or completely contemporary and sounds like a hodgepodge of both.
Act II flows better, but again introduces a completely new style towards the end when they start talking in verse like the original text.
The biggest issue with a contemporary Tartuffe is that arranged marriages in 2019 in an affluent Western household isn't believable at all. Setting it in a niche religious community might make more sense. At any rate, in this version it's no longer a story of religious hypocrisy but about wealth inequality and the guilt that comes with it. Still, not all of this it clicks.
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Post by missthelma on Mar 18, 2019 11:41:40 GMT
So I saw this on Saturday and have been trying to assemble my thoughts since.
In summary I really enjoyed myself but didn't think the production was very good. I know this sounds a bit mad which is why I have been trying to organise my reactions a bit. I mentioned up thread that Tartuffe has been on my 'to see' list for a while and if nothing else this production made me long to see a traditional version to enjoy the author more, I've loved other Moliere hence my interest
The set I thought was amazing and some of the acting was top notch, some less so but that's a minor point and not enough to effect the overall experience. I remember seeing Dennis O'Hare years back in Take Me Out at the Donmar and have followed his (and the other cast members)career trajectory ever since. He is truly excellent in most of what he does (don't get me started on the robbery of his Emmy for American Horror Story). As mentioned by others the scenes with Olivia Williams are a true highlight. Some fabulously funny lines throughout too.
But, but.... Somehow it didn't hang together. A few updated lines and references were cringe worthy. And I think the modern setting actually takes away the power of the piece. Tartuffe is a hypocrite, an imposter but when you place him broadly in 'today', he is , basically normal. We are in a world where politicians routinely lie, and even when confronted with evidence that they have, deny it, blithely. Celebrities promote products, films, people, diet aids they neither use nor believe in. Accusations fly against singers, actors, producers, church officials, people in power. Cash for questions etc etc etc. Tartuffe would barely register notice in a world where all of this rages in a maelstrom around him. This is why for me that aspect brought the whole piece down. And maybe possibly there was not enough menace in the lead characterisation to push away the feeling that Tartuffe was just, well, like everyone else!
So a very mixed bag for me but still worth a watch I'd say.
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Post by sf on Apr 26, 2019 18:37:19 GMT
Wednesday night.
Absolutely loved it - really liked John Donnelly's adaptation (so much so that I bought the script from the bookshop on my way out of the theatre), loved the direction, loved the performances. And I had no idea, having only seen her in stuff like 'Dollhouse', that Olivia Williams had such spectacular comic timing.
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Post by Stephen on Apr 30, 2019 22:49:06 GMT
Saw this tonight. I agree with previous comments about this feeling uneven. Not just in the production but at the National itself. Only a week ago I was enthralled by Downstate in the Dorfman which really didn't feel it was being performed under the same roof as this production. This didn't really hit the mark for me in any respect. It wasn't particularly funny or tragic. I found the performances often over the top and at times all over the place. The modern references to Waitrose and such just felt really out of place too! I felt like I waited for most of the first act for Tartuffe to arrive and although O'Hare does his best it really isn't too interesting. I will admit that I wouldn't have seen this if Dennis O'Hare wasn't in it. I liked his small part in the Good Wife and several films. I also only booked as this was an entry pass ticket. Great value (D30) in the Lyttelton Stalls but not worth more than £15 i'd say. As has been mentioned a lot before, the first four rows are cramped and uncomfortable with limited legroom and low back support. Great view though! It shows that I didn't really care for the play when the most exciting part of the night was {Spoiler - click to view}
When the stage becomes raked at the end and disorientates the audience...At least those close enough to feel swallowed by the set! But at the end of the day it's just the National's 'hey look what we can do'...
Sorry for the moany review. I'm sure some will love this.
Two stars. |
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Post by ftfadia on May 8, 2019 11:01:27 GMT
Not just in the production but at the National itself. Only a week ago I was enthralled by Downstate in the Dorfman which really didn't feel it was being performed under the same roof as this production. Interesting comment! I think that shows the NT is doing a decent job putting on a variety of shows for a variety of tastes. Probably not what you had in mind given you didn't like this particular show, but on the whole I'd say it's not a bad thing  For what it's worth I also enjoyed Downstate more than Tartuffe, but don't think I disliked Tartuffe as much as you did. |
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