Rosmersholm

Saw this today. I'll echo everyone else in saying it's excellent and well worth watching

I saw this tonight, without any prior knowledge of the story, and it honestly feels like it could’ve been written yesterday. It’s uncannily accurate.

The entire thing flew by & it was all so engaging. The whole cast were fantastic but it’d be a crime not to give a specific mention to Hayley Atwell. I’ve long thought her to be an underrated actress, and now i’m even more sure. She’s incredible.

Was sat on the far side of row D, restricted view. Only cost £25 on Todaytix & was a total bargain. You do miss a bit on the right side of the stage, but not very much, basically just a door & a window. Well worth it to be that close to the stage.

It was crazy watching the final scene after reading the news about Oberlin University being charged at least 33 million dollars for accusing a local bakery of racism and inciting protest and vandalism on the company. A family business that has lasted decades surviving the great depression and so on

Boy does Ibsen seem to resonate today

I'm hard pressed to think of a better, more powerful production of any Ibsen play I've seen. As of this morning this ranks at number one for me.

BTW we watched it from a Circle box. Price £30, just £10 more than a day seat. It's a side angle view, of course, but we didn't miss much and one can lean out without blocking any one else. Plus, at the Duke of York's, they throw in a goody basket - sparkling wine, chocolates, crisps, etc. I'd sit there again in a heartbeat.

My first TodayTix ticket for this last night, and worth it for a very good row C view. Good performances, but as with much Ibsen, the characters feel rather forced in their rigidity when viewed with modern eyes...

I went yesterday on the strength of the favourable comments here: was able to book F1 stalls for £15 the day before - well, supposedly £15 apart from the ATG booking fee battle - which was presumably dynamic pricing working in my favour. Great seat as it's on the aisle and though sold as restricted view, isn't really for this production.

Seeing this meant breaking (or bending, as my first Rosmersholm) my "No more Ibsen" rule, which for this production was probably worth it as it was indeed so good. I did however find Rebecca West's views almost implausibly modern compared to some of those around her and the ending left me wondering what the point of the play was. I wasn't too keen on Tom Burke's interpretation either but can't claim he wasn't suitably lugubrious.

Just to confirm that this is not a translation of Ibsen - it is an adaptation so some of the more "topical" references are not actually Ibsen.

This was enjoyable, with stand-out performances from Atwell and Terera but the idea that it is topical mystifies me.

Okay, so we have a divisive election between conservatives and progressives in which we know absolutely nothing of the policies proposed or actual likely consequences. Which could be basically anytime anywhere across human history for as long as there have been elections. You would think Ibsen had invented the idea of equality as a political goal the way he is getting praised here. Whereas in the UK right now the most striking part of the milieu to me is that the self-declared conservatives are acting like cultish radicals, which is not the case in this play at all. A conservative politician says the people not voting for him have been duped to vote against their interests, wink at the audience, but again that's something politicians might say about voters whose vote they have lost at practically any time - and in our time it is more likely a liberal politician, here and in the US, who would voice that grievance. What is the relevant material then? That politics is divisive? Um, yeah.

First half of the first half very good and atmospheric, second half of the first half gets rather repetitive. First half of the second half it really kicks into gear, second half of the second half it tails off into melodrama.

In that section I found the character of Rebecca, her actions, declared motivations and psychology not very believable, unhuman in how she seems to be weighing up the balance between her ideals and emotions. Yes, of course there are such tensions but mainly on a subconscious level, the way she is processing them out loud just didn't ring true to me.

The idea that her admitting to him that she may have psychologically facilitated the suicide would thus rid him of any guilt is absolutely bizarre. He's still the husband who has been emotionally unfaithful with another woman under the same roof as his wife. That she would risk her standing with him to make that admission makes it even weirder. Then her explanation of why she refused his proposal of marriage lost me yet further, there is no tension between her ideals and emotions if she has converted Rosmer to her ideals, yet the play acts as if there is. I would also have liked a greater sense of the history of the relationship between Rosmer and his wife, whether they were ever truly affectionate, or it was simply a convenient marriage of social equals in a small society.

Still plenty to like but a long way from a 5 star show for me. Always pleased to see a classy production of a serious play in the West End without any stupid gimmickry.

I decided to see this along with Sweat today since it was their last days and I hadn't gotten round to it yet. For whatever reason I didn't think I'd enjoy either but I was pleasantly surprised in both cases. This was especially surprising in how funny it was. I was also swept up in the melodrama of it all and its chilling final moments when the water creeps in were very effective and unexpected. Brilliantly acted and far more engaging than I had expected (although the view was less than stellar as I was in D 21 in the Upper Circle so missed a lot of action on the right of the stage in Act 1 especially).

The script should be available from Foyles or your favoured Online retailer. Look for the cover with Hayley and Tom in the poster design.

The national book shop has it, it took me several attempts to get it as they said at the times, maybe a month ago, that only them and the presenting theatre were then stocking it and it kept selling out.