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Post by tmesis on Jan 26, 2020 13:01:31 GMT
This is one of the best things I've seen in quite a while. Lucy Prebble's first play is astoundingly assured and deals with the unlikely friendship between a 38 year old paedophile interested in young boys and a precocious 17 year old girl. If the subject matter sounds a bit off-putting, and there are, rightly, some uncomfortable moments, the play is so well written that you are gripped throughout and there are many quite funny moments. The cast of four are absolutely top-notch and were totally on top of things in last night's 2nd preview. The stand out was Jessica Rhodes as Dani. She is only a year out of RADA but reminds me of that other Prebble favourite Billie Piper in the magnetism of her performance. I predict she will go far.
This really deserves a wider audience at The Dorfman or Trafalgar Studios.
The OT are on fantastic form at present. The previous three things I've seen there have all been excellent (When the Sun Shines, The Mikvah Project and Candida) with much greater consistency than at more lauded venues like The Almeida, The Donmar and Hampstead.
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Post by showgirl on Jan 26, 2020 13:23:07 GMT
This is very encouraging as though I was interested on the basis of Lucy Prebble's more recent work, I was concerned about the reason this had never been revived since its 2003 premiere, which seemed so surprising especially given the writer's stature now. I admit to giving in and booking just in case so thanks to you I am glad I did.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jan 26, 2020 13:36:24 GMT
Booked for the 14th Feb, maybe not the best subject matter for Valentine’s Day so hopefully the perfect choice for a singleton wishing to avoid the faux romanticism.
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Post by showgirl on Jan 26, 2020 14:21:43 GMT
Hah, being parsimonious, I based my choice of date on when I could still get a £15 seat! Shame it couldn't be a matinee, given this is 2 hours 20 long...
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Post by Forrest on Jan 26, 2020 17:32:43 GMT
I'm going to see this as well, on the 6th of February, since they are doing a cast and crew Q&A on that evening and I love those. (I'm pretty geeky about all things theatre.)
Having not liked A Very Expensive poison at all, but having absolutely loved Enron, I am really curious to see if I will enjoy this. :)
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Post by showgirl on Jan 26, 2020 17:42:25 GMT
I too like the post-show Q & A sessions but under the "new" AD they are now rare - once per run, whereas Sam Waters used to hold them after every Thursday matinee.
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Post by Forrest on Jan 26, 2020 21:14:26 GMT
I'm guessing once a week becomes a bit exhausting for the performers after a while, plus, not everyone likes talking about the play and their job, I guess.
But it's always interesting to hear what the people involved with a production have to say about it. :)
(Although, sometimes it's a pretty disenchanting experience too: some people radiate such passion and enthusiasm for what they do, some just... don't.)
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Post by Dave B on Feb 9, 2020 11:34:40 GMT
The stand out was Jessica Rhodes as Dani. She is only a year out of RADA but reminds me of that other Prebble favourite Billie Piper in the magnetism of her performance. I predict she will go far. We saw it yesterday afternoon - she was fantastic, really fantastic. |
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Post by showgirl on Feb 9, 2020 11:56:32 GMT
Whereas I hated it, left at the interval and wished I hadn't bothered. First time leaving at the interval this year and I'm still hoping to be driven to it less often.
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Post by perfectspy on Feb 9, 2020 13:54:46 GMT
I’ve seen this play. I liked it. Great cast.
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Post by alessia on Feb 10, 2020 14:31:10 GMT
Oh I see completely different opinions here. I'm seeing this in a couple of weeks...bought on the strength of Lucy Prebble's other work and more recently for discovering she was one of the executive producers for the TV series Succession which I loved. Fingers crossed I'm going to love this early work of hers too.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 14, 2020 23:04:22 GMT
If you were in the audience when the play was first performed you were fortunate to witness the arrival of a special talent, Lucy Prebble.
It is rare that lightning strikes twice, again we were in the presence of a special talent, Jessica Rhodes.
The combination of Lucy’s exceptional writing and Jessica’s captivating performance reminiscent of Billie Piper at her best made for an exceptional evening.
An early contender for play of the year.
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Post by Forrest on Feb 15, 2020 14:20:15 GMT
I fully agree this deserves a wider audience: it is wonderfully acted, imaginatively directed and very moving.
I felt thoroughly shaken by it, and by its insight into the good and the bad in - and about - all of us. The Internet struck me as a very successful metaphor for the limits, and the occasional shallowness, of human interactions: how we often get a very limited glimpse of each other, either because we choose to, or because we are only allowed to. It also echoed John Webber's wonderful Spiderfly from last year (or, actually, the other way around I suppose, since this is a much older text), in terms of exploring the need to ground ourselves by clinging to something that feels normal, and asking why we are drawn to some characteristics in others.
Perhaps it is not a play of the year contender in my book, but definitely a very, very good production.
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Post by joem on Feb 15, 2020 18:05:21 GMT
I'll go along with the positive reviews here. This is a strong, characterful play which is quite something considering how young the playwright was when she wrote it. There is now the beginnings of a body of work of plays about the internet which is, in itself, an absorbing genre to study.
What I like about the work is how it avoids knee-jerk reactions and sees how there is shading in most things, as exemplified by the relationship between Dani and Tim. The four cast members were very good indeed but considering it is her professional debut you have to be very impressed by Jessica Rhodes as Dani; fidgety, mischievous, emotional, empathetic in turns - she captures the essence of late teen-hood perfectly. Suspect we'll see a lot more of her.
Anything by Lucy Prebble definitely deserves a wider audience although it also definitely deserves to sell out at the wonderful Orange Tree. Can't help some people confine themselves geographically in their theatregoing habits, which is a shame.
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Post by alessia on Feb 24, 2020 10:41:14 GMT
Adding my two cents worth to this just to add that I saw it on Saturday on its last day and it left me quite shaken. In fact I'm still thinking about it today. Brought back some memories of the time "before"- guess I'm close in age to the writer so I was a teen like Dani in those years and she does remind me of myself (in part) and other schoolmates.
It was hard to watch, at times I felt *almost* physycally sick watching what was going on- so wouldn't say it was an entertaining experience for a saturday afternoon but definitely worth the trip to Richmond. I look forward to "The Effect" - and I hope to be able to see a new production of Enron sometime in the future.
Agree with both previous comments re the excellent performance by Jessica Rhodes.
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