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Post by foxa on May 8, 2016 9:41:47 GMT
Was really surprised by the poor reviews for this (1* from the Telegraph!) Caught the matinee yesterday with the second cast (Tristan Dyer, Sarah Lamb and Nehemiah Kish) and we loved it. The complaints largely seem to be about an overly literal following of the novel and in the first act there are a few cuts that could be made (why is the scene to mother's grave necessary?) but the second and third acts soar.
The pairing of Dyer and Lamb is magical - their pas de deux were exquisite, technically beautiful (one lift that Dyer accomplished from a kneeling position was breath-taking) but more than that they are both actors. I've never seen Dyer in a principal role before and he is a real find, beautifully conveying the nuances and conflict of the character. You don't want to take your eyes off him.
Scarlett doesn't just cling to the novel - the blind man's family is excised for example, effectively replaced by a Blind Man's bluff game at William's birthday party leading to his encounter with the Creature. The final encounter between the creature and Victor is a powerful pas de deux combining a fight to death and a loving recognition of each other. At one point, they hold each other's faces, at another the creature puts his head under the arm of the prone Frankenstein like a child might to his father. Elizabeth and Victor's wedding is a beautiful and haunting danse macabre with the creature appearing in an elegant coat amongst the Gothic inspired celebrants, a creature of Victor's imagination.
We enjoyed this as much as The Winter's Tale, which we loved. So if you get a chance, I would recommend it, especially with the Dyer/Lamb cast.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2016 14:29:47 GMT
The live cinema show is on Wed 18 May, with the other cast.
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 8, 2016 19:58:07 GMT
It's nice to read something positive about it - the only thing press praised was the sets
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Post by bellboard27 on May 9, 2016 16:02:25 GMT
Thanks for the feedback - I'm hoping to get to see this next week, so good to hear some thoughtful positive comments.
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Post by dippy on May 9, 2016 16:51:21 GMT
I also enjoyed it, enough so that I am considering watching it again. I'm also planning to go and see the cinema screening with a friend who likes theatre but doesn't like actually going to the theatre, so the cinema it is.
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Post by demelza on May 13, 2016 1:41:54 GMT
If any of you are interested in the screenings next Wednesday and are in the general London/Essex area, the Royal Opera House are doing a free screening of the ballet at High House Production Park in Purfleet, where their production workshop and costume centre are based.
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Post by argon on May 13, 2016 8:04:31 GMT
I thought the score just liked gusto to display/arouse intense feeling between the dancers at pivotal points. The end of the animation scene is my prime example.
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Post by jek on May 13, 2016 11:50:24 GMT
Am going to see this next Friday at the Opera House - 15th birthday treat for my daughter.
I've been on a tour/workshop at HHPP, Purfleet and the setting for watching on the big screen is fantastic. It's also easy to get to by train: Purfleet station is about a fifteen minute walk from the venue. When I've checked in the past the trains continue until late in the evening.
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Post by bellboard27 on May 19, 2016 9:30:16 GMT
I thought this was excellent (got a great cheap ticket a couple of days in advance for front row of Amphitheatre - so great view). Indeed, following the novel worked well for me - the scenes in Act 1 that some people think were over long were just the opposite for me. It is important to set up the relationships to emphasise the tragedy later. I particularly loved the dancing in the operating theatre! The audience reaction was also very positive. I left feeling very please to have caught this.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Mar 20, 2019 23:52:19 GMT
I saw it tonight and it's a puzzling one. If it's true that the first, Matthew-Burnesque act might be too literal, the last two compensate by diverging enormously from the novel. I felt like it ended up being more of a "Jekyll and Hyde" than a "Frankenstein", especially in the last act, where at times you feel that the Creature exists only in Victor's head. While most of the modern adaptations of the novel tend to focus on the unfair condition of the Creature, this is a very Victor-centric telling of the story. The final result is very original, but not always coherent and not always satisfying. Nevertheless, it's beautifully staged and danced by the wonderful cast, and the score is so so lovely. I really think it deserved better reviews, and the 1* in particular is absolutely ridiculous: it might not be perfect, but there's a lot to enjoy here.
On a side not, the fact that Federico Bonelli and I are not married is simply homophobic.
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Post by crabtree on Mar 21, 2019 13:04:53 GMT
I was disappointed in the creation scene, and especially for the image of the creature - as though they put all their energy into the face and forgot about the rest. The Royal exchange recently did a dazzling, and terrifying version of this story.
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Post by tmesis on Mar 24, 2019 20:14:48 GMT
I saw the final performance of this last night. Although I enjoyed it (and am also somewhat baffled at the negative press criticism) I didn't enjoy as much as three years ago when it premiered.
First of all the positives. It's a very good, and varied score by Liebermann with echoes of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Ravel. It's no mean feat to write over two hours of pretty inspired music. The set design is fantastic and the costumes are wonderful. Macfarlane does particularly good frock coat, especially Henry's in Act 3. I also liked Scarlett's choreography; true there is a lot of story exposition, rather like a Matthew Bourne effort, but, unlike him, there is a lot of 'proper' ballet with a lovely waltz sequence at the start of Act 3 and some exquisite duets between Victor and Elizabeth. In those roles I saw Federico Bonelli and Laura Morera. The wonderful Federico, now 41, and I suspect nearing retirement, doesn't dance much these days but he has always been my favourite male dancer at The Garden. He's always wonderfully elegant (and, when called upon to be, the handsomest prince of all the principals.) I feel over the years he's been under appreciated and he was fantastic last night.
I feel, overall, it's a bit too long. A number of my favourite ballets are two acts; Giselle, Eugene Onegin, Nutcracker, La Fille Mal Gardee and this would work better like that.
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Post by Dawnstar on Mar 24, 2019 21:02:46 GMT
Oh, I was there last night too. It was my first time seeing the piece. I don't have the time or energy to write up my thoughts a second time so copying what I posted on the Balletco forum last night.
I'm glad I've seen this once & assuaged my curiosity but I don't think I'd want to see it again in a hurry. A lot of time seemed to be wasted in fairly pointless dancing - I could not come up with any reason for the several minutes of dancing the anatomy students did other than "because its a ballet" - then the more important moments often felt rushed. According to the synopsis Act 2 is set 7 years after the end of Act 1 but it felt as if it was only a matter of days/weeks afterwards, with Victor so tormented & the Creature learning to bow & finding the journal. What's he been up to for the intervening 7 years that he never checked his pockets?!
I thought the cast all did a good job. I was pleased to finally see both Bonelli & Hay live, 2 and a half months after neither were in the Nutcracker they were originally scheduled for. There were a couple of times where I thought the same thing that people said about Swan Lake "why is the friend doing all the dancing while the leading man mopes around at the side?". I thought Morera was very good in a rather under-characterised role. Elizabeth only seems to exist to provide Victor with a love interest. I thought Kish was excellent as the Creature, managing to make him both sympathetic & horrific. A bit more of an explanation as to why he suddenly decided to kill all Victor's remaining relatives/friends would have been helpful. I find Magri very likeable in the roles I've seen her in so far (looking forward to Don Q next week) but didn't find Justine's hanging too traumatic, partly because I felt it was one of the moments that was rather rushed.
Compared to the Nutcracker & Don Q I felt I missed more from the side stalls circle tonight. I was prepared to miss the Creature skulking around & I don't mind that as much but I found it annoying when Victor & Elizabeth vanished from view at times during their pdds in Acts 2 & 3 and so did the Creature/Elizabeth & the Creature/Victor in the last part of Act 3.
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