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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2016 11:02:45 GMT
Gosh. I might need to get the riot gear out when I go next month. I knew 'Game of Thrones' was popular but . . .
Still. He does have lovely hair though.
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Post by Snciole on Apr 21, 2016 11:42:16 GMT
I am judging these women but I would do exactly the same to Alex Jennings...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2016 12:19:15 GMT
In fact, if you're leaving the ENO to go to Leicester Square, turn left out of the Coliseum, then turn right at the Prezzo to go up the road past the Garrick. Just avoid ALL the chaos all together.
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Post by Hana PlaysAndParasols on Apr 22, 2016 21:10:05 GMT
Do any of you know if Jenna comes out? I would love to meet her but I'm starting to think this might not be the best occasion.
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Post by warmington on Apr 23, 2016 18:03:14 GMT
Do any of you know if Jenna comes out? I would love to meet her but I'm starting to think this might not be the best occasion. Last week she and the rest of the cast almost ran out of the stage door and rushed down the road very quickly without stopping as far as I could see. |
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Post by Hana PlaysAndParasols on Apr 24, 2016 9:23:07 GMT
Do any of you know if Jenna comes out? I would love to meet her but I'm starting to think this might not be the best occasion. Last week she and the rest of the cast almost ran out of the stage door and rushed down the road very quickly without stopping as far as I could see. What a shame. But thank you for letting me know! :-) |
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Post by lonlad on Apr 24, 2016 22:31:52 GMT
No doubt she's aware how awful the production is .....
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Post by Steve on Apr 25, 2016 0:43:16 GMT
Saw this Saturday night, and liked a lot of it. Doctor Faustus is always changing his mind. I repent, I don't repent, I repent, I don't repent. He is a narrative bore, without any sense of real progression. How to make this interesting, God only knows? I'm sure the Devil would have some suggestions, namely that everything that is a temptation, be it messing with the Pope, or doing magic like David Copperfield, or having debauched sex, should be depicted as great FUN! After all, if it's not fun, then why is Faustus even doing it? Writer Colin Teevan has a suggestion about how to make Faustus interesting. He constructs a typical romantic competition for the central character's attention, whereby both Mephistophiles and Wagner (here both played by women, Jenna Russell and Jade Anouka respectively) are attracted, in some way, to Faustus. This he hopes will (literally) sex up the narrative. But neither the Devil nor Teevan have Jamie Lloyd's ear. Lloyd is in painterly mode for this play, refusing make Faustus' adventures fun, and refusing to focus on Teevan's romantic construction. What Lloyd does instead with Faustus' story is create a living breathing facsimile of the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch, where devilry and disgust infest humanity like a plague. All the actors surrounding Faustus look repulsive, they spit and vomit bile and stick their tongues out, hissing. It is impossible to see how Faustus could be attracted to this world, let alone live in it for the 24 years of his pact. The only way Faustus could live in this world, and not run a mile, is if he is utterly mentally deranged, and that is what the wonderful performance by Kit Harington gives us. Harington is splendid at self-loathing, he exudes a kind of despair that is palpable, he makes us believe in the masochism of his Faustus that he would choose (repeatedly) to live in Jamie Lloyd's sick Hieronymus Boschworld (please let this be a new park in Disneyland). And Jenna Russell is equally excellent, as a mirror of everything Faustus was and will be. It is the two excellent performances of these actors that enlivens Jamie Lloyd's Hieronymus Bosch-art-installation, with a relatable, tangible masochistic humanity, so that we can sit through it for a full play's running time, rather than moving on to the next Tate exhibit, or whatnot. I think Lloyd's realisation of Hieronymus-Bosch-live is fascinating, and worth seeing. I think that Kit Harington excels himself, smouldering in lascerating self-hatred (and self-love) through every scene, and his final moment with Jenna Russell is wonderful. But by sidelining both the sexy surface of the Devil, and the drama of Teevan, Jamie Lloyd's production lacks narrative impetus, and will try the impatient. 3 and a half stars  |
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Post by lonlad on Apr 25, 2016 6:15:14 GMT
If only the production had a scintilla of Bosch's visual richness -- instead, it suggests the grey, affectless world of Sarah Kane, stripped of any wit, intrigue, or imagination ....
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Post by mallardo on Apr 25, 2016 13:36:34 GMT
Steve's review is the first thing I've read that makes me want to see this - which I think I'll now do.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2016 15:39:49 GMT
Steve's review is the first thing I've read that makes me want to see this - which I think I'll now do. Me too. Well, apart from the messages that promise nudity. You at the back. Who said "shallow"? |
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Post by profquatermass on Apr 25, 2016 17:39:32 GMT
Saw this Saturday night, and liked a lot of it. Doctor Faustus is always changing his mind. I repent, I don't repent, I repent, I don't repent. He is a narrative bore, without any sense of real progression. How to make this interesting, God only knows? I'm sure the Devil would have some suggestions, namely that everything that is a temptation, be it messing with the Pope, or doing magic like David Copperfield, or having debauched sex, should be depicted as great FUN! After all, if it's not fun, then why is Faustus even doing it? Marlow doesn't make it much fun though - his Faustus just learns some basic science and plays some practical jokes, And that's it. Isn't that the point - he sells his soul and the irony is that he doesn't actually have that great a time |
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Post by Steve on Apr 25, 2016 18:46:22 GMT
Saw this Saturday night, and liked a lot of it. Doctor Faustus is always changing his mind. I repent, I don't repent, I repent, I don't repent. He is a narrative bore, without any sense of real progression. How to make this interesting, God only knows? I'm sure the Devil would have some suggestions, namely that everything that is a temptation, be it messing with the Pope, or doing magic like David Copperfield, or having debauched sex, should be depicted as great FUN! After all, if it's not fun, then why is Faustus even doing it? Marlow doesn't make it much fun though - his Faustus just learns some basic science and plays some practical jokes, And that's it. Isn't that the point - he sells his soul and the irony is that he doesn't actually have that great a time ProfQuatermass, I feel practical jokes and magic tricks can be immensely fun, for the audience as well as the characters. Being invisible, having magic powers, playing pranks on authority figures are all fantasy fulfilment for children of all ages. Not this time, since black bile pours out of a demon's mouth whenever something remotely fun is about to happen. It's like we are in a conditioning experiment, where we are being forced not to enjoy the action. I agree about the irony regarding Faustus' limited aspirations, but his limited aspirations can still be fun on stage. Mallardo and Ryan, professional reviews are imminent! I love you both, and feel you need more opinions than mine before laying out your cash. |
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Post by mallardo on Apr 25, 2016 21:14:01 GMT
Steve, there's no professional reviewer I know of who produces work that is as analytical and articulate and just plain fun to read as what you post here on a regular basis. I'll lay out the cash.
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Post by Phantom of London on Apr 26, 2016 10:35:10 GMT
See this is getting very negative reviews this morning across the board - 2 star from the Telegraph/Guardian/WOS.
I want to see this, but not keen on the prices they are charging.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 11:12:32 GMT
Telegraph
Guardian
WOS
British Theatre Guide
FT
Metro
ES
All 2 stars
The Stage
3 stars
Stand up
Stand up
And sing
Stand up
Stand up
And sing
Finally people realise what a dick of a director Jamie Lloyd is
His cheap staging conceits have worn off
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Post by Steve on Apr 26, 2016 12:39:52 GMT
Stand up Stand up And sing Stand up Stand up And sing Finally people realise what a dick of a director Jamie Lloyd is His cheap staging conceits have worn off Bless you, Parsley, please always be you  This, for me, has something in common with "War of the Worlds," in that, approached with theatrical expectations of story and narrative, it falls down. But approached as something else, a concert, in the case of "War of the Worlds," it can find a more appreciative audience. The lack of narrative momentum in this is bound to frustrate if you want to be told a story. But in the Tate, as an art exhibition, this could win prizes. Harington's Faustus is the most dissatisfied man on earth. For the entire duration, Jenna Russell's disinterested Mephistopheles cooks him, simmering him to a boil until the moment he realises that's just who he is, who he has always been, who he must always be. This is not the story of a man who aspires to be like a God, and is dashed like Icarus. This is the story of a sick man who realises he will never be well, and is liberated by that knowledge. In the Tate, people would look at the sheer miserable intensity of Harington, smouldering in his own cesspool for two hours, and see the human condition. On the stage, people may just get fed up they are not being titillated. That's how I see it anyway. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 13:14:09 GMT
I don't think it's that people are starting to realise that Emperor Jamie isn't actually wearing a new suit of clothes after all, as I've enjoyed his previous productions, I think it just happens to be this production is especially poor. As a production it wasn't very lucid, coherent, entertaining, or thought-provoking, and if you're going to rewrite THAT MUCH of the text then why on earth didn't they hire someone who could keep it at least as interesting as Marlowe's version if making it more entertaining was apparently so far out of the question? Jenna Russell was fantastic, and it started off nicely creepy, but I just came out feeling like I'd wasted my afternoon. Hohum.
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Post by PalelyLaura on Apr 26, 2016 13:38:31 GMT
I was going to try and nab a ticket for this, but if the text has been rewritten so much I'm not sure I'll bother.
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Post by raiseitup on Apr 26, 2016 14:00:18 GMT
The Times has given this four stars.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 15:38:08 GMT
It's got Kit-off Harrington in his pants. Frankly, they are going to have to restrain me at the curtain call.
I can't wait.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 18:11:53 GMT
Stand up Stand up And sing Stand up Stand up And sing Finally people realise what a dick of a director Jamie Lloyd is His cheap staging conceits have worn off Bless you, Parsley, please always be you This, for me, has something in common with "War of the Worlds," in that, approached with theatrical expectations of story and narrative, it falls down. But approached as something else, a concert, in the case of "War of the Worlds," it can find a more appreciative audience. The lack of narrative momentum in this is bound to frustrate if you want to be told a story. But in the Tate, as an art exhibition, this could win prizes. Harington's Faustus is the most dissatisfied man on earth. For the entire duration, Jenna Russell's disinterested Mephistopheles cooks him, simmering him to a boil until the moment he realises that's just who he is, who he has always been, who he must always be. This is not the story of a man who aspires to be like a God, and is dashed like Icarus. This is the story of a sick man who realises he will never be well, and is liberated by that knowledge. In the Tate, people would look at the sheer miserable intensity of Harington, smouldering in his own cesspool for two hours, and see the human condition. On the stage, people may just get fed up they are not being titillated. That's how I see it anyway. But that's what War of the World's has always been and meant to be,a concert. I think people on here went in with different expectations |
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Post by Ade on Apr 26, 2016 18:13:57 GMT
If anyone is interested, I've had to exchange the date for when I see this, so two front row tickets have just gone back on sale on the ATG website for this Friday.
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Post by theinvisiblegirl on Apr 27, 2016 5:50:04 GMT
I have a spare front row ticket for the evening show on Sat 7th May if anyone is looking.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2016 19:52:05 GMT
Absolutely awful
The attempts at acting must be the worst ever seen on the London stage
The entire cast simply shout all the time
Deserving of the crappy reviews
And I am sure the premium tickets they have left will be heavily discounted quickly enough now
I can't see people rushing to spend £90 on a show which is the joke of the WE
I wish Jamie Lloyd would just f*** off and stop molesting and disfiguring perfectly good plays
It's like he picks them on purpose
And then does a massive sh*t on them
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