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Post by couldileaveyou on May 14, 2021 9:04:44 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 14, 2021 9:16:31 GMT
Casting is key to this one. I love the play but only with a strong cast
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Post by partytentdown on May 14, 2021 10:06:49 GMT
That's a very dramatic poster for quite a subtle play.
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Post by princeton on May 14, 2021 10:08:43 GMT
I agree about the casting - it's very much in the handle with care category. It's a play which looks deceptively simply on the page but which is very easy to get wrong.
I do find it fascinating that Paul Taylor Mills is positioning it as though he's rediscovered a rare masterpiece - whereas it was actually in the West End only six years ago - in Rob Hastie's pretty much pitch perfect Donmar then Apollo production.
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 14, 2021 10:19:36 GMT
The poster is clearly trying to evoke It's a Sin vibes
But does feel over dramatic for what is a bittersweet piece of writing laced with tragic moments.
I directed it many years ago and would love to return to it but only when I know I could find the right local cast.
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Post by alicechallice on May 14, 2021 10:35:45 GMT
I concur with the thoughts on the delicacy of the casting... nothing under 7 inches will do. Particularly following the difficult year we've all just had.
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Post by robertb213 on May 14, 2021 10:37:33 GMT
I concur with the thoughts on the delicacy of the casting... nothing under 7 inches will do. Particularly following the difficult year we've all just had. I just spat out my coffee! Thank you for making my morning! 🤣🤣
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Post by princeton on May 14, 2021 10:50:42 GMT
I'm trying to suppress the cynic in me feeling that this an opportunist piece of producing to cash in on It's A Sin - and that artwork isn't making that easy. Fingers crossed that the director didn't sign off on the poster. The last thing which is needed is a high-concept neon-strewn production (and usually I love a high-concept neon-strewn production). I still, however, remain hopeful.
It's a Sin and My Night with Reg exist in the same universe but there are probably more differences than similarities, not least in the style of writing.
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 14, 2021 10:58:36 GMT
The key for me with this play is to understand Elyot's love of French cinema.
Rohmer's Ma Nuit Chez Maud is a clear influence.
It is a lot more complex and nuanced than that poster would suggest
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Post by partytentdown on May 14, 2021 13:44:29 GMT
I agree about the casting - it's very much in the handle with care category. It's a play which looks deceptively simply on the page but which is very easy to get wrong. I do find it fascinating that Paul Taylor Mills is positioning it as though he's rediscovered a rare masterpiece - whereas it was actually in the West End only six years ago - in Rob Hastie's pretty much pitch perfect Donmar then Apollo production. All of his casting announcements feel like lifetime achievement award acceptance speeches, to be fair.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on May 14, 2021 16:42:18 GMT
I agree about the casting - it's very much in the handle with care category. It's a play which looks deceptively simply on the page but which is very easy to get wrong. I do find it fascinating that Paul Taylor Mills is positioning it as though he's rediscovered a rare masterpiece - whereas it was actually in the West End only six years ago - in Rob Hastie's pretty much pitch perfect Donmar then Apollo production. All of his casting announcements feel like lifetime achievement award acceptance speeches, to be fair. Yawn. Agreed.
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Post by Being Alive on May 14, 2021 19:13:03 GMT
And he always casts the same five people in everything...
No Julian Ovenden, no me.
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Post by robertb213 on May 14, 2021 19:20:24 GMT
Dominic Andersen shared PTM's post on Instagram earlier....anyone who saw Heathers already knows he can fill a pair of pants, maybe you'll soon be seeing more!
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Post by craig on May 15, 2021 18:49:59 GMT
I concur with the thoughts on the delicacy of the casting... nothing under 7 inches will do. Particularly following the difficult year we've all just had. Omg! 😂
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Post by alicechallice on May 16, 2021 13:08:53 GMT
I concur with the thoughts on the delicacy of the casting... nothing under 7 inches will do. Particularly following the difficult year we've all just had. Omg! 😂 I’m not convinced for a second that you were thinking anything different...
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Post by Dr Tom on May 16, 2021 15:12:15 GMT
I don't think I've seen Dominic Andersen in a serious role. But he would certainly draw the crowds in.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jun 7, 2021 11:33:07 GMT
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2,379 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Jun 28, 2021 11:18:03 GMT
Just seen that this production is doing a week at Curve in Leicester, 21-25 September 2021, if anyone wants to catch it.
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Post by crabtree on Jun 28, 2021 20:42:09 GMT
The last London revival was so perfect, and elegant and poignant and understated....wonderful stuff. I saw scottsboro Boys in the afternoon - what a glorious day of theatre.
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Post by craig on Aug 10, 2021 10:10:34 GMT
Has anyone seen this? Trying to decide whether to take my boyfriend to see it or not and will do so if it's a decent version.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Aug 10, 2021 16:03:56 GMT
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Post by craig on Aug 11, 2021 10:08:02 GMT
Thanks for your thoughts.
The Donmar version really was fantastic. I think we'll give this a miss.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 11, 2021 10:25:55 GMT
The set looks like a rip off of the Donmar design. I know the script is quite specific in what is needed but that looks too close for comfort
I think I read somewhere that they have lost some performances to isolation issues
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1,196 posts
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Post by theatrefan77 on Aug 11, 2021 10:36:20 GMT
Yes, the set looks similar to the Donmar's which is not necessarily a bad thing. I was quite pleased when I entered the theatre and saw it, but then the play started...
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Post by crabtree on Aug 11, 2021 19:44:37 GMT
Sadly no Julian Ovenden in this one......
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3,470 posts
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Post by showgirl on Aug 12, 2021 18:08:17 GMT
Don't know if it was this production but a touring production has had its week in Guildford cancelled - no reason given.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Aug 13, 2021 10:21:45 GMT
Extended until September 11th
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2021 0:37:54 GMT
I thought Paul Keating was wonderful in this and really carried it, but some of the others were not up to the same standard. And those regional accents were dialed up to 11...
But what really made the performance special for me, was sitting 3 rows behind Armistead Maupin. The man himself. In the same tiny theatre, at the same time as I was. I wasn't sure it was him, having never seen him in person before, I thought he'd be in San Francisco! A friend confirmed that he was in tonight. I love his writing so much. And he was with Frances Ruffelle. Honestly, it made my day. seeing him and recognising him.
Apparently Mr Maupin now lives in Clapham too. We're practically neighbours!
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Post by cherokee on Aug 23, 2021 10:10:54 GMT
I didn't have a problem with the accents. Eric is from Birmingham and it was an interesting choice to have Bernie as Irish.
I quite enjoyed this production, without loving it. It's clearly inferior to the Donmar production a few years ago, and I felt it lacked subtlety and subtext. John was morose throughout and it was rather a one-note performance. His looks and his body aside, it was hard to discern the charisma that inspired Guy's decades-long infatuation. Paul Keating held the show together pretty well and - spoiler alert - his absence from Act 3 was felt. But again, for me it was a performance rather lacking in subtext. It would have been more interesting - and I venture more realistic - if Guy had tried harder to conceal some of his emotions - the neuroticism, the fussiness and the longing for John were all very obviously there on the surface, and it didn't really give him anywhere to go.
By far the strongest performance came from Stephen K Amos, who has a naturalness, a charm and considerable comic timing rather lacking elsewhere. I'd been a bit wary as obviously he's better known as a stand-up, but I found him easily the most watchable on stage.
I've seen criticism that some of the parts are miscast: I'm not sure Alan Turkington entirely convinced as the dull and uptight Bernie, and Gerard McCarthy doesn't really have the charisma to carry off Daniel. But I have to admit I found the casting of Eric particularly egregious.Eric's faux naive, head-cocking performance left me rather cold, unfortunately, with the eroticism of that final scene pretty much absent.
So a bit of a mixed bag. It's a great play which nevertheless shines through, but it's not exactly at its best here. The final act is rather ponderous, and the interval at the end of Act 1 is abrupt and comes far too soon. Would probably have been better to have it after Act 2 if at all.
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 24, 2021 1:50:51 GMT
A play where dialogue is very key, which isn’t helped with a train rumbling above every 30 seconds.
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