Blues for an Alabama Sky - Lyttleton, National Theatre

oh cool. Seeing this tomorrow

Loved this, I was concerned that 3 hours after a long day at work would end me but I was never bored. Agree with above comments that the acting is top class- for me the standout actor is Giles Terera, how talented is this guy? His friendship with Angel/Samira Wiley (also brilliant) is so natural and believable. All the actors have great chemistry and the banter feels completely real. Unlike other plays where thick accents made it hard for me to follow (Jitney for instance), in this case I didn't have any problems.
Everything was flawless, the set was stunning and the costumes great. I can't think of anything negative to say about this play.

I agree with everybody else who's seen this. I absolutely loved this tonight.

It reminded me of how I felt when I saw "After the Dance," "Small Island" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" here, like absolutely everything is right, from the set to story to humour to drama to the acting and singing.

It's as good as the above productions, for me - like them, a perfect theatrical experience: slow-building (the first half is practically a character piece), but because of how funny and loveable the characters and their bonds are, because of how well-utilised song is (I've never experienced better, as the songs, few and far between, only start at points you are already overwhelmed with emotion, and serve to climax that emotion - whoever wrote the song, "Hold on to your Dreams," thank you!), because of how brilliant the actors are (they simply ARE these characters), I became so immersed in it, that it felt over too soon.

The characters are so well written and acted that the bonds between them practically become characters in themselves: the way Giles Terera is so fidgety, soft, dreamy, elastic, witty yet focused at his core while Samira Wiley is so internally still, tough, practical yet wild at heart - the way he catches her when she needs him to, it's like they become one person; the way Sule Rimi is so worldly-wise and adaptable and and Ronke Adekoluejo is so coy and innocent and hopeful (she's SO funny with all of it), it's like they become one person. These are some of the most delightful performances and character relationships I've ever seen on stage.

And when the Alabama gentleman of the title, Osy Ikhile's Leland (so brilliantly bottled up yet so outwardly charming) injects a little drama into their lives, I worried about all of them like I'd never worried before lol!

A smash for the National! Five stars from me, without question.

Looks like it still played with an understudy on, and is still on sale/offer for tomorrow and through the week.

I was front row and couldn’t have asked for a better seat. Was pleasantly surprised by how low the front of the stage is - the actors are incredibly close at times! The relatively low height at the front means that the higher parts of the stage which are further back don’t feel too high. 5 star view as far as I’m concerned.

I believe the seats are also advertised as narrow but I can’t say that I noticed.

It's a superior melodrama and that makes it significantly better than most of the rubbish the National has put on in recent times. Entertaining but far too derivative of Tennessee Williams to be considered an artistic achievement, and unnecessarily long.

The naivety of the gentleman caller from Alabama strains credulity and feels contrived to heighten the drama. Are we supposed to believe he doesn't know what kind of woman Angel is? Come on.

I agree it's inspired by Tennessee Williams, but in my opinion, it's in not overly derivative, more an evolution. In fact, I'd argue that the Harlem setting is more August Wilson.

It's the way the two are melded together that makes it so artistically satisfying for me.

Some spoilers follow. . .

This is similar to Jitney, the recently produced August Wilson at the Old Vic, in that the plot doesn't revolve around racism, but the limitations on the black lives depicted are informed by it, one of the reasons why Giles Terera's protagonist yearns to escape America for Josephine Baker's Paris.

The other reason is that he's openly unapologetically gay, in a way that no Tennessee Williams character ever was. In that sense, it's a play that Tennessee Williams could only ever have written in an alternative universe, where guilt, delusion and self-hatred weren't the order of the day.

On the other hand, the Alabama native who enters the world of the play, and triggers the main plot, does seem to have come from Tennessee Williams style Southern conformist repression land.

So, the structure of the play is more like: alternate universe, repression-free Tennessee Williams lives in August Wilson land, but gets visited by the ghost of Tennessee Williams past.

It's a total evolution from what Tennessee Williams was, and part of the delight of it is the healthy loving relationships at the heart of it that are an anathema to Tennessee Williams.

If there is a Tennessee Williams based critique to be made, it is that the lack of guilt and self-hatred among the principals removes psychological complexity from the play. But while that critique may be true of Terera's character, it falls down in respect of Samira Wiley's Angel, who has imbibed, August Wilson style, enough of her limited racist milieu to be psychologically intriguing and unpredictable.

I think this play is amazing, and Tennessee Williams would love it, both as homage and as it's own unique thing.

No, generally starts at 7pm not 7.30 (but presumably not since it’s a date change), lots of critics in the audience, probably some celebs, little sheep pen in the middle of the foyer with critics drinking bad wine.

So I went last night. It’s excellent! House was full, I guess maybe that was the press night influence, I was aware a lot of people around me clearly knew each other and there was the odd celeb spot (of the “oh that’s her off the telly, she was in that thing” type). The audience was hugely supportive and very receptive/appreciative and maybe that’s cos it was all actors and press and me, somehow!

But anyway, it’s a great story, well told, well acted, excellent set, great costumes, funny moments, sweet moments, tragic moments, deals with several very serious issues but wasn’t too clunky about it, it has it all. 5*, go see this.

I thought it was enjoyable and I can understand the good reviews but I could not properly connect. Also - this is too long. The first half could definitely do with adding some New York style pacing and cutting about 20-30 minutes. The supporting cast's acting was so over-stylised it almost tipped into parody for me.

On the plus side: the main cast is incredibly strong, the set is impressive and the costumes gorgeous. Also, I booked on Tuesday for Wednesday and had a presumably left over Friday Rush ticket in the row G stalls. Absolute bargain.

Yes she was back last night.