Post by joem on Dec 1, 2023 0:12:27 GMT
If I'd seen this play at the Park or Southwark I might have rated it better. There are funny moments and I think the acting of the two leading ladies is pretty good, if not helped by their parts. But this is a very expensive product and the audience has a right to be more demanding when it is being asked to pay very high prices for tickets.
Nice set, nicely staged but whilst I have seen plays which combine tragic and comic elements successfully, here the laughs and the serious stuff work against each other which - when combined with the pretty average writing - leaves you wondering if the whole thing is just built on a fantasy and makes you question what the writer is trying to achieve. The KST character is like a stray from a Tennessee Williams play who has wandered into a sequel for The Lady In The Van so the trauma being experienced by the Lily James character pales and you end up watching the two key characters bumbling along in clumsy slapsticky routines which diminishes the dignity and credibility of the roles.
I have to say the audience reaction was fairly positive and wonder... might we end up with theatre where the actors, or celebrities, become the only reason to see a production? The critics may hate it, discerning theatregoers might scoff but if bums are put firmly on seats at prices well skywards of £100 and now moving beyond £200... the producers may worry less about quality. Like blockbuster movies which are panned but make tons at the box office. Is this a potential future for theatre?
Nice set, nicely staged but whilst I have seen plays which combine tragic and comic elements successfully, here the laughs and the serious stuff work against each other which - when combined with the pretty average writing - leaves you wondering if the whole thing is just built on a fantasy and makes you question what the writer is trying to achieve. The KST character is like a stray from a Tennessee Williams play who has wandered into a sequel for The Lady In The Van so the trauma being experienced by the Lily James character pales and you end up watching the two key characters bumbling along in clumsy slapsticky routines which diminishes the dignity and credibility of the roles.
I have to say the audience reaction was fairly positive and wonder... might we end up with theatre where the actors, or celebrities, become the only reason to see a production? The critics may hate it, discerning theatregoers might scoff but if bums are put firmly on seats at prices well skywards of £100 and now moving beyond £200... the producers may worry less about quality. Like blockbuster movies which are panned but make tons at the box office. Is this a potential future for theatre?
