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Post by thistimetomorrow on Aug 25, 2024 17:35:51 GMT
Did the first three-show day today. Thanks for the reviews! I've seen Michael and Delroy and was trying to decide whether I wanted to bother with Closing Time or not, but given your review I think I may give it a miss unless I've got nothing better to do one day... |
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1,494 posts
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Post by Steve on Aug 27, 2024 17:00:42 GMT
Did the first three-show day today. Thanks for the reviews! I've seen Michael and Delroy and was trying to decide whether I wanted to bother with Closing Time or not, but given your review I think I may give it a miss unless I've got nothing better to do one day... I just got out of today's matinee of "Closing Time," and it's very different to "Michael," which I saw with Rafe Spall (I hope to see "Delroy" later this week). Having two characters in conflict going at each other is intrinsically dramatic, a dynamic you can't get from the other plays, so I think if you've seen the other two, I would definitely give this one a try if it's not too much trouble. Perhaps it's the case that the closing down of a shared business (one blames the other for it closing) is a little contrived, but the nature of the conflict, and the way the play manipulates the audience, is fascinating and well worth it, in my opinion. And I agree that the two performances are really good. Some spoilers follow. . . The crux of it is that there's a point that one character is inadvertently racist, and the play cleverly implicates members of the audience in that racism, and instead of playing "gotcha," the play gets all humane and deep instead. It's very well done, I think, although it takes a tuned in focused ear to appreciate all the patois (it's doable).
As the mother of Delroy's kid, Erin Doherty was brilliant as a woman drunkenly spouting out horrific hen night generalisations about "5 ways to please a black man" with the gleeful conspiratorial unfettered abandon of a stand-up comic.
This afternoon, she had an elderly white woman in the front row crying with laughter, and the audience raucously laughing at that woman's laughter.
Historically, racial generalisations have been standard in stand-up (Andrew Dice Clay, Jackie Mason, etc, etc) but not so much today. I mention this because that is what Doherty's hen night speech feels like: a trip to a retro standup gig from the past.
So Sharon Duncan-Brewster's character's scathing searing furiously acted response feels like a judgement on the unwoke standup and attitudes of the past, and present, as well as a personal response to a daughter-in-law who is, even if inadvertently and without malice, demeaning her son and granddaughter. Fortunately, Duncan-Brewster never tried to personally humiliate the woman who cried with laughter, by directing her fury at her, which would have been mean since the play itself is a kind of trap: if material is delivered in the manner of standup in a public space like Soho Place, you may laugh even if you can't understand or appreciate what's being said, and even if you do understand, you may feel the implied permission to laugh because it's naughty to laugh at such things.
The overall effect is quite deep, a reflection on where we've been and where we're going, and where we want to go. And Doherty and Duncan-Brewster are wonderful. 4 stars from me.  |
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2,760 posts
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Post by n1david on Aug 27, 2024 22:30:53 GMT
That's an interesting experience Steve and quite different from what I experienced on Saturday. Over the course of Saturday I would say that there were more black people in the audience than in the typical West End audience, and there was a certain sense of the white audience watching the reaction of the black audience in order to work out how they were 'allowed' to react. Saturday's audience did not react in the same way to that scene as you related. Part of the joy of theatre - two people going to see the same show on different days can have entirely different experiences. |
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1,494 posts
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Post by Steve on Sept 3, 2024 12:38:27 GMT
Saw the matinees of "Michael" and "Delroy" on Saturday afternoon, completing the trilogy, and felt that "Delroy" is the natural conclusion of the trilogy and is most impactful if you've seen the other two first. Some spoilers follow. . . If "Michael" is about the pain of the racist, and "Closing Time" about the persistence of casual inadvertent racism, then "Delroy" is the meat and potatoes of the whole trilogy, as it is about the experience of racism. Further, both "Michael" and "Closing Time" are well-constructed plays, with twists occurring within their narratives. "Delroy " doesn't really have a twist, being more experiential, but rather it IS the twist to the other plays: as in, THIS is the consequence of the action of the other plays. "Delroy" almost demands that you've seen the other plays, as Delroy constantly talks of Michael, Carly and his mother, in ways that are deeper if you know who they are from their perspective first. Further, the final moments of "Delroy" can only be understood fully if you have at least seen "Michael," and preferably "Closing Time" as well. If seen after "Delroy," both "Michael" and "Closing Time" feel more trivial, anti-climaxes after the main event. On the other hand, "Delroy" makes both the other plays feel more pivotal in retrospect. Thomas Coombes is brilliant in "Michael," a stage persona crackling with electric emotions by which he constantly threatens to electrocute himself. But it is Paapa Essiedu who commands the stage most comprehensively in "Delroy:" his hesitant stutter is immediately endearing, his seeking validation from audience members is needy and funny, the immediacy of his description of his experiences is enhanced by multiple convincing accents and attitudes , and his emotionally authentic reactions to those experiences are searing, painful and alive. His performance is a tour-de-force and got an immediate deserved standing ovation on Saturday afternoon. Overall, from me: Closing Time - 4 stars Michael - 4 stars Delroy - 4 and a half stars The Whole Trilogy - 4 and a half stars. Try to see "Delroy" last. |
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1,248 posts
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Post by joem on Sept 28, 2024 23:02:31 GMT
Closing Time - a truly awful play.
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