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Post by lt on Jun 6, 2024 10:24:45 GMT
Saw this in preview last night, it's a really interesting play set in a black community in South Carolina in 1918 about Herman, a white man, and Julia, a black woman, when marriage between different races was illegal in that state. The script - written in 1962 - offers a perspective and insight on many aspects of racism not usually explored, while telling a compelling story. I found it really fresh and original and gave an insight into a community that has not been well served by drama.
It took me a good ten minutes or so to tune my ear into the dialogue being used, but once I had I thought the play was both cleverly written and also very funny in parts. I think most of the cast did an excellent job, but I thought at points the actors playing Herman's mother and daughter, slightly over egged their acting, but I think that will settle down as the production continues.
Really clever and imaginative staging too, which worked well throughout the production.
For me, I thought the first half was better than the second. It had a clear narrative arc, and I was completely caught up in the play. Act two I thought was weaker, it felt at least 10 - 15 minutes too long with scenes that could have been cut, there were points which tipped towards melodrama and I was unconvinced by the ending.
But I am really glad I've seen this, found it fascinating and I am surprised that the play isn't better known.
The one absolutely infuriating aspect which has nothing to do with the production was the trigger warning issued by the Hammersmith, which I clicked on out of curiosity and the Content Warning includes information telling me the themes of the play include racism. But that is the entire point of the play! It's like mentioning a musical contains tunes.
But that was only a minor irritation, what was really maddening was that the warning contains a major plot spoiler - so do not click on it! - which really affected my enjoyment of the production.
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1,828 posts
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Post by Dave B on Jun 7, 2024 9:53:44 GMT
We saw this on Monday evening.
I mainly agree with you, only difference is I thought the second half was a little stronger when Julia has a lot more to do and gets a lot more to her character. I very much agree about it being 10-15 minutes too long, at least a part of that feels related to the set changes which felt unnecessary pretty much throughout.
It was three and half for us on what was the second preview (and a pretty empty Lyric which I have not seen in a while), I hope and expect both will pickup a bit during the run.
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Post by gmoneyoutlaw on Jun 7, 2024 19:46:10 GMT
We saw this on Monday evening. I mainly agree with you, only difference is I thought the second half was a little stronger when Julia has a lot more to do and gets a lot more to her character. I very much agree about it being 10-15 minutes too long, at least a part of that feels related to the set changes which felt unnecessary pretty much throughout. It was three and half for us on what was the second preview (and a pretty empty Lyric which I have not seen in a while), I hope and expect both will pickup a bit during the run. I have a limited time in London in a few weeks, should I see this or regret not seeing it? I loved Trouble In Mind FYI. |
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Post by lt on Jun 7, 2024 20:32:45 GMT
We saw this on Monday evening. I mainly agree with you, only difference is I thought the second half was a little stronger when Julia has a lot more to do and gets a lot more to her character. I very much agree about it being 10-15 minutes too long, at least a part of that feels related to the set changes which felt unnecessary pretty much throughout. It was three and half for us on what was the second preview (and a pretty empty Lyric which I have not seen in a while), I hope and expect both will pickup a bit during the run. Fortunately, it was mostly full on Weds. I looked up the plot of the play as I was puzzled by the ending. And it seems as if this production has had extra material added which I don't think helped the end. For me The Times review today pretty accurately sums up my feelings: "The first hour or so is an exhilarating, unpredictable mix of pathos, humour and snark. Sadly, it all goes awry in a weirdly overextended second half.Childress, whose earlier drama, Trouble in Mind, was revived at the National in 2021, has a gift for bringing lowly characters to life. "Still, the opening encounters linger in the memory...The earlier, carefully calibrated observations on class and race give way to an unabashed shouting match. Julia’s personality undergoes an implausibly sudden transformation, too, as the production drifts towards a self-consciously poetic conclusion. I’m still very glad I saw it — Ayorinde is majestic and Bethan Mary-James and Diveen Henry lead a fine supporting cast. It’s just tantalising to ponder what might have been". |
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Post by lt on Jun 7, 2024 20:40:34 GMT
We saw this on Monday evening. I mainly agree with you, only difference is I thought the second half was a little stronger when Julia has a lot more to do and gets a lot more to her character. I very much agree about it being 10-15 minutes too long, at least a part of that feels related to the set changes which felt unnecessary pretty much throughout. It was three and half for us on what was the second preview (and a pretty empty Lyric which I have not seen in a while), I hope and expect both will pickup a bit during the run. I have a limited time in London in a few weeks, should I see this or regret not seeing it? I loved Trouble In Mind FYI. I'm really glad I've seen this,and would have regretted not seeing it. I think Childress has a great ear for dialogue and I found the insight into the black community in South Carolina in 1918 fascinating. And it's certainly made me keen to see her other work. |
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Post by Dave B on Jun 7, 2024 23:27:24 GMT
We saw this on Monday evening. I mainly agree with you, only difference is I thought the second half was a little stronger when Julia has a lot more to do and gets a lot more to her character. I very much agree about it being 10-15 minutes too long, at least a part of that feels related to the set changes which felt unnecessary pretty much throughout. It was three and half for us on what was the second preview (and a pretty empty Lyric which I have not seen in a while), I hope and expect both will pickup a bit during the run. I have a limited time in London in a few weeks, should I see this or regret not seeing it? I loved Trouble In Mind FYI. I'd say yes. Given the couple of people commenting so far have seen it in previews and been reasonably positive, it's likely to settle down a little bit. A quick search suggests press reviews have been mostly positive to very positive, so yeah I think it worth seeing. |
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Post by jr on Jun 13, 2024 13:15:27 GMT
Website states 160 minutes. Is it really that long? Going tonight and probably will fall asleep...
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Post by lt on Jun 13, 2024 14:52:14 GMT
Website states 160 minutes. Is it really that long? Going tonight and probably will fall asleep... Finished at 2210, when I saw it. |
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Post by lt on Jun 15, 2024 9:21:07 GMT
Great pity this isn't selling better, it's really worth seeing.
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3,557 posts
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Post by showgirl on Jun 15, 2024 14:10:47 GMT
I know it has had some good reviews but what I don't understand is why people would want to see something about so unpleasant a subject? When the new season email arrived months ago, I earmarked the productions I did want to book for but this was a definite "no". I feel the same about Machinal. It's not as though I shy away from everything remotely sad/disturbing/upsetting, but it needs to be in the context of the whole work, not its sole focus. Why would I want to pay to be harrowed or depressed? The wretched weather & the state of this country & others mean I don't want more doom and gloom in my precious free time.
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Post by lt on Jun 15, 2024 14:41:02 GMT
I know it has had some good reviews but what I don't understand is why people would want to see something about so unpleasant a subject? When the new season email arrived months ago, I earmarked the productions I did want to book for but this was a definite "no". I feel the same about Machinal. It's not as though I shy away from everything remotely sad/disturbing/upsetting, but it needs to be in the context of the whole work, not its sole focus. Why would I want to pay to be harrowed or depressed? The wretched weather & the state of this country & others mean I don't want more doom and gloom in my precious free time. Personally, I found it fascinating and how both the black and white community- for different reasons - were against a mixed race relationship. It really gave an insight into the black community of 1918 in a way I hadn't seen before. I think Childress has a real gift for sketching character and actually parts of the writing were very funny. I have also seen Machinal which I did not enjoy for reasons I explained on that thread. |
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