213 posts
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Post by peelee on Oct 22, 2018 19:25:22 GMT
Those here who remember that very good BBC TV series State of Play, about a British newspaper and conflict with crooked senior politicians that featured Bill Nighy as a charismatic newspaper editor with staff that included John Simm and Kelly Macdonald, may remember that then newish TV actor Tom Burke played a fact-digger who quietly got on with it. It was compelling TV at the time.
There was a Hollywood remake that put it all into one USA-based feature film, and starred Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe, but it was nowhere near as good.
I've never seen Don Carlos, by the Schiller I'd never heard of until hot ticket Mary Stuart in the West End with Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer, but on the strength of that play I'd like to see this play.
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115 posts
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Post by Sotongal on Nov 6, 2018 20:12:05 GMT
The Times didn’t like this; “At once bombastic and punishingly dull, this is weirdly mechanical and the tone rarely deviates from an onslaught of spittle-flecked shouting” 1* Always a risk with Schiller. I’ve seen this play in the original German. Imagine that. You have my admiration for watching the play in the original German! We saw Don Carlos in Southampton and also went to a Q and A with Tom Burke there. He and presumably the company had only seen the 1* review and appeared mortified by it, and so hadn't read the other reviews and so didn't seem aware the other reviews were 3* (since then a 4* also). They'd obviously had a terrible time in Exeter, for a number of reasons, though Southampton NST had managed to help them sort out the sound,etc, problems. The set is basically the black rear and side walls of the theatre, with a bank of lights on the rear wall. On stage are tables, chairs and moveable lights, which are moved about to emphasise characters or conversations ( and possibly the claustrophobia of Court). The costumes are black, with just a flash of red lining on the Kings jacket, echoed by a red carpet at one point.( Apparently, director Gadi Roll usually wears black. ) The music however, though not very noticeable, does not seem to do anything for the production. Tom plays the enigmatic visionary the Marquis de Posa and the prince, Don Carlos, is played by Sam Valentine. It's a mammoth 3+ hours long, with a massive amount of dialogue ( even after dumping 60 pages of script) and almost Shakespearean - although it's in modern English, you have to spend the first five/ten minutes tuning your ears into the dialogue like you do with Shakespeare ( and Don Carlos opens the production with some exposition, so concentrate!) Would sum it up as a good first stab at a very difficult play by a new production company, which needs encouragement ( as does any new theatrical company). We did wonder if Tom should try a different director for his next production, but this would seem unlikely as ARA is Tom and Gadi's company. Don Carlos is in the Rose Theatre, Kingston, for the next two weeks. |
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999 posts
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Post by Backdrifter on Nov 7, 2018 17:44:54 GMT
Those here who remember that very good BBC TV series State of Play, about a British newspaper and conflict with crooked senior politicians that featured Bill Nighy as a charismatic newspaper editor with staff that included John Simm and Kelly Macdonald, may remember that then newish TV actor Tom Burke played a fact-digger who quietly got on with it. It was compelling TV at the time. There was a Hollywood remake that put it all into one USA-based feature film, and starred Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe, but it was nowhere near as good. I've never seen Don Carlos, by the Schiller I'd never heard of until hot ticket Mary Stuart in the West End with Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer, but on the strength of that play I'd like to see this play. I'm currently re-watching State of Play (the series) as I do most years and I never tire of it, it's one of the best TV dramas there's ever been. And just the one series, 6 episodes, job done. Great stuff. However, a slight correction - Burke played Sid the transcriber they used when they were secretly taping meetings. He's involved in a couple of darkly amusing scenes. He looked about 18 at the time! I couldn't believe when he was cast as Cormoran Strike, having read the novels and imagining someone else entirely, but I liked him in the role. I must have seen him on stage given what others have listed above, but can't remember him. The 04/05 Crucible production of Don Carlos that transferred to the Gielgud was superb. Jacobi was excellent as the King and it was probably the last role I saw him in that I fully enjoyed. Richard Coyle was brilliant in the lead role. I really like him generally and would have loved him to have taken over as the Doctor from Tennant. Claire Price was the Queen. I haven't seen her on stage for a long time. Peter Eyre was memorable in a very brief but sinister role as the blind Cardinal Chief Inquisitor, hobbling around on two sticks, exuding menace. I had thoughts of seeing this at the Rose but am now not in the area anyway during its run but it seems I'm not missing much. I can't remember how much stage time Posa gets, I don't remember it as being that much, yet TB is all over the promo? That role was Elliot Cowan in the Crucible one. Have the Rose stopped using pics from the Dench production yet? Does it get better numbers these days? As Jan brock said, usually in my experience there's seats going begging. Until last year it was my most local theatre but I rarely went there, the programme just never enticed me very much. I also always thought the unvarying Elizabethan configuration was a big mistake. |
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