1,260 posts
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Post by theatrelover123 on Jan 31, 2018 17:42:45 GMT
Elizabeth Berrington and Tanya Moodie will star in the UK premiere of Joel Drake Johnson's Rasheeda Speaking at Trafalgar Studios.
Directed by Jonathan O'Boyle (Dear Brutus, Pippin and Hair), the piece is a tense hospital-based comedy-drama that examines racism in the workplace, both explicit and underlying. The text starts with a white doctor trying to remove a black receptionist from her job, and from there things escalate out of control.
The show opened originally at Chicago's Rivendell Theatre, before being performed as part of The New Group's 2014-15 season in New York. It was nominated for Best Play by the Jefferson Committee and also nominated for Best New Off-Broadway Play by the Outer Critics' Circle.
Two-time Olivier Award-nominee Moodie will play Jaclyn Spaulding. Her past credits include Trouble in Mind, Hamlet and The House That Will Not Stand. Berrington will play Ileen Van Meter, and her credits include Who Cares, The Low Road and Black Mirror.
Drake Johnson's other plays include Four Places, A Blue Moon and As The Beaver.
Rasheeda Speaking runs at Trafalgar Studios from 20 April to 12 May, with previews from 18 April.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 21:00:41 GMT
Sounds interesting. Looking forward to it.
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821 posts
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Post by ensembleswings on Feb 4, 2018 22:13:00 GMT
This caught my eye earlier, a show I'm definitely going to try and catch if I can
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3,320 posts
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Post by david on Apr 28, 2018 22:23:49 GMT
I managed to get a £15 side stalls TKTS for today’s matinee. Overall, quite a dark play tackling workplace racism with 2 great performances from Liz Berrington and Tanya Moodie. Though for me, it was Tanya’s performance that made this show. She was able to bring both some great humour to the role as well as doing the more tougher stuff with the racism issue. Credit also to the girl for performing the show with one arm in a sling due to a dislocated shoulder!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2018 6:33:09 GMT
I absolutely detested this when I saw it. I wasn't entirely sure if it was because I thought Tanya Moodie gave one of the worst performances I've seen in a long time or if it was just because her character was just so unlikeable that I didn't care for her in the slightest. Plus the Ileen character seemed to have a complete personality change between scenes that seemed wildly unrealistic. I couldn't wait for it to end personally. @parsley would have killed for an interval.
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1,499 posts
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Post by Steve on Apr 29, 2018 7:38:08 GMT
I absolutely detested this when I saw it. I wasn't entirely sure if it was because I thought Tanya Moodie gave one of the worst performances I've seen in a long time or if it was just because her character was just so unlikeable that I didn't care for her in the slightest. Plus the Ileen character seemed to have a complete personality change between scenes that seemed wildly unrealistic. I couldn't wait for it to end personally. @parsley would have killed for an interval. It's the character. Tanya Moodie gives a phenomenal performance, every bit as good as the phenomenal performance she gave in "Intimate Apparel" a few years ago. Just an utterly different one, demonstrating what incredible range she has. Where that character was subtle and tender, this character is broad and blunt. Both characters face heinous racism, but this character is not very nice, and the play provokes the audience to see if they will associate her bad qualities with her "blackness" in the same way the other characters do. This is a brilliant provocative play, hilarious and mean, and it tests waters that are as explosive as the ones surrounding the casting of Maria in "West Side Story." The play is a racism Rorschach test, and it's absolutely worth seeing, in my view. Some spoilers follow. . . The play makes clear in the first scene that Moodie's character is a crank, ranting about obviously non-existent toxins in the air. The play also makes clear in the first scene that Berrington's co-worker character is well-meaning. This sows a mighty trap for the audience, as they must identify with Berrington's character, and if and when racism rears it's head, and associations are drawn between Moodie's character's behaviour and her race, will they go along with that? I think this play is fantastic, it is funny, it is challenging, and it tests ground that should and must be tested, in an ingenious and insidious way. Both Berrington and Moodie are wonderful in this, with Berrington open and empathetic, and Moodie at turns, sly, cranky, cruel, wired and vulnerable. Moodie is also tremendously funny, offering a broad comedy master class, until of course, she isn't. The meaning of the title of the play proves to be utterly devastating, and if anyone is up for a great laugh and an uncomfortable time (this play is as uncomfortable as the conversation about Sierra Boggess' casting), I recommend this play. 4 stars! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2018 9:15:37 GMT
I absolutely detested this when I saw it. I wasn't entirely sure if it was because I thought Tanya Moodie gave one of the worst performances I've seen in a long time or if it was just because her character was just so unlikeable that I didn't care for her in the slightest. Plus the Ileen character seemed to have a complete personality change between scenes that seemed wildly unrealistic. I couldn't wait for it to end personally. @parsley would have killed for an interval. Parsley saw it And quite enjoyed It is a bit over long And repetitive at times But I loved Tanya Moodie and her performance The character was quite complex |
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