Post by firefingers on Feb 17, 2018 14:46:13 GMT
Surprised there is no thread on this.
I've seen two shows so far, one fantastic, the other dire.
The former is called "A Serious Play About WW2" from the fringe kings of farce Willis and Vere. There previous show The Starship Osiris was a massive hit and it's final run at the 2017 fringe received great praise from board members. This production, they insist, is them turning a corner and abandoning all that silliness and doing something serious for a change. It all goes wonderfully down hill from there. To reveal more would ruin it but it is bloody funny, although a little rough around the edges still as I saw only it's second ever outing complete with a set malfunction that could easily make it into the script. Think there is only a couple more performances but it'll be at Edinburgh in the summer so one to look out for. Four stars.
The other show I saw, the apparent headliner of the whole festival, was perhaps the most painful theatrical experience I've seen in many years. Titled "Neverland", this incomprehensible mess was an immersive musical based on Peter Pan, or apparently after watching the thing, based on Finding Neverland based on Peter Pan. I haven't seen Finding Neverland so hadn't a scooby what was going on. This companion piece to a companion piece suffered from a stilted book (of what words one could make out) and bland score, although enthusiastically performed as fringe shows almost always are. Audience members had no idea where to go, trying to escape the banality of the main space and follow a performer who beckoned only for any sense of immersion to collapse as staff in black t shirts and lanyards telling you you couldn't go that way. These extra performance spaces were separated only by curtains and occasionally thin wood, meaning you'd have to try and concentrate through the din of several unseen scenes to glean any hope of understanding or enjoyment. This also resulted in the cardinal sin of immersive theatre: Never make an audience member wish they were anywhere else. You have to make them believe that what they are seeing is the best experience they could be having. The competing settings weren't even coherent tonally when being performed at the same time, meaning you could be watching a sad and heartfelt moment as laughter rang out from behind a thin wall. I often feel like I am Mr Positive on this board, rarely having a bad word to say, but this really was a waste of 26 quid and an evening I could have spent on something much more worthwhile It gets one star, and that is only because of a couple of nice incidental pieces of imagery and a decent performance by the guy playing JM Barrie, straining against the guff who had to perform. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
I've seen two shows so far, one fantastic, the other dire.
The former is called "A Serious Play About WW2" from the fringe kings of farce Willis and Vere. There previous show The Starship Osiris was a massive hit and it's final run at the 2017 fringe received great praise from board members. This production, they insist, is them turning a corner and abandoning all that silliness and doing something serious for a change. It all goes wonderfully down hill from there. To reveal more would ruin it but it is bloody funny, although a little rough around the edges still as I saw only it's second ever outing complete with a set malfunction that could easily make it into the script. Think there is only a couple more performances but it'll be at Edinburgh in the summer so one to look out for. Four stars.
The other show I saw, the apparent headliner of the whole festival, was perhaps the most painful theatrical experience I've seen in many years. Titled "Neverland", this incomprehensible mess was an immersive musical based on Peter Pan, or apparently after watching the thing, based on Finding Neverland based on Peter Pan. I haven't seen Finding Neverland so hadn't a scooby what was going on. This companion piece to a companion piece suffered from a stilted book (of what words one could make out) and bland score, although enthusiastically performed as fringe shows almost always are. Audience members had no idea where to go, trying to escape the banality of the main space and follow a performer who beckoned only for any sense of immersion to collapse as staff in black t shirts and lanyards telling you you couldn't go that way. These extra performance spaces were separated only by curtains and occasionally thin wood, meaning you'd have to try and concentrate through the din of several unseen scenes to glean any hope of understanding or enjoyment. This also resulted in the cardinal sin of immersive theatre: Never make an audience member wish they were anywhere else. You have to make them believe that what they are seeing is the best experience they could be having. The competing settings weren't even coherent tonally when being performed at the same time, meaning you could be watching a sad and heartfelt moment as laughter rang out from behind a thin wall. I often feel like I am Mr Positive on this board, rarely having a bad word to say, but this really was a waste of 26 quid and an evening I could have spent on something much more worthwhile It gets one star, and that is only because of a couple of nice incidental pieces of imagery and a decent performance by the guy playing JM Barrie, straining against the guff who had to perform. Avoid, avoid, avoid.