237 posts
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Post by harrietcraig on Sept 18, 2019 14:54:41 GMT
For me the issue with the list is that it doesn’t clearly define what it’s assessing. The headline says “shows”, which indicates performance is being evaluated, but the opening paragraph says “works”, which suggests text is what’s being considered. In theatre I don’t think you can separate the individual performance from the text, and so saying that (for example) Matilda or The History Boys are in the Top 50, well are you assessing the opening cast (which is what most critics will have seen), or the play regardless of the performances? The opening cast of The History Boys was exceptional, does the play still stand up in its 27th touring cast? Fun Home is listed as 2013 which is when it opened at the Public. Am I entitled to count it if I only saw the London production which was restaged with a different cast? Really the only point of this is to generate discussion and clicks. Oh look, it’s working. And I can count a surprising 21 if I’m allowed to count any production of a play. I’m in the reverse situation from your Fun Home situation: I have seen the original production of only one of these (King Charles III), but I have seen the New York transfers of nine others that originated in London (soon to be two more, when I see The Inheritance and The Height of the Storm on Broadway next month). Am I entitled to count those nine? (Not a serious question, I know nobody is keeping score.) On a more substantive note, I would make room somewhere on the list for The Coast of Utopia. |
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4,993 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 18, 2019 17:10:35 GMT
No Bend it like Beckham #gutted
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Sept 18, 2019 17:45:53 GMT
If we are doing best productions since 200 which i know we are not but Nicholas makes some good points above , then Othello at the NT, directed by Hytner, was imo, the best Shakespeare production and prob the best of that play for a very long time. It was breathtaking.
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