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Post by David J on Dec 5, 2018 8:07:05 GMT
Anyone know of some good three hander plays to perform? 2 male 1 female/3 male. Maybe four-hander if one could play two roles
I should know some given how much I’ve seen but I always go a blank. All I can think of is Art
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Post by David J on Dec 3, 2018 14:02:51 GMT
Fortunately I don’t have allergy to balloons or other latex, ahem. But I do have allergic reaction to rubbish direction. ( not wanting to make fun of serious allergic reactions which I know are no laughing matter) This warning triggered long repressed memories of Maria Abergs King John didn’t it?
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Post by David J on Dec 2, 2018 13:16:49 GMT
First off, I agree with the above that the meta-theatre stuff was tedious. I get what Icke was going for but it dragged down the first act. Which is a shame because if I was to rate the second act alone I would say this was the best production I saw all year. In fact this brought forward some feelings I've been harbouring over the last few years about the way PC culture tells us to mind our words and polices the way we live our lives. I don't want to divulge on this forum but the more I read about this and the way people out there set out to ruin people's lives because they don't fit in their own worldview just sickens and scares me. So when I see the Gregers character come in to drop a bombshell on the Ekdal family, who for the first act 1 was living a happy if not perfect life, I fought the urge to go up to him and punch him in his serene face. Thankfully the doctor character just about did that for me at the end. Yes maybe the Ekdal family were harbouring secrets that they would have to talk about one day. But it's not up to anyone else to decide when they should address it, especially not Gregers with his ideals and guilty conscience And watching the fallout during the second act I was on an emotional rollercoaster. A visceral and heartbreaking experience with a shocker of an ending, all pulled off brilliantly by Edward Hogg, Lyndsey Marshal and Clara Read as the Ekdal family. I came out of this and walked back to the city centre seething and am still mulling it over. If ever this is a production I am really glad I saw, despite the first act. This play is up there with some of the greatest tragedies for me. It has helped solidify some thoughts I've been harbouring For instance, I felt reluctant to post on this thread theatreboard.co.uk/thread/5663/all-feminists, and no disrespect to the OP but to answer her question, No!
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Post by David J on Nov 29, 2018 10:40:57 GMT
Keep your Hiddles chaps, this is more important to me
Jonathan Slinger is back at the RSC next year as Sir John Brute!!!
I am dancing for joy 🎉🎊😄
Oh and Alexandra Gilbreath and Caroline Quentin are appearing in this as well
😇
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Post by David J on Nov 29, 2018 8:08:38 GMT
I wish I could come but I am in Stratford-upon-Avon that day Any other meet ups?
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Post by David J on Nov 22, 2018 1:14:50 GMT
Looks like another company is jumping on the gender swapping bandwaggon I'm guessing the Guildford Shakespeare Company looked at the Donmar production and said "Nah, we can do better than that" and will swap 6 characters' genders in the second act. The characters will be Angelo, Isabella, Duke, Mariana, Escalus and Mistress Overdone.
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Post by David J on Nov 21, 2018 19:14:34 GMT
Vanessa Redgrave is back tonight apparently. The staff haven’t been told otherwise
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Post by David J on Nov 20, 2018 22:41:46 GMT
Had to leave the screening after 35minutes because the audio was out of sync. Disappointing but come to expect this from NTLive screenings. Won't be attending one again. I was compensated after the Bayeaux Stratagem broadcast didn't work and I had the sync problem occurred when I watched the Follies broadcast. But reports elsewhere said everything was fine. Otherwise, I have had no problems with NT Live, especially tonight. The production itself was excellent. Maybe NT Live has a lottery system where the broadcast doesn't work for random cinemas.
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Post by David J on Nov 20, 2018 20:37:34 GMT
Will be seeing a beauty and the beast panto for the first time. Over at the Salisbury Playhouse who I think do the best pantos in the south thanks to the clever writing of Andrew Pollard
Hoping to see Dick Whittington at the Mayflower and have decided to see a pantomime in London for the first time with Snow White
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Post by David J on Nov 20, 2018 20:37:11 GMT
Will be seeing a beauty and the beast panto for the first time. Over at the Salisbury Playhouse who I think do the best pantos in the south thanks to the clever writing of Andrew Pollard
Hoping to see Dick Whittington at the Mayflower and have decided to see a pantomime in London for the first time with Snow White
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Post by David J on Nov 18, 2018 15:58:22 GMT
Interesting production
A verbatim reproduction of the 1603 trial of Sir Walter Ralegh for treason
Watching this in the Great Hall in Winchester where the trial took place. Runs for 2 hours like an actual trial with an jnterval where a jury of picked audience members go off to decide
Takes a while to get going due to the nature of the piece as we go through the formalities and listen to the evidence. But things really pick up once Simon Paisley Day starts to give an impassioned defence for his life as Ralegh against Nathalie Armin as the petulant attourney
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Post by David J on Nov 6, 2018 14:45:24 GMT
It’s not just the songs that are inaudible at times. I gave up trying to listen to the circus bits during the escapologist story
As much as I love the musical the audibility puts me off seeing this again
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Post by David J on Nov 2, 2018 12:37:59 GMT
Images have been released for this: www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a869762/bbc-watership-down-first-look-photos-peter-capaldi-joins-cast/I love the film. Watched it many times as a kid and was never traumatised by it. I also adore listening to the audiobook sometimes. So I'm quite excited to see this new TV miniseries at Christmas, especially with the cast they've got. James McAvoy as Hazel, Ben Kingsley as Woundwort, John Boyega as Bigwig, and Peter Capaldi as Keehah. Though I must say I'm getting a case of the uncanny valley looking at the released pictures. I presume this doesn't have the budget of a pixar or dreamworks animated movie, so I hope it won't be too distracting when I watch this.
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Post by David J on Oct 28, 2018 16:21:53 GMT
Paul Hart continues his run of actor-musician Shakespeare next year with Macbeth
I don’t know what I feel about this.
So far he’s done Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and Midsummer Nights Dream with the same formula. Light hearted, lots of music and songs, surface level, audience pleasing Shakespeare. Which is fine and perfect for beginners but they are starting to feel the same
Is this going to work with one of Shakespeare’s major tragedies that is known for its psychological aspects than having some songs in it?
Apparently the music is going to be inspired by Johnny Cash, The xx and The Rolling Stones
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Post by David J on Oct 28, 2018 16:03:47 GMT
The musical adaptation of the 2001 film is making its UK premiere at the Watermill next April
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Post by David J on Oct 28, 2018 15:59:54 GMT
Well this is a tough one.
On the production side I thought this was brilliant.
Of all people Gregory Doran shows Rufus Norris how to do post apocalyptic Shakespeare right. This is the first time in a while that he pulls his finger out and put some effort into this
The setting feels convincing with Doran taking the time for world building with the walls of Troy and the Greek tents. The costumes are nicely stylistic, part Greek-part mad max. There’s some great imagery used in this especially in the ending battle scenes.
And I loved the music here. Then again I seem to have an affinity for forboding percussive music since The Histories. But it fitted with the setting, was nicely atmospheric, loud and energetic at times.
The casting is mostly great. Gavin Fowler was very convincing as the idealistic Troilus and I enjoyed watching him change over time. Oliver Ford Davies is Oliver Ford Davies but it suited the role of Landarus
The gender changes were convincing in a world where rhyme and reason has gone in this never ending war. I was looking forward to seeing Adjoa Andoh and she doesn’t disappoint as a fiery Ulysses. She delivers the order soliloquy magnificently
The only miscast was Sheila Reid. Bless her because I loved her performance as Gower in Pericles but she does not convince as the vile mouthed Thersites. And whilst the Sam Wanamaker suited her little voice she was inaudible at times in the RST
The problem...the play is a 3 hour slog
As mentioned above the characters are not that interesting, the writing doesn’t sparkle and the action is unenaging following the some of the least interesting events of the Trojan wars. This is also where Shakespeare tries to be cynically satiric and tragic but fails to achieve both at the same
So yeah, 5 years after the terrible Wooster Group production I have finally seen brilliant production of Troilus and Cressida
I’m just hard pressed to recommend seeing the play itself
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Post by David J on Oct 27, 2018 22:05:46 GMT
The doubling could be more effective if the actors didn't play their next role right after their last. It was a bit disconcerting seeing the actress go from Tamburlaine's wife to his next rival within the next scene.
The second act did feel more of a chore to get through with the repetitiveness. And you'd think you get a satisfying conclusion where Tamburlaine gets his comeuppance, but instead, you get a drawn-out death scene with him constipated.
I'd be interested what was cut out of the two-part version. This version did go at a "this happened, and this happened, and this happened" pace and you have to really concentrate to follow whats going on with dozens of rivals replacing the last lot.
But I'm not sure I want to see the 2 plays if judging by what I saw tonight. To be honest I've now seen most of Christopher Marlowe's plays in some form or another, apart from The Massacre at Paris, and to me they don't have the most cohesive and engaging stories. The one exception would be The Jew of Malta, but only because it is a precursor to Shakespeare's Richard III.
So this was an alright production with some memorable moments (the virgins scene) but the story isn't brilliant and Michael Boyd does use some old tropes of his whilst forgetting how they were effective in the first place.
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Post by David J on Oct 27, 2018 21:47:22 GMT
I just found a pro-shot of the Madrid production from 2011 and it feels like Christmas! The brilliant Gerónimo Rauch as Valjean. Don't know who plays Javert here but it is the alternate. I've seen most if this cast live at some point. Love Guido Balzaretti as Marius and Lydia Fairen as Eponine (I also saw them as Gabe in Next to Normal and Wednesday in Addams Family). And Eva Diago is the funniest Mme Thenardier I've ever seen. Enjoy, even if it's not in English. It is unfortunate though that it had to catch the one time Enjorlas was unable to fly the flag in time.
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Post by David J on Oct 27, 2018 19:54:21 GMT
Oh Michael Boyd how I missed you
In all seriousness this feels like a watered down version of The Histories. The violence, the ghosts, Tom Pipers design, the costumes. Different music composer but clearly Michael Boydgave told him to use the histories score
Is it just as effect. Not really. The ghosts don’t feel effective without a few figures cloaked in red to beckon them away to hell. The cast lack that oomph that the histories ensemble had and the lead doesn’t quite convince as this murderous tyrant
Still this is taking me on a nostalgia trip so count me happy
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Post by David J on Oct 26, 2018 18:08:46 GMT
I had a similar problem when the Old Vic changed the performance of a Christmas carol that I was taking my mum to was changed to a relaxed performance.
Nothing against a relaxed performance but that wasn’t what we booked for in the first place. My mum is half deaf so the sound of loud kids during the show would not help. I thought relaxed performances were announced separately
My mum did enough complaining to get apologies from the management and top price tickets in the stalls on another date. The only downside was we had also booked cheap front row seat for don Quixote on the original date. My mum doesn’t want to make two trips to London in the same month so she’s going to have to miss it
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Post by David J on Oct 21, 2018 10:44:13 GMT
I should state that I expected this musical wasn't going to be for me as someone who has seen numerous Twelfth Nights. I merely went out of curiosity
So with that, I'd say this is a light-hearted, fluffy night out. If ever its a fantastic introduction to the story.
But there is potential to create a musical adaptation that embraces the play's darker, melancholic side. This version took the easy route and in the end, it is surface level fluff.
I didn't even care about the "Open our heart to each others' needs and what a good world this could be," message that was forced in at the end with everyone waving country flags. In a story where a character is tormented out of petty revenge, it feels disingenuous.
I agree that Viola and Malvolio were the standouts.
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Post by David J on Oct 17, 2018 14:06:27 GMT
Enjoying this so far
Having Tartuffe for A Level it was nice to finally see a production, especially this updated version
It’s a fun production. Not just making fun of Islam but millenials and gender studies students as well
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Post by David J on Oct 13, 2018 11:47:26 GMT
This is a difficult one. I could count Michael Boyd's Henry VI trilogy that set off my love for Shakespeare, as well as Richard II a year later. The ones that made me cry (Derek Jacobi's King Lear, the Old Vic's A Christmas Carol, Les Miserables), beam with joy (Maria Aberg's As You Like It, The Clockmaker's Daughter, Loveday Ingram's The Rover, Mary Poppins), laugh (Gregory Doran's Love's Labour's Lost), sit on the edge of my seat (Tim Piggot Smith in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Henry Goodman in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Barrie Rutter in Rutherford and Son) or downright uncomfortable (The Nether)
Or I could count the brilliant writing from plays like James Fenton's The Orphan of Zhao, David Haig's Pressure, Annie Barker's The Flick and James Graham's This House. And how about the phenomenal work some of the smallest and fringe venues deliver such as the Arcola Theatre's Carousel, the short-lived Twickenham Theatre's Sweeney Todd, Southwark Playhouse's Carrie. Or the phenomenal interpretations directors brought to plays like Rupert Goold's The Merchant of Venice.
As for the worst, I could easily count the Wooster Group's Troilus and Cressida, but to be honest I was fascinated watching this train wreck in slow motion. I'm almost pleased that I got to see a production like that. It didn't make me mad
What did leave me seething was Rachel Cusk's Medea. A play where the dialogue felt as natural as someone's blog post rants and after sitting through all that the changed ending left me livid.
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Post by David J on Oct 13, 2018 10:47:55 GMT
Well. Someone call the police and arrest Rosalie Craig. She commits the most heinous crime of making 'Being Alive' seem like a filler and worse still, underwhelming. I don't know if she's bored singing it but I was bored hearing it. I've seen more feeling from a deep fried calamari. She's very attractive and has a nice voice and even has a few nice moments but she's just so bland that Bobbie fades into the background for me and I just didn't care about her at all. This is what I am worried about. The few performances I have seen of her has always been lacking for me. Her Rosalind was just simply bland. And I am loving 'Being Alive' the more I listen to it. Where's that crystal ball when you need one to find out when Jennifer Saayeng is on again.
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Post by David J on Oct 11, 2018 20:59:59 GMT
To those who are in need of an outstanding piece of new writing this year, I think Frantic Assembly has just one for you
This play is about the effects of conflict has on lives. It follows a WW1 soldier returning home but struggling with PTSD, an Iraqi soldier returning home to face trial for alleged war crimes committed on a civilian, and a refugee in a futuristic war torn Britain trying to find his brother
This does follow some familiar story lines about the tragedy of war but Anna Jordan’s writing is beautiful to listen to, threading the storylines seamlessly to create an emotional narrative. There’s a reveal with the Iraq soldier that left the audience (full of school parties tonight) gasping with shock. It’s quite an affecting experience watching these characters trying to cope
Together with the writing there’s Frantic Assembly’s choreography to savour. Not a full on physical theatre production like Othello, but the four actor ensemble have to be commended for their work
Well recommended
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