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Post by David J on Jan 24, 2018 22:40:47 GMT
5 more years? Please no. The RSC feels like it is sleepwalking at the moment. It needs new, dynamic leadership. And that means getting rid of Doran and Whyman. Quite obviously not gonna happen. I happen to quite like Doran but there it is. Some of the best Shakespeare productions I’ve seen were directed by him. But they were all before he became artistic director. He has lost his creative spark
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Post by David J on Jan 24, 2018 16:16:08 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio. Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough. 5 more years? Please no. The RSC feels like it is sleepwalking at the moment. It needs new, dynamic leadership. And that means getting rid of Doran and Whyman. At least the Swan still delivers some outstanding work. Even the lesser productions felt like they tried. Vice Versa last year for one was merely chuckle worthy but the energy and fun from the cast made it way better than the entire Roman season Now two of my favourite Shakespeare directors, Michael Boyd and Simon Godwin, are returning to put on shows there. And I hope Iqbal Kahn gets to spread his wings after Antony and Cleopatra. Boyd’s American production Tamburlaine gives me Henry VI vibes. Eek, hope this latest production is the same one! Otherwise I’ll just watch Troilus and Cressida at the cinema. At least it will help wash away the memory of the Wooster Group production (please, Doran)
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Teddy
Jan 16, 2018 18:44:27 GMT
via mobile
Post by David J on Jan 16, 2018 18:44:27 GMT
Nah it’s still there
This was more like a play with songs than a musical
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Post by David J on Jan 15, 2018 20:43:25 GMT
Seeing this at the Watermill
This is just one small nostalgia trip. A shallow story following these two youngsters out on a saturday evening getting into trouble. Meanwhile an onstage band led by a Johnny Valentine play tunes from the 50s
It is what it is, and with a running time of 2 hours I can’t complain. Otherwise it isn’t anything to run out for
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Post by David J on Jan 4, 2018 12:16:55 GMT
Well you say that but not everybody can go to every venue on the hope that they'll see every play.
There are assigned performances at Chilham Castle Kent. Maybe I'll make a holiday out of that. The tour is also going to start at the Globe, though there's no indication whether they will do assigned performances yet
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Post by David J on Dec 30, 2017 23:16:51 GMT
On Caesar fighting back, Robert Stephens specified that had to happen before he took the part in the RSC production. Hicks played it for them too - that’s the sort of actor you need for it. In Imperium Peter de Jersey's Caesar certainly fights back. In fact, he mocks the conspirators first weak swipes at him. "Pathetic" he calls them.
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Post by David J on Dec 30, 2017 15:27:29 GMT
This is certainly pacy and well acted production but having listened to the audiobooks of at least the first two (I’ve listened to some of Dictator but the change of narrator is a big drawback) I’d say as an adaptation falls short
I know adaptations come with cuts from the story, but I would have preferred this to be a trilogy of plays just so you can see the great lengths and compromises Cicero goes to in the first book to become consul. His work that is cut down in books 2 and 3.
This adaptation does well to establish who’s who but you are kind of dropped in the middle of it and left to get a gist of the relationships Cicero has created between these characters in the first book
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Post by David J on Dec 30, 2017 14:17:09 GMT
Well I like Part 1 so far except for one thing. They practically skip the first book and start from the second, only briefly going back to look at Cicero bringing justice to the corrupt governor of Sicily (which I must say was an inticing story in the first book)
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Post by David J on Dec 23, 2017 8:33:24 GMT
I've just seen the RSC's Twelfth Night and sadly its just as average as the Roman season. It only got chuckles from the audience except during Adrian Edmondson's yellow stocking scene.
It only gets into my top 10 Shakespeare productions this year because Adrian Edmondson out of the blue gives an award-winning performance in the final scene. Anyway, it was a choice between that and Julius Caesar.
Anyway, that is Christopher Luscombe's production. Where was the fun and lightheartedness that was in Loves Labours Lost and Much Ado About Nothing?
I could say the same for Angus Jackson. Only last year his Don Quixote was a silly and fun production to watch. My favourite play of 2016. His King Lear with Frank Langella barely had a weak link in the cast. And yet here he is "in charge" of this uninspiring Roman season.
Iqbal Kahn's Indian Much Ado About Nothing and Othello weren't perfect but I loved the attention he gave to these exotic settings. Antony and Cleopatra was the obvious play for him to direct and yet he was stuck with the same set used in this season. I barely felt like I was in Ancient Egypt.
And that set was such a hindrance at times in Blanche McIntyre's Titus Andronicus with actors having to clamber onto it to exit there. I haven't seen any outstanding productions from her but she's done better than this.
All these directors have shown creativity and vision in previous productions and it's almost as if this has been sucked out of them this year. I'd like to think the Roman season was just a one-off set back, but Christopher Luscombe's Twelfth Night doesn't inspire confidence for next year.
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Post by David J on Dec 21, 2017 18:58:18 GMT
Saw today's matinee
In comparison to the Old Vic production, a good deal of it was a straight presentation of the book, with some awe-inspiring use of production values here and there.
At times the production felt uneven. The Fezziwig scene went on for too long, and outside the story there are some scenes with Charles Dickens himself thinking up the story. They have no point apart from Dickens keep telling us that he is writing this to show his contempt for the exploitation of child labour (though when is this ever the main focus of the story)
Still David Edgar does bring an ending to the story that is heart-warming (if slightly confusing)
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Post by David J on Nov 30, 2017 23:11:45 GMT
What’s the running time?
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Post by David J on Nov 30, 2017 12:56:14 GMT
Unlike Whatsonstage and the Daily Telegraph I wholeheartedly agree with the forum (and wickedgrin) with this production
An adaptation of A Christmas Carol that could be simplistic yet wildly imaginative with a cast driving the heart of the story along. Faithful to the book yet captured the spirit in ways I haven’t seen in previous adaptations
Like wickedgrin I thought a good deal of action was facing towards the majority of the audience at the front. In fact its only really in the second act when the in-the-round staging comes into its own.
The onstage seats aren't bad but only try them at a low/discounted price
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Post by David J on Nov 28, 2017 17:56:42 GMT
Booked for tomorrow (Tues) evening on the strength of the favourable comments on here. I hope you haven't all led me astray...although I wouldn't mind being led astray by some of you!!! Me too! Meet up at the theatre? My seat is onstage n60
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Post by David J on Nov 27, 2017 23:45:06 GMT
Booked for tomorrow (Tues) evening on the strength of the favourable comments on here. I hope you haven't all led me astray...although I wouldn't mind being led astray by some of you!!! Me too! Meet up at the theatre?
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Post by David J on Nov 2, 2017 12:19:55 GMT
I too sat through that Troilus and Cressia. Second preview at the RSC. Decided to stay after the interval.
In my defence it was the first time I was seeing a production of the play and to be honest it was kind of fascinating watching that car crash. At least I got to see the highlight which was Achilles in a pumped up muscle suit being brought on playing a guitar
Poor old Scott Handy was giving a first-rate performance as Ulysses. Then he had to play the woman who launched a thousand ships, Helen.
At least I've got to watch recording of the Maori version from the Globe to Globe season since then. A better production played by actual indigenous people, even though the recording included no subtitles.
Perhaps we should hold a group therapy session.
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Post by David J on Oct 20, 2017 15:44:37 GMT
Acting choices can also bring up pot holes.
It's a fine line for an actress playing Regan to jump from shutting her raving father out to plucking out someone's eyeballs. One moment she's a reasonable person the next she's a maniacal monster
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Post by David J on Oct 20, 2017 11:57:33 GMT
The character of King Lear and his motivations is an interesting one for me, because its because of that vagueness that makes it a challenge for me to sympathise with him. Yes, no one should be treated the way he is from the point he is locked out in the heath right to the end. But even as he dies the part of me thinking "you did kind of bring this on yourself"
Only Derek Jacobi managed to overcome this problem for me. His King Lear was the only one I cried for at the end.
The way Lear acts after he gives away a lot of his power like he is still important to the detriment of his daughters makes me side with them (until they start locking people outside and gouging out eyes). And all of this is set off by division of the kingdom that is not implicitly explained.
It makes me want to know more about the rule of Lear before the play. Surely his rule was opposed a couple of times? His style of kingship is based around absolute kingship, expressed by the Divine Right of Kings, where the ruler answers to no one but the gods. Notable rulers that followed this idea was Richard II and Charles I, and look where that got them in the end. You wonder how Lear managed to live to an old age.
Especially when you look at Goneril and Regan. You'd think that the way Lear acted as a king and father made them the way they are.
I really want to see a King Lear that brings in the death of the queen aspect to the beginning. It would bring another level to how the characters act.
Another show that I wish there was plot is Cats the Musical (I know the musical that takes what story there is in the poems), particularly Grizabella's backstory. I know there's hints in the songs, but when the musical is putting so much emphasis on her trying to be accepted by the other cats again for vague reasons, it makes the cats we've been following the whole time (well the proud adults anyway) look very selfish.
I don't need things spelt out but when you're making a hoopla about a particular plot point or character, give me good reasons to care about them.
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Post by David J on Oct 14, 2017 8:59:24 GMT
It's a tricky question for me right now
Once upon a time I would have been going up to London on a Saturday for two shows, maybe sneak in another trip during the week, and try and see every show in the south, as well as go up to see all the RSC shows
Now my priorities are changing. I am taking Meisner classes in London, not just for acting but to help me get out of my head and talk more with people. I'm right now taking a course with Wednesday and saturday classes till the end of the October, but this isn't something you simply accomplish just like that. There will be more classes and courses to come, and part of the fun is that I get to socialise with the class members on Saturdays, leaving only the evening to see a show
Soon Im going to have to think seriously about my spending. After so many years I'll be turning 26 and the young persons tickets will have gone (though the RSC is offering another year if I join up for the £20 membership).
From next year I want to prioritise shows by the genres i love to see which are
New musicals William Shakespeare revivals Musical revivals
Now new plays and revivals I'd love to see but only if they are REALLY good. New plays are trickier obviously since you have no idea if they are going to be good. So I would have to wait for reviews and hope there's still tickets
More and more I want to see shows that are worth the money and effort to go up to London. Not that I want to be snobbish, but even the 4 star shows that are just good and commendable don't feel worth it. I want shows to bring something new to a play, or blow my mind. Something that would make me think that I want to see it again
And that's something that at end of the day only you yourself can decide when the curtain falls. The reviews and even the great comments on this forum can take you so far.
Simply going to see your favourite writers work or performer in the latest production doesn't guarantee that the show will be a dud (even Shakespeare isn't infalliable). I can't rely on favourite theatre companies these days. After 11 years ill only go up to see the RSC's swan theatre and winter productions and leave the main shows for the cinema. The opening season for Chichesters new artistic director doesn't spring confidence. Then again companies will always have their ups and downs
Honestly I knew the day will come when my theatregoing will have to be minimised and hope next year will bring me mostly outstanding musicals, Shakespeare and plays. I don't even mind the occasional awful one. I sometimes think the worst are actually the ones that are just plain average.
And I can still rely on the comments from this board. Even Parsleys reviews can make choosing a show a whole lot easier I feel.
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Post by David J on Oct 12, 2017 20:08:33 GMT
It brings back memories of a candidate demonstrating how to screw on a trampoline leg against one of the most suggestive of body parts. And he was the winner in the end
Or one moment where the team was desperately negotiating for a cheap price, and the lady she'll let them have it if they promised to go away
Though it has lost some spark ever since the prize became becoming a business partner. it makes the majority of the show feel pointless when even the poorest candidate has the best business proposition
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Post by David J on Oct 6, 2017 20:21:10 GMT
I have a general idea about the Roman gods that do as they please, so once the premise was established I was fine with the shifts in tone this production takes as it switches between the gods and mortals
The modernised and wacky gods take up a small portion to the more subdued scenes with Aneas and Dido
I guess Grierson has improved because I could mostly hear him from the upper gallery. He gives a nicely subdued performance with a grievous rebelling of the fall of Troy
Mind you I found it challenging to concentrate when there's a school party in and there's two schoolkids chatting in the next lot of seats along
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Post by David J on Oct 6, 2017 18:29:55 GMT
Now to see a show that is hopefully bold and creative
And as a bonus David Bradley's in the house tonight!
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Post by David J on Oct 6, 2017 7:28:28 GMT
If there's one performance that should be seen it is Haydn Gwynne as Volumnia. She practically overshadows everyone with her imperious performance and the climactic scene is certainly the highlight of the show.
Otherwise, this production sums up this Roman Season as a wasted opportunity. In this day and age there is so much to highlight in these plays and yet RSC played them straight and safe
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Post by David J on Oct 5, 2017 20:08:31 GMT
Eh...
I too think this is an underrated play with so many political and social things to say, but it is a challenging one to get right. Unfortunately this production has so far living up to the challenge
It's a neatly packaged production with the minimal use of rising shutters, the usual horse and lion statue, gangways brought on by the unmistakable backstage crew amongst the actors
The battle scenes are uninspiring quite frankly. Everyone in modern uniform except they use swords. There's continuous flashes of light in the background yet the only sound comes from the small orchestra playing the most uninspired string music
Sope Dirisu only shows hints of fire and petulance as Coriolanus. The rest of the cast give good performances, including Sean Hart understudyingAufidius
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Post by David J on Sept 19, 2017 11:23:37 GMT
*Gasp* is this a different set I see before me. I'm intrigued...slightly. Coriolanus in a warehouse perhaps
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Post by David J on Sept 13, 2017 17:23:05 GMT
I liked their King John as well mind you. A controversial production amongst some people on this board. I'm with you though. In fact I'd rather see it over the 2015 Globe production, even if it was perhaps the better of two, just because it was so out of left field
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