1,045 posts
|
RSC 2017
Aug 11, 2016 10:28:22 GMT
via mobile
Post by David J on Aug 11, 2016 10:28:22 GMT
Ditto, though based on the Tewkesbury scenes during Dorans Henry IV the fighting could still be good
At least fight director Terry King is still working with the RSC after all these years.
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 8, 2016 11:14:22 GMT
I agree that the use of lighting and speaks takes away the challenge for directors. It makes me concerned what Emma Rice has in mind for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, though I cant begin to imagine where you can hang up lights and speakers in that place.
But the Playhouse has only been around for 2 years(?) and I've already seen some of the most imaginative productions in there that takes advantage of the limited use of lighting and sound
As for Globe, ideally I'd like Emma Rice to do seasons where there's a mix of traditional and non traditional productions
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 7, 2016 19:01:58 GMT
Will be seeing the Mayflower's Robin Hood with Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace. Originally it was Peter Pan, but as far as I've heard casting was proving difficult
Hopefully it will better than last years Aladdin AKA The Joe Pasquale Show
The Salisbury Playhouses Aladdin is the one I'm looking forward to. To me they deliver the best Pantos in the South thanks to some clever writing from Andrew Pollard. And they stepped up their game with some creative designs in last years Cinderella
I'm considering trying Snow White in Woking with Warwick Davis
The Nuffields non-panto show is a new musical adaptation of Fantastic Mr Fox. This appeals to me as a Roald Dahl fan but their Christmas shows haven't been great lately. Even the excellent Merlin last year wasn't a show of their own making but Royal and Derngate's. On top of that they're not attracting audiences and the Merlin performance I attended sadly had a few people in the audience
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 6, 2016 14:55:25 GMT
It's pretty clear that Laurence Bowell is influenced by the famous Peter Brook production
Infact the blank white box set with doors and hanging platforms are lifted from that and updated in this less experimental version. The twist is that the production starts off with the white set for the Athens scenes, and then changes into a larger version for the forest scene. Except it's now black with white streaks of paint covering it
Bottoms ass' head is practically the same
The production does go on a bit, lots of pauses throughout
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 6, 2016 13:11:41 GMT
I'm kinda excited to see this
Phil Jupitas as Bottom. Meh. Could go either way
But this has Katy Stephens (Titania), Darrel D'Silva (Oberon) and Forbes Mason (Quince) working together again. I kinda prefer to see Forbes as an older puck, which this production appears to have (Simon Gregor)
There's also Eve Ponsonby and William postlethwaite as Hermia and Lysander
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 5, 2016 6:18:00 GMT
My apologies, I didn't mention this after typing so much late at night
I am aware that there is a lot that Rowling couldn't develop over time. These are two plays, not a seven book series
Of course we have to be told stuff through exposition so that we can get we can get to the meat of the story. I had to keep telling myself that, and yeah I'm thinking too much into some of this
But still there were a few things I struggled to buy. I knew Harry was going to be different grown up, but the conflict that went on and on annoyed me a bit
Anyway thanks for the explanations.
Yes I am aware of the polyjuice potion, though transforming into someone would cut out the trouble of getting someone's hair. I can't remember whether it was alluded to in the books. Sounds like something that's very advanced that Harry would have learnt in his 'extended' final year, though I'd would be surprised that Hermione didn't learn it herself to use in the final book
Was it really the plays logo on Delphis back. Did anyone sitting closer get a good look at it
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 4, 2016 22:24:53 GMT
Okay it's been a week since I've seen this, and here's my initial thoughts I don't see myself as a fan. I read the books from number 4, listened to the audiobooks again and again, and had watched all the films in the cinemas. But after I saw the last one was the moment I moved on. I still regard Harry Potter as a treasured book series and nothing more. I wasn't even keen to buy such expensive tickets for this until the cast was announced Last Thursday and Friday are two night's I'm not going to forget in a hurry. They were awesome. Both this and Mary Poppins are both the best play and musical to have endless special effects That said this is definitely pure, manipulative fan fiction. And I confess that I go caught up in it all, gasping, clapping, and laughing at the right moments. It was like going down memory lane at times. I just wished that the plays were an opportunity to introduce more new characters and go to places we've haven't seen before, rather than reliving some of the best moments from the Harry Potter series. Jamie Parker did not disappoint as Harry. He was very convincing with the material he had (which I'll get to), but he really shone in Part 2 when you realise that Harry had repressed all he had gone through until he breaks apart and realizes that all he needed to do was share it in order to connect with his troubled son. The female roles had the least to do in comparison to the men, and the whole Delphi being Voldemort's daughter was definitely rushed. Just a few more questions/points - So when it began to dawn that Delphi was with the Dark Side, when Albus gives her the time turner and she turns around to growing gasps from the audience what exactly was the tattoo on her back? I assume that's what they were reacting but being so far away I couldn't tell. I thought the Dark Mark could only be on your arm.
- What was the whole thing about getting Delphi to step into the light, and Harry/Voldermort was repulsed by said light. Surely we're not saying Voldermort and Delphi are vampires?
- I didn't realise you can transform into another person? I mean yeah McGonagall could transform into a cat, but Harry turning into Voldermort? And it made me think that was a lot of moments in the Harry Potter series where that could have come useful. Just like the time turner/time travel plot hole people like to bring up
- Is it me or was Ron a combination of himself and George Weasley (who doesn't appear along with the other Potter/Weasley children/cousins). Apart from the driving test comment from the epilogue, I never saw Ron as jocular as he is in the play. Maybe its a growing up thing.
- This may be a bit pedantic but I love the thought that Voldermort decided to take the scenic route through the church on his way to killing Harry's parents. Shame he was a couple of years too early to try the farmer's market.
Big question though. Although there was a lot to adult Harry that I like, I was unconvinced by the way Harry and Albus' conflict went on for so long. Of course we may not have had a story then. Thing is, Harry gets so many hints that his son is turning away from him and something bad because of that. Even he can see that he is contributing to Albus' isolation. So he should have the sense to do something about it and try and relate to him
Then I thought it made sense by the second act when it becomes clear how repressed Harry has become that he is uneasy sharing his past that would help him realise that he and his son have things in common.
Am I right in thinking this. I mean I am not old enough or have enough experience to know
All I'm saying is that by the time Harry got to the point of threatening McGonagall to spy on his son, I felt like shouting "Dude, just take him out to get an ice cream, sit down and bloody talk. Not give him a 'lucky' blanket"
I think the main problem is that character development is barely there for me to relate to this. The story only really gets started 22 years after the books (including Albus and Scorpius' three school years that fly by). What story development there is consists of "this means Albus is this...this means Harry is that...there's a missing time turner...Voldemort may have had a child". Nothing but short bits of exposition. None of Harry's repression was going to come through until we either guess/assume it or spoon-fed it. I would also have like to have seen Harry's reaction when he heard Albus was put into Slytherin.
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Aug 4, 2016 12:18:38 GMT
Had a good time
Not the best musical production I've seen at the Watermill. The actor-musician act works better when it's integrated into the setting (aka the recent Fiddler on the Roof tour). This musical has to switch between New York and the Wild West quickly, two very different locations, and the small cast hasnt got time to change. So when we get to Deadrock there's cast members at the sides playing instruments still dressed as New Yorkers and it broke the illusion a tad.
Calamity Jane worked very well because most the time it is set in the Wild West and did very well establishing the setting, whilst in Oliver the musicians were kept tucked away on an upper level.
Tom Chambers is not the best singer but he is very expressive. And not only is he able to dance in that small space but he is leaping all over the set at times. At one point he drunkenly misses the spiral staircase to get down to the stage, and instead abseils down a pillar. He works very well with Caroline Sheen as Polly
I think the musical works best on a large scale. The hilarious regent's park production meant that I ignored the flaws with this. The two leads are really the only ones carrying the first act, and the others don't get a chance to shine until the second act as the underwritten supporting characters
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 31, 2016 8:53:45 GMT
I'd like to think that since John Lasseter became Creative Officer and Advisor for Disney, overseeing all their animated films, that he is contributing to what some people think is their second renaissance
Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck-it-Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia. Maybe people may not regard these on the same level as films like Beauty and the Beast, Lion King and Aladdin, and they are certainly different. But animation wise Disney seems to be on a roll at the moment
I also noticed John Lasster is a great friend and admirer of Hayao Miyazaki, the man behined Studio Ghibli whose films also puts a greater focus on story. He has been executive producer of several of those films, helping to get their release in the US
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 30, 2016 22:34:43 GMT
I have watched Pixar movies since Toy Story came out in cinemas, but it was only until Finding Nemo that I fell in love with their work
Ratatouille to Toy Story 3 was for me Pixar's Golden Age. They weren't all perfect but I thought the imagination put into them was astonishing. They appealed to both children and adults, finding the right blend of humour and poignancy. I'll never forget the monologue the late Peter O'Toole delivers at the end of Ratatouille, WALL-E and Eve flying through space, the married life montage in Up, or the toys stuck in the incinerator
Then of course it has gone down hill since then with the worst film they've made, Cars 2, and the average Brave and Monsters Uni. The Good Dinosaur doesnt sound hopeful either (that was the one where John Lasseter removed Bob Peterson from directing the film that he had been working on since 2009)
Inside Out though has for me become the best Pixar movie to date, and I wish Pixar would go back to creating more original stories like that instead of another Toy Story and Cars. I'm more interested in the Coco movie that is coming late next year that is set around the Mexican holiday, Día de Muertos.
Thankfully the sequel many a pixar fan is dying to see, The Incredibles 2, will finally be coming (in three years time)
There's an interesting fact that back in 1994, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Joe Ranft were brainstorming ideas over lunch for what should come next after Toy Story. They came up with Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and WALL-E all those years back. I think they need to have one of those lunch breaks again really.
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 30, 2016 21:24:06 GMT
The overall view seems to be that this trilogy production is disappointing. I'm going later on. Left at the interval for The Seagull Chekhov doesn't warrant 3 plays in a day Just not good enough a playwright For my liking it's 9 hours of the same stuff over and over again You think it's simply that? I've tried The Seagull three times already, and I still can't get the fuss about it. I thought maybe it's because the first two I saw, the Anya Reiss version and that Regents Park one with the overhead mirror and Hans Zimmer-esque music blasting out every now and then, just detracted from the play. Having seen this version at Chichester, the most naturalistic of the three, I've come to the conclusion that this is a play about people with problems that is just not for me. Out of interest what people think of Joshua James as Konstantin. The character was so whiney in the first two productions I saw. Here I thought Joshua James didn't resort to that and was more of a resigned Konstantin, and therefore the better for it. I definitely agree Platanov was the better of the three.
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 30, 2016 20:00:34 GMT
- Les Miserables
- Spring Awakening
- Matilda
- Mary Poppins
- Sweeney Todd
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
- Gypsy
- Blood Brothers
- Wonderful Town
- A Chorus Line
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 28, 2016 10:19:42 GMT
Am finally seeing both parts of Harry Potter tonight and tomorrow.
Can't wait
Anyone else going to be there?
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 28, 2016 10:17:17 GMT
Am finally seeing both parts tonight and tomorrow. Can't wait
Anyone else going to be there?
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 27, 2016 23:07:02 GMT
I'm still mixed about the production. I think Peter Viney's review sums it up for me. Notably Polly Findlay's direction isn't perfect. She should have included a brief moment between scenes where the tied up Drugger was brought on to remind us he's still in the building because when he turns up near the end I completely forgot about him. The main trio's subtle acting is at odds with the over-the-top acting from some of the supporting characters And again there's something about Ben Jonson's writing that doesn't stand out to me. But I liked it nonetheless and thought the ending was a nice trick
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 27, 2016 20:11:26 GMT
Eh
This isn't a 2 star show so far
The sets and choreography are certainly the highlight of the show
The energy before Kip becomes rich is top notch from a fabulous cast whilst Charlie Stemp leaps and flips around
For the rest of the act the show becomes dull, and the love triangle is just not there with such a lack of development
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 26, 2016 6:36:22 GMT
DONT EVEN LOOK AT THE PICTURE WITH THE REVIEW FROM THE GUARDIAN IF U DONT WANT SPOILERS!!!!!!!! To be honest if I'm guessing what is going on in that picture is correct, then I think it was inevitable that was going to happen in these plays
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 23, 2016 22:13:52 GMT
Belle (Reprise) from Beauty and the Beast sticks in my mind
Though I find it kinda funny that Belle only finds "adventure in the great wide somewhere" as far as the castle in the middle of the local forest
Maybe I'm taking that lyric too literally and Belle got a happy ending she didn't expect, and I am sure she and the Prince would go travelling after the story finished.
I'm just saying
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 23, 2016 14:45:00 GMT
Shame, I only got to see him play as Javert in the Bournemouth concert. He was off ill when I saw the anniversary tour in Southampton
Mind you watching the Manilla publicity videos I did notice his Javert-voice he used to put on (very reminiscent of Phillip quast) was missing. Maybe he has been playing it for long enough, especially after performing soon after Canada and Broadway
Here's hoping he goes on to playing different roles. I heard he'd like to give Miss Tunchball a go and did audition once
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 21, 2016 22:42:55 GMT
Jonjo O'Neill would have to be the only Richard with warmth I've seen. Not an extraordinary performance but entertaining
It's a combination of monstrous/menacing/cold and darkly humorous for me. A combination that actors like Hans Kesting, Ian McKellan, Emily Carding and Jonathan Slinger delivered
I watched snippets of other Richards from the RSC's archives. Henry Goodman's Now is the winter of our discontent had so much razzle-dazzle. Didn't like it personally, the monologue would stop and start again so many times.
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 19, 2016 20:13:38 GMT
Can't complain about this
It's a modest satire on the fracking issue for Chichester's usual audience. A few moments of forced exposition with no real gut punches yet. Though there are a few moments that reminds us that we are own worst enemy
Oliver Chris steals the show as a smarmy Reputation PR guy helping the fracking manufacturers
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 16, 2016 16:47:48 GMT
Reminds me of another Troilus and Cressida using microphones and all sorts of tech gizzardry in a intimate space called The Swan
And yet it wasn't surprising since the actors attempts at Native American accents were muffled by the continuous use of soundscape
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 16, 2016 9:37:15 GMT
There's stuff to like here. The swinging 60s setting, the acting, the music.
I just cant escape the fact that this is a pretty boring play, and I am a Shakespeare fan. It is obvious this is one of his first plays, long before Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It. The lovers are bland and the words don't stand out.
The comic relief helps proceedings. There isnt a dog but seeing Charlotte Mills as Launce leading the deadpan drummer around on a leash is delightful.
The direction the production takes for the ending was interesting. Like Rupert Goold's Merchant of Venice they turned the comedy into the Tragedy of Julia and Sylvia. They also insinuated what Valentine and Proteus' sexuality might be.
The problem is that the tone as a whole didn't call for it. Rupert Goold addressed the dark underside of Las Vegas, this is a light, family friendly touring show. Perhaps the production could have made a statement about the excesses of the 60s, but otherwise the downer ending slightly comes out of no where (which is an understatement considering what happens in the last scene)
By the way I've just seen this at the refurbished New Theatre Royal Portsmouth. A proper stage, backstage area and additional performance spaces have been built. Seeing the place I would have thought they could have spruced up the grand proscenium arch, looking at the cracks in the plaster. Neither are there any upcoming shows that makes me want to rush back there.
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 10, 2016 22:41:08 GMT
Ray Fearon and Shakespeare are simply not compatible Including this?
|
|
1,045 posts
|
Post by David J on Jul 8, 2016 12:31:17 GMT
Which £15 tickets would you recommend theatremonkey.
The table or dress circle ones
|
|