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Post by theatrefan62 on Nov 15, 2023 15:02:22 GMT
The artwork possibly suggests modern dress?? I tend to assume commercial Shakespeare productions will be. Or certainly not in traditional dress. Seems very rare to have Shakespeare performed in traditional costume (outside RSC/The Globe) |
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Post by Jan on Nov 15, 2023 16:01:05 GMT
Again Sir Ian playing Falstaff past his 85th birthday shows amazing durability.I wonder if he'll wear padding/fat suit as that over a several month run will make the role an even bigger physical undertaking. Does Falstaff need to be obviously fat? In the same way as when teenagers think of anyone over 25 as being old, slender youths can too often think that anyone who isn't slim and toned is fat, ugly and call them out as such. Sometimes that is done with affection. Sometimes it is done with real cruelty. Given how many of the descriptions of Falstaff come from Hal, I think it can be viewed as the immature behaviour of a younger man From memory David Warner wasn’t notably fat in the Michael Boyd cycle. Miscast, but not fat. |
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Post by Jan on Nov 15, 2023 16:02:33 GMT
The artwork possibly suggests modern dress?? I tend to assume commercial Shakespeare productions will be. Or certainly not in traditional dress. Seems very rare to have Shakespeare performed in traditional costume (outside RSC/The Globe) When was the last RSC production in “traditional” Elizabethan costumes ? |
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Post by theatrefan62 on Nov 15, 2023 16:27:20 GMT
I tend to assume commercial Shakespeare productions will be. Or certainly not in traditional dress. Seems very rare to have Shakespeare performed in traditional costume (outside RSC/The Globe) When was the last RSC production in “traditional” Elizabethan costumes ? Maybe there isn't. I don't pay attention too much tbh to RSC so I didn't like to assume. I just know every time I see a commercial production it always seems to be concept or modern in some way. |
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Post by richey on Nov 15, 2023 16:29:20 GMT
I was ready to book tickets for a few people and they’ve all dropped out at hearing the running time!! 😂 I quickly booked a ticket for opening night in Manchester without looking at the times and regretting it now. |
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Post by Jan on Nov 15, 2023 16:55:20 GMT
When was the last RSC production in “traditional” Elizabethan costumes ? Maybe there isn't. I don't pay attention too much tbh to RSC so I didn't like to assume. I just know every time I see a commercial production it always seems to be concept or modern in some way. Traditional costume is very much the exception rather than the rule at the RSC, I couldn't remember the last production though someone will know. Heritage Shakespeare is very much the sole preserve of The Globe. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 15, 2023 16:55:52 GMT
I tend to assume commercial Shakespeare productions will be. Or certainly not in traditional dress. Seems very rare to have Shakespeare performed in traditional costume (outside RSC/The Globe) When was the last RSC production in “traditional” Elizabethan costumes ? I was thinking the same thing. I don't think the Roman plays being done in togas count. But full Elizabethan is now very rare in Stratford. The Tennant R2 was period dress but not Elizabethan. But the LLL with Tennant was. And that was 15 years ago. How many since then? |
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Post by Jon on Nov 15, 2023 17:03:49 GMT
The only RSC Tudor period play in recent years was The Mirror and the Light.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 15, 2023 17:13:18 GMT
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Post by Jonnyboy on Nov 15, 2023 17:14:29 GMT
I was ready to book tickets for a few people and they’ve all dropped out at hearing the running time!! 😂 I quickly booked a ticket for opening night in Manchester without looking at the times and regretting it now. If you’d prefer the matinee you have free ticket exchange with ATG+ remember  |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 15, 2023 17:20:34 GMT
I mean, I know it’s “event” theatre but I’ve been put off the idea of Ian McKellen in Shakespeare, actually in anything, ever since hearing Germaine Greer many years ago say in an interview that his performance in Trevor Nunn’s King Lear was the reason she gave herself permission to stop seeing Shakespeare performed on stage.
She described her reaction at seeing him fully disrobe, which she found entirely unnecessary for the purposes of the play.
She was promoting her own bio of Anne Hathaway at the time so maybe there was a bit of hyperbole going on but it’s always stuck with me. She did a review of the play for the Guardian which you can Google. It is not complimentary!
I’m sure he’ll be fabulous in this and props to him for doing it but at 4 hours… BB out.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 15, 2023 17:26:26 GMT
That is a weak reason for stopping seeing live Shakespeare.
I saw that production twice and the rending of the garments was not an obtrusive part of the staging.
It felt like a natural way for the distracted Lear to behave.
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Post by bordeaux on Nov 15, 2023 18:06:15 GMT
Four hours of Shakespeare with Ian McKellen directed by Robert Icke?! Sounds like heaven to me. I can't understand the complaints. Especially as it's a play or plays that most of us will have seen a lot less often than Hamlet or Lear or Much Ado, for example.
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Post by marob on Nov 15, 2023 18:52:11 GMT
Trying to think, but possibly the only ones I’ve seen in Elizabethan dress would be some of Terry Hands’ productions at Theatr Clwyd, and those would be about 10 years back.
But anyway… Booked front row for the matinee in Manchester. Icke’s Hamlet with Andrew Scott was great, so looking forward to seeing what he does with McKellen.
Did I read somewhere that McKellen’s himself wasn’t entirely happy with that production of King Lear, hence doing it again a few years ago?
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Post by Jon on Nov 15, 2023 19:01:56 GMT
Plays rarely sell well at Wimbledon but I think this will be the exception. I was surprised when McKellen did his one man show that he did Richmond and the Rose in Kingston but not Wimbledon.
I get ATG's pre West End strategy for certain shows but I do wonder if they should maybe give other venues a chance to host shows, Richmond got A Little Life, Vanya and The Enfield Haunting for example, why not give a new show to say Woking?
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Post by stevemar on Nov 15, 2023 23:19:40 GMT
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Post by n1david on Nov 15, 2023 23:22:16 GMT
So maybe it just starts at 6.30pm because Sir Ian wants an early night?
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Post by rumbledoll on Nov 16, 2023 6:44:03 GMT
Anyone with membership (who already can access the booking as I understand) could comment on the price bands please?
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Post by Jonnyboy on Nov 16, 2023 7:17:52 GMT
4 hours is stated on the Mcr booking page, and those Saturday times are not on the same Saturday. One Saturday is a matinee and one an evening performance. |
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Post by Jonnyboy on Nov 16, 2023 7:18:38 GMT
Anyone with membership (who already can access the booking as I understand) could comment on the price bands please? Screengrabs posted earlier in thread with prices |
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Post by Jan on Nov 16, 2023 7:19:09 GMT
Anyone with membership (who already can access the booking as I understand) could comment on the price bands please? They are posted earlier in the thread ? |
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Post by Jan on Nov 16, 2023 7:33:15 GMT
I mean, I know it’s “event” theatre but I’ve been put off the idea of Ian McKellen in Shakespeare, actually in anything, ever since hearing Germaine Greer many years ago say in an interview that his performance in Trevor Nunn’s King Lear was the reason she gave herself permission to stop seeing Shakespeare performed on stage. Greer takes the view that "King Lear is the greatest poem in the language" so dislikes any production that has any sort of directorial intervention that means the actors aren't just standing there chanting the lines in the sing-song way that was popular 100 years ago. It is absurd, because King Lear isn't a poem. McKellen though was quite affected by that review. When I saw an early performance he had a small hand tremor at all times indicating Lear's frailty but when I saw it later he'd eliminated that because Greer had moaned about it. In any event that production was beset by behind the scenes problems and clashes between the actors so wasn't one of the best. That meant he played the role again later. Here's what Greer said about the audience for that production in Stratford: "The 1,000-strong audience is composed of a minority of geriatrics who haven't got out of the theatre-going habit, and a majority of teenaged school-trippers bussed in from various grim hostelries in the environs of Stratford. Most of the members of the audience don't have English as their first language." OAM, McKellen once said he'd never play Falstaff because Roger Allam had been perfect in the role. McKellen is the greatest Shakespearean actor I've ever seen on stage but the last really great performance I saw from him was in 1990 and many of his great roles were more than 50 years ago so it is impossible for most of us to judge him. |
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Post by rumbledoll on Nov 16, 2023 9:51:28 GMT
Anyone with membership (who already can access the booking as I understand) could comment on the price bands please? Screengrabs posted earlier in thread with prices Thank you so much for noting that (and to david for the screen). Sorry I double posted.. |
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Post by Jonnyboy on Nov 16, 2023 13:24:56 GMT
Tickets aren't exactly flying out. I wonder if they can fill Manchester's Opera House before the run starts? Sir Ian is a huge name, but 4 hours of Shakespeare at an atypical start time might be too much of an ask. We shall see!
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Post by stevemar on Nov 16, 2023 13:57:26 GMT
4 hours is stated on the Mcr booking page, and those Saturday times are not on the same Saturday. One Saturday is a matinee and one an evening performance. Thanks for clarifying Jonnyboy. Booked front row at Wimbledon..guess neck ache and massages in order! |
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