The Comeuppance - Almeida

[foxglove]

The first preview was last last night, if I'm not mistaken. Did anyone here catch it? I'll be going on the 16th.

[showgirl]

Going bit later in the run but was at Hampstead Theatre on Saturday and was surprised to notice afterwards big posters advertising this on the tube platform. I know that tv programmes and major West End shows are publicised that way but this seems unusual for an Almeida production.

[aspieandy]

IIRC, I didn't book this because the themes seemed US-orientated and treading similar cultural ground to where we've been many times before. I think we've likely grasped the preoccupations of that society.

Interested to know if it has something fresher to say. Or maybe look at European/world theatre.

[Mark]

This was nominated for best play at the Lucille Lortel awards (off-Broadway) last week.

[showgirl]

As always if a play originated abroad I check reviews of previous productions to decide whether to book. So basing the decision not only on the content but the execution. Only ever a cheap ticket though, so no great risk & it pays off more often than not.

[jampot]

Thoroughly enjoyed this this evening...The Almeida have another quality production on their hands.. 2hrs straight through.. doesn't feel it either...cast very solid and a good set to work with.. feels modern and edgy..bravo.

[parsley1]

Found this diverting but pointless

Some funny lines

But not a patch on Gloria or Octoroon or Appropriate

Feels undercooked and tbh bit naff in the messaging post Covid

People are predictable

The play told me nothing new whatsoever

[nash16]

Back from Press. Not great, unfortunately. And as Parsley said not a patch on Octoroon. In fact this felt lazy, sadly.

The cast do want they can, but they’re dealing with a script that keeps promising a big pay off/event that never actually happens.

It’s set in a post-Covid world, which is referenced but without any insights. The characters constantly talk about themselves or Do you not remember in college when…? ad nauseum.

Our actions in life have consequences. Great. But maybe show them? And make them dramatic?

The monologues sadly become tiring, so by the time the last few characters get their moment we’ve tuned out. And again, we anticipate a pay off from them. Guess what? Doesn’t happen.

If they’d had an interval we would have left. Maybe every American play shouldn’t be transported to us.

We’ll see what the reviews say.

[showgirl]

Am due to see this next Saturday & even if it doesn't sound great, I'd rather be diverted than baffled & bored, as I was by Octoroon (which I left as soon as I felt I could decently escape from the uhelpfully small & close auditorium at the Orange Tree). I did also see Appropriate & though I can't now recall a thing about it, at least it hasn't left an indelibly dire impression like Octoroon. So relatively speaking & strange as it sounds given the above comments, this is promising.

[matildaswinton]

Saw this Thursday night after a matinee of Uncle Vanya at Orange Tree. Went in a bit worried that I’d be let down after such a beautiful afternoon, but I loved this.

It was for me. From the preshow music to the loss of innocence that chased the characters through childhood in the US (Columbine, 9/11, recession, on through COVID). As death continually shows up, we see how it has affected each one of them. We learn about their coping, their choices, and where it has gotten them. It’s a rich playground, looking back at childhood from the mid thirties, but it is generationally specific and a hard look at where the US is now, and what it means to live in it at our age (can you tell I’m an American their age?).

The audience loved it. I did too. Excellent work from the actors. Excellent direction. I would say more about what I loved, but won’t spoil.

[MoreLife]

Apr 13, 2024 7:49:57 GMT matildaswinton said:

Saw this Thursday night after a matinee of Uncle Vanya at Orange Tree. Went in a bit worried that I’d be let down after such a beautiful afternoon, but I loved this.

It was for me. From the preshow music to the loss of innocence that chased the characters through childhood in the US (Columbine, 9/11, recession, on through COVID). As death continually shows up, we see how it has affected each one of them. We learn about their coping, their choices, and where it has gotten them. It’s a rich playground, looking back at childhood from the mid thirties, but it is generationally specific and a hard look at where the US is now, and what it means to live in it at our age (can you tell I’m an American their age?).

The audience loved it. I did too. Excellent work from the actors. Excellent direction. I would say more about what I loved, but won’t spoil.

I saw this on Saturday and loved it it, too.  I'm close to the characters generationally speaking, but I grew up in Italy.  This didn't make relating to their experiences difficult at all, even though some of their life stories are remarkably different from my own, because the play - whilst being set in the US and referring to certain events that certainly speak perhaps louder to someone who grew up in the US and experienced certain events there - is so much more generally about the human condition and what it means to deal with disappointment, grief, wrong choices, etc. 

It's true you hear them talk about themselves and their younger selves and their memories a lot, but I found that's what allowed me to get to know them well enough to care about them - especially the two that are introduced first because we get to spend longer with them than with anyone else.  I'd probably see it another time if given the chance.  



  

[parsley1]

Mixed reviews for this

Mainly 3 stars

And noting it isn’t as strong as his other plays

[Steve]

Saw the matinee and agree with parsley1 that this isn't as thrilling or as original as "Appropriate" or "An Octaroon" or "Gloria."

This is a passable reunion play. Its also a memento mori, like one of those classical portraits where the painter would put a skull in it to remind everyone that everyone in the painting, and everyone viewing the painting, is going to die (of which the most famous painting I can think of is "The Ambassadors" at the National Gallery by Hans Holbein).

Some spoilers follow. . .

The reason I compare this to a painting is that its static like a painting, more a portrait of characters at a fixed time in their lives than a drama about them.

And the reason I compare it to a memento mori painting is that Death is a character in the play.

One drawback of the play is that the most likeable characters get the least lines and the least likeable characters get the most lines.

As the most likeable character (she was just as great as the most unlikeable character in "Unreachable" at the Royal Court), Tamara Lawrance is great and there is far too little of her.

As far as the portraits of the other characters go, I loved Ferdinand Kingsley as the most dramatic character (there really isn't any drama at all except when he's on stage), I liked Yolanda Kettle as the most convincingly chaotic character and I liked Katie Leung as the funniest character.

As the whining lead character, Emilio, the one with the scores to settle, I admired how much charisma Anthony Welsh injected into him to make him tolerable, and Welsh's turn as Death (they all take a turn) was the most effective one.

The play has so little drama though that ultimately it's a lesser entry among reunion plays (of which Jacobs-Jenkins' own "Appropriate" is one of the better ones).

3 stars from me.

[eatbigsea]

Agree with Steve. (But also, I know what psychopomp means).

[Steve]

Apr 18, 2024 0:17:23 GMT eatbigsea said:

Agree with Steve. (But also, I know what psychopomp means).

Ha ha, there is mention of a "psychopomp" in the opening speech, and I didn't know what it meant.

The character did explain it but then he made the mistake of saying that if we didn't understand what he was saying, just think of him as "Death."

I assume a psychopomp is like Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin in "Dead Like Me" on the Telly, where they helped dying people make a painless exit, or is that TV show long forgotten now and no longer a reference anyone remembers lol!

[Dave B]

I saw this on Tuesday night, I haven't see any of the work by the writer mentioned upthread.

I came out feeling like this had the most unrealised potential of anything I've seen in a long time. The psychopomp and all that entails, and I'd urge you not to go in knowing about it as it puts a real twist on what the play is described as.

Hugely effective lighting, really well done. The set looks impressive - like a house has just been put in the middle of Almeida. The glass trick gobsmacked some very loud American tourists.

The cast are mostly good, I really liked Yolanda Kettle and Anthony Welsh. Tamara Lawrance was great towards the end and in the final scene when given a bit more to do.

It is very very very American with the references to Columbine, September 11, wars in the Middle East, MAGA, January 06. Honestly, some of that feels unnecessary. I'm not entirely sure what it adds when at the end of the day, this is a play about friendships and connections - what they once were and what they are now. The human condition, reunion, momento mori as others have suggested. If it's a state of the union for the US or the divides in the characters are suppose to represent this, well we don't get an insight into them and their beliefs. There isn't a policy or viewpoint disagreement between the, it's life events and past grudges, we get little insight into how their lives are actually now other than some brief almost factual frustrations. Everyone of them has problems in their life, things ain't going well (same as everyone right?).

I wanted more though, I didn't need revelations about how sh*tty they were to each other as kids and the unrequited feelings. I certainly didn't need the monologue about how nice people were to each other during covid and how that was now missing, that felt so out of place and really drew me out. I liked the writing though and I liked the conflict and so much about it is done well that it just felt like it could have, should have reached for more.

Although having the music

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}for the ending be LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends was a perfect needle drop and a clear statement of intent for what the show was measuring up to. Didn't quite make it for me.

3 stars

[jr]

Just saw this. Very average play, nothing that hasn't been done before a hundred times, some funny lines and little else. The Death character was tiresome after the first two appearances. The last monologue was preachy and boring.

The acting was mostly good. I was not impressed with Anthony Welsh: he has an emotional moment towards the end that was very forced and cringey. Either he had a bad day or is not a very good actor.

Quite a few empty seats. At least I was lucky that having bought a cheap restricted view ticket,I ended up moving to a good one.

[Latecomer]

An opportunity missed. I think it suffered as we didn’t care about any of the characters? I always find I need a bit of sympathy and to be routing for someone…and I didn’t here. I agreed with lots of the sentiments but this missed the mark.
Felt like they could have made a play about each of the main people on their own, but with all 5 we didn’t seem to fully explore their stories and the drama/secrets revealed were lacking any dramatic impact.
I enjoyed an afternoon away in London and managed a good seat like the poster above, as I was supposed to be behind a thin pillar but theatre not full.

[parsley1]

I find it ironic the play waxes lyrical on Covid

And people’s motivations and actions

And how they have slipped back into less good versions of themselves

When the work itself is so mediocre and unoriginal and not good

Perhaps this was intentional

A satire

Just a poorly executed one

[aspieandy]

Someone's job to weed those ones out, though.

[jr]

I did not think it was a satire. But then I remembered a quote by Hollywood producer Samuel Goldwyn (I think): a satire is a comedy without the laughs. It could apply.

[mkb]

Oh FFS. I'm going Friday and have just seen that this is two hours WITHOUT any interval. Well that was good money wasted paying for access to the hotel lounge beforehand then. No fluids for me after mid-morning then and almost certainly a dehydration headache to look forward to too. Why are directors so lacking in consideration for others who don't have their cast-iron bladders?

[parsley1]

I am not surprised to see this is having a helping hand for tickets

Although rare as of late for The Almeida

[claireyfairy1]

I saw this at the weekend and was pretty shocked that this was from the same guy that did Gloria, An Octoroon and Appropriate. He was previously a must see playwright for me, but I'm rethinking that now. I really disliked this. I found it dull and tiresome. Interestingly, the people around me seemed to like it if the chat as we were leaving was anything to go by, which goes to show that we all experience theatre so differently.

[zahidf]

I thought this was fine: some funny lines, good drunk acting and i liked the death conceit. Plot was mesandering though, and the main character was whiny