A Tupperware of Ashes - NT Dorfman

[cavocado]

New play by Tanika Gupta, starring Meera Syal. 25 Sept-16 Nov www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/a-tupperware-of-ashes/ 

[kate8]

I just booked this and it is selling very well - the pit is almost sold out for the 4 or 5 dates I looked at. It looks appealing to me, but I didn’t expect it to be hard to find seats - must be Meera Syal’s tv popularity.

[parsley1]

Jun 6, 2024 18:53:34 GMT kate8 said:

I just booked this and it is selling very well - the pit is almost sold out for the 4 or 5 dates I looked at. It looks appealing to me, but I didn’t expect it to be hard to find seats - must be Meera Syal’s tv popularity.

Yes I noted this

It’s a very good cast indeed so far

Shobna Gulati
Zubin Varla

Are both very popular also

My only concern is the playwright isn’t the best writer

🫣

[parsley1]

Starts in three weeks

Has sold very well to date

Already a running time on the website

2h and 40m

I suspect will come down in previews

Fingers crossed it’s a good play

[kallyloo]

I saw Meera yesterday at the BFI on stage with Mark Kermode. She chatted a little bit about the play and mentioned the rehearsals were hard work because of the subject matter of dementia.
It’s a subject I try to stay away from for personal reasons so I’m getting cold feet. I’ll see what the reviews say, but I’m so glad NT has an accommodating policy for returns.

[thattheatreman]

Sept 17, 2024 6:51:50 GMT kallyloo said:

I saw Meera yesterday at the BFI on stage with Mark Kermode. She chatted a little bit about the play and mentioned the rehearsals were hard work because of the subject matter of dementia.
It’s a subject I try to stay away from for personal reasons so I’m getting cold feet. I’ll see what the reviews say, but I’m so glad NT has an accommodating policy for returns.

Have tickets for this and didn't realize also. Having just gone through this too with both parents, not sure I could sit through it too.

[theoracle]

Excellent interview with Zubin Varla below. Rare to hear him talk I think and what a beautiful voice he has. A truly exemplary career he has had too - excited to see what he does with Tupperware of Ashes

open.spotify.com/episode/0wAw9I5Voq6aepfYxzpxxp?si=D8ZWYRjTREKNSwBxDYf8mg

[catcat100]

Saw this tonight and thought it was quite excellent. Dorfman doing it again with a play that suits its size.

First thing first, this is about dementia and its quite brutal in its portrayal of it, doesn't really pull any punches. So not surprised Meera found it hard in rehearsals.

Its a well written and well acted portrayal of how dementia affects all around. Its also about family and their spiritual beliefs, but these beliefs don't over shadow the over riding portrayal, just brings more depth to the situation.

It is well balanced, there's both light and dark, tears and laughter, there's a couple of bits which have quite sudden atmosphere changes but they work well and seem right. The ending works very well.

I only brought a ticket for this about 20 mins before the start and very pleased that I did.

[kallyloo]

Thank you, sounds like that’s a no for me. I’m sure the cast and audience won’t want someone sobbing uncontrollably in the middle.

[MrBunbury]

I saw it on Saturday (a long weekend of ashes, with "The other place" tonight...). I was quite reluctant to go and see it because of personal experience taking care of someone with dementia, but actually I did not find the play upsetting or difficult to watch. It might because I found Queenie's trajectory quite different from what I have seen as a caregiver (Queenie seems to have much more awareness and agency in the first stages of the disease) or at least in the play her trajectory (and that of her family) is broken down in small scenes that are quite short, preventing too much emotional connection. I found Ameet, the husband, more a nuisance and distraction than a character useful to move the story forward, at least in the first scenes when he intervenes to comment what is happening in real time (and for reasons that I will not mention, it does not make sense that he does that in the middle of the other characters). I liked the second part more and the final scene is beautiful and really brings together the play.

[parsley1]

Sept 30, 2024 21:25:19 GMT MrBunbury said:

I saw it on Saturday (a long weekend of ashes, with "The other place" tonight...). I was quite reluctant to go and see it because of personal experience taking care of someone with dementia, but actually I did not find the play upsetting or difficult to watch. It might because I found Queenie's trajectory quite different from what I have seen as a caregiver (Queenie seems to have much more awareness and agency in the first stages of the disease) or at least in the play her trajectory (and that of her family) is broken down in small scenes that are quite short, preventing too much emotional connection. I found Ameet, the husband, more a nuisance and distraction than a character useful to move the story forward, at least in the first scenes when he intervenes to comment what is happening in real time (and for reasons that I will not mention, it does not make sense that he does that in the middle of the other characters). I liked the second part more and the final scene is beautiful and really brings together the play.

Thanks for this

I shall see next week

Is it well acted please?

[MrBunbury]

Sept 30, 2024 21:34:52 GMT parsley1 said:

Sept 30, 2024 21:25:19 GMT MrBunbury said:

I saw it on Saturday (a long weekend of ashes, with "The other place" tonight...). I was quite reluctant to go and see it because of personal experience taking care of someone with dementia, but actually I did not find the play upsetting or difficult to watch. It might because I found Queenie's trajectory quite different from what I have seen as a caregiver (Queenie seems to have much more awareness and agency in the first stages of the disease) or at least in the play her trajectory (and that of her family) is broken down in small scenes that are quite short, preventing too much emotional connection. I found Ameet, the husband, more a nuisance and distraction than a character useful to move the story forward, at least in the first scenes when he intervenes to comment what is happening in real time (and for reasons that I will not mention, it does not make sense that he does that in the middle of the other characters). I liked the second part more and the final scene is beautiful and really brings together the play.

Thanks for this

I shall see next week

Is it well acted please?

Yes, Meera Syal is very good and also the other actors do well.

[catcat100]

A piece in the guardian today about the play, interesting that it started life as a Queen Lear adaptation.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/oct/01/meera-syal-shobna-gulati-tanika-gupta-national-theatre-tupperware-of-ashes?CMP=twt_a-culture_b-gdnculture

[mjh]

They'd managed to get this down to 2hr30 last night - was finished by 10.02.

[parsley1]

Oct 1, 2024 12:31:10 GMT mjh said:

They'd managed to get this down to 2hr30 last night - was finished by 10.02.

Did you enjoy it?

[solotheatregoer]

This is outstanding and the best play I have seen at the National for years. Superbly acted and a devastating performance by Meera Syal, who deserves much praise and recognition for this. Maybe it resonated more with me because I also have experience with this illness in my family and so I did find myself choking up on a few occasions. It's so easy to overact something like this considering the themes of the play but this is very nuanced and perfectly balanced.

I agree that the husband is a little distracting at times, but I will never complain about seeing Zubin Varla on stage so I can let that slide.

5 stars.

[parsley1]

Quite a damning review from The Independent

I am seeing this next week

But I was sent the text

I have to say it’s very basic, unsophisticated and a very superficial exploration of dementia

It’s a shame the real impact isn’t explored in any meaningful manner

And again it’s a pity when given a chance and despite so much support and guidance from a place like the NT

New writing can so scrappy and substandard and lazy

[mjh]

Oct 1, 2024 12:31:10 GMT mjh said:

They'd managed to get this down to 2hr30 last night - was finished by 10.02.

I thought it was ok. In their pursuit for an ‘authentic’ dementia experience (something so wildly different for everyone), it turned into a very superficial, melodramatic piece. Cast were good with what they were given. Zubin very underused.

[parsley1]

WOS 5 stars
Reviews Hub 4.5 stars
The Stage 4 stars
Broadway World 4 stars
London Theatre 4 stars
Time Out 3 stars
Independent 3 stars

[Someone in a tree]

I see the score is by Nitin Sawhney. How is it? Im a big fan. Im guessing its underscore ?

[joem]

I thought this was pretty good. Clearly Meera Syal is personally invested in the subject matter and her performance shows, she moves away from the witty, waspish persona she so often adopts (her own?) to develop a more nuanced character who is exasperating as well as pitiable, funny as well as downright nasty at times. Zubin Varla's puckish trickster of a husband is very effective at highlighting both sides of the drama but particularly the more darkly comic aspects.

A couple of dud lines but the play does hold together well and gives a portrayal of how Alzheimer's affects sufferers and their loved ones. It's not a medical treatise, it's a play - so it's meant to entertain as well as inform and it does this. It affects different people in different ways but this interpretation is at least as valid as the next one.

[parsley1]

Around half of the remaining run is sold out now

With many performances having the odd ticket left only

Quite a success box office wise at least

[showgirl]

It was a few days before PN, oddly, that I noticed that the run - well, matinees, certainly, as those are the performances I can attend - was suddenly almost sold out, so maybe it was word of mouth? The positive reviews which followed can only have helped. However, as so often with the NT, a swathe of tickets appeared shortly before the next couple of performances so I bagged one of the more affordable ones as though that was more expensive than they can be via Friday Rush, doing the latter is difficult or impossible on a working day.

[zahidf]

I thought this was excellent. Great acting, really emotional and tough to watch in places

[parsley1]

I also saw this finally at the matinee

And agree it is a good piece of theatre

Moving funny and staged effectively

The acting brings the rather pedestrian script to life very well

Intially I found the husband distracting

But he is essential for some relief from the often difficult reality in the here and now

And he is also the escape and companion for Queenie during her decline into Alzheimer’s

Overall I highly recommend as it covers many issues and presents them honestly and in a genuine manner