Juno and the Paycock w/ Mark Rylance - Gielgud

[amyja89]

Oooops! I even did a search, apologies!

[TallPaul]

Threads merged.

[lookingatthestars]

Looks like the 3rd row of the stalls have gone and sale for this, at the same price point as nearby rows. Seems they are holding back on the first two rows still. I wonder if some of those seats will be day seats?

[lookingatthestars]

Some £30 tickets for under 30's have appeared on the website for this. Unfortunately I don't fit in this age bracket! I'll sit tight and hope there are some day seats or the like in the future.

[alessia]

I'm also hoping for some more offers for the rest of us over 30..

[Rory]

When is the full cast being announced?

[barrowside]

Interesting given that the two leads are not Irish that Chris Walley has been cast as the English Mr. Bentham. He has just recently been very good as a Yorkshireman in The Sugar Wife at The Abbey.

[Rory]

I'm slightly disappointed by the lack of Irish actors in the lead roles and the revised artwork is also average with a picture of Mark Rylance as Mark Rylance.

[lynette]

Same argument as all the others. Why do you have to be Irish to play an Irish character?

[barrowside]

I think given that we see it so often in Dublin, seeing it with non-Irish actors in the three leads will be very interesting. I don't know the young actors apart from Chris Walley but you're certainly getting an Irish A-team with Ingrid Craigie and Anna Healy as Mrs. Tancred and Mrs. Madigan.

[oxfordsimon]

Aug 21, 2024 15:41:00 GMT lynette said:

Same argument as all the others. Why do you have to be Irish to play an Irish character?

You don't.

But in a play like this one, a deep understanding of the accent, language and culture are important.

That doesn't necessarily come from being Irish. But having that heritage might help bring authenticity to a production.

[andrew]

Paul Hilton is a bigger draw for me than Rylance.

[lookingatthestars]

Aug 21, 2024 11:42:56 GMT barrowside said:

Interesting given that the two leads are not Irish that Chris Walley has been cast as the English Mr. Bentham. He has just recently been very good as a Yorkshireman in The Sugar Wife at The Abbey.

Oh yes, I saw him in that, very impressive in the role. I'm looking forward to seeing him in this. 

Absolutely agree with Oxfordsimon about the fact that you don't need to be Irish to play an Irish role, many actors have proved this on stage and on the screen. But there is definitely somehing about the works of writers, such as O Casey, where the details of a time and place are crucial to the rythms and images of the text, which then translate to the characters and story. Also, I think Irish characters in the hands of a lesser skilled actor always run the risk of 'begobs and begarra, top of the morning to ya' shtick, particularly if the accent is off. Maybe other nationalities have this issue too.

Great to see Anna Healy in this, she was very good in DruidOCasey last year, so I think she'll bring a lot to this production.

And I do think Paul Hilton will make an excellent Joxer.

[Phantom of London]

Agree you don’t need to be an Irish actor to play an Irish roles, it is a preposterous as saying you need to be English to play Shakespeare roles or Scandinavian to play Ibsen. The Irish have such a rich turn of phrase, but nationality isn’t important as long as you can do the accent.

Saying that I am going to do all what I have just said and say that the next revival in many years and that Paul Mascal would make a great Juno.

[Jan]

Aug 21, 2024 20:05:03 GMT oxfordsimon said:

Aug 21, 2024 15:41:00 GMT lynette said:

Same argument as all the others. Why do you have to be Irish to play an Irish character?

You don't.

But in a play like this one, a deep understanding of the accent, language and culture are important.

That doesn't necessarily come from being Irish. But having that heritage might help bring authenticity to a production.

I have always thought that with O'Casey's plays the audience also should be Irish to get the most from them - I've never found them anything other than tedious. 

[lookingatthestars]

Yes, I see what you mean. I wasn't a fan untill I lived in Dubin and also started to watch theatre there. It also put into context for me the Playboy Riots at the Abbey Theatre in 1904 and indeed the riots around O Caseys' The Silver Tassie, There is so much political and social history intertwined in the writing of that era. Probably why I think a lack of knowledge of this shows up in the actors interpretation.

Maybe I've been lucky to see so many great Irish actors in these roles.


As always with art, it is personal preference and O Casey, while humorous, can be dreary. But to quote Mrs Doyle from Fr Ted, 'Maybe I like the misery'

[lookingatthestars]

Apologies, not the Silver Tassie, I meant to say The Plough and the Stars' riots. Yeats stopped the Silver Tassie from being performed at the Abbey

[Rory]

Aug 21, 2024 23:21:54 GMT Phantom of London said:

Agree you don’t need to be an Irish actor to play an Irish roles, it is a preposterous as saying you need to be English to play Shakespeare roles or Scandinavian to play Ibsen. The Irish have such a rich turn of phrase, but nationality isn’t important as long as you can do the accent.

Saying that I am going to do all what I have just said and say that the next revival in many years and that Paul Mascal would make a great Juno.

Juno is the female role. Rylance will be playing Captain Jack.
Growing up in Dublin, this play was done so many times that I ended up a bit sick of it, though I did really enjoy it the last time I saw it at the Gaeity in Dublin with Michael Gambon and Marie Mullan (and a very young Cillian Murphy).
Of course people are right in saying that the leads don't have to be played by Irish actors but the style is very hard to get right (oxfordsimon has hit the nail on the head) and can very easily tip over into stage 'Oirishness' which would be horrible for all involved. It's more than just getting the accent right to bring this piece alive.

[oxfordsimon]

This is the cast from the National production that I saw

catalogue.nationaltheatre.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Performance&id=PERF7824

Lots of strength in depth there

[Jan]

Aug 22, 2024 10:11:50 GMT oxfordsimon said:

This is the cast from the National production that I saw

catalogue.nationaltheatre.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Performance&id=PERF7824

Lots of strength in depth there

That one was death at the box office, they had to paper like mad, ended up 56% financial capacity (that is calculated based on selling all the seats at full price). 

[Jon]

EDIT - Wrong thread.

[oxfordsimon]

Aug 22, 2024 11:57:53 GMT Jan said:

Aug 22, 2024 10:11:50 GMT oxfordsimon said:

This is the cast from the National production that I saw

catalogue.nationaltheatre.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Performance&id=PERF7824

Lots of strength in depth there

That one was death at the box office, they had to paper like mad, ended up 56% financial capacity (that is calculated based on selling all the seats at full price). 

It was a seriously impressive and engaging production. O'Casey is an acquired taste but that production gave me that taste.

I would love to direct one of his plays but I have not immersed myself in that world yet to build up the knowledge necessary to helm such a project

[westendboy]

Aug 21, 2024 20:49:44 GMT andrew said:

Paul Hilton is a bigger draw for me than Rylance.

For me it's both him and Rylance, so I'm pretty lucky!

[westendboy]

Been reading through the comments regarding the lack of Irish actors amongst the cast and I for one am of two minds on this. As someone born to first generation Irish immigrants, I do like to see more Irish plays being prepresented in UK theatres, but I'm not opposed to non-Irish actors portraying Irish characters, as long as they get the accent right. In terms of putting on an O'Casey play, the context is important for the actors and, to an extent, maybe even for the audience. Hence why I'm curoius to see how well this does with the British public. I'm sure it will sell well (Rylance and Smith-Cameron are good draws) but I wonder how they'll react to a play that is steeped in Irish culture and history, which most of them will probably be unfamiliar with.

[Marwood]

My mother was Irish and my father was half Irish and we used to laugh at some of the sh*te Irish accents served up on tv and in films (Murder She Wrote was one of the worst culprits): I don’t know how producers can think they can get away with outright Paddywackery but if I see a film or theatre production set in Ireland and there are no actual Irish performers, I’ll give it a wide berth so I don’t get to hear any more ‘bejaysus!’ or ‘begorrah!’ served up by people who the closest they had been to Ireland is watching Father Ted or The Commitments .