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Post by ldm2016 on Dec 8, 2016 23:58:37 GMT
For those interested, tonight Stevenson called heads and played Elizabeth...
So, the play.
It speaks absolute volumes about the performances given by Williams and Stevenson and the amazing story at the centre of the play that the occasional odd casting, a terrible wooden performance and humour injected into the most ridiculous places in the play fails to detract from what is a wonderful night's theatre.
Stevenson and Williams are simply the best they have ever been and, in all probability, the best they ever will be. They are truly sensational.
Tickets are scarce but will appear and I recommend that anyone able to buy one does.
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Post by jennyk on Dec 9, 2016 1:36:50 GMT
I will be going to see this, it sounds really good. Does anyone who's seen it have any comments on the music? Apparently Laura Marling did the music and as a fan of hers I was wondering what it was like and how it contributes to the play. Thanks :-).
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Post by theatrelover123 on Dec 9, 2016 8:27:56 GMT
I will be going to see this, it sounds really good. Does anyone who's seen it have any comments on the music? Apparently Laura Marling did the music and as a fan of hers I was wondering what it was like and how it contributes to the play. Thanks :-). I don't remember there being much music at all tbh - apart from a song at the end which was.....Nice. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on Dec 9, 2016 8:28:37 GMT
For those interested, tonight Stevenson called heads and played Elizabeth... So, the play. It speaks absolute volumes about the performances given by Williams and Stevenson and the amazing story at the centre of the play that the occasional odd casting, a terrible wooden performance and humour injected into the most ridiculous places in the play fails to detract from what is a wonderful night's theatre. Stevenson and Williams are simply the best they have ever been and, in all probability, the best they ever will be. They are truly sensational. Tickets are scarce but will appear and I recommend that anyone able to buy one does. Who did you think gave a terrible wooden performance? Who did you think was cast oddly? |
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Post by ldm2016 on Dec 9, 2016 9:05:36 GMT
For those interested, tonight Stevenson called heads and played Elizabeth... So, the play. It speaks absolute volumes about the performances given by Williams and Stevenson and the amazing story at the centre of the play that the occasional odd casting, a terrible wooden performance and humour injected into the most ridiculous places in the play fails to detract from what is a wonderful night's theatre. Stevenson and Williams are simply the best they have ever been and, in all probability, the best they ever will be. They are truly sensational. Tickets are scarce but will appear and I recommend that anyone able to buy one does. Who did you think gave a terrible wooden performance? Who did you think was cast oddly? I personally thought that Rudi Dharmalingam was an odd choice for the role and I thought Alan Williams as Talbot was absolutely awful at times. |
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Post by jennyk on Dec 10, 2016 15:58:36 GMT
I will be going to see this, it sounds really good. Does anyone who's seen it have any comments on the music? Apparently Laura Marling did the music and as a fan of hers I was wondering what it was like and how it contributes to the play. Thanks :-). I don't remember there being much music at all tbh - apart from a song at the end which was.....Nice. OK, thanks for the reply  . From reading around it does seem like only one Marling song at the end. It will be nice to hear it anyway . |
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Post by David J on Dec 10, 2016 21:05:06 GMT
Liking this. Not setting me alight so far
Lots of debating whic usually I love. A big audience reaction at a line about a majority decision doesn't make it right
Lots of expositioon I felt
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Post by David J on Dec 10, 2016 23:36:01 GMT
The best moments for me were the Elizabeth I scenes, especially the political debates. Juliet Stevenson gives a powerhouse of a performance as the steely queen
And that's where I felt Friedrich Schiller's strengths lay
The Mary Stuart scenes are where we see the personal side to her and they're not bad. Lia Williams certainly gave a sincere and sometimes passionate performance. But I thought it was telling that after a slow 35-40 minute first scene, the energy suddenly went up when Juliet Stevenson and the nobles arrived.
The dialogue I felt can plod a long, especially at the start when it's dumping so much information in these debates. Then again I only looked at Mary Stuart during primary school and have only a general idea about her and the circumstances of her execution. But still I've seen plays with historical matter I know little about that had me engaged.
I didn't think the 3 hour and 5-10 minute running time was needed. There were moments I felt could be trimmed down. There's the moment where Elizabeth finally has to make the hard decision, and right afterwards the play has to make what feels like a scenes worth of her persuading her secretary to pass it on. Even though it comes back to bite at the end it just delays further what is a foregone conclusion. The tone even felt off where just before we had a serious and poignant moment went straight into a humorous moment as we see this secretary react to this responsibility he has been landed with.
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Post by joem on Dec 11, 2016 0:58:03 GMT
Good production but I was expecting more. Strong performances from the two leads but some of the staging decisions weakened the evening for me.
It could have been trimmed down a bit more. The decision to perform it practically in the round meant some odd sightlines, including long periods of watching Ms Stevenson's backside and, later on, having her completely blocked by old man Talbot in a scene where she wore her full virgin queen regalia, The climactic scene between the two queens where they lie down on the stage was lost to me. I don't know if they kissed or what they did. I couldn't see. The music was strange. A plau is not a film and does not require background music, let alone the uncomfortable humming noise (a bit like what I imagine tinnitis might be like) which was kept on throughout the interval.
I don't know if the script had been tinkered with to make it relevant to our times. If so, they shouldn't have. The play was not written with Brexit in mind. It's getting a bit tiresome for every bloody play to be Brexit-pointed actually. This led to inappropriate audience laughs, which I can't help feeling some of the cast contributed to by pointing lines.
Finally, on the negative side, I don't see why this production was done in modern dress. Added nothing unless the whole point was the pointless updating.
I actually enjoyed this but it was almost depsite the production and largely due to the fine perforamces of Stevenson and Williams.
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Post by foxa on Dec 11, 2016 10:37:57 GMT
We were there last night and really liked it. I agree with the comments above that it could have been trimmed a little (15 minutes I would have said.) It was Juliet as Elizabeth and Lia as Mary Stuart and that felt about right. Unlike some posters above, I really liked the supporting performances (with one notable exception) and thought most of the staging effective (again with one notable exception.) An advantage of the modern dress was that you could differentiate more clearly between Elizabeth's advisors and foes: Talbot played as a rumbled Kenneth Clark type; Burleigh, a Machiavellian, polished, besuited career politician; the French ambassador was like a younger, better looking Michael Gove. We enjoyed finding modern relevances - the majority isn't always right line; the expectations of a woman in power. I liked Rudi Dharmalingam as Mortimer - it's a great part and he was energetic and unexpected - a little ludicrous at times but in sort of a pleasing way - with the abandon of someone who would throw himself into such an ill-fated conspiracy. I thought John Light gave a very uncomfortable performance as Leicester - there was anti-chemistry between him and Stevenson and if they gave 'bad sex' awards for stage work, their giggle-inducing encounter would qualify. He acted a lot with his hands in his pockets. Then he would suddenly shout. Didn't get it. But in the relatively small role of Davidson, David Jonsson (a 2016 RADA graduate, I note) was wonderful. Has hardly anything to do for most of the play and then two good scenes - the first of which was one of my favourite in the play. The staging of the ending was very powerful with excellent use of the revolve, costumes and music. 4*
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2016 14:43:09 GMT
I was also there last night
I would say 3 stars and my friend rated it as 4
The issue for me was that acting was only good rather than outstanding
The minimal staging requires fireworks on stage in order to keep the viewers attention and there were too many slack passages where the mind wandered
I also thought the lighting was disappointing and failed to evoke and differentiate even inside from outdoors!
It is an okay evening and solid enough but the leads are not a patch on Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer
That Donmar version was the gold standard for me
The meeting scene of the 2 Queens should be thrilling and in the Almeida version it was merely tense
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Post by bellboard27 on Dec 15, 2016 11:47:12 GMT
Saw this last night and would give it 4 stars, although I don't disagree with any of Parsley's comments. Lia was Mary Stuart. In this performance I thought John Light came over quite well as Leicester. Some pruning would indeed help.
Like foxa I was struck by the likeness of the French ambassador to Michael Gove. But, foxa, "a younger, better looking Michael Gove"? How is that even possible?!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2016 13:09:37 GMT
Saw this last night and would give it 4 stars, although I don't disagree with any of Parsley's comments. Lia was Mary Stuart. In this performance I thought John Light came over quite well as Leicester. Some pruning would indeed help. Like foxa I was struck by the likeness of the French ambassador to Michael Gove. But, foxa, "a younger, better looking Michael Gove"? How is that even possible?! Are you... are you implying that Michael Gove as he stands is the very pinnacle of youth and beauty? |
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Post by bellboard27 on Dec 15, 2016 13:38:35 GMT
Like foxa I was struck by the likeness of the French ambassador to Michael Gove. But, foxa, "a younger, better looking Michael Gove"? How is that even possible?! Are you... are you implying that Michael Gove as he stands is the very pinnacle of youth and beauty? Meditate on the words of Keats "A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness" and let the image of Michael Gove emerge in your mind. Serenity and beauty will be yours. |
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Post by foxa on Dec 15, 2016 20:15:11 GMT
Saw this last night and would give it 4 stars, although I don't disagree with any of Parsley's comments. Lia was Mary Stuart. In this performance I thought John Light came over quite well as Leicester. Some pruning would indeed help. Like foxa I was struck by the likeness of the French ambassador to Michael Gove. But, foxa, "a younger, better looking Michael Gove"? How is that even possible?! Yeah - I know. I thought about putting something snarky like 'if that isn't an oxymoron' but then I decided I'd just let that image sit there. (A young female European journalist I follow on twitter had someone tell her that she looked like Michael Gove. I shared that over 20 years ago someone in a butcher shop told me I looked like David Mellor. All these years later I haven't forgotten.) |
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Post by nash16 on Dec 17, 2016 0:38:51 GMT
Saw this tonight.
Rob Icke really needs to go and direct films for the cinema. He seems to have little interest in making theatre for the theatre, instead theatre as film.
Williams was slightly OTT but Stephenson was much more engaging and restrained. The "soundtrack" drove us nuts. Stolen from van Hove. Now feel this. Now feel this. What on earth was he doing with that folk song at the end from Laura Marling? Mortimer joined the OTT camp, and Jon Light who is normally brilliant was seriously underwhelming.
I'd say go for the performances on the leading ladies. The rest, not so sure.
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Post by n1david on Dec 20, 2016 18:29:57 GMT
Last night, Williams called "heads." It landed on heads, and everyone bowed to her as Elizabeth. However, according to my friend, STEVENSON called "heads" tonight, the coin landed on heads, but Williams was still Elizabeth. If there is no consistency between who calls heads and what "heads" even means for the outcome, they can easily decide beforehand who plays which role, and in the moment, they bow to the pre-determined Elizabeth regardless of the coin toss result. They can easily get away with this because the audience has no idea beforehand which coin result yields which pairing. A couple of nibbles from Robert Icke's talk tonight - the actor who spins the coin decides at random whether to look at Stevenson or Williams, they call Heads (because, as you spotted, of the significance of heads in the show), and then the actor who wins plays Elizabeth - sounds like they may have played around with this in Preview. He did say that Lia had recently had a whole run of Marys, about five in a row. On matinee days, they do a 'real spin' for the matinee and then flip the casting for the evening show, so if you're seeing an evening show on a matinee day, the actors do already know who they're playing. |
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Post by lolli on Dec 21, 2016 23:04:31 GMT
Lia Williams a stunning Elizabeth I tonight.
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Post by johng on Dec 27, 2016 21:12:35 GMT
Just noticed this on the Almeida website:
27/12/2016: Unfortunately we are cancelling tonight's performance of Mary Stuart due to cast illness. We apologise for the disappointment this will cause
Supposed to be travelling up for the matinee tomorrow so I hope they make a decision about it before I have to leave Chichester in the morning (and with Southern the way they are that will be quite early!)
Otherwise I could end up hunting for a matinee to see.
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Post by foxa on Dec 28, 2016 11:54:18 GMT
Just saw on twitter that unfortunately both performances today are cancelled due to cast illness. Sorry JohnG - I suspect you are already on a train? - or maybe they got a message to you in time?
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Post by johng on Dec 28, 2016 11:55:00 GMT
Both today's performances are cancelled.
Apparently due to Juliet Stevenson illness.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2016 11:56:56 GMT
Yes, just saw that too. I'm booked for Friday, hope they are back on by then. Johng - there are quite a few matinees on today, see Theatremonkey's Xmas schedule guide here - www.theatremonkey.com/daybydayindex.htm |
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Post by johng on Dec 28, 2016 11:58:25 GMT
Luckily, I spoke to them earlier and although they couldn't confirm definitely the cancellation at that time I decided to take a chance and stay home. Disappointed to miss this if I can't reschedule, but not as disappointed as I would have been if I'd submitted myself to the vagaries of Southern railway and only found out when I arrived in London!
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Post by johng on Dec 28, 2016 12:18:30 GMT
Thanks to Xanderl for the link. I hadn't seen that on theatremonkey's site before (although I'm always on there for the seating plans), and it will be useful in future.
I had checked the TKTS site earlier but I saw This House in Chichester and I've got the Dresser booked at the CFT in January, and nothing else really appealed. I thoroughly enjoyed Nice Fish but not enough for a second visit.
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Post by foxa on Dec 28, 2016 12:27:46 GMT
Yes, I was going to recommend some galleries if you got stuck in London (the Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the Royal Academy is worth seeing and the Picasso Portraits at the NPG) but much better not to be faffing around with trains if you don't have to.
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. From reading around it does seem like only one Marling song at the end. It will be nice to hear it anyway 
