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Post by Steve on Sept 25, 2024 22:20:40 GMT
Saw this tonight and felt compelled to stand at the end and vote 5 stars. The writing is brilliantly sharp, creating 6 very different characters who all make perfect sense, are at loggerheads, and the play integrates words that Dahl said on the record at pivotal moments to give the whole thing a cutting ring of authenticity. Some spoilers follow. . . The topicality of this show is fortuitously ridiculous, touching on Dahl's opinions written in an article after Israel invaded Lebanon in the eighties (Israel is this week engaged in conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah), and his racist conflation of the Israeli Government with the "race" of "Jews." That he is racist is a given, the question is how racist? Is it inadvertent or deliberate? What motivates him? How much can he control himself? The other question is the degree to which everyone doing business with him (his British Publisher, his American publisher, his handyman, his housekeeper and his fiancée) are complicit in his racism. Lithgow's Dahl gets the funniest lines but also the unfunniest lines; he puts characters at ease with effortless charm, together and individually, but also makes everyone anxious with targeted barbs, together and individually. He does the same for the audience, who, like me, were laughing, pindrop silent, gasping, always on tenterhooks, edge of the seat alert. Lithgow's performance of Dahl is utterly riveting and, in my opinion, a certainty for nominations and a near certainty for awards. And all 5 of the other performers are also terrific, with Elliot Levey as Dahl's Jewish British Publisher and Romola Garai as his Jewish American Publisher particularly fantastic, playing all sides of every moment that they are gifted by Lithgow throwing dreams and nightmares at them. I look forward to a transfer of this, and thinking lots more about this brilliantly written and brilliantly acted show. After all, I won't be able to get another ticket to this run lol. PS: The front row is a bit too close to see all performances at all times because you are a bit beneath a table that often obscures one seat, which is occupied by different characters at different times. Luckily, Lithgow isn't one of them and what you do see is 6 of the best actors doing the best work all year. Like I said above, I voted 5 stars in the poll. The writing and acting demand it.  |
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Post by Rory on Sept 25, 2024 22:48:31 GMT
Fantastic review as ever, Steve, I am so looking forward to seeing this next month. Sadly, I'm not sure that even something as good as this sounds is a shoo-in for a West End transfer these days. It might get somewhere if Paul Taylor Mills or Kenny Wax were attached. |
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Post by zahidf on Sept 25, 2024 23:01:26 GMT
I wonder if a run at the bridge theatre next year may be possible...
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Post by thattheatreman on Sept 25, 2024 23:09:03 GMT
Fantastic review as ever, Steve , I am so looking forward to seeing this next month. Sadly, I'm not sure that even something as good as this sounds is a shoo-in for a West End transfer these days. It might get somewhere if Paul Taylor Mills or Kenny Wax were attached. It deserves a run in the West End for sure. After For Black Boys Who Considered Suicide and Operation Mincemeat Musical, surely having David Bynre at the helm will help. Does feel like he's on a roll at the moment. |
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Post by Dave B on Sept 25, 2024 23:18:02 GMT
I wonder if a run at the bridge theatre next year may be possible... In the RC programme Nicholas Hytner says of Giant
so I would be a bit surprised...
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Post by zahidf on Sept 26, 2024 4:32:53 GMT
I wonder if a run at the bridge theatre next year may be possible... In the RC programme Nicholas Hytner says of Giant
so I would be a bit surprised...
Ah, though that may stop a West end transfer as well... |
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Post by lt on Sept 26, 2024 9:02:38 GMT
That he is racist is a given, the question is how racist? Is it inadvertent or deliberate? What motivates him? How much can he control himself? Nothing inadvertent about it, Dahl knew exactly what he was doing. He could have controlled himself if he had chosen to do so. And I'm not sure you can be racist by degree, you are either racist or you are not. Dahl was. |
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Post by Steve on Sept 26, 2024 9:39:35 GMT
That he is racist is a given, the question is how racist? Is it inadvertent or deliberate? What motivates him? How much can he control himself? (1) Nothing inadvertent about it, Dahl knew exactly what he was doing. (2) He could have controlled himself if he had chosen to do so. (3) And I'm not sure you can be racist by degree, you are either racist or you are not. Dahl was. (1) It is possible to be inadvertently racist if you don't realise you are racist. Many people who put "the" in front of various races, often saying something complimentary, are often being inadvertently racist because they don't really understand they shouldn't be grouping people generically but judging them individually. So when your neighbour says "the asians are so hard working," they may not realise that's racist. I'm saying this play makes very clear whether or not Dahl is deliberately or inadvertently racist, but I'm not revealing what the play reveals so as not to spoil it;
(2) Some people have personality problems that include lack of control over certain modes of expression, such as people with brain damage or people jacked up on steroids with violent tempers or people deeply on the spectrum. Again, this play depicts scenes that suggest the degree of control Dahl is capable of exercising over his expression, and I am choosing not to spoil them;
(3) The problem with categorically saying "you are either racist or you are not," which is true, in my opinion, is that it risks tarring and feathering the mildly racist person as a severely racist person, which is likely to push the mildly racist person in the direction of becoming more racist. It is similarly true that "you are either speeding or you are not," but in my view, it's best not to treat a person doing one mile per hour over the speed limit with the same punishment as a person doing 100 miles per hour over the speed limit. There are different degrees of racism. Racism can vary from severe to mild. A severely racist person may be willing to exterminate everyone of a given race; a less severely racist person may not be willing to do that, but may be willing to ethnically cleanse everyone of a given race; a less racist person than that may not be willing to do that, but may be willing to lower the societal rights of a given race compared to everybody else (perhaps seeing that race as akin to dogs and cats, not hated but managed as inferiors); a less racist person than that may not be willing to do that but may refuse to personally associate with people of a given race, and a mild racist may compliment or criticise every member of a given race for some mild thing while generally liking everyone of that race. I believe this play looks deeply at Dahl's personality and actions, and allows us to speculate HOW racist he is, how much he does or does not hate, and in the rich intricacy of its examination of its subject, the play proves itself to be a brilliant one.
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Post by Jon on Sept 26, 2024 9:56:48 GMT
Fantastic review as ever, Steve , I am so looking forward to seeing this next month. Sadly, I'm not sure that even something as good as this sounds is a shoo-in for a West End transfer these days. It might get somewhere if Paul Taylor Mills or Kenny Wax were attached. Giant is probably not going to something that PTM or Kenny Wax would ever get involved in, especially PTM. I imagine any transfer is dependent on cast availability especially John Lithgow. |
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Post by Rory on Sept 26, 2024 10:17:05 GMT
Fantastic review as ever, Steve , I am so looking forward to seeing this next month. Sadly, I'm not sure that even something as good as this sounds is a shoo-in for a West End transfer these days. It might get somewhere if Paul Taylor Mills or Kenny Wax were attached. Giant is probably not going to something that PTM or Kenny Wax would ever get involved in, especially PTM. I imagine any transfer is dependent on cast availability especially John Lithgow. I was being flippant about them. I know that they have nothing to do with this. There are commercial producers attached however. |
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Sept 27, 2024 7:53:40 GMT
I’m probably just out of the loop in terms of plays, but I hadn’t heard about this at all until a review landed on my ‘suggested articles’ homepage!
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Post by Mark on Sept 28, 2024 13:05:48 GMT
Has anyone tried the royal court Monday tickets recently and could provide any tips?
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Post by drmaplewood on Sept 28, 2024 13:37:31 GMT
Has anyone tried the royal court Monday tickets recently and could provide any tips? Refresh constantly from about 8:56 - they sometimes appear a minute later too. I've never not managed to get any but not sure I have ever tried when an entire run has been sold out before. |
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Post by aspieandy on Sept 28, 2024 18:04:57 GMT
Mark tbh, what i would do (if I planned to be around for longer than 6, 7 months or so) is splurge £40-£45 on a membership: (a) you get early access, including to Mondays (all seats £15), (b) you are supporting new writing and (c) 10% off in the bar, inc food. Before things went a little downhill, membership here was def the best value in London theatre - quite possibly about to be again.
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Post by cavocado on Sept 28, 2024 19:54:25 GMT
Mark tbh, what i would do (if I planned to be around for longer than 6, 7 months or so) is splurge £40-£45 on a membership: (a) you get early access, including to Mondays (all seats £15), (b) you are supporting new writing and (c) 10% off in the bar, inc food. Before things went a little downhill, membership here was def the best value in London theatre - quite possibly about to be again.
I agree with this. I was a member for several years and probably will re-join if this good run continues. Advance access to the £15 Monday tickets is a very good benefit, although I believe it now only applies to the main house, not the studio upstairs. |
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Post by jonnymb on Sept 28, 2024 20:12:49 GMT
Has anyone tried the royal court Monday tickets recently and could provide any tips? I managed to get a good stalls seat when I checked back nearer to 10am last week, having been at the back of the 9am queue. There was a small handful of tickets available at that time as well. |
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Post by aloysius on Sept 28, 2024 20:43:17 GMT
Not much to add to the other reviews of this other than to say it's a truly excellent play, production, set of actors, direction... It really all comes together into an astounding evening of theatre, one that provokes and challenges the audience and provides so many layers to Dahl to unpeel.
How the heck is this Mark Rosenblatt's first play? It's a remarkable achievement.
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Post by kallyloo on Sept 28, 2024 21:37:12 GMT
Not much to add to the other reviews of this other than to say it's a truly excellent play, production, set of actors, direction... It really all comes together into an astounding evening of theatre, one that provokes and challenges the audience and provides so many layers to Dahl to unpeel. How the heck is this Mark Rosenblatt's first play? It's a remarkable achievement. I didn’t know that it was someone’s first play? Truly remarkable achievement, and I’d love to see it again. |
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Post by aspieandy on Sept 28, 2024 21:57:30 GMT
He's been a theatre director for over 20 years and does a lot of script development. Long time pro, though Giant is his first produced play. Perhaps a somewhat unusual route but hey.
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Post by Mark on Sept 28, 2024 22:26:29 GMT
Mark tbh, what i would do (if I planned to be around for longer than 6, 7 months or so) is splurge £40-£45 on a membership: (a) you get early access, including to Mondays (all seats £15), (b) you are supporting new writing and (c) 10% off in the bar, inc food. Before things went a little downhill, membership here was def the best value in London theatre - quite possibly about to be again.
Aah with the way my shifts at work are I pretty much have to book everything last minute so having advance booking etc isn’t really a perk I can use. |
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Post by lt on Sept 29, 2024 9:34:32 GMT
The reviews for this really underline my scepticism of professional critics. Yes, The Times and Evening Standard gave 5 stars, but then various other critics 4, and Daily Telegraph and The Stage 3. So I don't think overall you would get an impression of just how brilliant this show is. (A view reflected in the TB poll.)
In comparison, Here in America at the OT had a very lukewarm response on this site, with only one positive review. Yet the critical response to this in terms of star ratings is similar to the Giant review. The Times even gave it 5 stars. So to someone who hadn't seen either show you would be probably likely to think the shows were equally good.
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Post by Mark on Sept 30, 2024 8:06:34 GMT
Has anyone tried the royal court Monday tickets recently and could provide any tips? Refresh constantly from about 8:56 - they sometimes appear a minute later too. I've never not managed to get any but not sure I have ever tried when an entire run has been sold out before. Started refreshing at 8:56 as suggested, they ended up going on a smidge after 9am. But very pleased to have gotten 2 great stalls seats for tonight. Appreciate your advice |
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Post by vickyg on Sept 30, 2024 8:07:50 GMT
I tried as well but the tickets didn’t become available for me until about 9.04. Obviously they were actually on sale earlier and I missed out 👎
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Post by blamerobots on Sept 30, 2024 8:13:31 GMT
Oh I got very lucky. Was staring at number 59 in the queue on my phone but then tried on my laptop and got straight in for tickets for tonight.
They've always been temperamental like this.
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Post by blamerobots on Sept 30, 2024 8:15:10 GMT
Refresh constantly from about 8:56 - they sometimes appear a minute later too. I've never not managed to get any but not sure I have ever tried when an entire run has been sold out before. Started refreshing at 8:56 as suggested, they ended up going on a smidge after 9am. But very pleased to have gotten 2 great stalls seats for tonight. Appreciate your advice You must have snagged those as I tried nabbing them then got an error! Will be there though |
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