923 posts
|
Post by Snciole on Jan 28, 2016 16:15:38 GMT
For anyone who cares
"Reports from when the run opened just before Christmas had suggested he was struggling with his lines, though. "Yes, I certainly was," he says. "I haven't felt comfortable with it till last week really." Why does he think that is? "Well, mainly the lines. But also ... well, mainly the lines!" Which is odd for a pro like him, who has played plenty of big parts before. "I am a pro, I have done big parts before, but actually I have always found it hard to learn lines, and once they are in I get quite bored. I was fluffing up to press night and beyond. It's a bloody hard part."
Has he not had "hard parts" (quiet at the back) before!? Isn't Iago quite wordy?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2016 16:20:31 GMT
Yes and yes, but obviously Iago went in better. Maybe he just naturally finds Shakespeare easier to learn, or maybe Josie Rourke isn't quite the fearsome taskmaster that Daniel Evans is.
|
|
330 posts
|
Post by RedRose on Jan 28, 2016 16:28:49 GMT
Yes and yes, but obviously Iago went in better. Maybe he just naturally finds Shakespeare easier to learn, or maybe Josie Rourke isn't quite the fearsome taskmaster that Daniel Evans is. I have seen the first preview of Othello - no fluffed line at all! West seems generally be confused lately - hopefully it isn't something serious. |
|
181 posts
|
Post by caa on Jan 28, 2016 16:34:12 GMT
I'd say part of the problem with the part was that he perhaps didn't know how to play certain scenes, and whilst I was watching him I kept thinking of how Alan Rickman did it. In part I'd say the same with Josie Rourke who I really feel is keen to have a concept which means the original ending that is in the play script is left out.
|
|
7,050 posts
|
Post by Jon on Jan 28, 2016 18:00:03 GMT
Unlikely, the cast do seem to be the busy sort. Out of interest, has anything transferred from the Donmar since Frost/Nixon? West will be filming season 3 of The Affair so he wouldn't be able to do it even if they wanted to transfer. Theatre availability is another factor, all the playhouses are full at the moment, the only free theatre would be the New London from March and that would be far too big. |
|
2,389 posts
|
Post by peggs on Jan 29, 2016 0:15:59 GMT
The all female Shakespeare has gone to broadway but they might not be quite what you mean. Both the all-female Shakespeares got to New York but not quite to Broadway. I have shown my ignorance, I thought they were one at the same thing or is it like London isn't necessarily west end? |
|
2,848 posts
|
Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 29, 2016 0:18:09 GMT
Both the all-female Shakespeares got to New York but not quite to Broadway. I have shown my ignorance, I thought they were one at the same thing or is it like London isn't necessarily west end? it's exactly like London... |
|
408 posts
|
Post by maggiem on Jan 29, 2016 8:38:28 GMT
Did anybody see this on the live cinema relay last night? I saw it at Cineworld Leigh Nd really enjoyed it! No fluffed lines by anyone as far as I can tell, and I loved the way they staged it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2016 8:42:24 GMT
I have shown my ignorance, I thought they were one at the same thing or is it like London isn't necessarily west end? it's exactly like London... It's a bit neater than London, in that Broadway and off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway have clearly delineated rules as to what counts as what based on seat numbers, whereas here one can never be quite certain if, say, the Donmar or Trafalgar Studios or the Old Vic or the National or whathaveyou counts as West End or off-West End or fringe or something else entirely.  |
|
|
|
Post by Mr Wallacio on Jan 29, 2016 19:20:00 GMT
Did anybody see this on the live cinema relay last night? I saw it at Cineworld Leigh Nd really enjoyed it! No fluffed lines by anyone as far as I can tell, and I loved the way they staged it. I saw it in Showcase De Lux, Bristol. I was pleased to see the show, I enjoyed it, but not sure I'd like to have been in the front row last night, I'd probably be fidgetting with my hands to be seen by the thousands watching live. It was a lot funnier than I was perhaps expecting, which is good as I was a little worried it would be far too wordy for me to truly enjoy. I must go to see more of these live events. |
|
204 posts
|
Post by Sue on Jan 29, 2016 20:34:45 GMT
I saw it at Cineworld's Gloucester Quays and I really, really enjoyed it. McTeer was everything I expected and more and I was very pleasantly surprised with West - the boy done good! Elaine Cassidy was impressive too, her portrayal of emotion was tip top.
|
|
141 posts
|
Post by Mr Crummles on Jan 30, 2016 13:37:49 GMT
After all the somewhat less-than-brilliant reports about Les Liaisons Dangereuses, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this Donmar production. I guess lowering one's expectations is the best way of ensuring a good time in the theatre (well, actually in the cinema, as this is where I saw this).
But, what surprised me the most is how good - in fact excellent - I thought Dominic West was.
I'm a great LLD fan. The book always struck me as a brilliant masterpiece on how civilised society is a great danger to itself. How the conventions we establish, and little games we play exploiting it, can be lethal to the more vulnerable.
I always felt that for an adaptation of the novel to work in cinema, theatre, tv, radio, etc., it was crucial to get the actors perfectly right. My problem with Stephen Frears' film was the choice of Glenn Close and John Malkovich. I always felt they were too brutal and obviously predatory to deceive people, even less sophisticated ones. John Malkovich was too vulpine and not too subtle for someone who was supposed to be a charming dissembler. I thought Dominic West was just great. He was a perfectly witty, spoiled, frivolous, entitled and vain society gentleman, completely blasé about sex, who enjoyed it less for the passion it afforded than for the poker game it was in Europe at the time, in which he could boast of his prowess, conquests and victories. West's Valmont was obviously surprised by the feelings a woman was stirring in his heart and one could keenly feel the great struggle shaking him inside between his vanity and his love. As Madame Meurteil points out, though, vanity and happiness can never coexist, and tragedy ensues. Noticed no fluffs in the evening performance.
I thought the rest of the cast was very good, with Elaine Cassidy playing an absolutely heart-rending Madame de Tourvel. The scene in which she asked the viscount to spare her broke my heart (and I was completely at odds with those in the audience who laughed at it - well, maybe nervously). Edward Holcroft was a great Danceny. Lost in a storm of confusing feelings, he managed to bring a secondary character pretty much to the fore. Janet McTeer was her usual brilliant self, and so was Una Stubbs. Even small parts, such as Azolan's (Theo Barklem-Biggs), Valmont's cynical page, were played to great attention to detail.
I should have taken the plane from Dublin to see this at the Donmar.
|
|
39 posts
|
Post by pochard on Jan 30, 2016 19:07:03 GMT
I saw this the night before the live screening, and my feeling was that Dominic West just wasn't really "there". However, I did then think he was better in the second half, so perhaps in the first half it was just the blase attittude that Mr Crummles talks about. The women were all fab. All the same, I won't be rushing back to see Mr West should he decide to tread the boards again...
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2016 16:40:42 GMT
A little surprised last night to hear an older lady sitting nearby opine at the interval: "Apart from the rape scene, it just isn't sexy enough"!
Couldn't help but feel they might have blocked it better. There were several times where, in seat B14, I was entirely missing a character's reaction to the speaker because for some bizarre reason, given a half empty stage, they'd decided to station an actor directly under the circle...
|
|
2,389 posts
|
Post by peggs on Feb 6, 2016 17:14:56 GMT
A little surprised last night to hear an older lady sitting nearby opine at the interval: "Apart from the rape scene, it just isn't sexy enough"! Couldn't help but feel they might have blocked it better. There were several times where, in seat B14, I was entirely missing a character's reaction to the speaker because for some bizarre reason, given a half empty stage, they'd decided to station an actor directly under the circle... Mmmm because yes that scene was sexy wasn't it rather than deeply uncomfortable, the strange ways people react to things. Have tried mentally willing actors to move before such is the frustration when suddenly you seem to be in a radio play, there is a fair amount of facing fixed on in this which I know takes out some of the sides and it appears the circle. Missing a character's reaction to a speaker is what occasionally drives me wild in nt live. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 11:49:09 GMT
Agree with Theatremonkey on both points! My only main gripe with the production was the pacing. It felt a little stilted at times, when really it needs to race along.
However I thought it was still a great engaging production. I thought the casting was great. Though I could see Michelle Dockery doing an excellent job, I thought Elaine Cassidy did equally a great job too.
I am a fan of Dominic West, and I thought he did a great job (I was going to write 'enjoyed his performance' but in this case that sounds odd) I think his physical stature (being a bit 'chunky' is the best way I can describe it) as well as being able to quite easily slip into the creepier side of suave, works perfectly making him as imposing as he is charming (the idea that he could easily 'have his way' with the women through force but instead charms/persuades his way through adds a creepier dimension, while also being distracted by his charm/looks. For me I was torn between finding him attractive (despite a god awful wig) and being repulsed. Which really is what he should be. I thought the rape was staged interestingly, and did exactly what theatremonkey says above-plays on the fact that he persuades her otherwise, but that it clearly is rape.
Thought Theo Barkman-Biggs was delightful as was Una Stubbs in their smaller roles too. From C21/22 in the circle missed a bit of the staging underneath as is the norm in those seats but otherwise good view.
|
|
2,740 posts
|
Post by n1david on Apr 18, 2016 16:08:24 GMT
I see this is off to NY as well, to the Booth Theatre, with Liev Schreiber replacing Dominic West. Janet McTeer goes with the production.
(BTW, that's as well as Privacy, which is also going from the Donmar to NY, starring Daniel Radcliffe at the Public Theater)
(Damn autocorrect did want to make Mr Schreiber Live....)
|
|
7,050 posts
|
Post by Jon on Apr 18, 2016 16:10:55 GMT
I see this is off to NY as well, to the Booth Theatre, with Live Schreiber replacing Dominic West. Janet McTeer goes with the production. Liev Schreiber should be good as Valmont, wonder if Elaine Cassidy will transfer or will they get someone else? |
|
4,969 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Phantom of London on Apr 18, 2016 18:06:27 GMT
Didn't see this one coming.
Thought that People, Places and Things or Ma Rainey's Black Bottoms would have transferred.
|
|
181 posts
|
Post by caa on Apr 18, 2016 18:08:43 GMT
I see this is off to NY as well, to the Booth Theatre, with Live Schreiber replacing Dominic West. Janet McTeer goes with the production. Liev Schreiber should be good as Valmont, wonder if Elaine Cassidy will transfer or will they get someone else? Really hope Elaine Cassidy does go, she was great |
|
