181 posts
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Post by caa on May 10, 2017 21:21:49 GMT
Sorry if this is inappropriate, but when Isabella Nefar is naked she seems to be wearing a wig to cover her private parts, which I thought was a bit odd. A merkin (they've been around since the middle ages)!
Thanks not seen one before
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2017 21:43:08 GMT
Merkinette - merkin for women
Merkini - small, two-piece merkin
Munchkin - merkin which stays on during oral sex
Merkinel - merkin shaped like the German Chancellor
Murkin - luminous merkin, visible in the dark
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Post by Jan on May 11, 2017 5:59:56 GMT
Was Sher in it later? Possibly. The lead at the National (where I saw it in 1989) was Berkoff himself as Herod, with Katherine Schlesinger in the title role. I remember its slow-mo ponderousness but it must have done at least reasonably well for the simple reason that it transferred to the Phoenix-admittedly, this was back in the day when Berkoff was a big name. Yes I saw Berkoff in the part. My main memory of it was that it proceeded at a glacial pace, as you say, and tedium set in very early. The dance of the seven veils was mimed by the fully clothed Schlesinger so that was disappointing too. Actually I quite liked Berkoff's work at the time but this was a total dud. It would be interesting to see a revival of "East" - his play in verse about East End yoof - I thought it was great at the time but I wonder how it looks now. |
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816 posts
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Post by stefy69 on May 11, 2017 6:18:53 GMT
A terrible slating of this in the review in today's Times, struggled to get a one star rating.
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2,848 posts
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Post by couldileaveyou on May 11, 2017 6:47:24 GMT
Sorry if this is inappropriate, but when Isabella Nefar is naked she seems to be wearing a wig to cover her private parts, which I thought was a bit odd. A merkin (they've been around since the middle ages)!
Ooh I was sitting in second row and thought there was something weird down there, but not being familiar with female anatomy I did say nothing. But I was very suspicious. |
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 7:03:35 GMT
A terrible slating of this in the review in today's Times, struggled to get a one star rating. To be fair, the Times 'critic' doesn't have much credibility and dishes out daft reviews for attention. It's the fact that the rest are uniformly bad that worries me... |
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Post by Jan on May 11, 2017 8:06:05 GMT
A terrible slating of this in the review in today's Times, struggled to get a one star rating. To be fair, the Times 'critic' doesn't have much credibility and dishes out daft reviews for attention. It's the fact that the rest are uniformly bad that worries me... Times review is worthless. Billington quite amusing on this, complaining about the terrible script; "Herod has the worst of it: at one point, he informs Salomé, “Between your thighs are secret ravines that will quench my thirst,” " |
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421 posts
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Post by schuttep on May 11, 2017 9:40:02 GMT
Interesting to me that almost all the criticism of the piece here could have equally been applied to the last production of Salome the NT staged which was masterminded by Stephen Berkoff. Perhaps they should give up on it. The 1989 NT production was the Oscar Wilde version. This is a new play. I've seen some really poor reviews so I'm glad I'm seeing the RSC Wilde version in July rather than this one. |
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Post by crabtree on May 11, 2017 12:02:07 GMT
Does Wilde's Salome actually work on the stage. The Royal Opera's opera version is terrific, especially the last ten bloody minutes. But oh I have just remembered the Ken Russell film.....oh yikes.
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904 posts
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Post by lonlad on May 11, 2017 12:08:26 GMT
No it doesn't --- Wilde's play is overripe twaddle and probably the only way to do proper justice to it is to indulge its camp excesses - i.e. not treat it (or the story itself) reverentially/portentously as would seem to be the Berkoff and now the Farber norm. Wonder what the morale is like backstage on this one? god only knows how they will power through NT Live ....
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 12:16:11 GMT
No it doesn't --- Wilde's play is overripe twaddle and probably the only way to do proper justice to it is to indulge its camp excesses - i.e. not treat it (or the story itself) reverentially/portentously as would seem to be the Berkoff and now the Farber norm. Wonder what the morale is like backstage on this one? god only knows how they will power through NT Live .... I guess this just shows how unpredictable theatre is - on paper this should have been a sure-fire hit and an obvious choice for NT Live. Poor sods... |
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 12:21:24 GMT
I don't know, the director's not huge enough that you could necessarily expect the non-theatre-going public to be passingly familiar with her and/or her work, and there's not exactly a bunch of well-known faces in the cast to draw the punters. I can only assume they thought the title would attract/mislead the ballet/opera crowd to try a different sort of screening, because I literally cannot think of any other reason why they'd throw this one out to the cinemas.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 12:26:56 GMT
That's interesting - thinking about it, you're probably right - a big name in the theatre world but I guess that's a small section of the country. And no big acting names to sell it either. Yeah, now I think about it, odd.
I wonder how committed the new regime is to NT Live? Maybe they want to say it's failing so they can bin it and spend the money on something else.
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324 posts
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Post by barrowside on May 11, 2017 16:56:10 GMT
Interesting to see Olwen Foueré is in this as the older Salomé. She was the original Salomé in the Steven Berkoff production which originated at the Gate Theatre Dublin. It was hugely popular in Dublin and has been revived countless times over the last thirty years. It is still played by the original Herod and Herodias, Alan Stanford and Barbara Brennan although Salomé and Jokanaan are cast with younger actors. Berkoff was livid when the Gate took it to the Edinburgh Festival where the London critics got to review the Dublin cast. He regarded the Dublin production as a tryout so he could see how it worked before casting himself as Herod as he did in his NT restaging.
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230 posts
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Post by hal9000 on May 12, 2017 2:55:34 GMT
The only time I have come across SALOME is in Merchant Ivory's A SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER NEVER CRIES. The tween heroine goes to the opera with her gender-non-conforming boyfriend and his mother, played by Jane Birkin. The production is an avant-garde production of SALOME, complete with a heroin-injecting climax. It is roundly booed apart from Birkin and son who leap to their feet in earnest applause.
The girl dumps him soon after.
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17 posts
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Post by kryz1000 on May 12, 2017 7:13:17 GMT
I saw this in a late preview last weekend and thought it admirably ambitious, interestingly political and with moments of great visual and textual poetry. I think one star reviews are harsh and got me thinking about whatever (anti Norris?) agendas might be being exercised. At a basic level, this year's programming caters to a much wider audience than before - with stories and characters and directors that speak to and, perhaps, for them. I hope they come.
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Post by crabtree on May 12, 2017 8:41:43 GMT
I love the NT live, but the last few I have seen have been somewhat plagued with technical problems, mainly being out of synch, which is pretty disastrous for a play.
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716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on May 12, 2017 8:53:01 GMT
1* in the daily mail today.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 8:53:06 GMT
Well. I almost volunteered to put my own head on the platter if it could have ended sooner.
There's a lot of walking s-l-o-w-l-y for those who like that kind of thing. The revolve does a nice bit of work which is always nice and there's a bit of ladder work which breaks things up a little.
Now I'm all for a bit of revisionist text but the main problem here is that Salome just isn't that interesting in this. There's some other version of her talking to the audience from a ramp at the front of the stage but the younger version has all of the stage presence and expression of a slightly damp tea towel. God knows how she managed to incite a revolution but she does cover herself in sand rather thoroughly so I appreciate her conviction.
There are some nice visual moments and the dance where she's wafting around a few old curtains is rather effective. The singing is good also. The script is a pile of old twaddle and mostly delivered like the cast have only just read it and can't believe how dreadful it is.
John the Baptist comes out of it best, even though he spends all of his time in a loincloth. Seems a shame he ends up the way he does but then perhaps in the end it was a blessed relief for him.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 8:56:01 GMT
Oh and I don't think I've ever seen the Olivier that empty either.
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Post by Jan on May 18, 2017 9:04:05 GMT
Oh and I don't think I've ever seen the Olivier that empty either. I wonder how badly they suffer from their generous returns policy - how many people cash in their tickets for a credit note following. bad reviews ? |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 9:56:35 GMT
Oh and I don't think I've ever seen the Olivier that empty either. You clearly didn't go back into Fram after the interval then...! |
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2,743 posts
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Post by n1david on May 18, 2017 13:15:02 GMT
Oh and I don't think I've ever seen the Olivier that empty either. I wonder how badly they suffer from their generous returns policy - how many people cash in their tickets for a credit note following. bad reviews ? I think there's a good chance of that. I'll usually book for most things at the NT and then return if I hear bad things or don't fancy it when it gets nearer the time. The alternative is hearing about an amazing hit and then not being able to get decent tickets. If they're going for a more diverse audience, there may be more returns than there were in the Hytner era, wonder if they will have to increase the charge? I think it's interesting that Hytner has carried that policy over to the Bridge, although they have many fewer productions and so may be carrying a higher proportionate level of unused credit at any time. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 13:22:36 GMT
Although the first Bridge Theatre season looks to have far fewer risky prospects than the average NT season. Even if, say, the reviews for Young Marx come back proclaiming it to be the stinker to end all stinkers, people will still go along anyway because they like that Rory Kinnear or they enjoyed One Man Two Guvnors and what do critics know anyway. Good on Hytner for taking the policy with him, but I think it's far more likely to be used by people who have genuine conflicts than people who just book anyway 'cos they know it's not the same thing as committing (and even at the NT I don't imagine that's a huge proportion of people who return tickets, though I don't know how you'd monitor that).
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 13:40:15 GMT
I've used it once or twice and that was only for genuine conflicts, as you say, not because I changed my mind about the show. Though the higher ticket prices at the NT now might mean I use it more - for eg, I am really considering it for Salome, which I paid £50 for (with extra Friday night tax...). If it was £30 I'd go with an open mind and see for myself but £50 is too much to chuck away on something that sounds fairly dire. I've also lost a lot of goodwill for the NT lately so I'm not willing to suck up a stinker to be supportive.
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