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Post by theatremad on Nov 25, 2016 0:03:24 GMT
Anders Lustgarten's new play
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Post by theatremad on Nov 25, 2016 0:04:12 GMT
Saw this tonight, first preview.
Will get full thoughts down later but first impressions were very good, though needs some pruning
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Post by crabtree on Nov 25, 2016 8:31:46 GMT
Please do drop any thoughts. Very eager to see this. There is a small subgenre of plays/musicals about paintings.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2016 9:04:56 GMT
Seeing this soon as a double bill with the Tempest - glad to hear it's good, didn't really know what to expect!
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Post by alexandra on Nov 25, 2016 11:34:55 GMT
Seeing this soon as a double bill with the Tempest - glad to hear it's good, didn't really know what to expect! Me too. So slightly alarmed by the need for pruning remark. Any dogs in it, by which I mean, how long? |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2016 11:40:52 GMT
Seeing this soon as a double bill with the Tempest - glad to hear it's good, didn't really know what to expect! Me too. So slightly alarmed by the need for pruning remark. Any dogs in it, by which I mean, how long? Hmm, I just looked on the website to check as it's a very good point, and saw the warning about violence and sexual content. I do hope it's just a ruse to put bums on seats, I'm far too old to cope with that sort of thing in a matinee... No news on running time that I can see though. |
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Post by kgr on Nov 25, 2016 16:31:29 GMT
Hi all,
We went with several friends to see this last night.
What can I say?
All four of us were deeply disappointed, primarily with the disgusting language used throughout the performance. Hardly necessary I think. We sat on Gallery 2 and found that at times the sound projection was quite poor.
We were so disappointed that we left at the interval, feeling disappointed, and having wasted both time and money.
Not recommended.
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5,688 posts
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Post by lynette on Nov 25, 2016 22:50:30 GMT
O dear
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Post by theatremad on Nov 26, 2016 9:18:56 GMT
Ok full comment time. This is going to be a marmite show. Yes there is a lot of swearing but I managed to get beyond it and see a great show, I can fully appreciate that this will not be the case for all.
Three previous RSC plays came to mind for a multitude of reasons:
David Edgar' Pentecost and Written on the Heart
Helen Edmundson's The Heresy of Love
As far as 'pruning' goes, the scenery changes need sharpening (cut the carpet for a start) and also some speeding up.
I was in Gallery 2 also (B25) and aside from 1 line heard all of it clearly.
Some great performances, especially from Patrick O'Kane and Tom Georgeson.
As an aside it was humbling to listen to You and Yours on Radio 4 the day after and hear real life stories that echoed the housing storyline in the play.
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Post by lynette on Nov 26, 2016 20:24:47 GMT
Wow anything mentioned in same breath as Pentecost deserves a viewing. Seeing this over Xmas.
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Post by crabtree on Nov 26, 2016 20:33:10 GMT
and dogs and nudity?
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Post by theatremad on Nov 26, 2016 20:46:55 GMT
Wow anything mentioned in same breath as Pentecost deserves a viewing. Seeing this over Xmas. Hope you agree, Pentecost still sends shivers down my spine 20 or so years later. As I said, it's a marmite show this one but it left me feeling the same way as Pentecost did. |
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Post by theatremad on Nov 26, 2016 20:48:37 GMT
No dogs but did come down at 3 hours as advertised |
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Post by alexandra on Dec 12, 2016 10:21:38 GMT
This is excellent. Always interesting and thought-provoking and very well-acted by all (the boy is tremendous), and also very touching...I was far from the only one tearing up. We saw both this and The Tempest and although I liked the Tempest too, this is the one I'm really glad I saw. It deserves to be sold out, which unlike the Tempest it isn't. Highly recommended.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 13:35:48 GMT
Looks like this is going to be a marmite play because I didn't much like it! Or rather, I liked aspects of it but disliked the general sense of being smashed repeatedly over the head by the writer's opinions to the detriment of plot and writing. I don't really like polemical theatre anyway ("So don't go to see a Lustgarten play, you fool") as I dislike being told what to think and having the world presented to me in a totally one dimensional way. There were points (particular when the housing officer was meeting the family) when characters were given lines that no human being would say in that way and in that circumstance, which grated. And what a coincidence that the father was who he was - I saw it coming a mile off and I still groaned when it was 'revealed'. Dreadful, contrived plotting. I'm all for writers expressing their opinions through a play but give me a bit of nuance and an alternative viewpoint so I at least have the illusion of coming to my own conclusion.
But - excellent acting. The moving between the family and Caravaggio was very effective. Some moving moments and also some genuinely funny ones - particularly the bit comparing football teams to political parties - funny even to someone who knows sod all about football.
Longer than it should have been, but there are worse ways to spend a rainy afternoon.
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Post by alexandra on Dec 12, 2016 14:00:20 GMT
Yeah, subtle it ain't. And you'll hate it if you're UKIP. Not suggesting you are, abby. And sometimes coincidences do happen. But still, not subtle, but moving anyway. And yes, funny - the bubble/bauble thing, which was so like a teenager trying to be grown up but getting the word a bit wrong.
It made a great double bill with The Tempest, by the way. All that humanity and redemption. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 14:26:42 GMT
Yeah, subtle it ain't. And you'll hate it if you're UKIP. Not suggesting you are, abby. And sometimes coincidences do happen. But still, not subtle, but moving anyway. And yes, funny - the bubble/bauble thing, which was so like a teenager trying to be grown up but getting the word a bit wrong.
It made a great double bill with The Tempest, by the way. All that humanity and redemption. Ha! I promise I'm not UKIP! And yes, great double bill with the Tempest, which I loved (though despite the tech not because of it). Looks like we were in two theatres at the same time - sorry I missed you. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 13:32:44 GMT
All seats for £10 for selected dates in December and January using promo code 16009 on the RSC website or use this link to see dates: t.co/hdXQ2vAFZfThey advertised this code for dates last weekend and it now works for other dates too. If you're lucky you can combine it with Two Noble Kinsmen, all seats £20 - t.co/cA0ptyrvWNAs a general comment, it's fairly common for the RSC to discount this way, often reducing the whole house to £10 over twitter or facebook if a show isn't selling. It surprises me they don't discount a bit more openly and selectively to shift tickets at (say) £10 off. |
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Post by lynette on Dec 29, 2016 23:39:29 GMT
Just come back from this and I agree with all of the above, that is I liked what other people liked and disliked what you disliked. So not so much marmite for me but I saw the kind of problems that contemporary plays tend to have, that is they are often over ambitious, a bit too long and lack focus. If this had real financial constraints and was not put on by the generous RSC it would be shorter and have half the cast. And I think would lose some of the 'language' which as intended I expect becomes another parallel dialect in both the history and the modern scenes. It is theatrical which is good and shouty which is bad. It has stereotypes ( the thugs and the social worker types ) but other very well defined characters, the boy, Caravaggio himself and Lavinia. It has a few layers which is good - a motif on identity was interesting - but although both 'parts' are interesting I didn't see the direct connection. Naples had poor people and so does Bootle. Well, so did other places then and so do other places now. But I did like the idea of the boy taking photos of the seven acts and I think the writer loved this idea and wanted to use it but realised that nobody would understand without the Caravaggios being on the stage too as we are not all familiar with the paintings.
It is similar to Pentecost in that it takes art as a starting point and indeed even Arcadia with its switches from past to present flipped into my mind (and then flipped out again)but it didn't for me have the emotional punch of Pentecost or Arcadia.
All the acting excellent as you would expect.
Partial nudity and fire and strong language as warned by the notices but no dogs ( it will have a dog in the movie, trust me) and no macaroons.
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Post by lynette on Dec 29, 2016 23:43:21 GMT
PS : sorry kgr you left at the interval because the best written scene came immediately after it. It contained what would make a good audition piece, a comparison between the football clubs and the political parties.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2016 20:36:20 GMT
Excellent summing up, Lynette - totally agree with you. Including about the dogs and macaroons.
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Post by crabtree on Jan 8, 2017 16:26:30 GMT
I'm afraid I loved this and saw it before The Rover....I think I was still so touched by seven Acts that the Rover was like a party happening next door, I didn't feel involved. Perhaps I should have seen The rover first. But Seven acts was tremendous, and powerful, and erotic and thoughtful, and so moving. And Patrick O'Kane is sensational
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2017 16:38:26 GMT
I saw this when I was in Stratford for Kinsmen and agree with the positive comments. Bold bit of programming putting something like this on over Christmas which sadly I don't think has paid off for the RSC though. Don't think the warnings of sexual content were necessary - The Rover had far more sexual content than this! And the "partial nudity" was minor and in a non-sexual context. Loads of effing and jeffing though.
They have extended the all seats for £10 offer to more dates - this link should work, or use promo code 16009 - t.co/cA0ptyrvWN
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Post by zahidf on Jan 8, 2017 16:44:47 GMT
I hope this and the rovers gets to the barbican as well
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2017 13:54:44 GMT
I saw this last night for the £10 offer, and really liked it. Enjoyed isn't the right word perhaps, but I got a lot out of it. I had no idea what to expect having read very little more than the briefest synopsis, and knowing nothing at all about Caravaggio or the playwright. I thought it was excellent though. And I've come away determined to do something more positive about how awful society is at the moment than just watching the news and repeating to myself 'everything's so awful at the moment'...
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