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Post by theatremad on Mar 11, 2017 19:47:28 GMT
Can't see a seperate thread for this time round.
I am going on Friday 17th March, anyone else going that night?
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Post by sondheimhats on Mar 11, 2017 19:56:10 GMT
Going on the 19th (Sunday). Extremely excited.
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Post by altamont on Mar 11, 2017 20:33:22 GMT
Also going on the 19th. Perplexed perhaps, more than excited. My wife is dreading it
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Post by theatremad on Mar 11, 2017 21:28:55 GMT
I went when it was last over, and would say go with an open mind. And embrace it, and also take advantage of the moving around opportunity and don't be afraid to leave for a leg stretch
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Post by altamont on Mar 15, 2017 18:12:11 GMT
I went when it was last over, and would say go with an open mind. And embrace it, and also take advantage of the moving around opportunity and don't be afraid to leave for a leg stretch Can I ask a few questions regarding how it works please. Does the moving around happen all the time, or just at set points? Are you expected to go back to your allocated seat when returning to the main auditorium seating? Are you at risk of heading toward the stage and not finding somewhere there to sit? I have to say that I wouldn't have thought the seating at the Barbican lends itself to movement, with the lack of aisles. But the whole thing does sound very intriguing... Thanks |
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Post by theatremad on Mar 15, 2017 18:29:10 GMT
Below is the e-mail sent out: We look forward to welcoming you in March for Toneelgroep Amsterdam’s Roman Tragedies at the Barbican. For those not familiar with the format of the show, after the first half an hour of the performance you will be allowed to move freely around the auditorium and stage until the final 75 minutes of the performance when you will be asked to return to sitting in the auditorium. This means that when the performance starts you will have an allocated seat (your seat number can be found on your theatre ticket), but after the Master of Ceremonies invites you to move around, seats in the auditorium will become unallocated for the remainder of the performance. Refreshments will be available to purchase on stage using cash or contactless payment and you may enter and exit the auditorium whenever you like. Use of mobile phones to access the internet is permissible throughout the performance although we kindly ask you to silence phones and ensure you switch off the flash when taking photos. Also if you can see it here is a link to a timeline for the show from a different run: anothereyeopens.com/tag/roman-tragedies/ |
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Post by altamont on Mar 15, 2017 19:20:30 GMT
That's great, many thanks
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Post by theatremad on Mar 15, 2017 19:56:19 GMT
That's great, many thanks no worries |
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Post by QueerTheatre on Mar 17, 2017 18:06:01 GMT
I'm following all the tweets closely, seeing as i can't make Sunday's show myself now. Sounds very interesting! If anyone wants my ticket for Sunday, feel free to DM!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 18:24:44 GMT
I'm following all the tweets closely, seeing as i can't make Sunday's show myself now. Sounds very interesting! If anyone wants my ticket for Sunday, feel free to DM! The Barbican will give you credit for returned tickets up to 24 hours in advance |
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Post by David J on Mar 17, 2017 18:47:23 GMT
Anyone going tomorrow?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 19:42:16 GMT
I am there now It's ambitious But cumbersome Disjointed And there is no need for it to be this long The acting is impeccable as always from this ensemble But I much preferred Kings of War Having the audience on stage Most of the rudimentary camera work And having food and drink on stage Is all a bit pointless Katie Mitchell does camera work much better than this |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 19:44:14 GMT
But you can use your phone
And do all sorts
I have ordered a Balenciaga bag
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 20:36:55 GMT
The Coriolanus is remarkable
Quite quite so
The acting amazing
Sizzling
I don't like Caesar as a play
Stupid and as the middle of this show it drags the pace down for me terribly
The Antony and Cleopatra
Is like Dynasty
But proportionally so long compared to the others which have been severely truncated
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Post by theatremad on Mar 17, 2017 20:54:50 GMT
There too. Have to say I love it. Caesar which I loathe wasn't too bad. Coriolanus by far the best. More thoughts another time
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 21:14:20 GMT
There too. Have to say I love it. Caesar which I loathe wasn't too bad. Coriolanus by far the best. More thoughts another time The man and cleaner outside Priceless |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 21:16:51 GMT
There too. Have to say I love it. Caesar which I loathe wasn't too bad. Coriolanus by far the best. More thoughts another time Did you see kings of war? It was like a better version of this |
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Post by theatremad on Mar 17, 2017 21:28:50 GMT
Saw Kings but wasn't as keen. Possibly not helped by the fact I love the 5 plays it condensed. Cleaner was hilarity in the wrong place. Of these I only really feel passionate about Coriolanus
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 22:17:04 GMT
Saw Kings but wasn't as keen. Possibly not helped by the fact I love the 5 plays it condensed. Cleaner was hilarity in the wrong place. Of these I only really feel passionate about Coriolanus It was good Flashes of brilliance And that Coriolanus WOW But in the end it's an endurance test more than anything else The play suffers from the excessive length As I said the actors are AMAZING And to keep those energy levels for that long is a feat There is always an element of "I survived" With this sort of running time But the Coriolanus acting is as good as any you will ever see in your lifetime Not a weak link in that one and the Cleopatra and Charmain performances are also memorable |
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Post by David J on Mar 18, 2017 23:11:55 GMT
I MADE IT! I SURVIVED!
Wasn't as great as King's of War but it certainly was bloody fantastic being up close to the action on stage.
Oh and sitting close to Jude Law amongst the audience members onstage was a bonus.
Funny how the show seemed to be fine with people taking out their phones and taking photos in plain sight. I got plenty. Even Jude Law had his phone out
The highlight for me was Hans Kesting's "Friends, Romans Countrymen". One of my favourite Richard IIIs and tonight he delivered the speech with such emotion and alacrity.
I think the problem is that with King's of War it involved 5 history plays that followed each other closely during a period when England had descended into a period of never-ending discontent and warfare.
The Roman plays feel seperate from each other, apart from perhaps the narrative links between Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
This is most obvious when you get to Antony and Cleopatra, the weakest part of the show for me. Coriolanus and Julius Caesar feel like political thrillers, especially when the audience was onstage like they were the plebians of rome. In Antony and Cleopatra the politics has to share the stage with the romance and added levity, and once the audience had to go back to the their seats things started to slow down by the end
And I am not a fan of the play's pacing at the best of times, but the final act seemed to go on for an eternity. I felt for Cleopatra's grieving but god damn it was drawn out, especially her surrender to Octavius.
Oh and Enobarbus' death was stupid and embarrassing quite frankly. They had this whole thing where he ran out of the theatre with a camera following behind and he went out into the underpass where he flung himself onto the ground wailing, whilst the camera focused on bemused passers by. He then would refer to the headlights from a car that had stopped at this sight with "Be witness to me, O thou blessed sun".
A cheap attempt at levity that the audience lapped up giving him a round of applause as he came all the way back so that he can die.
Ivo van Hove I am disappointed in you
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2017 23:24:57 GMT
I MADE IT! I SURVIVED! Wasn't as great as King's of War but it certainly was bloody fantastic being up close to the action on stage. Oh and sitting close to Jude Law amongst the audience members onstage was a bonus. Funny how the show seemed to be fine with people taking out their phones and taking photos in plain sight. I got plenty. Even Jude Law had his phone out The highlight for me was Hans Kesting's "Friends, Romans Countrymen". One of my favourite Richard IIIs and tonight he delivered the speech with such emotion and alacrity. I think the problem is that with King's of War it involved 5 history plays that followed each other closely during a period when England had descended into a period of never-ending discontent and warfare. The Roman plays feel seperate from each other, apart from perhaps the narrative links between Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. This is most obvious when you get to Antony and Cleopatra, the weakest part of the show for me. Coriolanus and Julius Caesar feel like political thrillers, especially when the audience was onstage like they were the plebians of rome. In Antony and Cleopatra the politics has to share the stage with the romance and added levity, and once the audience had to go back to the their seats things started to slow down by the end And I am not a fan of the play's pacing at the best of times, but the final act seemed to go on for an eternity. I felt for Cleopatra's grieving but god damn it was drawn out, especially her surrender to Octavius. Oh and Enobarbus' death was stupid and embarrassing quite frankly. They had this whole thing where he ran out of the theatre with a camera following behind and he went out into the underpass where he flung himself onto the ground wailing, whilst the camera focused on bemused passers by. He then would refer to the headlights from a car that had stopped at this sight with "Be witness to me, O thou blessed sun". A cheap attempt at levity that the audience lapped up giving him a round of applause as he came all the way back so that he can die. Ivo van Hove I am disappointed in you I am glad you found much to take away And your post is very nicely expressed But (as a general point) I am not sure about this I survived thing People sit on flights for a longer duration And it's hardly like the audience are made to construct thd yramids in Egyptian heat or trek miles through the jungle All you have to do is sit in spacious chairs!!! |
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Post by David J on Mar 19, 2017 0:22:15 GMT
But (as a general point) I am not sure about this I survived thing People sit on flights for a longer duration And it's hardly like the audience are made to construct thd yramids in Egyptian heat or trek miles through the jungle All you have to do is sit in spacious chairs!!! That wasn't a serious comment. If it helps I could always post a video of me rushing out onto the street, throwing myself on the road and yelling "I survived". The camera would focus on people phoning on the police and cars tooting at me. I mean if this is what tastes in levity has come to then sure. Any way the time flew by during Coriolanus and Julius Caesar. Especially when everyone was doing musical chairs every set change |
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Post by altamont on Mar 19, 2017 19:37:22 GMT
The highlight for me was Hans Kesting's "Friends, Romans Countrymen". One of my favourite Richard IIIs and tonight he delivered the speech with such emotion and alacrity. We are about to go into Antony and Cleopatra but I have to say that his delivery of that speech is as fine a piece of acting as I can remember - absolutely spellbinding and worth the price of admission by itself |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 7:35:41 GMT
Thought this was excellent - didn't see Kings of War so can't compare with that.
Spent a bit of time up on stage at which point I had a bit of a lightbulb moment that this is actually a very traditional thing to do - it was basically like being in the Pit at the Globe. Becomes quickly apparent that while being on the stage is a fun immersive experience you have a really terrible view of the action. Good opportunity to try out a few different seats!
Agree with the above comments that "Friends, Romans, Countrymen ..." was the highlight.
Wonder if video footage of Donald Trump in Shakespeare productions will become as ubiquitous as footage of George W Bush was a few years ago?
One effect of seeing this is that I appreciate Robert Icke's Oresteia and Hamlet a lot less! Bob Dylan / Power Suits / Soft Furnishings / Countdown clocks for short pauses / Classical text spoken as naturalistic dialogue.
Spotted in the audience - Angus Wright and several of the cast of Hedda Gabler including Ruth Wilson.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 20, 2017 10:09:39 GMT
I thought this was extraordinary, though I agree it's a shame the last 30 minutes of A and C are so dull, and the Enobarbus death was silly. Amazing acting as has been said, a wonderful atmosphere, utterly contemporary too. Standing ovation from everyone, for once completely justified. Bring on Ossessione, or whatever he's calling it.
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