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Post by n1david on Jan 7, 2018 16:37:02 GMT
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Post by loureviews on Jan 7, 2018 21:44:18 GMT
My review:
The 1976 film version of this is one of my all-time favourites, a biting, pulsing, black satire on the power of the media. This production, directed by Ivo van Hove, was obviously appealing from the word go.
Howard Beale is a news anchor. He’s losing ratings, losing patience, and losing his mind. When hard-nosed executive programmer Diana Christensen sees the opportunity to exploit his slide into madness to build an ‘angry prophet’ show around him, corporate monster Frank Hackett sees a way to chisel to the top of the tree at the network, pushing old-timer Max Schumaker out along the way.
The set is interesting, dominated by a huge video screen and flanked on each side by glass-walled offices, and what has been termed the ‘Foodwork’ experience, where diners pay up to £250 a head for a five-course meal, a ringside seat, and a bit of show interaction.
Casting is dominated by Bryan Cranston (‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Trumbo’) as Beale, and he’s terrific, at turns vulnerable, bravura, and simply ‘as mad as hell’. You may remember a social media call for people to film themselves saying that iconic line – here those videos pepper the wall to show the national reach of the News Hour.
Michelle Dockery brings a certain emotional blankness to the part of Diana, whether she’s pitching an idea, taking a phonecall, or having rushed intercourse with Max, unable to remove her attention away from work.
As Max, Douglas Henshall feels too young and far from the jaded drunk a lifetime with television has made him, and Tunji Kasim was totally inadequate as Hackett (a role with needs an actor with range, as Robert Duvall demonstrated in the film).
Paddy Chayefsky’s screenplay has been cleverly adapted by Lee Hall, although some of the dubious and immoral politics have been filtered out, and the attempts to make the Lyttelton audience studio accomplices fell flat.
Ultimately, this plot remains presient considering how politicians have come to manipulate the media for their own ends, just as network boss Jensen (Richard Cordery) does here for the corporate good.
I enjoyed the staging which allowed both the screen and the ‘reality’ to be watched (and I’d recommend a circle seat for this). I couldn’t get invested enough in the characters, though, which makes this production flashy, stunning, but superficial.
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Post by sf on Jan 8, 2018 14:04:49 GMT
I found that rather ironic. I've just got back from the matinee performance this afternoon and it was the same at the end. When the clips of various presidents came up Trump got booed. The whole idea was to demonstrate the irony of the political corruption rife throughout the various presidential administrations and their lack of complicity ie. Bill Clinton impeachment, George W. Bush the Iraq war, yet Donald Trump who battled crooked Hilary Clinton, and who's manefesto is to 'drain the swamp' and the fake news that accompanies it was the one who got the boos! As a Trump supporter I clapped and cheered for Trump at this stage just as the ladies next to me did for Obama, but I couldn't help thinking they'd missed the whole point of the show. Well, no. The point of that film montage at the end is to show how influential "reality TV" can be. The clips show a succession of statesmen being sworn in as President - Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, Obama - and then Trump, a reality TV star whose audience carried him into the Oval Office. It's about as subtle as a sledgehammer. |
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Post by bellboard27 on Jan 8, 2018 22:37:07 GMT
I was so enthused I posted straight away instead of searching for an introduction thread Oh, we are not that formal on here, we just plunge in  . Personally I always dress in black tie before posting, but I have a suspicion that might just be me. |
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Post by bellboard27 on Jan 9, 2018 10:17:44 GMT
^My mental image of you has now changed totally bellboard27 . I may need to go offline for a bit to recover. As long as I am lodged in your head somehow.... |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jan 9, 2018 11:12:58 GMT
Now now, I have some excellent photos from the last meetup.   |
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Post by sf on Jan 9, 2018 14:48:27 GMT
Oh, we are not that formal on here, we just plunge in . Personally I always dress in black tie before posting, but I have a suspicion that might just be me. I always dress before posting. Well, almost. |
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Post by amybenson on Jan 10, 2018 23:44:50 GMT
Hey Amy FYI so arrived back home just in time to jump onto Friday Rush and just grabbed two great seats for Monday night ! YAY ! Congrats! No luck for me today, but I'll keep checking, last year I managed to get Angels in America tickets a couple days before the show. I ended up dayseating it today. Arrived at 6:45, with about 10 people ahead of me. Got 2 front row tickets for the matinee. |
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Post by rumbledoll on Jan 11, 2018 7:48:18 GMT
Congrats, Amy!
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Post by paplazaroo on Jan 11, 2018 12:45:42 GMT
I thought this was banging, really well staged and a timely message about media and corporate interference. I like the influence of John Oliver, Jimmy Fallon etc on the later Howard Beale show, the idea that even our own prophets of liberalism are owned by big corporations is a great one.
Brilliant that Trump got a boo and anyone who thinks Trump isn't owned by big business and corporation is kidding themselves.
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Post by n1david on Jan 15, 2018 22:40:59 GMT
So I did the restaurant on stage tonight and it was a very fun experience. We were shown to our tables a bit late because "the cast were working through a few scenes" which meant that curtain up was a bit late at about 7.35. Firstly I should say that the food was extremely good and the service was immaculate - well thought through and timed to be served in the parts of the play where it would be least distracting. The view from the restaurant was very good, we were lucky in being placed in the front row, very close to the action. If you were in the bar section at the back, I'm not sure how involved you'd be, but you can't pick that in advance. But we were close and had the actors mingling with us and emoting just in front of us. I have to say that I was glad I'd seen the play from the auditorium previously, as the distraction of eating and the different 'camera angle' meant that it was a bit harder to follow some of the key scenes which were blocked for the main audience. I have to say the Lyttelton auditorium looks smaller from onstage than I'd expected having been in the audience many times. As for the play, well I still think it's an impeccably put together piece of work in terms of the video and sound design. I still think that it's not as clever as it thinks it is, and I hate the simplistic video at the end encouraging cheers and boos - let the people make the connections themselves! One other observation I could make from the onstage seats was the killer does a great job of being a normal audience member - whenever I glanced at them (knowing what was coming), they seemed to be as engaged in the play as any other member of the audience. Oh, and even watching more closely from the side, I couldn't see the join when they moved from live action to recording in the final scene. Very impressive. |
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Post by vdcni on Jan 17, 2018 10:56:37 GMT
I liked this but didn't love it. Cranston is great and when he was in stage I was riveted but when he wasn't, particularly when it was about the Henshall/Dockery relationship I was bored and busy watching the diners who were right in front of me.
Dockery I didn't mind overall but none of the rest of the cast really made a mark for me - agree with others that Henshall and Kasim in particular fell flat. Some of the ideas and themes are obviously very relevant today but it all felt a bit simplistic to me and the montage at the end didn't help in that regard.
Oh well the rest of the audience seemed to love it as I was one of the few that didn't stand at the end and at least I got a pat on the shoulder and a thank you from Cranston as I let him out the end of the row!
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Post by Being Alive on Feb 1, 2018 10:24:29 GMT
Can someone tell me the exact running time? I'm finally seeing this tonight, but the NT site still says approx 2 hrs with no interval and I need to book a train...
Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 10:30:24 GMT
When I want to know running times, I always check with two of my preferred bloggers. One of them has the running time listed as 2h5, the other as 1h55, so it sounds like "approximately 2 hours" might genuinely be the answer.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 21:56:37 GMT
Just seen it...
A good play with some decent performances but far from deserving the cheers and standing ovation - on par with what I'd expect if England won the World Cup again - it received.
As for the set: distracting and pure self indulgence and theatre masterbation at times.
Finally, and touched upon elsewhere, can we stop with the boring and obligatory booing of Trump? Have your opinions, and I certainly would NOT have voted for him, but over half who voted in the US elections did, millions, and each one of them is entitled to their own opinion too. You're not being edgy booing him but being arrogant at the expense of millions of people who each had their own reasons for voting for him however valid you, or I, think they were...
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Post by Being Alive on Feb 1, 2018 22:15:08 GMT
Also just seen it
I’d agree with the above - it’s a good play, with some good performances. I liked Cranston, and thought he was really suited to the part. Didn’t like Michelle Dockery, she just felt slightly awkward to me.
I really liked the design though. Yes, self indulgent. Yes, way over the top. But I enjoyed it for those reasons. It was being clever for the sake of being clever and I didn’t see a problem with that.
And the presidents montage - when it began I knew what would happen and I appreciate your opinion. It’s been put in purely to get the audience reaction though, so 🤷♂️
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Post by sf on Feb 1, 2018 22:20:56 GMT
Finally, and touched upon elsewhere, can we stop with the boring and obligatory booing of Trump? Certainly we can - when HE stops being a racist, fascist, ignorant, sexist, profoundly anti-democratic heap of (in)human excrement. Yes, millions of people voted for him. "Millions of people", throughout history, have voted for a wide assortment of profoundly unpleasant dictators and thugs. To apply any reasonable standards of diplomatic etiquette to the Trump-thing would be to normalise him, and that is incredibly dangerous. He does not deserve respect, and neither do the idiots - yes, idiots - who voted for him. It's not about left versus right, or even left versus white (because of course he was elected in no small part because his predecessor was not white, which enraged the alt-right). The man is an affront to human decency. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 22:47:57 GMT
Finally, and touched upon elsewhere, can we stop with the boring and obligatory booing of Trump? Certainly we can - when HE stops being a racist, fascist, ignorant, sexist, profoundly anti-democratic heap of (in)human excrement. Yes, millions of people voted for him. "Millions of people", throughout history, have voted for a wide assortment of profoundly unpleasant dictators and thugs. To apply any reasonable standards of diplomatic etiquette to the Trump-thing would be to normalise him, and that is incredibly dangerous. He does not deserve respect, and neither do the idiots - yes, idiots - who voted for him. It's not about left versus right, or even left versus white (because of course he was elected in no small part because his predecessor was not white, which enraged the alt-right). The man is an affront to human decency. And all the black voters - millions of them - who voted for him or George Bush are Uncle Toms, eh? Or, and black people only voted for Obama because he was black, eh? If only life was as simple as you need it to be. I wouldn't have voted for him but he clearly listened to the populate and heard what they were saying. But they're all thick racists, eh? Even the black ones! |
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Post by zahidf on Feb 1, 2018 23:08:05 GMT
Certainly we can - when HE stops being a racist, fascist, ignorant, sexist, profoundly anti-democratic heap of (in)human excrement. Yes, millions of people voted for him. "Millions of people", throughout history, have voted for a wide assortment of profoundly unpleasant dictators and thugs. To apply any reasonable standards of diplomatic etiquette to the Trump-thing would be to normalise him, and that is incredibly dangerous. He does not deserve respect, and neither do the idiots - yes, idiots - who voted for him. It's not about left versus right, or even left versus white (because of course he was elected in no small part because his predecessor was not white, which enraged the alt-right). The man is an affront to human decency. And all the black voters - millions of them - who voted for him or George Bush are Uncle Toms, eh? Or, and black people only voted for Obama because he was black, eh? If only life was as simple as you need it to be. I wouldn't have voted for him but he clearly listened to the populate and heard what they were saying. But they're all thick racists, eh? Even the black ones! This isnt the place for politics. But Trump is an open and unapolgetic racist. He has proven that a 100 times over. People have and will hate him and boo him. So deal with it. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 9:25:53 GMT
And all the black voters - millions of them - who voted for him or George Bush are Uncle Toms, eh? Or, and black people only voted for Obama because he was black, eh? If only life was as simple as you need it to be. I wouldn't have voted for him but he clearly listened to the populate and heard what they were saying. But they're all thick racists, eh? Even the black ones! This isnt the place for politics. But Trump is an open and unapolgetic racist. He has proven that a 100 times over. People have and will hate him and boo him. So deal with it. Its not about dealing with it, it's about having respect for the millions of people who put their X next to his name regardless of whether you or I would or wouldn't have done.
Also, the fact that you would be probably accusing anyone who booed Obama's image of racism says that you're only interesting in having your own biases confirmed - something discussed in the Network programme - when it might be for the fact that he actually wasn't a great president and his legacy of popularity is based almost entirely on his colour.
Anyway, I digress...
My original comment was about showing respect and the first response said "He does not deserve respect, and neither do the idiots - yes, idiots - who voted for him"... That is pure arrogance. People vote for a number of reasons and everyone is entitled to their voice. Do I agree with every opinion? Of course I don't but the World is a better place if we try to understand people.
Off on another tangent... The man sitting next to me last night spent the entire performance distracting everyone around him rustling sweet bags, checked his phone on a number of occasions, took of his shoes and put his feet on the back of the seat in front... He was amongst the first to boo the image of Trump..... He looks down on those who voted for Trump but has the culture manners of I don't know what.... It isn't always black and white...
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Post by zahidf on Feb 2, 2018 9:28:57 GMT
This isnt the place for politics. But Trump is an open and unapolgetic racist. He has proven that a 100 times over. People have and will hate him and boo him. So deal with it. Its not about dealing with it, it's about having respect for the millions of people who put their X next to his name regardless of whether you or I would or wouldn't have done.
Also, the fact that you would be probably accusing anyone who booed Obama's image of racism says that you're only interesting in having your own biases confirmed - something discussed in the Network programme - when it might be for the fact that he actually wasn't a great president and his legacy of popularity is based almost entirely on his colour.
Anyway, I digress...
My original comment was about showing respect and the first response said "He does not deserve respect, and neither do the idiots - yes, idiots - who voted for him"... That is pure arrogance. People vote for a number of reasons and everyone is entitled to their voice. Do I agree with every opinion? Of course I don't but the World is a better place if we try to understand people.
Off on another tangent... The man sitting next to me last night spent the entire performance distracting everyone around him rustling sweet bags, checked his phone on a number of occasions, took of his shoes and put his feet on the back of the seat in front... He was amongst the first to boo the image of Trump..... He looks down on those who voted for Trump but has the culture manners of I don't know what.... It isn't always black and white...
Trump and his voters don't deserve respect. He is a racist misogynist and has done nothing to deserve it. If he ever came to the UK on a visit, id happily boo the Tw*t to his moronic face.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 9:33:28 GMT
Its not about dealing with it, it's about having respect for the millions of people who put their X next to his name regardless of whether you or I would or wouldn't have done.
Also, the fact that you would be probably accusing anyone who booed Obama's image of racism says that you're only interesting in having your own biases confirmed - something discussed in the Network programme - when it might be for the fact that he actually wasn't a great president and his legacy of popularity is based almost entirely on his colour.
Anyway, I digress...
My original comment was about showing respect and the first response said "He does not deserve respect, and neither do the idiots - yes, idiots - who voted for him"... That is pure arrogance. People vote for a number of reasons and everyone is entitled to their voice. Do I agree with every opinion? Of course I don't but the World is a better place if we try to understand people.
Off on another tangent... The man sitting next to me last night spent the entire performance distracting everyone around him rustling sweet bags, checked his phone on a number of occasions, took of his shoes and put his feet on the back of the seat in front... He was amongst the first to boo the image of Trump..... He looks down on those who voted for Trump but has the culture manners of I don't know what.... It isn't always black and white...
Trump and his voters don't deserve respect. He is a racist misogynist and has done nothing to deserve it. If he ever came to the UK on a visit, id happily boo the Tw*t to his moronic face.
So what would you say to a black female Trump voter? That they're misguided? That they're uneducated? That they're racist? How dare you sit there not living their life and say that they don't deserve any respect because of the way they voted? Pure and utter arrogance.
I've heard that Jesus wants to know if you can get a move on because he's fed up keeping the cross warm for you...
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Post by n1david on Feb 2, 2018 9:41:50 GMT
I didn’t like the booing of Trump at Network. I despise the man and everything he stands for. But a bunch of metropolitan theatre goers booing a video isn’t going to change the world. It’s a knee jerk reaction. I thought the showing of the video at the end of the play was trite and undermined what had gone before. If he comes to London, I’ll protest. I have friends in the US actively working in the Democrats to chip away at the Reps. But booing at a video of him at the NT? I think he’d be rather pleased.
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Post by zahidf on Feb 2, 2018 9:59:39 GMT
Trump and his voters don't deserve respect. He is a racist misogynist and has done nothing to deserve it. If he ever came to the UK on a visit, id happily boo the Tw*t to his moronic face.
So what would you say to a black female Trump voter? That they're misguided? That they're uneducated? That they're racist? How dare you sit there not living their life and say that they don't deserve any respect because of the way they voted? Pure and utter arrogance.
I've heard that Jesus wants to know if you can get a move on because he's fed up keeping the cross warm for you...
Id ask them why they voted for someone who is a disgusting racist.
Next youll be saying we should respect BNP voters.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 10:17:29 GMT
So what would you say to a black female Trump voter? That they're misguided? That they're uneducated? That they're racist? How dare you sit there not living their life and say that they don't deserve any respect because of the way they voted? Pure and utter arrogance.
I've heard that Jesus wants to know if you can get a move on because he's fed up keeping the cross warm for you...
Id ask them why they voted for someone who is a disgusting racist.
Next youll be saying we should respect BNP voters.
So, you know better than them?
Hmmm, I'm getting echoes of the empire here where we thought it was our right to tell the black populations about the World about how right we were and how wrong they were... The irony, eh? You're arrogant and despite what you may think, you're NOT more intelligent than anyone just because they voted for Trump, Brexit or anything else you disagree with.
And yes, we should respect the right of BNP voters to vote for them. I passionately disagree with the BNP and their views but it is the right of every person to vote how they wish no matter if I agree with them or not.
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