Rotterdam at the Arts Theatre

[barelyathletic]

Apologies if there is already a thread for this, as I couldn't find one.  I saw Rotterdam last night at the Arts Theatre and (despite knowing it had won an Olivier Award) for me, it's the surprise of the year. Very 'topic-a-la-mode', but done with such humour, warmth and intelligence that, yes, while it may very, very occasionally feel a little bit preachy, it is altogether AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT.

Beautifully directed and acted. It's a really terrific, smart, funny and ultimately very moving relationship comedy-drama, that has important things to say about who we are and who we love. If you can make it before July 15th, go, go, go. There are lots of bargain offers online. It deserves to be a smash.

[jasmineneroli]

I saw this today and thought it was fantastic. Superb acting. It was a shame that the theatre was so empty for the matinee performance.

[theatre-turtle]

I saw it and loved it too! I found all the characters to be really dislikeable but I enjoyed the plot and the staging/delivery.

[drmaplewood]

I saw it for the 2nd time last weekend, having seen it on its original run at Theatre 503 back in 2015. It has't lost any of its charm though I found it a lot more shouty this time round, perhaps because of the much larger theatre. But still very much worth seeing.

[jamb0r]

I saw it on Monday and really enjoyed it too. I help to lead an LGBT employee resource group at my work so consider myself fairly knowledgeable on this sort of stuff, but I learnt a LOT. I've recommended it to my colleagues.

There was a lot of empty seats, and I really hope that word of mouth helps this show out a bit. This is really something that people need educating on, and this is a perfect time with London gearing up for Pride.

One thing that did annoy me was when walking in there was someone complaining to her friend that the ladies toilet had been changed to be gender neutral and was saying she 'didn't want to go in there if there might be men in there''. I hope she learnt something by the end of the play too!

[David J]

I saw it last Saturday and wow did this go above and beyond my expectations.

As someone who has a basic knowledge about transvestism and lesbianism it was absorbing watching this couple, Alice and Fiona, who after so many years together are still coming to terms with who they are.

Alice has plucking up the courage to finally tell her parents that she is a lesbianism, but just when she is about to send an email Fiona comes out to say that she thinks she's a man in a woman's body. From there a boiling pot of problems and bottled up emotions gradually pours out by this bombshell that brings strain to their relationship.

And this is a beautifully written play by Jon Brittain. The characters are three dimensional, convincing, funny, relatable, but flawed, with their own mess of problems that are brought out by this revelation.

Particularly Fiona played by Anna Martine Freeman. You sympathise with her coming to terms with her gender, but at the same time she is self centered who can't see the turmoil Alice is going through. There comes a moment of revelation for her in the second act that couldn't have come at a worse time. I sat there thinking, "I am happy for you, but sh*t is just about to hit the fan and you've brought this upon yourself"

And that scene by the way is where all the tension that has been building up breaks out and its a emotionally charged moment thanks to Anna and more importantly Alice McCarthy as Alice. She may be open about her relationship with her friends, but she is still conflicted about her sexuality that she struggles to express. So when the woman she fell in love with suddenly comes out to say that she's a man you watch the turmoil expressed silently by Alice McCarthy. Its when she breaks away to hang out with an fearlessly open lesbian Lehani, played with such exuberance by Ellie Morris, that she learns to open up and the end of the first act is such a joyous moment.

There's also great acting from Ed Eales White as Fiona's brother and Alice's ex-boyfriend, who could have moved on but still looks out for the two and tries to get used to the idea of his sister becoming a man.

Poignantly written, well acted, with a wonderful blend of comedy and pathos. I don't agree with some of the criticism that this ponders in the sitcom territory for too long. What moments of comedy felt deserved to break up the tension.

And then there were moments that had me beaming for the two leads, for all their faults, as they came to terms with themselves. It's a love story where this couple has to knuckle down and confront their problems in order to be together

[showgirl]

I saw it last time it transferred, i.e. not at Theatre 503 but at Trafalgar Studios 2, so I won't go again and I think there may have been some cast changes, but it was certainly different, thought-provoking and well worth seeing.

[mattw]

I saw it last night and loved it. I thought it was very interesting and thought provoking, and also very entertaining. I thought the cast were tremendous and would definitely say this is well worth seeing

[Steve]

Finally saw this Thursday night. I laughed, I cried, I loved it. It's a compassionate joy, a sitcom whose situations and characters feel utterly real.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The premise felt like a sitcom: a lesbian, who doesn't fancy men, has a partner transitioning to a man. God alone knows what exactly Ray Cooney would have done with that, but this play does the opposite, committing fully to the situation, truth and feelings of the characters before anything else. The comedy that flows is a product of these unique and beautiful situations and characters.

Once upon a time, this sitcom would have starred Tamsin Greig, as the nervy, diffident, neurotic, hesitant lead character, Alice. One of the joys of this production is watching Alice McCarthy slither perfectly into Greig's mantle, fully inhabiting the trademarked, boggle-eyed, confused, frozen existential angst that Greig so perfectly brought to every sitcom she ever did.

As the woman Alice fell for, and the man that Alice feels a whole lot less for, Anna Martine Freeman's transgender character, Fiona/Adrian is beautifully realised, her excitement at becoming a man blinding her to the lack of excitement in her partner.

In support, Ed Eales-White is the soul of supportive cis decency, and Ellie Morris is outstanding as Lelani, the impulsive exuberant young Dutch girl who takes a fancy to Alice.

To digress, I give particular credit to Morris, as her shy stuttering Lucy, in "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" underwhelmed me. What I now realise is that her Lucy was the victim of Mischief Theatre's relentless writing and re-writing of their plays, identified so usefully for us on this board by Dawnstar. When I saw Daisy Waterstone originate the role at the Pleasance Theatre, Lucy's shyness was SO exaggerated, her stuttering SO pervasive, her meekness SUCH a plot point, that she was one of the greatest drivers of laughs in the whole show. By the time "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" played the Apollo, the part was less shy, less stuttering, with vastly less stage time, while the Mischief principals had vastly increased the stage time of their own roles, by comparison. So I was disappointed with the decrease in laughs I got from the character of Lucy.

But in this show, Morris is a force of nature, offering an effervescent performance of a wild and crazy dutch girl, embodying a role that functions the way Italy used to, in period dramas, a catalyst for repressed English people to emerge from their shells. Everything about Morris' ecstatic Lelani delightfully sparks the fires beneath McCarthy's Tamsin-Grieg-esque frozenness. Morris' eyes widen and widen and widen still further, as if on cocaine-fuelled stalks, her body bounces, and a febrile energy fills the room whenever she is onstage, meaning that every scene she is in is playful and exciting to watch. A splendid buoyant supporting performance, that lifts the whole production.

The sensitivity with which the plot is worked out is spot on. Only the faintly scented lingering whiff of sitcom and setup prevents me from giving this the full five stars. 4 and a half stars.

[Dawnstar]

Jul 15, 2017 10:17:39 GMT Steve said:

To digress, I give particular credit to Morris, as her shy stuttering Lucy, in "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" underwhelmed me. What I now realise is that her Lucy was the victim of Mischief Theatre's relentless writing and re-writing of their plays, identified so usefully for us on this board by Dawnstar. When I saw Daisy Waterstone originate the role at the Pleasance Theatre, Lucy's shyness was SO exaggerated, her stuttering SO pervasive, her meekness SUCH a plot point, that she was one of the greatest drivers of laughs in the whole show. By the time "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" played the Apollo, the part was less shy, less stuttering, with vastly less stage time, while the Mischief principals had vastly increased the stage time of their own roles, by comparison. So I was disappointed with the decrease in laughs I got from the character of Lucy.

(More digressing) Yes, somewhere along the line, I believe during the tour, the Lost Boys got, er, lost & Lucy/Tootles' role concurrently cut down. Having seen Ellie as Caprice & Ruth, plus some LCIs, she can do a lot more than deer-in-the-headlights. It's nice to read that she is giving a very good performance in this play (I won't be seeing it as the topic does not appeal to me). Incidentally, another Mischief connection which people may or may not have picked up is that the director of Rotterdam is the resident director at TCAABR.