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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2017 6:58:33 GMT
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Post by showgirl on Sept 9, 2017 7:31:41 GMT
Was interested when I received the weekly SP email, but reading more about the play has made me cautious: sounds a bit airy-fairy & mystical for me & as though it might have been neglected with reason, but I'd be pleased to find I was wrong.
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Post by nash16 on Sept 9, 2017 21:46:52 GMT
Was interested when I received the weekly SP email, but reading more about the play has made me cautious: sounds a bit airy-fairy & mystical for me & as though it might have been neglected with reason, but I'd be pleased to find I was wrong. Yes, it sounds like a play the Finborough would put on, not the SP. |
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Post by showgirl on Sept 10, 2017 4:05:32 GMT
Indeed, or in the (good?) old days, the Orange Tree.
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Post by horton on Sept 10, 2017 7:14:59 GMT
Julian Slade did a rather creaky musicalization.
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Post by showgirl on Dec 2, 2017 6:01:03 GMT
This has been previewing since Wed 29 Nov but I can't find any mentions so far on blogs, Twitter, etc - anyone heard anything or been, please? I'll struggle to fit it in (probably has to be this or Shaw's Misalliance at the Orange Tree if that's any good, and that's already heavily booked), so don't want to spend my precious slot on a production I'll regret.
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Post by martin1965 on Dec 2, 2017 7:31:41 GMT
This has been previewing since Wed 29 Nov but I can't find any mentions so far on blogs, Twitter, etc - anyone heard anything or been, please? I'll struggle to fit it in (probably has to be this or Shaw's Misalliance at the Orange Tree if that's any good, and that's already heavily booked), so don't want to spend my precious slot on a production I'll regret. Come on, it has to be Shaw! Im already booked for OT for 16 Dec😀 |
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Post by showgirl on Dec 2, 2017 8:08:55 GMT
I don't know, martin 1965: there is usually a reason why some plays by otherwise popular or well-known playwrights tend to be performed less frequently or even not at all, so this is my first concern in both cases. Then there is the description, which again, for both plays, certainly adds to my caution. Furthermore I've had some very unsatisfactory and disappointing experiences at the Orange Tree - where I was once a happy regular - since the current AD took over, so even it if means I'll struggle to get a ticket once there are some comments/reviews available, I'm waiting for these. Probably a case of Sod's Law, i.e.book ahead and risk wasting time and money, or wait for reviews, only to find they're raves and the run has sold out, but I've seen too many turkeys lately and not the seasonal type! |
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Post by lonlad on Dec 2, 2017 11:23:40 GMT
That's odd. The regime at the Orange Tree since Paul Miller took the reins is infinitely more interesting/rewarding/challenging than it was under dear old Sam. SHEPPEY, AN OCTOROON, and WINTER SOLSTICE just three of the great evenings of recent years. Hugely looking forward to MISALLIANCE!
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Post by showgirl on Dec 2, 2017 13:42:06 GMT
It's just a case of very different tastes, isn't it, lonlad - I saw & loved just about everything at the OT in Sam's time & though Paul Miller is pandering slightly to us, the old (& older) regulars, there's very little there now on which I'd even take a chance, and Octoroon & Pomona have been some of my worst ever theatre experiences. But apologies everyone for straying off-topic - must start another thread later. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2017 14:37:55 GMT
I'll struggle to fit it in ... my precious slot No comment |
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Post by martin1965 on Dec 2, 2017 15:00:18 GMT
I'll struggle to fit it in ... my precious slot No comment Thank god for small mercies! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2017 15:56:52 GMT
It's just a case of very different tastes, isn't it, lonlad - I saw & loved just about everything at the OT in Sam's time & though Paul Miller is pandering slightly to us, the old (& older) regulars, there's very little there now on which I'd even take a chance, and Octoroon & Pomona have been some of my worst ever theatre experiences. So, "some of [your] worst ever theatre experiences" were two critical and popular successes which both transferred to the National Theatre. How fascinating. |
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Post by stevej678 on Dec 2, 2017 18:17:08 GMT
It's the last preview of Dear Brutus tonight so the reviews should be out early next week. Looking forward to seeing it in a fortnight.
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Post by Jan on Dec 2, 2017 18:39:23 GMT
That's odd. The regime at the Orange Tree since Paul Miller took the reins is infinitely more interesting/rewarding/challenging than it was under dear old Sam. SHEPPEY, AN OCTOROON, and WINTER SOLSTICE just three of the great evenings of recent years. Hugely looking forward to MISALLIANCE! Sheppey? That was just Finborough programming with a drag act in it. Miller is generally quite conservative in his programming - same old new plays policy every other subsidised Theatre in London follows, hence the transfers to the NT, it is the same stuff they do. |
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Post by martin1965 on Dec 2, 2017 19:44:46 GMT
That's odd. The regime at the Orange Tree since Paul Miller took the reins is infinitely more interesting/rewarding/challenging than it was under dear old Sam. SHEPPEY, AN OCTOROON, and WINTER SOLSTICE just three of the great evenings of recent years. Hugely looking forward to MISALLIANCE! Sheppey? That was just Finborough programming with a drag act in it. Miller is generally quite conservative in his programming - same old new plays policy every other subsidised Theatre in London follows, hence the transfers to the NT, it is the same stuff they do. I know you will disagree but he can programme the less revived Shaws til the cows come home as far as im concerned☺ |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2017 8:21:21 GMT
Saw Dear Brutus yesterday. It's an interesting revival but not a major rediscovery I think. Reminded me of JB Priestley's time plays. It's 100 minutes straight through which is much shorter than I'd expected for a play of its era. Wondered if it had been cut but I downloaded a free kindle version of the play and they are doing the full text. However originally there would have been a major set change for the second of the three acts so possibly it was done with a couple of intervals. Worth having a look at the script as Barrie includes some bizarrely long-winded stage directions which reveal the back-stories for some of the characters that you don't find out from the dialogue. As the publicity said it's based on A Midsummer Night's Dream.
A group of people have been invited to stay in a country house for Midsummer night by a mysterious old man called Lob, who may be an elderly Puck. In Act 1 we find they have various regrets in their lives due to bad choices made earlier. They are then persuaded to go for a walk in a wood which offers "second chances". Act 2 shows them in the wood, with their lives having made different turns, then in Act 3 they return to the house and deal with the consequences
Unallocated seating, done in a traverse layout. It was full, but that may be because of preview pricing. |
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Post by Jan on Dec 3, 2017 12:41:39 GMT
It's just a case of very different tastes, isn't it, lonlad - I saw & loved just about everything at the OT in Sam's time & though Paul Miller is pandering slightly to us, the old (& older) regulars, there's very little there now on which I'd even take a chance, and Octoroon & Pomona have been some of my worst ever theatre experiences. So, "some of [your] worst ever theatre experiences" were two critical and popular successes which both transferred to the National Theatre. How fascinating. Oh, and by the way, why do you think An Octoroon was a popular success at the OT ? Sounds like an alternative fact based on the number of discount offer I received during its run. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2017 12:54:46 GMT
Oh, and by the way, why do you think An Octoroon was a popular success at the OT ? Sounds like an alternative fact based on the number of discount offer I received during its run. I was referring to the response of the people in the audience who I talked to and observed when I saw it. One of whom had been strongly urged to go there by a parent who'd seen it previously. And the public approval of a respected director with no professional connection. So, anecdotally, the audience appreciation was at a much higher level than the more usual polite applause and mental awarding of a certain number of fantasy stars. There was a real buzz around the theatre. The play has many aspects, and the olden Orange Tree regulars present all dissolved into pure delight in the thrilling section towards the end. The play and production respect and play to the hilt the original melodrama, as well as providing post-modern commentary on it. |
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Post by showgirl on Dec 5, 2017 4:50:37 GMT
First online review I've seen (from The Arts Desk) seems quite approving and thinks this potentially difficult revival has the tone right.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2017 7:10:00 GMT
That review does, however, give away pretty much the entire plot!
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Post by showgirl on Dec 5, 2017 7:18:20 GMT
True, so just as well I didn't post the link! However, I don't mind knowing as I had a fair idea anyway (think the comparison with a Priestley "Time" play has already been made somewhere) and the interest for me will be in how it's done.
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Post by moelhywel on Dec 5, 2017 10:07:13 GMT
I'm looking forward to seeing this on Saturday week. It was one of the first plays I ever saw in the theatre way back in the Sixties and I still remember it. Having just read the review it sounds as though this production has managed to not be too whimsical. Barrie isn't performed much these days but I also remember well a performance of Mary Rose with Mia Farrow at the Shaw Theatre. Did anyone else see this? She was just so right for the title character.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2017 10:25:19 GMT
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Post by joem on Dec 16, 2017 22:57:05 GMT
Not a major rediscovery but not a disaster either.
Whilst the mention of the Priestley "Time" plays is appropriate it must be recalled this actually predates them. The main influence on this is clearly Shakespeare (note the title!) but especially the Dream.
I got worried it might drift into melodrama and overacting but they then reeled it back in and there were some nice poignant moments in the climax. Didactic, but you would expect it to be.
Another nutter in the hall. But thus time restricted himself to the old mutter. The nutter's mutter.
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