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Post by Jan on Dec 18, 2017 6:41:11 GMT
Not all the cast are transferring. Not a happy company! The suggestion of Trafalgar Studios Is perversion beyond belief Happy Xmas to you too ! I mentioned it because they have previously transferred Swan productions there and they worked OK, I remembered Doran/Sher Othello but now I check I see they transferred the "Gunpowder" season there too and they enthused at the time: RSC Executive Director Vikki Heywood said: “We were delighted to open the Trafalgar Studios in 2003 with a sell-out run of Gregory Doran’s production of Othello. The venue proved then that it works well for transfers from the Swan theatre so it’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to return with our acclaimed Gunpowder season |
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Post by Coated on Dec 18, 2017 20:24:03 GMT
Thanks to the enthusiastic reviews on this thread I am now zipping up to Stratford before Christmas to see this  I loved Wolf Hall so much more in the Swan than in London that I decided it's worth blowing a fair chunk of my 2018 theatre budget and potentially getting stuck in Stratford over the holidays if there are any freak snowstorms. And of course losing the feeling in my derrière on a 2 play day. |
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Post by Jon on Dec 18, 2017 20:30:49 GMT
I imagine the RSC are aiming for a bigger theatre than the Trafalgar.
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Post by Rory on Dec 18, 2017 22:19:44 GMT
I imagine the RSC are aiming for a bigger theatre than the Trafalgar. My money is on the Haymarket after Frozen. |
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Post by Jan on Dec 19, 2017 7:02:34 GMT
I imagine the RSC are aiming for a bigger theatre than the Trafalgar. I am sure they are. They need the money. |
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Post by horton on Dec 20, 2017 9:43:12 GMT
They have plenty of money- it's just curious how it is apportioned sometimes.
If you are planning on making a special journey to see it, make sure you only go at the weekend as some actors feel they are too important to do performances early in the week...
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Post by lynette on Dec 23, 2017 16:50:00 GMT
4.45pm about to eat! Must be mad. Another three hours of this Roman stuff. Actually not bad, a bit obvious in places. Much more the look of Rome Dr Jan with lots of coloured clothes but minimal set. Nice work from McCabe but then what I would expect.
More later if still compos after parts 4/5/6
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Post by martin1965 on Dec 23, 2017 17:40:21 GMT
I imagine the RSC are aiming for a bigger theatre than the Trafalgar. I am sure they are. They need the money.  |
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Post by chameleon on Dec 23, 2017 17:57:06 GMT
I imagine the RSC are aiming for a bigger theatre than the Trafalgar. I am sure they are. They need the money. Why would they not do it at the Bridge Theatre? That can work as a thrust stage, I believe. And, it's a new play.. |
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Post by Jon on Dec 23, 2017 18:32:31 GMT
I am sure they are. They need the money. Why would they not do it at the Bridge Theatre? That can work as a thrust stage, I believe. And, it's a new play.. The Bridge is a producing house and not a receiving house |
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Post by lynette on Dec 23, 2017 22:33:41 GMT
Barbican I suppose. It has illusions of grandeur.
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Post by chameleon on Dec 23, 2017 22:54:41 GMT
Why would they not do it at the Bridge Theatre? That can work as a thrust stage, I believe. And, it's a new play.. The Bridge is a producing house and not a receiving house Most producing houses act as receiving houses (or at least as co-producers) some of the time.. |
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Post by lynette on Dec 24, 2017 17:26:19 GMT
The RSC set at The Swan has an up/down feature which they use a lot. Can be reset of course as otherwise not much of a set. The steps of the Senate essential of course. A biggish cast so some room required. I don’t think The Bridge would be quite right but you never know. I think if anywhere, the Barbican. As usual.
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Post by paul79 on Dec 26, 2017 10:52:41 GMT
It's an amazing production and deserves to tour! How do people know that they've signed contracts for a London run?!
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Post by David J on Dec 30, 2017 14:17:09 GMT
Well I like Part 1 so far except for one thing. They practically skip the first book and start from the second, only briefly going back to look at Cicero bringing justice to the corrupt governor of Sicily (which I must say was an inticing story in the first book)
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Post by David J on Dec 30, 2017 15:27:29 GMT
This is certainly pacy and well acted production but having listened to the audiobooks of at least the first two (I’ve listened to some of Dictator but the change of narrator is a big drawback) I’d say as an adaptation falls short
I know adaptations come with cuts from the story, but I would have preferred this to be a trilogy of plays just so you can see the great lengths and compromises Cicero goes to in the first book to become consul. His work that is cut down in books 2 and 3.
This adaptation does well to establish who’s who but you are kind of dropped in the middle of it and left to get a gist of the relationships Cicero has created between these characters in the first book
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Post by NeilVHughes on Dec 30, 2017 17:41:17 GMT
Been a while since I left a Theatre after 3 ½ hours with such anticipation, PtII this evening can’t come soon enough.
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Post by joem on Jan 2, 2018 18:45:34 GMT
This was enjoyable even if it felt like a decent shot rather than a roaring success. It is good for theatres to be ambitious and be demanding with audiences at times. In this case the demands are solely due to the length of the plays, these plays are easy on the eye - strong on narrative and easy to follow and understand.
Very much in the RSC style - low on scenery/staging and heavy on vast numbers - I can't comment on the faithfulness of the adaptation from the novels but there are two important points to make from the outset. First, the casting of the leading couple - no way Richard McCabe and Siobhan Redmond look anywhere near 40, which kind of jars with there they are meant to be in their lives. The other negative is the stretched (and pointless) attempts to link events in Cicero's time to current affairs. Giving Pompey the Great a Trump wig is not just not really funny, but it is also totally irrelevant and some of the jokes about our politics and so on get cheap laughs but will not help the plays to stand the test of time.
This aside the acting was, as you would expect from the RSC, good as was the pace and delivery.
I wonder how long before someone spots the potential for TV these novels have. Done with a good budget they could be an "I Claudius" for our times.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2018 17:23:58 GMT
I saw these last night and the night before, and really enjoyed them. We were in the front row, which was really exciting. We had Nicholas Boulton understudying Cataline and Anthony, and I really liked him - he was full of energy and enthusiasm. Richard McCabe was excellent, obviously, and I loved Joseph Kloska. I didn't know anything about the books, and only a rough idea of the general plot (mostly what I knew from Shakespeare) so I wasn't bothered about people not being the right age or whether things followed the books.
I went to the talk back thing with the cast on Thursday night too, that was good. They had Richard McCabe and Joseph Kloska, the guy who played Julius Caesar and a couple of the others.
The sandals though, oh god the sandals! They're ugly at the best of times, but those were some particularly ugly sandals!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2018 17:28:56 GMT
Not all the cast are transferring. Not a happy company! Is it transferring? And who isn't going with them? What's the source for this? |
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Post by nash16 on Jan 13, 2018 23:08:48 GMT
Not all the cast are transferring. Not a happy company! Is it transferring? And who isn't going with them? What's the source for this? Yep, the plays are transferring, but a lot of roles are being re cast unfortunately. |
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Post by lynette on Jan 14, 2018 13:48:14 GMT
I’m sorry if cast members are not being given the chance to perform in London but for the most part, it won’t 'show' as McCabe is the main attraction.
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Post by Rory on Jan 14, 2018 14:50:51 GMT
Does anyone know yet if it's going to the Barbican or the West End?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 17:44:47 GMT
Is it transferring? And who isn't going with them? What's the source for this? Yep, the plays are transferring, but a lot of roles are being re cast unfortunately. Can we have the details? |
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Post by paul79 on Jan 14, 2018 20:06:39 GMT
I'm not sure how you know this?
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