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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2018 8:50:31 GMT
So saw it yesterday and I just found it average and underwhelming. I liked the Globe when Emma Rice was there and was going to see this production for Mark Rylance. I should have known classical Shakespeare isn’t my thing and I personally like it done a bit more modernly.I liked Mark Rylance a lot as he made all the lines seem understandable and conversational however most of the other cast members did it in the classic speaking loud and rather annoying way where they lacked emotion with the lines and I just couldn’t really understand it as much as when Mark said the lines. Andre Holland was also very dare I say hammy and I wouldn’t say his performance was anything special . Shelia Atim was good but just felt odd as Iagos wife as the age gap and lack of a romance showed. Mark Rylance did feel like he was in a completely different naturalic small production of Othello. I liked the costumes but they just seemed to be set in a generic time for maybe 150-50 years ago but no where specific . I just didn’t t really engage or care about any of the characters and couldn’t wait till the end bed scene . Also the globe audience were a little badly behaved. I was sand at the back row of the lower gallery near the entre ce and kept being frequency deistacted by people going in and out to the toilet or just out and the ushers looked a bit annoyed by this too. Overall I would say if you took a school to see it you would be happy enough but it wasn’t nothing special , it just makes me miss Emma Rice.
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Post by jason71 on Jul 22, 2018 10:27:24 GMT
What was the running time?
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jul 22, 2018 10:35:18 GMT
Running Time 2:45
Saw it on the first night, foundation is there and came over as a work in progress as expected , seeing it again this Saturday and will give my final thoughts then.
The audience reaction at the end was extremely positive.
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Post by jason71 on Jul 22, 2018 11:45:26 GMT
Another play cut to shreds. What a surprise.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jul 22, 2018 11:59:49 GMT
Another play cut to shreds. What a surprise. 2 hours 45 is not really shredding Othello. Cutting it down to an hour (as a company local to me did a couple of weeks ago) is shredding 2 hours 45 is acceptable for a venue where audience comfort is limited! |
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Post by jason71 on Jul 22, 2018 13:24:23 GMT
It's actually 150mins if you take away the fifteen min interval
They've done the same thing with Hamlet. Another play that has been cut to pieces.
I wonder when we will get a cut to shreds version of King Lear
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jul 22, 2018 13:36:11 GMT
It's actually 150mins if you take away the fifteen min interval They've done the same thing with Hamlet. Another play that has been cut to pieces. I wonder when we will get a cut to shreds version of King Lear Cutting a play to 2 hours 30 is not shredding it. There is more than enough scope in that time to tackle the complexities of the text without fundamentally undermining it. Expecting an audience to cope with uncut Shakespeare in the Globe is unreasonable. It is pretty unreasonable in any venue - but comfortable seats and not being outdoors does help with longer performance times. I have sat through full text Hamlets and those with cuts (both judicious and injudicious) - and I am certain that cuts (of some sort) are necessary. There are undoubtedly good cuts and bad cuts - but you have to judge that on a production by production basis. I think most Shakespeare comedies can be played at 2 hours to 2 hours 15 plus interval and be great entertainment as well as representing the text well. For the tragedies and histories, I think 2 hours 30 to 2 hours 45 plus interval works for the majority of the plays. I certainly never want to see a 3 hour Dream again nor do I want 1 hour versions of any of the plays. But uncut Shakespeare is not something that I (as a Bard-oholic) relish - unless it is a very, very special production. |
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Post by waybeyondblue on Jul 22, 2018 15:15:03 GMT
So saw it yesterday and I just found it average and underwhelming. I liked the Globe when Emma Rice was there and was going to see this production for Mark Rylance. I should have known classical Shakespeare isn’t my thing and I personally like it done a bit more modernly.I liked Mark Rylance a lot as he made all the lines seem understandable and conversational however most of the other cast members did it in the classic speaking loud and rather annoying way where they lacked emotion with the lines and I just couldn’t really understand it as much as when Mark said the lines. Andre Holland was also very dare I say hammy and I wouldn’t say his performance was anything special . Shelia Atim was good but just felt odd as Iagos wife as the age gap and lack of a romance showed. Mark Rylance did feel like he was in a completely different naturalic small production of Othello. I liked the costumes but they just seemed to be set in a generic time for maybe 150-50 years ago but no where specific . I just didn’t t really engage or care about any of the characters and couldn’t wait till the end bed scene . Also the globe audience were a little badly behaved. I was sand at the back row of the lower gallery near the entre ce and kept being frequency deistacted by people going in and out to the toilet or just out and the ushers looked a bit annoyed by this too. Overall I would say if you took a school to see it you would be happy enough but it wasn’t nothing special , it just makes me miss Emma Rice. In balance we saw it because she has gone. If you want “modernly” then you might want to try Merry Wives at the RSC - it hasn’t opened yet but the publicity points towards a TOWIE theme which sound a lot of fun. Back to the show - went yesterday evening. Overall it was pretty good with the compressed text moving things along nicely. Mark tended to machine gun his lines at the start which made them hard work to follow at times. The lack of emotion is a wider issues with the text. If you deliver with all the emphasis and breaths you use in conversation then it’d take far longer because of the sheer volume of words and loses some of the rhythms from the original text. That said Sher’s Lear this year was a master class in delivering with conviction (or ham depending on your taste). It was very warm inside last night and the groundlings had a number of near misses where they left before they were carried out. A similarly hot (and sunny) afternoon at Titus had multiple stretcher teams wandering in and out. |
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jul 22, 2018 22:58:39 GMT
I thought this was ok, not the best production of Othello I've seen but it was enjoyable in spite of being a very hot night and being surrounded by a very badly behaved and extremely fidgity audience.
Mark Rylance was very good as Iago but maybe not evil enough. I wasn't sure about Andre Holland in Part I but his Othello got much stronger in Part II. Sheila Atim was very good as Emilia. The rest of the cast were a mix bag, some ok, some not very good.
I didn't really care for the final dance either, didn't really see the point of it.
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Post by deadyankee on Jul 23, 2018 12:22:19 GMT
The forecast for the matinee I’m attending is 30 degrees. I’m slightly concerned about dying. Are there restrictions on bringing water into the venue? I can’t remember
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2018 12:31:24 GMT
They positively ENCOURAGE you to take water in, especially on a hot day. There's a water fountain near door 4 if you need to refill, and you should consider a hat too (maybe also a fan and suncream?).
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Post by peggs on Jul 23, 2018 15:45:07 GMT
It was sweltering matinee and evening yesterday so yes do take lots of water, hat etc. And go out and come back in if you need. Last night's audience was particularly bad, try I g to really squash forward for some reason, I think the person behind me whose breath I could feel on my neck seemed keen to actually inhabit the same space as me.
Oh they're now selling fans along with programmes.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2018 17:27:18 GMT
Isn't Mark Rylance a bit too old to play Iago? Who is going to play Desdemona, Vanessa Redgrave? I'm surprised they didn't drag out James Earl . . . ummm . . . ummm . . . line! . . Jones to play Othello. Still, it's nice of Michelle Terry to put something on for the old folk who stopped going to the Globe because they didn't like the lights. Bravo Michelle! I always thought that Othello was middle-aged. A million years ago I studied this at 'A' level. One of the quotes that sticks in my mind is "even now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe" - Iago to Desdemona's father. Love the phrase even now, very now. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2018 17:32:01 GMT
Isn't Mark Rylance a bit too old to play Iago? Who is going to play Desdemona, Vanessa Redgrave? I'm surprised they didn't drag out James Earl . . . ummm . . . ummm . . . line! . . Jones to play Othello. Still, it's nice of Michelle Terry to put something on for the old folk who stopped going to the Globe because they didn't like the lights. Bravo Michelle! I always thought that Othello was middle-aged. A million years ago I studied this at 'A' level. One of the quotes that sticks in my mind is "even now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe" - Iago to Desdemona's father. Love the phrase even now, very now. Just realised that I've replied to a post from way back in January...just ignore me. My brain is befuddled by the heat. |
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Post by peggs on Jul 23, 2018 19:39:00 GMT
Oh they're now selling fans along with programmes So basically don't admit you've seen it more than once, then? Oh @theatremonkey ! Fan/programme selling steward at matinee was on fire, perfect queue control and fan demonstration, evening was all over the place with much wandering around from the lost and bemused and would be queue jumpers, fortunately an assertive American who'd queued for 3 hours and wasn't taking any rubbish provided 'that's the end of the queue' guidance when needed  |
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Post by crowblack on Jul 25, 2018 22:03:59 GMT
Saw some tweets about fainting groundlings (or groundling - it might be the same person) at this afternoon's show. I couldn't make it but the London friends I gave my tickets to enjoyed it. I might try to see it at a later date though I have seen one recently, at the Everyman, and it's not a play I like. It seems to have divided opinion on Twitter.
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Post by peggs on Jul 25, 2018 22:46:31 GMT
Friend went today and really enjoyed it and yes commented that the stewards were busy with keeling over groundlings.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2018 16:00:14 GMT
I enjoyed it but once it’s been pointed out that Rylance is dressed as Super Mario its impossible to unsee it
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Post by peggs on Aug 4, 2018 16:36:21 GMT
I enjoyed it but once it’s been pointed out that Rylance is dressed as Super Mario its impossible to unsee it [b3r] Well I can't unsee it Now! You just know I'm going to try saying that to someone when I'm there and am going to get a very odd look. |
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Post by Marwood on Aug 4, 2018 22:26:26 GMT
I enjoyed it but once it’s been pointed out that Rylance is dressed as Super Mario its impossible to unsee it ‘Its-a-me! Iago!’’ 😂 |
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Post by crowblack on Aug 5, 2018 22:27:29 GMT
once it’s been pointed out that Rylance is dressed as Super Mario Do you think they realised this, or are they so divorced from pop culture it's just an unfortunate coincidence? I think Rylance looks like a miserable Kenneth Connor, and that made Wolf Hall very difficult. |
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Post by deadyankee on Aug 6, 2018 12:08:02 GMT
He carries a big plumber style bag in one scene so it’s possibly not accidental
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Post by lynette on Aug 7, 2018 11:08:05 GMT
I love seeing the ways different productions portray Iago. He is one of the guys, the same as the rest, trusted by all, competent in his job. He is not favoured by Othello nor picked out especially by Othello at the beginning. So why make him so distinctive a character in dress or mannerism etc at the outset? His very blending in is so much part of the evil puzzle.
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Post by crowblack on Aug 7, 2018 12:36:37 GMT
Why choose to do it, though - seems odd. I had booked for this but couldn't make it (illness/heat) but probably won't try again because I think it'll annoy me. The recent Liverpool Everyman Othello was a powerful piece and I don't think I'd liked to see the play mugged up for laughs. |
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Post by deadyankee on Aug 7, 2018 15:44:57 GMT
The Mario thing is far more pronounced in photos that have been oversaturated to emphasize the resemblance. Honestly, it is barely going to register with you let alone distract you. It certainly isn’t mugged up, it just plays to the strengths of the Globe setup, ie the proximity of the groundlings.
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