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Post by nash16 on Jan 25, 2018 23:15:27 GMT
James Macdonald hotfooting it from 'John' to this with Linda Bassett, as announced.
Justine Mitchell hotfooting it from 'Beginning' to join them, as Millament.
Who next from an NT Dorfman show will head the Donmar's way??
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Post by lynette on Jan 26, 2018 12:27:05 GMT
How interesting. Well, good for them to be getting lots of work.
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Post by mcdowell on Feb 12, 2018 12:35:30 GMT
This has completely sold. Any additional word out there about casting?
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Post by raiseitup on Feb 19, 2018 11:38:55 GMT
Linda Bassett has now withdrawn, to be replaced by Hadyn Gwynne.
Rest of the cast – Fisayo Akinade (Saint Joan), Alex Beckett (Grimly Handsome), Gabrielle Brooks (Everybody's Talking About Jamie), Frances Brown (Life According to Saki), Sarah Hadland (Miranda), Jenny Jules (Julius Caesar), Simon Manyonda (Barber Shop Chronicles), Caroline Martin (Medea), Tom Mison (Posh), Justine Mitchell (Beginning), Christian Patterson (My Country), Geoffrey Streatfeild (My Night With Reg) and Nathan Welsh (Circa).
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Post by Jan on Feb 19, 2018 12:50:48 GMT
Linda Bassett has now withdrawn, to be replaced by Hadyn Gwynne. Rest of the cast – Fisayo Akinade (Saint Joan), Alex Beckett (Grimly Handsome), Gabrielle Brooks (Everybody's Talking About Jamie), Frances Brown (Life According to Saki), Sarah Hadland (Miranda), Jenny Jules (Julius Caesar), Simon Manyonda (Barber Shop Chronicles), Caroline Martin (Medea), Tom Mison (Posh), Justine Mitchell (Beginning), Christian Patterson (My Country), Geoffrey Streatfeild (My Night With Reg) and Nathan Welsh (Circa). Interesting selection of credits WhatsOnStage have used there - is My Night With Reg really the most memorable/high-profile thing Geoffrey Streatfeild has done ? Also why didn't they say Lina Bassett (Call The Midwife) ? |
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Post by princeton on Feb 19, 2018 13:32:54 GMT
Particularly perverse is choosing Drunk Enough to Say I Love You as James Macdonald's credit. In truth - surely the space would be better used to say which part the actors are playing in this production. I'm assuming that Justine Mitchell and Geoffrey Streatfeild are playing Millamant and Mirabel - or perhaps the entire cast, other than Haydn Gwynne, will be tossing coins a la Mary Stuart!
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Post by princeton on Feb 19, 2018 13:35:36 GMT
This from londontheatre.co.uk
The Way of the World will also feature Fisayo Akinade (Witwoud), Alex Beckett (Waitwell), Gabrielle Brooks (Mincing), Phoebe Frances Brown (Betty/Pig), Sarah Hadland (Foible), Jenny Jules (Mrs Marwood), Simon Manyonda (Petulant), Caroline Martin (Mrs Fainall), Tom Mison (Fainall), Justine Mitchell (Millalant), Christian Patterson (Sir Wilfull Witwoud), Geoffrey Streatfeild (Mirabel) and Nathan Welsh (Mirabel’s Servant/Wishfort’s Footman).
Perhaps a tad more helpful.
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Post by lynette on Feb 19, 2018 13:56:22 GMT
O sorry Linda Bassett out of it now but ok with Ms Gwynne. Brilliant part for anyone of 'a certain age' . V please with G Streatfeild ( who confounds the only spelling rule that works..mostly)
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Post by Jan on Feb 19, 2018 14:01:48 GMT
Justine Mitchell seems like perfect casting for this. Streatfeild not sure, doesn’t seem like his sort of thing at all, let’s see.
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Post by princeton on Feb 19, 2018 16:17:29 GMT
Geoffrey Streatfeild was very good in The Beaux' Stratagem at the National a few years ago - and also good opposite Justine Mitchell in Wild Honey. I'm rather looking forward to this now.
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Post by peggs on Mar 27, 2018 19:15:46 GMT
Have been seeing rehearsal photos for this for a while and thinking I thought I booked for that and ohh exciting cast but that's not Linda Bassett so must be something else, clearly I didn't read the above did I. Had no idea I had another Geoffrey fix coming my way!
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Post by mistressjojo on Mar 29, 2018 7:34:51 GMT
Very happy that my daily checking of the Donmar site has scored me a ticket on the one day I could see this.
I don't even mind that I'll be looking at Tom Mison's rear most of the time. 😎
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2018 7:57:05 GMT
Very happy that my daily checking of the Donmar site has scored me a ticket on the one day I could see this. I don't even mind that I'll be looking at Tom Mison's rear most of the time. 😎 It's a hard life you lead, but good of you to make the sacrifice.  |
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 29, 2018 9:37:56 GMT
I don't even mind that I'll be looking at Tom Mison's rear most of the time. You are really @ryan and I claim my £5. |
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Post by popcultureboy on Mar 31, 2018 7:16:52 GMT
First preview on Thursday night ran 3 hours 25 minutes.....
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Post by audrey on Mar 31, 2018 8:21:33 GMT
Saw this last night (friday). It came in at 3'15. Way of the World must have one of the most complicated plots and it takes a while to get your head around who is who and their relationships. It is however great fun and very enjoyable i. The cast seemed to be really enjoying themselves on stage. It didn't feel overlong but it will possibly come down a little in running time once everyone has settled into their roles.
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Post by argon on Mar 31, 2018 11:04:41 GMT
How to add complexity to a plot name characters, Wilwoud,Wishfort,Waitwell, Wilful
Mincing,Millamant,Mirabel & wait for it Marawood - Do you see a pattern.
First Act ponderous, Wordy & lots of prattle that doesn't add to the plot or drive the narrative forward. Probably, explaining vacant seats after the interval.
It's all about Act 2 which picks up pace, is comical, engaging & provides the much needed entertainment. There's a sort of Benedict - Beatrice thing going on between Mirabel & Millamant which Geoffrey Streatfeild plays out well ( reminded me of Colin Firth's Mr Darcy) & Heyden Gwynne also gets my praise for her depiction of Lady W.
An ambitious director may have chosen to trim Act 1 ( considerably).
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Post by andromedadench on Apr 1, 2018 19:30:48 GMT
Saw this last night (friday). It came in at 3'15. Way of the World must have one of the most complicated plots and it takes a while to get your head around who is who and their relationships. I had to read the play for my English literature course at the uni, and all I remember of it is that I had to keep re-reading it as I couldn't grasp what was going on for the life of me. Eventually, it defeated me and I just gave up, hoping that, in the exam, I'd get a School for Scandal or The Rivals question instead. |
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Post by david on Apr 4, 2018 0:01:09 GMT
How to add complexity to a plot name characters, Wilwoud,Wishfort,Waitwell, Wilful Mincing,Millamant,Mirabel & wait for it Marawood - Do you see a pattern. First Act ponderous, Wordy & lots of prattle that doesn't add to the plot or drive the narrative forward. Probably, explaining vacant seats after the interval. It's all about Act 2 which picks up pace, is comical, engaging & provides the much needed entertainment. There's a sort of Benedict - Beatrice thing going on between Mirabel & Millamant which Geoffrey Streatfeild plays out well ( reminded me of Colin Firth's Mr Darcy) & Heyden Gwynne also gets my praise for her depiction of Lady W. An ambitious director may have chosen to trim Act 1 ( considerably). Saw this last night, and have to agree with the comments above. At around 3hrs 20mins, it really felt that long and really wished Act 1 had had some serious editing because it really dragged and completely lost my interest and at times I really wondered what was happening on stage. I’m sure a lot of people were wondering what was happening and when it would end as I caught a few people glancing at their watches. Certainly around me where I was sat in the circle C8 a few people definitely waved the white flag of surrender and never returned for Act 2. For me Act 2 was a definite improvement with a lot more comedy. I just wished some of it could of been transferred to Act 1 just to balance the two parts a bit more. The one one saving grace for me was Haydn Gwynne who had great comic timing, and really provided some light relief to this production. From my circle C8 Seat, there where definitely no sight line issues as the staging is very minimal and the majority of the play is done centrally so nothing is really missed. I’m glad I only paid £10 for this as I don’t think I would have paid anymore to see this production. Overall, after the brilliant York Realist, a bit of a let down I’m afraid. Oh well, onto the next production! |
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Post by noboiscout on Apr 4, 2018 12:07:32 GMT
David - I agree with everything you say...about Act I. My friend and I couldn't bear to wait for Act II although I'm glad to hear things improved. Haydn Gwynne was great and I enjoyed Sarah Hadland's performance as well. The rest of the cast didn't appear to understand that there should be some comedy in a Restoration comedy, but perhaps that's just the material. Heaven knows why this has been revived. A sad production as you say, after the fantastic York Realist.
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Post by david on Apr 4, 2018 12:19:20 GMT
David - I agree with everything you say...about Act I. My friend and I couldn't bear to wait for Act II although I'm glad to hear things improved. Haydn Gwynne was great and I enjoyed Sarah Hadland's performance as well. The rest of the cast didn't appear to understand that there should be some comedy in a Restoration comedy, but perhaps that's just the material. Heaven knows why this has been revived. A sad production as you say, after the fantastic York Realist. I actually got more enjoyment out of watching people in the front stalls trying to survive watching Act 1. I actually saw one poor guy gently nodding off during it. I think if HG hadn’t been that funny, I think I would have bailed myself, and I have never done that ( I even stayed the distance for the NT’s Common last year!) |
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Post by Steve on Apr 5, 2018 13:41:19 GMT
Saw this last night, and as previous posters have suggested, the second half is funny, whereas the first is not.
Some spoilers follow. . .
James Macdonald directed Roots at the Donmar not so long ago, and I thought that was a marvel of naturalism, with Linda Bassett pottering around doing chores, and suggesting immense depth of feeling nonverbally.
I get the feeling that Macdonald was out of his comfort zone directing this. I imagine the actors in the rehearsals being guided into realism and naturalism and motivations, without sufficient attention to comic clarity (ie show your baseness) and comic exaggeration (ie mug up a storm of craziness).
Fisayo Akinade is only in a small role, but I appreciated that he always knows he's in a comedy, as he camps about the stage. I recalled that he worked, as Caliban, in some hysterically funny scenes with Dominic Rowan and Trevor Fox, in Dominic Dromgoole's final Globe Tempest, and I imagined that he must have internalised the way Dromgoole expertly mixed comic exaggeration (Trinculo) with grave seriousness (Prospero). And in this show, he knows he's the comic relief.
Few others do, playing comic parts with undue subtlety, allowing thought and angst to triumph over appetite and mania, and consequently all the froth of the first half flounders.
Three actors redeem the show: Justine Mitchell OWNS her funny lines, revelling in her own egotistical sarcasm. She made me laugh at a line where she said she does her hair like prose, rather than poetry. Her off-the-cuff lightness and confidence and timing make comic hay out of difficult lines.
Haydn Gwynne is great at comically exaggerated frenzy, as she expertly combines the mania of Basil Fawlty with the ineptitude of Mr Bean and the emotional lostness of a real person. But she has her scenes mostly in the second half, which is why that half fizzes.
And thirdly, Alex Beckett does the only full fledged comic mugging, as a lowly manservant disguised to seduce a Lady, and he nails it. The relief of the audience to see some no holds barred comic playing was palpable, as we got our first universal roars of laughter.
Overall, James Macdonald is so good at naturalism (eg Roots) and misery (eg 4:48 Psychosis), that I feel he is struggling with exaggerated humour, and I think the above named actors are calling on their long experience to show him how it's done.
Oh, and I'm not convinced any comedy can make a case for a running time of 3 hrs, 15mins.
3 stars, for the laughs in the second half.
PS: I love Streatfeild and Mison, but here they are too restrained.
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Post by Jan on Apr 6, 2018 17:17:20 GMT
Oh, and I'm not convinced any comedy can make a case for a running time of 3 hrs, 15mins. Correct. No comedy should ever run more than 3hrs. I bet no-one can come up with a successful one that did. |
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Post by nash16 on Apr 6, 2018 21:29:32 GMT
The reviews are so at odds with what we've said on here.
What extras do the reviewers get?
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Post by david on Apr 6, 2018 21:32:53 GMT
The reviews are so at odds with what we've said on here. What extras do the reviewers get? A large supply of drugs and alcohol to get them through the show?! |
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