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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 25, 2018 21:49:55 GMT
As a counterpoint to the revivals thread, I thought it might be fun to look at what people think really needs a break from our theatres.
Certainly after I had to review 5 of them in a 12 month period, I declared that I needed at least a decade off from seeing any more A Midsummer Night's Dream...
There are productions of good plays that have been around for too long and it is time for them to retire so that other directors can have a go at the text. Top of that list for me has to be An Inspector Calls. Iconic as the production was, enough is enough.
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Post by Marwood on Feb 25, 2018 22:40:41 GMT
Unless its has a stellar casting along the lines of De Niro and Pacino, Waiting For Godot can be put to rest for a very long time.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2018 22:44:54 GMT
Hamlet- in recent years and even months there have been many many productions and I think we can lay it to rest for a short while until anther thrilling production comes,especially after the excellent Robert Icke production.
Also I say Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, It is very dated but it will probably be even more so in a few years.
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Post by Jan on Feb 26, 2018 6:35:14 GMT
King Lear - McKellen's latest attempt is the best of a bad job and they might as well stop.
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Post by martin1965 on Feb 26, 2018 7:02:43 GMT
Shakespeare surely shouldnt count in this as they are going to be done regardless?
I would say Godot, Mother Courage, Streetcar.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 26, 2018 7:52:04 GMT
Hamlet
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 26, 2018 7:52:21 GMT
They are amongst my favourite plays but I would say Arcadia, Faith Healer, Our Country's Good, No Man's Land, Private Lives, Deep Blue Sea have all had a lot of outings in recent years. Though a revival of Arcadia at the National with Rufus Sewell now playing Bernard Nightingale and Emma Fielding as Hannah Jarvis, the whole thing directed by David Leveaux, would be a wonderful 25th-anniversary production.
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Post by jasper on Feb 26, 2018 9:53:04 GMT
Hamlet
King Lear
Any play by Pinter
Duchess of Malfi
View form the Bridge, The Crucible
Hedda Gabler
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 10:32:21 GMT
I say this as a huge fan who has seen literally hundreds of unique productions over the years, no more Shakespeare. Let's pick a year and everyone can have the year off. The RSC and the Globe can showcase other writers of the period or works based on the originals (like The Boys from Syracuse) if they simply MUST stick to the brief somehow. Contemporary playwrights can offer reduced rates. Estates of deceased playwrights can have a copyright-free year. Let's not merely do away with the overdone Hamlets, Lears, Dreams, and As You Like Its, let's just have NOTHING. There's more to British theatre than a single long-dead playwright, I think the industry would find it useful to realise they can continue to exist without him.
Also someone should definitely hide all available scripts of Private Lives and No Man's Land while we're here.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 11:17:45 GMT
I'll take yet another Hamlet if they get rid of Harry Potter and don't let it come back.
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Post by Jan on Feb 26, 2018 11:44:35 GMT
If we're eliminating one over-exposed play per author in favour of their less frequently performed works we could usefully drop Miss Julie, The Cherry Orchard and A Doll's House.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 17:53:50 GMT
There are lots of plays I'll happily never see again: Hamlet, King Lear, An Inspector Calls, that sodding Pinter thing that Patrick Stewart was in last year.... It doesn't bother me if people want to stage them though, but I don't want to see them again unless there is some amazing twist, like a version of Hamlet set on Mars with a cast of kittens in tiny 60s style space helmets.
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Post by wickedgrin on Feb 26, 2018 22:29:45 GMT
My list would be the overdone "most popular" plays by authors - and yes that would include Shakespeare - Hamlet, Lear, Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado etc. All done to death...
Blithe Spirit
Present Laughter
Private Lives
Streetcar Named Desire
The Crucible
Death of A Salesman
The Winslow Boy
The Importance of Being Earnest
Hobsons Choice
Inspector Calls
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe
..................and I'm sure there are more......
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Post by Jon on Feb 26, 2018 22:59:10 GMT
My list would be the overdone "most popular" plays by authors - and yes that would include Shakespeare - Hamlet, Lear, Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado etc. All done to death... Blithe Spirit Present Laughter Private Lives Streetcar Named Desire The Crucible Death of A Salesman The Winslow Boy The Importance of Being Earnest
Hobsons Choice Inspector Calls Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe ..................and I'm sure there are more...... Earnest needs to be rested, there's been three productions in the space of 4 years in the West End alone! |
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 27, 2018 14:02:47 GMT
Earnest needs to be rested You are not Dominic Dromgoole, and I do not claim my £5. |
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 28, 2018 11:15:50 GMT
There are productions of good plays that have been around for too long and it is time for them to retire so that other directors can have a go at the text. Top of that list for me has to be An Inspector Calls. Iconic as the production was, enough is enough. With great respect, I would like to take issue with oxfordsimon about 'An Inspector Calls' by quoting what I wrote in my diary the last time it played at Wimbledon: "My heart sank when I arrived at the theatre to find it almost totally full of school parties, who were being very noisy before the play started. I feared the worst after my bad experience at the 'West Side Story' matinee when all those young girls chattered throughout the whole show and giggled at the dramatic moments. But this time the children were a bit older and were a fairly even mix of the sexes. As soon as the play started they were totally riveted, and remained rapt in attention for the whole two hours of the performance, whereupon they gave the cast a rousing reception. In fact, some of their reactions to what was happening were quite interesting. When the daughter gave her fiancé a hearty slap on the face (which was very convincingly managed by the two actors) there was a huge gasp from the children, as also there had been when the girl threw her engagement ring on the ground after she found out that her fiancé had had a mistress. These dramatic moments were obviously fully making their mark and it was clear that the kids were totally immersed in the play. They also laughed quite loudly at a few of the lines which were meant to be ironic rather than funny, but the effect of the laughter was fine and added to the overall effect the play was making. So the whole thing not only restored my faith in the legitimate theatre after all the recent rubbish at Wyndhams with 'Ivanov' and 'Madame de Sade', but even restored my faith in the younger generation!" If this particular production can have such a profound effect on a theatre full of school children then I am in favour of it running for as long as it attracts audiences, especially young ones. And may I also remark that I don't see directors expressing any interest in Priestley's other plays, including his other 'time theory' works like 'Dangerous Corner' and 'Time and the Conways' so why should they particularly want to have a go at 'An Inspector Calls' after Daldry's brilliant staging for the NT? |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 28, 2018 12:45:47 GMT
I am not denying that the Daldry production is a powerful piece of theatre. My point is rather that other directors are being denied the opportunity to work on the play and to discover new ways to approach it.
Just because a certain production is excellent, that doesn't mean it is the only viable approach. There might be an even better way of doing a piece that we just aren't seeing because the rights are tied up for 25 years.
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Post by profquatermass on Mar 1, 2018 11:20:19 GMT
And may I also remark that I don't see directors expressing any interest in Priestley's other plays, including his other 'time theory' works like 'Dangerous Corner' and 'Time and the Conways' so why should they particularly want to have a go at 'An Inspector Calls' after Daldry's brilliant staging for the NT? Rupert Goold did Time and the Conways at the NT in 2009. They Came to a City was done at Southwark (when it was still at London Bridge). When we are Married toured and spent some time at the Garrick in 2010. The Finborough revived Summer's Day's Dream. There was a Radio 4 adaptation of The Good Companions only last week. And of course there was a TV version of An Inspector Calls. I'd say there was as much interest in Priestley as in any of his contemporaries except possibly Coward and Rattigan. |
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Post by mallardo on Mar 1, 2018 12:01:12 GMT
Dangerous Corner was also done in a touring production that I saw at Richmond in 2014.
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Post by tonyloco on Mar 1, 2018 12:12:16 GMT
Oops! I stand corrected, profquatermass and mallardo, and I should have done a bit more research before I started pontificating.
I was in fact intending to refer mainly to Priestley's 'time theory' plays (although I made my remark all-inclusive) and I have to say that 'When We Are Married' was one of the funniest and most satisfying comedies I have ever seen. A terrific play brilliantly performed.
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Post by profquatermass on Mar 1, 2018 12:15:11 GMT
Dangerous Corner was also done in a touring production that I saw at Richmond in 2014. Oh, I'm sorry I missed that. Just remembered that the Finborough did Laburnum Grove a few years ago. Lots of his novels have been reprinted. He's still very well-remembered I think |
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 1, 2018 13:14:17 GMT
He's still very well-remembered I think He's certainly very well remembered in Bradford. There's a huge statue of him outside the National Media Museum (or whatever it's called these days). |
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Post by jasper on Mar 1, 2018 13:29:48 GMT
What about a moratorium for ten years on Chekhov. Not a year goes by without the four major plays being seen. Much as I like him I feel I need a rest after nearly 50 of seeing his work. Although no doubt I am overstating the frequency of his work being roduced, but that is what it feel like. Aggh Union Theatre 3 Sisters and it is only March.
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Post by mallardo on Mar 1, 2018 13:51:33 GMT
Just remembered that the Finborough did Laburnum Grove a few years ago. Lots of his novels have been reprinted. He's still very well-remembered I think
And still one more - the Finborough had a big hit with Priestley's Cornelius in 2012. The Sam Yates production was so successful it went to New York with the Finborough cast! It was again successful there getting great reviews and breaking box office records (according to Wikipedia) at the off Broadway 59E59 theatre.
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Post by MrsCondomine on May 10, 2018 8:50:00 GMT
Mother Courage (ughhhhhh)
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