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Post by missthelma on Feb 15, 2019 19:45:40 GMT
It feels like a lazy persons standing ovation No, I do it if I've loved a show but seem to be in the minority and don't want to block the view of non-ovating, often elderly people in the seats behind me. That or I'm in a circle seat and I'm too scared to stand. And both of those make perfect sense! It seems to be a recent phenomena to my brain but probably isn't. I think I am conflating it with other behaviour I find, not bad so much, as slightly grating in the way audiences show their appreciation sometimes. I fear am becoming too grumpy to be allowed out in public some days! |
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Post by peggs on Feb 15, 2019 21:24:45 GMT
I fear am becoming too grumpy to be allowed out in public some days! Not just you, walking back to the station last night I reflected that perhaps I should stay in since I seem to be so frustrated by all those slow walking in middle of pavement, excessively loudly talking, far too happy looking people that are clearly just out to annoy me  |
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Post by lynette on Feb 16, 2019 22:34:06 GMT
Saw 7 tonight What acting! And what writing.
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Post by theatremad on Feb 17, 2019 15:32:32 GMT
Saw 7 yesterday afternoon. Meaning I had done all 7.
Liked both of the plays in almost equal measure, however Slight Ache did just come out in front.
Overall I've been bowled over by the chances over the season, with some discoveries and ones I thought I'd enjoy but wasn't that blown away by.
Personal top 3, in no particular order:
- Party Time
- Mountain Language
- The Lover
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Post by learfan on Feb 17, 2019 15:56:36 GMT
Saw 7 yesterday afternoon. Meaning I had done all 7. Liked both of the plays in almost equal measure, however Slight Ache did just come out in front. Overall I've been bowled over by the chances over the season, with some discoveries and ones I thought I'd enjoy but wasn't that blown away by. Personal top 3, in no particular order: - Party Time - Mountain Language - The Lover I too saw all the magnificent seven! My podium:One for the road, party time, the lover. |
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Post by david on Feb 23, 2019 22:57:09 GMT
Finally saw Pinter 7 this afternoon. As the final one in the season, both plays for me were a great way to the season. Both the writing and the on stage performances were magnificent and I enjoyed them in equal measure.
I thought the pairing of Gemma Whelan / John Heffernan and Danny Dyer/ Martin Freeman worked very well in their respective plays.
Overall, although I haven’t been able to watch all the season, the ones I have watched I have enjoyed very much. Though for me Celebration was the one I enjoyed the most as it was just so much fun, even with its darker undertones. It was been a pleasure to see some great actors on stage delivering Pinter’s text. Having paid £15 for each of the tickets for a central stalls seat, it was an absolute steal for those plays.
I hope that the entire season gets recognised in some form during awards season as it thoroughly deserves to get something for what Jamie Lloyd and the entire production crew and cast has done over the last few months.
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Post by joem on Feb 24, 2019 17:09:28 GMT
"A Slight Ache" had me shaking my head for the first five minutes, disappointed it hadn't been properly staged. But I have to admit it grew on me due to the expressive performances from the two actors. The language in this play is about as Pinteresque as it gets.
There was so much expectation for this "Dumb Waiter" that it was difficult for this to be matched by the performance but Dyer and Watson gave a rollicking Beckettish performance. Does too much humour detract from the menace of the play or are we simply meant to see it as a dark comedy? Take your pick. I do wish the director would have sat on the stalls toward the front and right, in which case maybe Danny Dyer wouldn't have spent much of his time half-hidden behind the jacket draped over the bed.
Quibbles aside this has been a triumph of a season and proof that serious theatre is still alive and well in London even in the West End. Might this inspire similar retrospective cycles to be staged for other great moderns? It's a thought although few, admittedly, have the range and box-office appeal of Pinter. Shame they left out Tea Party, The Dwarfs and A Night Out.
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Post by lynette on Feb 24, 2019 17:12:31 GMT
Who else would warrant a season so brilliantly cast? I suppose you could do decades, like the sixties, all that anger..
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Post by joem on Feb 24, 2019 17:22:10 GMT
Who else would warrant a season so brilliantly cast? I suppose you could do decades, like the sixties, all that anger.. There's only one Pinter.... but for a retrospective of this nature you might look at Stoppard or Rattigan? There's a steady output of Rattigan but tends to be concentrated round three or four heavily revived works whereas there is stuff like "Adventure Story" that doesn't seem to have been put on since the original production. Also I think (and this is where Stoppard scores some points) it is helpful to be able to have one-act plays bunched together, seldom seen in the West End, and not all playwrights do this. There are of course writers with smaller outputs who could easily be done in toto in a season (Orton, Kane etc). I don't know, some of this is personal taste but this is a business so I imagine the producers would need to look at box office appeal. There are people like Hare and, to a lesser extent Brenton, who do well. It might be interesting to see some of their early works when Hare was a radical rather than a Hampstead luvvie. |
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Post by Marwood on Feb 24, 2019 18:51:25 GMT
Who else would warrant a season so brilliantly cast? I suppose you could do decades, like the sixties, all that anger.. Ray Cooney 😝 |
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Post by learfan on Feb 24, 2019 19:53:20 GMT
Chichester did a mini Rattigan festival few years ago to mark his centenary. The only major playwright i know who has a lot of short plays like Pinter is O'Neill.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2019 9:11:26 GMT
The fact everyone seems to have already forgotten the year-long Oscar Wilde season shows what a success that was I guess!
Jamie Lloyd, unlike Dromgoole, seems to have managed to make this an event with a lot of buzz.
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Post by lynette on Feb 25, 2019 18:03:43 GMT
Joem, Hare has some lovely early work, some of which was on the telly and could be revisioned for the stage. And of course there is Plenty, before the decline, imo, into political rant. Stoppard has a good body of work also done on the telly , like Professional Foul
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Post by learfan on Feb 25, 2019 18:20:37 GMT
The fact everyone seems to have already forgotten the year-long Oscar Wilde season shows what a success that was I guess! Jamie Lloyd, unlike Dromgoole, seems to have managed to make this an event with a lot of buzz. Not the same thing at all. Speaking of Dromgoole, whatever happened to a follow up season on Shaw that he spoke about? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2019 18:57:02 GMT
Not the same thing at all. Speaking of Dromgoole, whatever happened to a follow up season on Shaw that he spoke about? Why? Both extended seasons of a single playwright at a West End theatre, promoted as a season, overseen by one director with other directors also contributing, starry casts, with special related events going on too. Exactly the same. Regarding Shaw ... Probably answers your question! www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jul/06/year-long-oscar-wilde-season-announced-west-end-vaudeville-theatreI think Dromgoole's snooty comments about young audiences probably didn't help this get off the ground. |
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