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Post by showgirl on Aug 12, 2018 17:41:20 GMT
I think it should be a rule that no show at The Globe should be more than 2 hours plus an interval. See to it please Michelle. Make that no show anywhere, please - and while you're at it, @ryan, since you obviously have a magic wand or contacts who do, could you please also ensure a reasonable minimum length to make it worth the trip? Say 75 - 90 minutes? Much appreciated. |
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Post by foxa on Aug 15, 2018 9:06:53 GMT
I had a mixed reaction to this - I wanted to like it more. Great to see a talented cast of actresses given a real range of things to do, from courtly dancing to silly clowning. All three Emilias are good - v. talented. I think Morgan Lloyd Malcolm writes some sections very well. The set is clever. Like others have said it was long, but when I tried to think about what could be cut, it was often stuff that I liked but didn't necessarily move the plot forward so - you would lose something good at the expense of rushing through her life. There were things that annoyed me: {Spoiler - click to view}
The actress 'struggling' with her moustache and then finally putting it in her costume.
Having the Elizabethans mimicking current concerns about immigration which seemed stuck on.
The odd burning of one of the south of the river girls. This seemed to come almost out of nowhere and since she hadn't been a major character the impact was muted. The suggestion that Shakespeare shouldn't have used the dark lady as an inspiration. The long speech at the end - as if she didn't trust that the constant repetition of these ideas in the play hadn't been enough (but this got a big cheer from the audience.) I think it's worth seeing and these are the types of new plays it's great to see the Globe commissioning - but I have some reservations about how enjoyable a night out it would be for some. |
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Post by lonlad on Aug 15, 2018 22:57:36 GMT
Just back from press night. Well, it's certainly lively and some of the acting is terrific but one doesn't have to be on the side of the angels, as most of the audience certainly is, to wish that the playwright had bothered to write a play and not just pen some overlong preparatory notes for a rally, which it what it becomes at the end. The (female) friend I was with enjoyed the enthusiasm of the piece but felt as if she had been at the staged equivalent of the recent women's march; the play qua play barely exists.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2018 11:47:11 GMT
Fascinating mix of reviews for this in the press, from five stars to two stars so far. The theatrical style which appears to have some in ecstasy or be rubbing them up the wrong way.
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Post by foxa on Aug 16, 2018 12:29:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2018 12:47:42 GMT
If there was an award for reviews I would give it to this one. She makes excellent points that need further discussion. Very balanced. KWomen are so under represented in Theatre that of course they feel the need to write about being women because they are almost creating their culture again from scratch. Her discussion about the sorts of subjects women write about is really interesting. I really hated Home, I’m Darling because I felt that as a subject for a play it felt demeaning. Men do housework but most don’t write plays about it - yes, I know the play isn’t about housework but it sickened me to see a woman on stage clearing up after a man, taking the top off his egg etc. There may be women like that but I have zero interest. That the NT chose to programme that rather than a play by a woman about, say, climate change (I know, but I can’t think of another subject right now). Or maybe programme both so that women like me who have no interest in a “quirky” play about a woman with strange proclivities has something meatier to engage her intellect. i would like to see Emilia - if I can get a ticket! |
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Post by foxa on Aug 16, 2018 12:59:39 GMT
I think it's worth seeing - but Rosemary Waugh in this review summed up some of my hesitations. It was a play that I could admire and appreciate it being commissioned, more than genuinely being touched or moved by it. And as someone who unhesitatingly considers myself feminist that may be surprising. But there is quite a bit of preaching to the converted in this. I was yearning for something more complex and well-rounded (though perhaps it's fair to say that the Globe doesn't necessarily lend itself to that.)
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Post by lynette on Aug 18, 2018 21:30:05 GMT
Thanks foxa for posting that review. It does sum up the difficulties here v well
I left at the interval. So I missed a few ‘good’ bits. But after an hour and a half ( come on Writer person, this is the second most uncomfortable theatre in London ) I think I got the message.
For me too many targets and most missed. The language target, the mix of old and new didn’t work because the audience roared with laughter at the contemporary expressions as if they were the only bits they,we, understood. The poetry was lost. So old serious new funny? Then immigration. Hammered in. I mean hammered with I think a mistake about Elizabethan/Jacobean attitudes. But let’s not quibble when we are preaching eh? Then of course equality of the sexes ( or is that gender ?) Frankly I think it was done better in the film, Shakespeare in Love. Because it was visual. Writing is very hard to dramatise.
All done with gusto and you can’t fault the acting. You rarely can because we are blessed with such a fine acting tradition and practitioners. But I’m sorry Steve and you can dismiss this as I didn’t stay til the end, but for me not good.
In the programme there is a comment about this play being especially written for this theatre. May I humbly, very humbly remind the Globe that there are other plays written especially for this theatre. I think they should focus on producing them.
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Post by dlevi on Aug 31, 2018 5:54:55 GMT
I saw this tonight and despite the fact that I found some of the didacticism over-written and the running time a bit too long, I loved it - a lot ! And the stomping screaming and cheering ovation at the end was something rather amazing. More than a 10 actor Hamlet or a star-driven Othello , this play and this production embodied what I hope will be Michelle Terry's bold and inclusive tenure at the Globe. The performances were more often than not delightful; the rambunctiousness of the direction was contagious without being obnoxious and as a call to arms for equality and respect, it gives "The Jungle" a run for its money. I really think this is one of the best and most exhilarating plays of the year andin a year that includes The Inheritance, The Jungle, Fun Home and Home, I'm Darling - that's saying something. If the Globe doesn't bring it back next year it's only because it will already be playing in the West End. Joyful!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2018 8:48:16 GMT
I wonder if we are getting too obsessed with the idea of WE transfers as a sign of success. If it sells well why not just consider bringing it back - as you suggest - or extending the run. I noticed that this show hasn’t sold out - most successful shows at least sell out in their final week, certainly in their final days. The last time I looked this still had availability - given that it had quite a short run that probably indicates that a WE transfer would not be commercially viable.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Aug 31, 2018 17:34:13 GMT
Definitely popular this afternoon, couldn’t see many empty seats and the groundlings were out in force.
For me a play of two halves, the early years were intelligently written as it played with the Shakespeare angle and the young Emilia was wonderful. The second half became more of a political rally loved by the predominantly female audience.
Hope the young women in the audience pick up the fire, we really need more women of influence to nullify the mess we men are currently making of everything.
Also, if Michelle wants to bring equality to the Gobe she really needs to consider reducing the size of the downstairs gents (embarrassingly under utilised today) the queue for the ladies seemed to go on forever.
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Post by lynette on Sept 1, 2018 13:13:13 GMT
Yes the loos, no longer good enough. And the foyer area also limited as you can’t go into the 'yard' until half an hour before the show starts. Missed opportunity I think
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Post by greenswan on Sept 3, 2018 19:03:59 GMT
Saw this on Saturday. Yes, it's too long. And yes, it's like the Guardian on stage in places. But despite being horribly penned in because they've extended the stage, it's one of the more memorable things I've seen at the Globe in the past few years. It could certainly do with some cuts and less didacticism but I would still strongly recommend seeing it. Sometimes a crowd pleaser can be fun as well.
The actors really bring this to life and young Emilia, Lord Henry and Will Shakespeare were particularly good.
It was very funny in places and certainly rousing - not just the speech at the end. And as mentioned before on this thread, the ovation at the end was both long and loud.
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Post by rosmersholm on Nov 23, 2018 20:53:07 GMT
Transferring into the West End in the new year.
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Post by lynette on Nov 23, 2018 21:29:28 GMT
Really? I’m surprised.
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Post by Jon on Nov 23, 2018 22:24:31 GMT
Wonder which theatre?
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Post by Rory on Nov 24, 2018 0:02:26 GMT
Trafalgar Studio 1?
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Post by lynette on Nov 24, 2018 8:46:04 GMT
Whichever Theatre, you'll need ear plugs if they shout as much as they did at the Globe. Presumably they will adapt for indoors.
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Post by Steve on Nov 24, 2018 23:05:07 GMT
As one of those who loved this, I'm glad it's transferring.
It may be preachy, but it's funny with it, as the women playing "toxic masculinity" are satirically funny, and it's a great story of what Shakespeare's "dark lady" might have been like.
It would be lovely if Leah Harvey transferred as young Emilia, because she was exceptionally good, and Charity Wakefield was slyly funny and convincing as Shakespeare. The two older Emilias could be cut back a bit to trim the preachiness and overlong running time.
I know I'm in a minority on this board, but if you avoid comparing this to Shakespeare's poetry, and you leave your subtlety-meter at home, and take this on its own merits, it's extremely entertaining and illuminating as well.
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Post by rosmersholm on Nov 24, 2018 23:35:27 GMT
It would be lovely if Leah Harvey transferred as young Emilia, because she was exceptionally good. She will be busy on the Southbank... |
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Post by Snciole on Nov 25, 2018 12:48:41 GMT
There was a lot of vocal love for this, I think Twitter is shaping what transfers as much as traditional critical acclaim. I missed this as I find the Globe a difficult venue (I don't want to stand and I don't want to pay a lot for uncomfortable seats either and why O why are the shows always so long) but if I can find cheap or heavily discounted tickets *wink* for this I will probably pop along.
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Post by showgirl on Nov 25, 2018 13:38:03 GMT
Slightly off-topic but I do so agree re the new writing at the Globe (as that's the category which interests me) tending to be off-puttingly long & seats uncomfortable - & expensive for anything but restricted view.
I know the point of the venue is to replicate a past era & not to provide modern comforts or meet any accessibility/affordability needs, but there must be a cost in terms of lost business.
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Post by zahidf on Dec 11, 2018 8:51:52 GMT
Shakespeare’s Globe’s “extraordinarily rousing new play” (The Independent) will transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre from 8 March – 5 June 2019. An all-female cast playing both hers and hims rouses “audiences into a pitch of fervour” (The Guardian) in a “magnificent production” (The Stage) filled with “wit, fierce intelligence and heady intensity” (The Times).
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Post by Michael on Dec 11, 2018 9:37:38 GMT
Threads merged and renamed.
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Post by QueerTheatre on Dec 11, 2018 17:08:55 GMT
managed to grab two stalls seats for £20 each on TodayTix - very happy with that!
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