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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2019 22:45:11 GMT
This was truly awful, tedious and dull. Is nowhere in the same league as the Lehman trilogy at all. It can’t decide whether to be a musical, a serious drama or a bit of both. Once again the Old Vic has staged this in the round for no apparent reason, it could have easily fitted on the vast Old Vic stage. It featured an enormous cast which added to the overall confusion as they seemed to be duplicating the main characters. I can’t see this selling out or even filling the theatre during its run. Another one here for who this didn't work and is the weakest Miller play I have ever seen: though this isn't to detract from the cast who work incredibly well with the material. As for why it is in the round, I believe it has been forced upon the Old Vic because of the renovation works which have left them with a choice of reduced capacity or in the round. 2 1/2 stars for me. |
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Post by Mark on Feb 8, 2019 23:18:25 GMT
I did quite like this one this evening. It clocked in at three hours but didn’t feel overly long. I particularly liked the tap dance sequence. I imagine Chavkin’s vision for this is vastly different from what the original play was like, but it is very visually effective.
I did struggle with some of the doubling ups of the characters and the seemingly “triple” casting of some roles. I didn’t know who was who at some points.
I was side row M “restricted view” and found it fine to be honest.
And toilet watch: those port-a-loos are better than the facilities in some west end theatres!
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Post by Boob on Feb 9, 2019 18:13:49 GMT
This was truly awful, tedious and dull. Is nowhere in the same league as the Lehman trilogy at all. It can’t decide whether to be a musical, a serious drama or a bit of both. Once again the Old Vic has staged this in the round for no apparent reason, it could have easily fitted on the vast Old Vic stage. It featured an enormous cast which added to the overall confusion as they seemed to be duplicating the main characters. I can’t see this selling out or even filling the theatre during its run. Another one here for who this didn't work and is the weakest Miller play I have ever seen: though this isn't to detract from the cast who work incredibly well with the material. As for why it is in the round, I believe it has been forced upon the Old Vic because of the renovation works which have left them with a choice of reduced capacity or in the round. 2 1/2 stars for me. Did you see Ressurection Blues at the same venue? That counts as one of my worst nights in the theatre ever. |
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Post by Snciole on Feb 9, 2019 18:47:03 GMT
I got called by the Old Vic last week letting me know that my seat was now restricted view and I could either keep it or move. They moved me very easily and I am seeing it on Monday.
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Post by partytentdown on Feb 9, 2019 19:12:21 GMT
Can't decide whether to call out on this. Can I deal with 3 hours in the circle after reading these mediocre reviews or shall I go home and get a pizza
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2019 19:30:28 GMT
Can't decide whether to call out on this. Can I deal with 3 hours in the circle after reading these mediocre reviews or shall I go home and get a pizza I had a similar dilemma and decided on home (though I haven't actually left it today) and pizza, not feeling well enough to sit through 3 hours tonight. |
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Post by MrBunbury on Feb 9, 2019 20:19:14 GMT
I saw it this afternoon and the three hours passed quickly. I liked it a lot, especially Golda Rosheuvel (always sublime), Ewan Wardrop and that adorable Fred Haig (may I order a copy on Amazon?). The musician are great too. My seat was unexpectedly in the front row after the change to a staging in the round.
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Post by david on Feb 9, 2019 22:40:38 GMT
I was also there this afternoon. I was sat in the Baylis Circle and for 3hrs wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences. By the end of Act 1, I was glad just to get out of there and stretch my legs and get some fresh air It didn’t help that it seemed very warm up there as well. If All my Sons is of a similar running time, I’m glad I’ve booked a stalls seat as I wouldn’t want to go through that again any time soon.
As for the play itself, I thought it was well done and an interesting examination of the impact of the Depression on people’s lives. The use of song and dance at different points during the show were the highlight for me. The band playing preshow was a nice touch to the proceeedings. Fred Haig dancing was a big plus. I was enjoy seeing a revolve in action on a stage and this certainly didn’t disappoint here.
As someone who also saw the Lehman Trilogy, I can definitely see the similarities between the two plays in terms of its staging Though I didn’t get as lost as to who was playing who with this one as I did with the LT so that’s another plus for this play for me.
The outside toilets weren’t an issue, though why FOH had buckets of sweets outside of them is a bit baffling. Though I must admit, I did take one or two.i mean it would of been rude not to as they are being offered.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2019 10:55:58 GMT
The outside toilets weren’t an issue, though why FOH had buckets of sweets outside of them is a bit baffling. Though I must admit, I did take one or two.i mean it would of been rude not to as they are being offered. I'm not sure I would take any sweets that were offered outside of toilets, seeing as many people don't wash their hands after going . . . |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2019 21:59:32 GMT
I am never watching another Rachel Chavkin production. The double bassist in the band spent much of the play with his head hung down or fiddling with his bow. When the people on stage look so bored, what hope is there for the audience?
She fills the stage with too many people, it’s too busy.
She has dance, but it’s really sloppily executed. Either cast people who can dance, or choreograph something simpler.
She favours this old-timey aesthetic that I find very chintzy and dull.
She does a ticker tape drop in the first ten minutes which makes the stage a mess for the rest of the play.
Did she double up solely so that the main characters could form the numbers on the clock at the end of the first act?
My ticket was £10 and I resented paying it. Left at the interval.
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Post by Polly1 on Feb 11, 2019 10:30:34 GMT
My first cold of the winter has made the decision for me about going tonight or not. I'm not. Ticket is on my phone so if anyone wants a free ticket in the stalls, drop me a PM and I'll send it over.
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Post by foxa on Feb 11, 2019 12:14:27 GMT
Oh dear. I'm there tonight. Great £10 tix in row J Stalls and I've never seen the play....I'm dragging Mr Foxa (pray for him.) Come say 'hi' at the interval, if you are there - you'll probably recognise me as the bespectacled woman trying to talk down an outraged husband.
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Post by jamb0r on Feb 11, 2019 13:56:47 GMT
I'm there tonight too - my £10 front stalls seat turned out to be restricted view so they've moved me to the stage seats. Based on these reports I'm now terrified I'm going to be in full view of hundreds of people being able to see me nodding off.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Feb 11, 2019 15:19:01 GMT
You also get some fairly dreadful southern accents from James Garnon Oh THAT'S where he's gone. He gets about, doesn't he, old Garnon. Last time I saw him in the Old Vic was in the EXCREBLE Much Ado. |
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Post by raiseitup on Feb 11, 2019 16:24:54 GMT
Not well, and also gonna give this a miss today. 2 freebies in row C centre of the dress circle available if anyone wants them.
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Post by zahidf on Feb 11, 2019 22:18:33 GMT
Didn't much like this. Too long and was annoying.
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Post by romeo94 on Feb 11, 2019 23:20:27 GMT
Josie Walker was announced to be in this right? She's disappeared from the cast list on the website...
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Post by popcultureboy on Feb 11, 2019 23:47:33 GMT
Josie Walker was announced to be in this right? She's disappeared from the cast list on the website... And indeed from the cast itself. |
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Post by princeton on Feb 12, 2019 0:27:33 GMT
This production really has got a case of the amazing vanishing cast. John Marquez was also initially announced as a member of the company and he too seems to have disappeared. If to lose one cast member may be regarded as a misfortune, and to lose two looks like carelessness - then what is it to lose three - bad producing/direction? Surely they can't have all left because they didn't want to use the portaloo!!
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Post by nash16 on Feb 12, 2019 1:33:07 GMT
Friend went tonight and said Clarke Peters was wearing an earpiece and taking quite a while to say some of his lines. That's going to take me back to Richard Dreyfus in that awful one a few years back. Also, the reasoning behind the white/black/Asian tripling: www.timeout.com/london/theatre/rachel-chavkin-i-think-its-funny-that-im-a-broadway-directorDoes anyone who has been know if they have got a "south East Asian" family in this? Or have they gone down the road of "we can't find any Asian actors" again? |
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Post by altamont on Feb 12, 2019 9:18:14 GMT
Yes, Clarke Peters was wearing an earpiece on Saturday afternoon - I didn't think it affected his performance though. Also no south east Asian family.
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Post by foxa on Feb 12, 2019 9:24:06 GMT
This was a confusing production. I was excited at first (in the round, band, showy set, movement) but in the end, it was a bit of a mess. Snciole and a friend were there to try to help me figure it out and I bought a programme too...
According to my programme, the groupings were:
Rose 1: Clare Burt, Moe 1: James Garnon, Lee 1, Fred Haig.
Rose 2: Amber Aga Moe 2: Abhin Galeya Lee 2: Taheen Modak
Rose 3: Golda Rosheuvel, Moe 3: Clarke Peters Lee 3: Jyuddah Jaymes
The ways the roles were divided, family 1 had most of their scenes at the beginning of the narrative journey, family 2 had the middle and family 3 had the ending - though it wasn't as clear as that and sometimes they were sharing scenes or all on stage together.
As Snciole pointed out last night, Clarke Peters had a lot of parts to play (the narrator character, one of the fathers and a poor farmer with two scenes.) If he was brought in late and possibly assumed extra roles, it's not surprising he had an earpiece (he was wearing one last night.) I wasn't aware of him obviously taking cues from it and he gave a warm, varied performance so it wasn't a Dreyfus situation. Some of the allocation of roles was confusing, with some members of the cast having very little to do and others, like Golda Rosheuvel, going straight from one very big scene as a political organiser to another long scene as Rose 3.
Structurally it's very frustrating, and made the more so by the tripling. However, I am really interested in the time period (1929-1939) and there are some political resonances. Another lovely performance from Francesca Mills and Ewan Wardrop can certainly tap dance.
My £10 Row J ticket ended up being second role of the stalls, so excellent value.
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Post by Snciole on Feb 12, 2019 11:02:33 GMT
The loss of cast makes sense as Clarke Peters was playing a lot of roles (I personally think the narrator should be separate from Moe, Farmer Taylor etc) but it felt cluttered with so many people on stage as it is now I am not sure how they would have fitted a couple more in. I didn't find the earpiece distracting, he was probably one of the more coherent and interesting performers on stage.
The three families were so unnecessary, you could have just had one family and spread out the cast. They had some good actors on stage, particularly amongst the younger cast and they were either overworked or wasted. Ewan Wardrop is a real coup but his scene could be cut for time as enjoyable as it is.
Ultimately I don't think it is Miller's strongest material, all the subtleties of his youth and have long gone by the time this is written in 1980 and loses something in its direct nature.
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Post by missthelma on Feb 14, 2019 10:53:13 GMT
Reading this thread makes me remember why I try to avoid an in depth scanning before going to see a production. I came to see a rough running time and am now positively dreading my visit on the 23rd!!
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 15, 2019 13:37:31 GMT
As a self-confessed Godberaholic, I don't usually have much interest in serious drama, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to sit on the Old Vic stage for just £10. Money well spent, I thought.
After reading some of the early reviews, I started worrying I'd made a terrible mistake, but I'm really pleased I went. Thanks to TheatreBoard, my tastes must be becoming more sophisticated!
Would I have made a special journey from the grim north? No. Will it change my life? No. Was it good to see something different? Yes...absolutely.
With a slightly delayed start, thanks to a late arriving school party, with their catering packs of crisps, the running time was about 2 hours 55 minutes, which is the same as the production of Rutherford and Son I saw a few days earlier. That felt much longer...much, much longer!
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