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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 15:53:35 GMT
Might catch this in Northampton. It's in the Derngate, (not the Royal). |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 16:39:30 GMT
Touring at last - Salford, Plymouth, Hull, Newcastle upon Tyne and Northampton between January and March 2018, before transferring to London’s Hackney Empire between 6 and 31 March 2018. Looking forward to seeing this in Hackney, although after seeing Andrew Scott, Paapa Essiedu has a lot to live up to. Full dates: The Lowry, Salford 26 January - 3 February 2018 Theatre Royal Plymouth 6 - 10 February 2018 Hull New Theatre 13 - 17 February 2018 Northern Stage, Newcastle 20 - 24 February 2018 Royal & Derngate, Northampton 27 February - 3 March 2018 Hackney Empire, London 6 - 31 March 2018 Just a reminder, for those who are unlucky in the RADA ballot this week. And for those who are lucky and want to see both productions. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 17:33:00 GMT
^Because...?
It will be my first time, as it will surely be for the vast majority of the audience.
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2017 17:53:47 GMT
^Because...? It will be my first time, as it will surely be for the vast majority of the audience. I doubt it. The vast majority of the audience will be us, same as it is in all London theatres for RSC Shakespeare. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 17:58:34 GMT
^Because...? It will be my first time, as it will surely be for the vast majority of the audience. I doubt it. The vast majority of the audience will be us, same as it is in all London theatres for RSC Shakespeare. I meant my first time seeing this production. The poster I was replying to had seen it and was saying, without explaining why, that they wouldn't see it a second time. |
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2017 18:54:32 GMT
I doubt it. The vast majority of the audience will be us, same as it is in all London theatres for RSC Shakespeare. I meant my first time seeing this production. The poster I was replying to had seen it and was saying, without explaining why, that they wouldn't see it a second time. Ah. Ok. My Mistake. I was remembering that actor who took me to task in another thread who claimed that the audience for the Muslim Othello would be seeing themselves on stage for the first time when in fact it was the same old audience (us). |
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 5, 2017 19:54:49 GMT
I meant my first time seeing this production. The poster I was replying to had seen it and was saying, without explaining why, that they wouldn't see it a second time. Ah. Ok. My Mistake. I was remembering that actor who took me to task in another thread who claimed that the audience for the Muslim Othello would be seeing themselves on stage for the first time when in fact it was the same old audience (us). You going to 'Ackney Jan? I missed it at SUA so Northampton is best for me. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 21:46:53 GMT
The Almeida Hamlet is a different beast entirely from a mainstage RSC production, so no point comparing them.
An African setting in a Stratford production can only be generic. There's no point setting it in the Congo or Zimbabwe or wherever because few would have enough familiarity with the specific context.
It sounds, from your description, a mix of a lead actor unbalancing a production and the director (and Tanya Moodie!) approaching the play from a different direction to how you prefer. You've seen zillions of Hamlets and you want a fresh insight, but the production is aiming for clear storytelling for everyone. And then there's personal taste - Sam West made my flesh crawl, especially when he was soliloquizing to the infatuated teenage girls in the audience.
As time has passed, I've grown more curious to see this production with Paapa Essiedu, and I may cave in and buy a ticket before the end of March. Anyway, thanks for explaining your warning!
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Post by tributary on Aug 5, 2017 22:28:21 GMT
It's not a fresh take I wanted, honestly, just some emotional truthfulness so the story was fully transmitted. Instead you get silly RSC honking and bellowing and booming. Spend your money on seeing the Almeida one in the Harold Pinter Theater instead.
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Post by tributary on Aug 5, 2017 22:30:56 GMT
An African setting in a Stratford production can only be generic. There's no point setting it in the Congo or Zimbabwe or wherever because few would have enough familiarity with the specific context. Also, respectfully, this is nonsense. They wouldn't dare do, for e.g., a generic Chinese setting. They could quite easily have committed to the African idea, done some research and replaced the usual RSC generalities with some detailed cultural ideas. And got rid of the Jamaican gravedigger! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 22:37:58 GMT
I saw the Almeida one in the Almeida - and adored it as I posted at length at the time! I booked because of Andrew Scott but was fascinated by Robert Icke once I was there.
If I go to the RSC one, it will be to see Paapa Essiedu - Hamlet is the Shakespeare play I return to the most often, but I still need a particular reason each time!
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Post by crabtree on Aug 5, 2017 22:42:34 GMT
Someone mentioned Roger Rees as Hamlet, above, and that really was one of the most beautifully haunting productions, dreamlike and disturbing and clear...Virginia McKenna, Brian Blessed, Kenneth Branagh, and was it Penny Downie as Ophelia (I forget) and Roger......you could certainly hear every syllable.
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Post by Jan on Aug 6, 2017 7:56:33 GMT
Ah. Ok. My Mistake. I was remembering that actor who took me to task in another thread who claimed that the audience for the Muslim Othello would be seeing themselves on stage for the first time when in fact it was the same old audience (us). You going to 'Ackney Jan? I missed it at SUA so Northampton is best for me. Might do. If I go the main draw will be the Hackney Empire itself which I've never been to. The production doesn't appeal much, I find Godwin a very superficial and glib director whose staging tricks are flashy but really don't illuminate the text. Also, like the Doran Julius Caesar, I'm a bit uncomfortable with a middle-class white director casting an all-black cast given the extreme under-representation of black directors at the RSC, seems a bit patronising. Also I've seen the play a lot so I doubt this one will add anything to the excellent Almeida one that I saw quite recently. The interpretation of Hamlet in that one reminded me a lot of the first MarK Rylance one for the RSC which was also very good. Best I've seen by a country mile was the Michael Sheen production. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2017 8:03:42 GMT
Tarell Alvin McCraney directed more than one production and Iqbal Khan is a regular director there (okay, BAME not Black).
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Post by Jan on Aug 6, 2017 8:29:53 GMT
Tarell Alvin McCraney directed more than one production and Iqbal Khan is a regular director there (okay, BAME not Black). I know there have been some but they are still under-represented. I would have thought a black director for this would have been better-placed to get the social context and cultural references right and make it more authentic - as it stands it looks a little like just another gimmicky high-concept production: Las Vegas Merchant of Venice, Donald Trump Julius Caesar, Native American Troilus & Cressida, Black Hamlet, etc. Still, I haven't actually seen it so I may be doing Godwin a disservice. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2017 8:43:35 GMT
I haven't seen it so I shouldn't comment. But... I assumed that, yes, it is primarily a "concept", a way of presenting the story in a plausible, fresh context. It isn't intended to be a show about Africa - the setting is a means to present the story. And it isn't set in or about any specific place or culture, so there are no social context and cultural references to get right. Like when Shakespeare wrote it, he didn't make a preliminary field trip to Denmark to research Danish royal households, honour traditions, burial rituals and spiritual beliefs.
If an African theatre company produces Hamlet, one would hope that it would reveal something of the social context and culture. But that's not the point of this production.
And the second aspect of the production was that it brought a lot of Black actors into the company.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Aug 6, 2017 18:25:03 GMT
An African setting in a Stratford production can only be generic. There's no point setting it in the Congo or Zimbabwe or wherever because few would have enough familiarity with the specific context. Also, respectfully, this is nonsense. They wouldn't dare do, for e.g., a generic Chinese setting. They could quite easily have committed to the African idea, done some research and replaced the usual RSC generalities with some detailed cultural ideas. And got rid of the Jamaican gravedigger! From what I know of the production that's what they attempted to do. I've heard a bit of why they decided to set it in West Africa, and some of the research and cultural specificities that were involved. It's a shame if it came across as generically African. A flaw in execution, not intent. Admittedly I'm biased but I enjoyed it more than the Almeida Hamlet. The Almeida one was more intellectually rigorous and dazzling and certainly trendier, but I found it facile in places. RSC, regardless of the setting, fairly traditional. |
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