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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2018 17:53:56 GMT
This is my favourite bit from that article and –" in a scenario no doubt familiar to highly-strung thespians – must be kept apart lest they try to kill each other." snakes, drama queens like the rest of them
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Post by Snciole on Sept 28, 2018 18:29:56 GMT
Justice for Mr Jangles, without whom there would be no play! He's paved the way for milk snake superstars. A groundbreaking performer. |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Sept 28, 2018 19:19:07 GMT
How come "Mr Jangles" but not "Mr Pie"? I bet he's Mr Pie (or Miss Pie) on the call sheet.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2018 21:43:21 GMT
I really think they should replace them all with dummies. I apologise to the people either side or in front of me in advance lest I should vomit on them. Giving them cute names doesn't make them any less evil.
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Post by andrew on Sept 28, 2018 22:47:16 GMT
what the hell was Caesar's accent? He started off sounding American, then when Octavia spoke to him in her Scottish accent he was Scottish-ish, and THEN someone in the bar in the interval thought he was meant to be an Irish paramilitary?? Anyway it was a dreadful accent. The night I went he started with a Scottish accent and finished with one too, which would make sense bearing in mind the actor is Scottish, and using his own accent. |
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Post by lonlad on Sept 28, 2018 23:59:38 GMT
He seems to be playing it American .... I assume that's a deliberate choice.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2018 0:30:57 GMT
I thought this was OK. I have decided that I don’t much care for the play. Okenedo is very good. Fiennes is good too and manages to keep Rigsby at bay. The snake is excellent - it kept things moving as the play started to flag after the interval.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2018 20:37:30 GMT
I wonder why they don’t use an animatronic snake? They could make it slither all over the stage and stuff. I’ve seen a delightful animatronic pig in a play and an animatronic bull in that Carmen deconstruction written by Simon Stephens. So, why not a snake? I was very impressed by the way the actors handled the live snakes however, although it was a bit Carry on Cleo-ish when the actor let the snake bite her then rushed off stage to give it back to the handler before coming back on to do her dying scene.
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Post by Nicholas on Sept 29, 2018 20:54:33 GMT
" in a scenario no doubt familiar to highly-strung thespians – must be kept apart lest they try to kill each other." Interesting trivia! They're using the same policy and techniques as with Keeley Hawes and Sheila Hancock. I’m more interested by the line “he’s a bit of a fidgety-bum”. Do snakes have bums? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2018 22:59:23 GMT
" in a scenario no doubt familiar to highly-strung thespians – must be kept apart lest they try to kill each other." Interesting trivia! They're using the same policy and techniques as with Keeley Hawes and Sheila Hancock. I’m more interested by the line “he’s a bit of a fidgety-bum”. Do snakes have bums? Valid comment. Is the tip the bum? Where does it start? Curious minds need to know! Also Ralph rides his bike to work, I now have an image of “snake of the day” hitching a lift in the basket |
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Post by david on Sept 29, 2018 23:02:35 GMT
If the snake is only on stage for a short time, it must get bored pretty quickly. Does it play real life snakes and ladders to pass the tiime?
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Post by crowblack on Sept 30, 2018 8:18:35 GMT
Thanks for the seat tip - even at my height, centre row A was fine, and much more legroom in the centre than at the row A edges due to the curve. I heard people in row C complaining about the lack of rake! I like reptiles a lot (used to have lizards) but if you don't, sit further back.
I liked A & C, the staging - sort of 70s Middle East - and most of the supporting cast, though I'm still not mad on the play itself. I thought this was because we had to do it at school and uni, or maybe that it was something I'd 'get' in later life, but no, and I think it needed more speed, especially in the expositiony bits, of which there are plenty.
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Post by bgarde on Sept 30, 2018 8:37:37 GMT
Had a very good time at this yesterday - some wonderful moments.
The actor playing Caesar - the accent was Scottish but the performance was, I felt, pretty poor (lacking any depth) and really hindered those political/military scenes. Fiennes was brilliant especially in his final scene. Most of the chatter I overheard was praise for Cleopatra and I did think she was terrific and the death scene very well staged.
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Post by Snciole on Sept 30, 2018 11:49:13 GMT
I reviewed it over on my site, please I need the hits  viewfromthecheapseat.com/2018/09/30/antony-and-cleopatra-olivier-theatre/I couldn't warm to it, maybe I am being dense but I wasn't sure from this production what the relationships were. I suspect that if I hadn't seen Julius Caesar and Imperium this year I would have had to skim read my programme. I wasn't entirely convinced by the chemistry from Okenodo and Fiennes, there should be raw sex on stage instead we get a few light kisses here and there. I got impression they were fond of each other but not enough to kill themselves over each other. I am not sure what Tunij Kasim has on someone but he is not ready to be Caesar or for roles that require gravitas. He sounded like he was reading lines with no understanding of what they meant. There was no passion in this production and closest anyone came was Tim McMullan, who rescued this production at times. I felt he had more chemistry with Katy Stephen's Agrippa than Ant and Cleo did. It can afford to have so much cut, do we need to see that battle scene or does Simon Godwin just want to show off his combat directing skills? It is a shame because in a good production this could be a celebration of love in the age of conflict. I will leave you this; I didn't think Fiennes was as Rossiter-like (His Egypt outfit was something Marvin Gaye would have worn in his Sexual Healing era though) as I had seen him in the past but a man behind me as we were leaving went "Oooh Miss Jones" so I think I am finally immune to his ways now |
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Post by bellboard27 on Sept 30, 2018 19:05:12 GMT
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Post by Fleance on Sept 30, 2018 19:59:56 GMT
Best line in Carry On Cleo is from Kenneth Williams as Julius Caesar: |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 1, 2018 12:19:37 GMT
OK so I've looked this up and Tunji Kasim is absolutely definitely Scottish (not that I doubted any of the posts here, mind you).
Which begs the question, why did I hear an American accent for most of the first half (this was on Thursday 27th Sept, in case it matters)? I'm not *that* bad with accents, I promise!! He didn't even start to sound Scottish until Hannah Morrish came in.
Is he trying something new with the character, or are the seats in the circle doing things to my ears? I'm going to see it a second time in a couple of months so maybe he'll have picked an accent to do?
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Post by crowblack on Oct 1, 2018 12:40:57 GMT
why did I hear an American accent I overheard some Americans complaining about it, though I didn't think it was that bad (see Aristocrats thread for a really bad one). Has anyone ever seen a truly enjoyable production of this play? I'm not saying 'good' because I have a feeling it's a silk purse out of sow's ear situation. It's not really that good a play, is it? The characters as written aren't convincing, and there's a hell of a lot of boring stuff between the good bits. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 1, 2018 13:14:00 GMT
why did I hear an American accent Has anyone ever seen a truly enjoyable production of this play? I'm not saying 'good' because I have a feeling it's a silk purse out of sow's ear situation. It's not really that good a play, is it? The characters as written aren't convincing, and there's a hell of a lot of boring stuff between the good bits. I've seen 6 productions and the best (Harriet Walter/Patrick Stewart) was just OK. The play is structurally flawed, I am always ready for it to end shortly after the death of Antony but in fact it drags on for another 45 minutes. |
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Post by David J on Oct 1, 2018 13:15:19 GMT
The 2014 Globe Theatre production was the best I’ve seen with Eve Best giving a hilarious but poignant performance. Kathryn Hunter was pretty good in the Michael Boyd one.
Otherwise yeah it’s an uneven drawn out play where you don’t see the lovers together for most of the first half and the ending can go on for an eternity. If you’re unlucky to see a production that is average at best it will drag. The Ivo Van Hove version (despite a great leading pair) and last years RSC production spring to mind
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2018 13:55:03 GMT
OK so I've looked this up and Tunji Kasim is absolutely definitely Scottish (not that I doubted any of the posts here, mind you). Which begs the question, why did I hear an American accent for most of the first half (this was on Thursday 27th Sept, in case it matters)? I'm not *that* bad with accents, I promise!! He didn't even start to sound Scottish until Hannah Morrish came in. Is he trying something new with the character, or are the seats in the circle doing things to my ears? I'm going to see it a second time in a couple of months so maybe he'll have picked an accent to do? I heard a mix of American and Scottish, which I found really quite irritating! |
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Post by Jan on Oct 1, 2018 14:11:10 GMT
Best line in Carry On Cleo is from Kenneth Williams as Julius Caesar: Significantly that line wasn’t written for the film at all, it was written by Frank Muir and Dennis Norden (who died a few days ago) for the radio series “Take It From Here” years before and was borrowed (with their permission) for the film. |
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Post by crabtree on Oct 1, 2018 15:05:53 GMT
To answer an earlier question, yes I have seen several truly tremendous productions of the play - yes there are a lot of chaps chatting for much of it, and you do wish Cleopatra was around longer, but the language is gorgeous, and Cleo's death scene is sublime, and as always the loyal secondary characters, here Enobarbus, are very interesting. But I would say the best, maybe because it was my first, maybe because it was beautifully imaginative and theatrical and downright horny, was Janet Suzman and Richard Johnson in the RSC's 70's Roman season. Mind you Ms Suzman could read the telephone directory (does anyone still read the telephone directory - I can almost hear Patti) in that gloriously cracked voice and I'd be there ready to throw myself on my sword.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 2, 2018 9:38:33 GMT
The play is definitely ready to end after Antony cops it, but blame Shakespeare for that  There is some truly moving language ("this pine is bark'd that overtopped them all" unexpectedly made me burst into tears when Fiennes said it - no idea why!! And then I remained crying for a good chunk of the final act, like a lemon), and a LOT of politicking, but I don't think the play is bad, as such. It just requires a bloody-mindedness to concentrate on it. Incidentally I think the length of the current production prevents it being a full five-star production. So much can get the chop from the final two acts to make it pacier - otherwise you are sat around waiting for Cleopatra to get on with it. |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 2, 2018 9:49:43 GMT
Best line in Carry On Cleo is from Kenneth Williams as Julius Caesar: I'm fond of the caption in Lucy Hughes-Hallett's book on Cleopatra: Cleo: I've been thinking - Antony: You do?! |
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