|
|
Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 9:59:50 GMT
I found this quite arduous at Clwyd. Also distracted by some plastic tupperware props and brightly colored costumes that stood out and completely undermined the time and location of the production. Wasn't for me, this.
|
|
1,861 posts
|
Post by NeilVHughes on May 9, 2019 10:27:47 GMT
Thanks showgirl for the heads up on the offer at the @theatremonkey site, was keen to see this and was on the lookout for an offer and this one a belter. |
|
904 posts
|
Post by lonlad on May 14, 2019 23:06:55 GMT
Has no one seen this at the Menier?? Vanessa Redgrave and Julie Covington in this at the Haymarket 30 years ago remain one of the greatest events of my playgoing life. I think it's the last thing Covington ever did onstage -- certainly one of the last.
|
|
3,306 posts
|
Post by david on May 14, 2019 23:09:25 GMT
I’m watching it Sat night.
|
|
3,306 posts
|
Post by david on May 14, 2019 23:54:44 GMT
Could be an interesting Saturday for me then. I’m watching OFAH in the afternoon and then this in the evening.
|
|
3,564 posts
|
Post by showgirl on May 15, 2019 4:43:07 GMT
OFAH?
|
|
|
|
Post by dontdreamit on May 15, 2019 5:47:42 GMT
|
|
1,103 posts
|
Post by mallardo on May 15, 2019 6:37:42 GMT
Tennessee Williams wrote some dark plays but none darker than this one. As befits an Orpheus play, it is set in Hell, the rural deep south where mob violence seethes just under the surface and where years before an Italian immigrant (known locally as The Wop) was burned out and murdered for selling liquor to African Americans (not the term they use, of course). The Wop's daughter, Lady, is our Eurydice, still trapped in the town that destroyed her life and awaiting rescue from an Orpheus, in this case Val Xavier, an itinerant guitar strummer with a way with the ladies. Val, just turned 30 and looking for a restart in his wasted life, has his own issues. And then there's Carol, wild daughter of local gentry, whose role seems to be to force the past into the present for both Lady and Val. It's a potent trio, both literally and symbolically.
And then there's the townspeople who provide the menacing milieu; gossiping, back-stabbing women and brutal, xenophobic men - a cross section of southern "society" that could not be any more damning. And which, needless to say, still resonates today.
It all plays out with a kind of horrible inevitability that works well, the tension being continually ratcheted up, in Tamara Harvey's spare but effective production. The three leads are all excellent, especially Seth Numrich's Val - not just convincing but virtually ideal. Hattie Morahan, although not very Italian, matches him with her intensity and her rage and her desperate neediness and Jemima Rooper is equally fine as the frantic Carol.
It's not an easy play to love - the darkness can be overpowering - but it's gripping theatre, an experience only Tennessee Williams can provide.
|
|
1,217 posts
|
Post by nash16 on May 15, 2019 9:03:37 GMT
Ohmygoodness. Went to this last night thanks to theatremonkey' £10 offer.
It is SO bad.
Like, shockingly bad.
Like, am dram bad. And that is doing a huge disservice to the good folk who do am dram. At least they do things like mostly get the casting right, and do a nice set, and some lighting.
Whereas this.
We started to laugh at points in the first half, then after the interval discussion, we just out and out giggled our way through the second half.
How has Tamara Harvey managed to miscast it so badly? Rooper is awful. Morahan has moments but is out of her character depth. Did Helen Mirren really play that part to acclaim? And much older than Hattie one would presume?
Why are speeches meant to be delivered to other characters instead delivered out to us as monologues? Did TW really want the stage directions to be read out?
Why has Harvey picked such an uneven play and not even addressed that is is already problematic and tried to fix it? She's had weeks of rehearsal and weeks up in Clywd too and it's appalling.
Accents are from everywhere. Acting styles from everywhere. Some styles we'd never even seen before and we go to the theatre a lot.
The phone acting alone is hilariously bad. And we never thought we'd say that about a play.
They've managed to not have chemistry between the two leads, or any sexual frisson, or desire. Well done.
Did Seth Numrich realise/did they tell him that he is playing Orpheus? Did Tamara sit down with them and discuss that they were meant to be playing these characters with, well, character?
Numrich sings 2 songs, straying dangerously close to the "Death of a Salesman Musical" down the road on The Cut. Again, just because you've cast members who can sing...
The set is...the lighting is...
They even make a few characters read out the stage directions to inform us what they haven't built in this set design...
The production photos in the foyer, do look at them. Especially the one of Jemima doing some bad acting AND bad phone acting all in one image.
The creative team were sat very happily around a big table in the foyer at the interval, smiling and laughing, seemingly unaware of what they've created, or haven't bothered to create.
The reviews are going to be such a shock for them.
It's Too Close To The Sun. But with less songs (only a few less).
Whatever you do, if you are desperate to see it, pray that theatremonkey still has some £10 ones going, or get on "those" lists, as they may even crop up on there very soon.
Wow.
Wow wow wow wow.
|
|
629 posts
|
Post by jamb0r on May 15, 2019 12:08:49 GMT
Caught the first performance (at the Menier) last week, and thought everything about it was just 'OK'. Performances were fine but nothing particularly noteworthy, the set did what it needed to do (barely), the lighting was great in parts and bad in others. I wouldn't say it was particularly terrible overall, but I won't be telling people to rush to see it. Feel like I got my £10 worth, but glad I didn't pay more.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2019 12:33:05 GMT
So, a rave, a rant and a vanilla response. I'm inclined to agree with nash16, swinging it to 2x rants. |
|
4,984 posts
|
Post by Phantom of London on May 15, 2019 12:38:10 GMT
What is the running time please?
|
|
629 posts
|
Post by jamb0r on May 15, 2019 12:49:14 GMT
It was a little under 2 hours 40 minutes I think.
1st half: 1 hour 40
20 minute interval
2nd half: 40 min.
My glutes have only just about regained feeling almost a week later after the 1 hour 40 minute first half on those awful Menier seats.
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on May 16, 2019 0:02:45 GMT
They have moved the interval now. It's an hour 15 minutes first half, 20 minute interval and then an hour second half, so now running at 2 hours 35 all in.
|
|
|
|
Post by orchidman on May 17, 2019 15:00:15 GMT
It's not a great Williams play, that's the main shortcoming, the acting and direction are fine.
|
|
|
|
Post by missthelma on May 18, 2019 19:07:11 GMT
Oh my. This really is not very good. At all.
There's a gaping hole in the production and I'm not sure if it's the writing or this particular presentation of it. I saw the 89 version with Vanessa Redgrave and both film versions and don't remember reacting this way It generates a feeling of 'meh' rather than anything more passionate. No attempt seems to have been made to insert or highlight any relevance to more contemporary thoughts. I have always been a fan of Williams but his gallery of Southern grotesques and eccentrics is exposed here with nothing to back them up. Neither story or set to be fair. The latter appears to have been gathered at a 50% off day at B&Q and features cheap garden furniture and virtually nothing else. Watching the characters is cringe making in the way that we view 1970's sitcoms now, it just feels so out dated. Granted Williams was writing 60 years ago about mostly a time 20 years before that but if Rosmersholm, All My Sons, even The American Clock can feel to have resonance to a modern audience, why does this feel frozen in amber like one of the bugs in Jurassic Park?
The two leads are actually quite miscast. Hattie Morahan, so good in A Doll's House appears to be floundering here and reads a bit young for the role. Seth Numrich brings no sense of danger to the role of the drifter who is stirring up the small town. The scenes between them which should crackle a little bit feel empty, like biting into a doughnut that has no jam. It cheats the audience. Jemima Rooper was very good but it feels like she is from a different (and better) play, she is costumed and made up to look like a slightly deranged over the hill drag queen. There should be a more appropriate way of cluing us into this character than this which rings false.
Disappointingly undiverse cast which if used may have helped to off set the feeling of this being hauled out of mothballs.
Quite a muted response from a 3/4 full audience who were very Chichester (Pale, stale and failing)
Having broken one of my cardinal rules and returned to the Chocolate Starfish today (what can I tell you, interesting cast and cheap ticket) I can report that it safely remains in the top 2 most uncomfortable theatres in London. After the first act my backside felt like I had been sat on jagged concrete and I can only thank the theatre Gods, that this act is reduced from earlier reports. Also the auditorium remains a death trap with everyone having to file out of a single doorway barely wide enough for one. Today was made especially fun with the abundance of sticks etc and the general well being of the assembled folk. Praise the Lord there was no attempt at an evacuation here, we would all have been doomed.
|
|
|
|
Post by learfan on May 18, 2019 20:02:29 GMT
Oh my. This really is not very good. At all. There's a gaping hole in the production and I'm not sure if it's the writing or this particular presentation of it. I saw the 89 version with Vanessa Redgrave and both film versions and don't remember reacting this way It generates a feeling of 'meh' rather than anything more passionate. No attempt seems to have been made to insert or highlight any relevance to more contemporary thoughts. I have always been a fan of Williams but his gallery of Southern grotesques and eccentrics is exposed here with nothing to back them up. Neither story or set to be fair. The latter appears to have been gathered at a 50% off day at B&Q and features cheap garden furniture and virtually nothing else. Watching the characters is cringe making in the way that we view 1970's sitcoms now, it just feels so out dated. Granted Williams was writing 60 years ago about mostly a time 20 years before that but if Rosmersholm, All My Sons, even The American Clock can feel to have resonance to a modern audience, why does this feel frozen in amber like one of the bugs in Jurassic Park? The two leads are actually quite miscast. Hattie Morahan, so good in A Doll's House appears to be floundering here and reads a bit young for the role. Seth Numrich brings no sense of danger to the role of the drifter who is stirring up the small town. The scenes between them which should crackle a little bit feel empty, like biting into a doughnut that has no jam. It cheats the audience. Jemima Rooper was very good but it feels like she is from a different (and better) play, she is costumed and made up to look like a slightly deranged over the hill drag queen. There should be a more appropriate way of cluing us into this character than this which rings false. Disappointingly undiverse cast which if used may have helped to off set the feeling of this being hauled out of mothballs. Quite a muted response from a 3/4 full audience who were very Chichester (Pale, stale and failing) Having broken one of my cardinal rules and returned to the Chocolate Starfish today (what can I tell you, interesting cast and cheap ticket) I can report that it safely remains in the top 2 most uncomfortable theatres in London. After the first act my backside felt like I had been sat on jagged concrete and I can only thank the theatre Gods, that this act is reduced from earlier reports. Also the auditorium remains a death trap with everyone having to file out of a single doorway barely wide enough for one. Today was made especially fun with the abundance of sticks etc and the general well being of the assembled folk. Praise the Lord there was no attempt at an evacuation here, we would all have been doomed. Yes ive wondered about the exit issue, especially with the demographic of their clientele. Cant quite believe they got a safety certificate. |
|
3,306 posts
|
Post by david on May 18, 2019 22:49:16 GMT
So, a rave, a rant and a vanilla response. I'm inclined to agree with nash16 , swinging it to 2x rants. Now swinging it to x3 rants after seeing it tonight. This did very little except leaving me frustrated as I walked out of the theatre tonight (though other patrons seemed to have gotten something out the piece from overheard discussions). I’ve seen some great TW productions both at the Manc REX and in the WE, unfortunately this isn’t one of them. I knew it would be a bleak play and not really a fun night out at the theatre, but this production just left me cold from start to finish. nash16 sums up my thoughts perfectly. I just couldn’t invest any emotional energy into any of the characters and the casting choices for the female leads was just baffling. I was speaking to one lady post show who agreed with me that this was the biggest issue here. The ladies just appeared to be too young for their respective roles (Jemima Roper as an example) and I just couldn’t see the characters that they were portraying as real people. Carol Royal did manage to bring some depth to her character of Vee Talbot and Seth Numeric was ok as Valentine, but I didn’t get that sense of chemistry between the two actors portraying this forbidden relationship. Overall a 1* production and the first disappointment I’ve had visiting the MCF. Hopefully my next visit to see “Bridges” will be a better one. |
|
3,536 posts
|
Post by Rory on May 18, 2019 23:03:15 GMT
I saw the Donmar version with Helen Mirren, Stuart Townsend and Saskia Reeves back in 2000 and remember liking it. This new production seems to be dividing opinion in a way the Donmar one didn't.
|
|
|
|
Post by londonpostie on May 18, 2019 23:13:09 GMT
It was certainly lyrical but I did come away not knowing what TW was aiming for or at with this. It would be interesting to see a clearer vision, if that is what was at the Donmar.
Passion/desire seemed a strong thread in this but somehow it wasn't happening.
to be fair, there are plenty worse ways to spend a tenner in London on a Saturday night. |
|
3,564 posts
|
Post by showgirl on May 19, 2019 4:14:04 GMT
Sigh. I should've trusted my instinct on this one and Tennessee W is definitely back on my "Never Again" list and won't be getting any more chances from me. The positive reviews from the Theatr Clwyd part of the run and the £10 ticket deal (thank goodness I paid no more!) persuaded me to give it a go but not only is this type of play clearly not to my taste but the production itself seemed so lame and lacklustre that the enthusiam for it baffles me.
I was at yesterday's matinee and when I wasn't nodding off the first act seemed interminable so I left at the interval. The disappointing part was that I was by then so utterly dispirited and disappointed that I couldn't face hanging around for the best part of 3 hours until the evening show I had booked, so after trying in vain to pysch myself up for it, I simply went home instead. Obviously my own decision, a waste of money and time and I won't have another chance to see Ain't Misbehavin, but sometimes you just aren't in the mood and I wasn't.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 19, 2019 9:33:46 GMT
So, a rave, a rant and a vanilla response. I'm inclined to agree with nash16 , swinging it to 2x rants. Now swinging it to x3 rants after seeing it tonight. 4, taking the views of missthelma into account. |
|
1,936 posts
|
Post by wickedgrin on May 19, 2019 10:29:46 GMT
The Menier is a theatre I have vowed never to go back to - very uncomfortable and expensive for what it is!
|
|
1,936 posts
|
Post by wickedgrin on May 19, 2019 10:34:34 GMT
Quite a muted response from a 3/4 full audience who were very Chichester (Pale, stale and failing) LOVED this remark - so accurate and I consider myself proud to be pale, stale and failing!!! |
|
1,281 posts
|
Post by theatrefan77 on May 19, 2019 11:54:06 GMT
I don't think this was that bad. Not a perfect production but at least it kept my attention until the end.
Maybe it's just because I love Tennessee Williams work and I always find interesting aspects even in his less successful plays.
I also quite like the film version with Brando and Magnani
|
|
