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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2019 0:00:42 GMT
Lots of houses have the stairs in the lounge, look at smaller houses on Zoopla. Almost every house on the housing estate I used to live on had the front door open straight into the lounge with the stairs at one side and the kitchen at the back, and the ones that didn't certainly started off that way before the owners started putting extra walls in.
You can't have literal realistic sets on stage anyway, you could fit my entire three bed house on the stage of the Royal Court and still have wiggle room to open the front door into, and it's not even a new build.
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Post by showgirl on Jan 1, 2019 4:55:32 GMT
Never having seen a Mark Ravenhill play and encouraged by early posts here, then reviews, I booked for this but was SO disappointed. For one thing, I really struggled to stay awake and am not sure I succeeded 100%; it felt interminable despite being only 1 hour 40 without the interval (for my future reference, that's too long unless the production in question is far more engaging), but worst of all was the implausible plot.
As so many others have pointed out the inconsistencies I won't comment on those but I had expected so much more from this writer and this theatre. Yes, the acting was fine (though Maggie Steed seemed rather too old and quavery to convince as Alun Armstrong's wife) but the script didn't do it justice.
Therefore a frustating waste of time and money to me - and to top it all, I had a diabolical time getting home due to Victoria being shut, for an experience which ended my 2018 theatregoing year on a surpise low.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2019 11:43:23 GMT
Isn’t this supposed to be allegorical (also suggested by the lack of scenic realism etc.)? A number of reviews suggest that (positive ones, although Exeunt saw it as naturalistic, strangely, yet was also as positive). How much is actually supposed to be real?
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Post by bingomatic on Jan 15, 2019 22:09:41 GMT
Well you can't fault the acting or, for me, the set. The problem I had was the premise just didn't ring true. I just missed out on caning in school but I'm pretty confident my children wouldn't be camped outside a teacher's house demanding justice/something. So, I was left with wondering what it was really trying to say. Did it try to represent today's snowflake generation as a group that takes offence at anything ? Possibly. Was it telling us that the Academies of tomorrow are the caning scandals (are there any?) of today ?
Anyway, loved the parent and child interaction, we can all relate to that (!) 3 stars, won't be recommending it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2019 10:34:07 GMT
Yes, the acting was fine (though Maggie Steed seemed rather too old and quavery to convince as Alun Armstrong's wife) but the script didn't do it justice. I think they're the same age . . . |
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Post by zahidf on Jan 16, 2019 11:13:02 GMT
I enjoyed the acting and script, and enjoyed it overall
I just went along with the premise, having heard about it beforehand. It was silly, but I just assumed it was a parallel universe where caning is seen as being a horrendous thing.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2019 11:33:35 GMT
Yes, the acting was fine (though Maggie Steed seemed rather too old and quavery to convince as Alun Armstrong's wife) but the script didn't do it justice. I think they're the same age . . . Yes, both are 72 - he's the older of the two. |
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Post by david on Jan 19, 2019 16:58:26 GMT
Having watched today’s matinee performance, overall I’ve got mixed feelings about the play. While the acting from the cast was great with plenty of comedic moments to counter the darker elements, plotwise it really was a bit of a slog to get to the end which I thought was actually a great ending with plenty of drama.
While there were plenty of ideas explored in the script about the use and impact of canning in schools and the use of more modern punishment techniques in schools, for me personally none were fully explored enough during the play. The idea of the mob outside really didn’t do much for me unfortunately. I would of liked to have had a character who had been canned included to examine the impact of canning on a personal level. The most interesting aspect for me was the broken family relationship and it’s impact on the individual characters.
This was my time to the Royal Court, and despite the mixed feelings about the play, I really like the theatre as a whole. Plenty of space in the downstairs bar area to have a preshow coffee and I was able to have a look around the bookshop upstairs which was nice. Being sat in row L of the stalls, I was very impressed with the view from my seat and would definitely sit there again in future visits.
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Post by foxa on Jan 19, 2019 19:31:03 GMT
I think they're the same age . . . Yes, both are 72 - he's the older of the two. Maggie Steed is one of those actors I'm always happy to see in something. I just like her. |
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Post by peggs on Jan 19, 2019 20:35:44 GMT
Booked for the actors, what a cast, and they didn't disappoint, really impressive but the play as previously noted is a bit iffy. From the first few lines I was thinking, people don't really talk like this, is this meant to be real? Since it had what appeared to be half eaten stairs I should probably have figured not but still thoughts like, why hasn't a neighbour rung the police, or should you stand in front of a window if someone is about to throw a brick through it, kept passing through my mind. I work in education so that was quite interesting, things I went yeah, that's familiar but others I wasn't convinced by and yes the overarching why would people now care so much about this issue in the past? And I think as I wanted to enjoy the cast I then wanted to find something likeable, redeemable in their characters in spite of them being more than a little messed up. Sat in front row had oodles of room, I guess if the stage had come out further the front people would have lost sight of the attic? I'd forgotten where the seat numbers are, why are they in such an impossible place to spot in semi light? The kind lady in my row already identified her seat so I could find mine and then I, and the next person and the next then repaid on the favour, seemed bit mad though. I think as david and others have probably said for me there was a more interesting play in there though I didn't see the ending coming and was shocked by how it would have presumably played out if it had lasted another few minutes, guess that axe should have been my hint huh. So interesting but ultimately bit dissatisfying, but yeah a pleasure to see the cast. |
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