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Post by jonnymb on Jul 24, 2024 14:11:49 GMT
Does anyone know if the RSC still do public/open understudy dress rehearsals? They used to be listed in their rep brochure, normally on a Friday afternoon, but not sure when that stopped...
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Post by lynette on Jul 25, 2024 14:03:25 GMT
Good question. I haven’t seen anything about them recently.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 7, 2024 22:50:07 GMT
Just home from Pericles press night
It was good. But not brilliant. And certainly not worthy of the standing ovation it got
Lovely design, great lighting, evocative music
Some great performance particularly the Marina - Rachelle Diedericks. She has a dazzling future ahead of her in this repertoire.
But over reliance on the efforts of the movement director detracts from the overall success of the production
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Post by moviebuffff1n on Aug 10, 2024 6:33:22 GMT
Got second row seats in the stalls for Pericles last night using their student offer. I found the first half to be the strongest of the two with some lovely choreography with the ship wreck. The second dragged on a bit during the last twenty mins. Alfred gave a brilliant performance and it was good seeing him that close. I agree with the previous post, the movement director must of had a field day with this piece. I didn’t mind some of the movement but during the second half I found it quite distracting during the emotional scenes. Back next Thursday for a two show day consisting of A school for scandal in the afternoon and merry wives of Windsor in the evening! Would give Pericles 3.5/5.
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Post by andrew on Aug 11, 2024 17:54:17 GMT
Went to School for Scandal a couple of days ago. It has become the second time in my entire life I left at the interval. Really a production without any merit at all. I found the whole thing annoying, garish, unconnecting and not especially funny - which is a problem when it seems every ounce of the productions energy is going into trying to generate some cheap laugh. The constant needless use of the trapdoors was irritating, then it created a show stop. I couldn't bear to sit through more, especially since it was supposedly clocking in at well over 2hrs 30m. A roaring 1 star from me.
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Post by moviebuffff1n on Aug 15, 2024 22:43:31 GMT
Did a two show day today. Was a day of two half’s, started off with school for scandal. Me and my twin brother went with zero expectations, just expecting nearly three hours of laughs. We didn’t laugh once it was so poor. By the interval we contemplated leaving but didn’t have the heart too. So we stayed for the second half, which was better then the first half (the first half was 0.5/5 and second was 1.5/5 but still better). The set felt useless at times and the trapdoors worthless. The actors look to be having a blast but we were trying to stay awake . Overall a really poor production which made me question the RSC’s production quality and how this earned the main theatres Summer slot. Then this evening we watched merry wives of Windsor. Went in with extremely low expectations as we just wanted some laughs. We both absolutely loved the show. The whole play is brilliant with the whole cast giving great performances. The standout had to be falstaff. He was superb and had the audience in the palm of his hand as he fans around the stage. I would of much preferred to watch merry wives twice then watch school of scandal. Overall merry wives earns the 5/5 rating and I hope it gets a life after it’s run there!
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Post by kallyloo on Aug 16, 2024 6:08:26 GMT
Thanks, I was contemplating School for Scandal, but definitely crossed off the list.
Glad you enjoyed Merry Wives, so much fun.
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Post by cirque on Aug 16, 2024 14:58:55 GMT
Telegraph today
Simon R Beale RSC Titus 2025
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Post by bordeaux on Aug 16, 2024 15:03:33 GMT
Telegraph today Simon R Beale RSC Titus 2025 Fabulous news! Director? And what is he doing before that? I'm looking forward to the book. |
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Post by Jan on Aug 16, 2024 15:07:44 GMT
Telegraph today Simon R Beale RSC Titus 2025 Blimey. That is far from obvious casting. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 16, 2024 15:34:10 GMT
He'll make a fascinating Lavinia...
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 16, 2024 17:11:25 GMT
Here's the Telegraph article if anyone wants to read the full piece archive.is/EoGjh |
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Post by Jan on Aug 17, 2024 17:52:08 GMT
Here's the Telegraph article if anyone wants to read the full piece archive.is/EoGjhBit alarmed he’s still saying he wants to do Macbeth again, he was hopelessly miscast the last time and would be even more so now. |
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Post by cavocado on Aug 17, 2024 19:12:38 GMT
I did a 4 play trip to Stratford recently - felt like a huge treat and something I haven't done for a long time. Happy to see the RSC looking like it is bouncing back from years of stagnation.
My thoughts on the current plays are similar to what's been said by others on here:
Merry Wives - very funny, sitcom-ish, feel-good production, good performances especially from the wives and Falstaff. Felt like vintage RSC.
Pericles - Alfred Enoch and Rachelle Diedricks were impressive, and I liked the choreography and the movement with the ropes, though my friend felt it was distracting and overdone.
As You Like It (Garden Theatre) - for me this was cut too much and lost a lot of the depth of characters and emotions, but it was entertaining and would be good fun to take older children.
School For Scandal - tries far too hard to be relevant/modern/knowing, and loses sight of the real human emotions behind these larger than life characters, and many jokes fell flat. Direction and design were the problems, just swamping the actors. Agree with previous posters about the annoying trap doors.
Stratford felt like a much less depressing place than a year ago. Is that just wishful thinking, or maybe because it's school holidays and more people are around? Still lots of empty shops but a buzzing atmosphere around the theatres. I don't know if others have felt a change? I'm looking forward to going back in the autumn for Othello, and am also quite intrigued by the SRB news. He wouldn't be my first choice for Titus, but I'm feeling positive about the new RSC, so certainly willing to believe it will be worth seeing.
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Post by cirque on Aug 17, 2024 19:50:26 GMT
Stratford feels very vibrant at theatres….new team seem determined to restore the company.No longer playing the community card .The day RSC was labelled royal Shakespeare community was a sad one. No more troops of community chorus. Hope this continues as it places emphasis on quality.
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Post by kate8 on Oct 2, 2024 6:50:09 GMT
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Post by marob on Oct 2, 2024 8:27:11 GMT
I said it wouldn’t be long before he was cast in something. I’d expect a play from his partner Laura Wade before too long as well, as she’s one of Tamara Harvey’s best friends.
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Post by rumbledoll on Oct 9, 2024 7:42:14 GMT
Having a Hamlet ticket for a while now (booked the very first day purely based on Luke Thallon, never to be missed), still curious when the full cast announcement is due for this, don't see it selling too well at the moment..
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Post by thaneofglamis on Oct 9, 2024 20:00:09 GMT
I’ve enjoyed reading through much of this thread, having seen most RSC productions since 2016. I’ve currently got Othello, Twelfth Night and Hamlet booked. In the past I’ve seen lots of the plays as part of the Rush Tickets scheme - but wanted to book these as the big hitters don’t always go to Rush (they also seem to restrict the Rush to the uppermost circle). I’ve found a couple of the £25 front-row seats in the middle circle aren’t restricted at all and great value. I’ve tried to see the performances with a director’s talk beforehand or a post-show talk. Definitely recommend these and made this work for Othello and Hamlet). The Pericles pre-show talk with Tamara Harvey recently was really interesting. Some of my favourite recent RSC productions were A Midsummer Night's Dream with Mathew Baynton (very much recommend the London transfer), the gender-swapped Taming of the Shrew from a couple of years ago, 2022’s back-to-back Henry VI pt.3/Richard III (Arthur Hughes was fantastic). Another two of my favourites were King John from 2019 with Rosie Sheehy (who was also a great Puck and I’ve since sought out in other non-RSC productions like Machinal) and Timon of Athens with Kathryn Hunter (this was probably my favourite individual performance - she was amazing and the staging in The Swan was excellent). The biggest scale/most impressive production was probably Troilus and Cressida (I loved how Gregory Doran used the space and went absolutely all-out with the staging). Not strictly RSC, but I saw a Gregory Doran-directed Two Gentlemen of Verona earlier this year in Oxford, staged by students he was working with. It was fantastic - especially because some of the cast were so young and had little professional experience on stage. amp.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/may/10/student-production-two-gentlemen-of-verona-oxford-greg-doran |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 10, 2024 22:20:57 GMT
The New Real is a big missed opportunity
The performances are fine
The direction perfectly serviceable
Design and tech all good if a bit overloud with music
But Davic Edgar's script is sadly lacking.
It lacks drama. It lacks clarity of intent. It doesn't have a clear arc and has no idea how to conclude.
There's a good play to be written about modern politics. This isn't it.
No standing ovation.
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Post by jonnymb on Oct 12, 2024 16:14:25 GMT
Quick question about the The New Real - I noticed that in the production photos, and in reviews, they'd previously been utilising the video screen more, with them dropping in and out at certain points. However this didn't happen at the performance I saw, they just stayed stationary above the stage. Sitting in the second row, they were out of my eye line and I didn't realise that the year was occasionally being projected. Is this last minute change to the production, or were they just not working for the production I saw?
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Post by Jan on Oct 12, 2024 17:43:19 GMT
The New Real is a big missed opportunity The performances are fine The direction perfectly serviceable Design and tech all good if a bit overloud with music But Davic Edgar's script is sadly lacking. It lacks drama. It lacks clarity of intent. It doesn't have a clear arc and has no idea how to conclude. There's a good play to be written about modern politics. This isn't it. No standing ovation. The same problems as Here In America. He should gracefully retire, no one of 76 has written a good play. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 12, 2024 17:43:53 GMT
The New Real is a big missed opportunity The performances are fine The direction perfectly serviceable Design and tech all good if a bit overloud with music But Davic Edgar's script is sadly lacking. It lacks drama. It lacks clarity of intent. It doesn't have a clear arc and has no idea how to conclude. There's a good play to be written about modern politics. This isn't it. No standing ovation. The same problems as Here In America then. He should gracefully retire, no one of 76 has written a good play. |
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Post by bordeaux on Oct 12, 2024 18:06:13 GMT
The New Real is a big missed opportunity The performances are fine The direction perfectly serviceable Design and tech all good if a bit overloud with music But Davic Edgar's script is sadly lacking. It lacks drama. It lacks clarity of intent. It doesn't have a clear arc and has no idea how to conclude. There's a good play to be written about modern politics. This isn't it. No standing ovation. The same problems as Here In America. He should gracefully retire, no one of 76 has written a good play. That's a challenge. I would say Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt, put on when he was 83, is a very good play. Can't think of anything else. Bennett's The History Boys was put on when he was 70, Frayn's Democracy when he was 69, Hare's Straight Line Crazy when he was 75 (he has a new one in Bath next year when he will be 78). Other art forms seem to be more forgiving - Edna O'Brien, Philip Roth, Penelope Fitzgerald, Jane Gardam have all written novels I've loved in their mid to late 70s. There are lots of great paintings painted by old artists. I assume we're going to get a lot more writers giving it a go in the coming years. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 12, 2024 18:34:11 GMT
Quick question about the The New Real - I noticed that in the production photos, and in reviews, they'd previously been utilising the video screen more, with them dropping in and out at certain points. However this didn't happen at the performance I saw, they just stayed stationary above the stage. Sitting in the second row, they were out of my eye line and I didn't realise that the year was occasionally being projected. Is this last minute change to the production, or were they just not working for the production I saw? They were moving freely through Thursday's press night. So perhaps it was a tech fault. |
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