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Post by dlevi on Jan 30, 2020 11:43:16 GMT
I saw this last night and I thought it was basically terrific. Yes, there are a lot of characters, yes you spend time trying to figure out who's who in relation to everyone else BUT it doesn't matter. Stoppard's dialogue sparkles with wit, philosophy and theatricality. The performances are all detailed and beautifully calibrated. The staging and design are superb. To answer Dawnstar's questions - it's not that harrowing except emotionally of course, and both actresses have significant roles but that's true of virtually everyone on stage.
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Post by alexandra on Jan 30, 2020 12:40:32 GMT
Bit disappointing, I thought. I actually wanted it to be longer. I love many of Stoppard's plays, but not this. Maybe it would have been better in the hands of a more experienced director.
The first half is great; you get to know the characters a bit, and it describes an interesting world in some detail. But the rest feels rushed and rather superficial, despite the gravity of the subject matter. It would have made a wonderful epic three parter (had he felt like/been up to writing such a thing), but as it is, was much less rich and rewarding than his Russia trilogy, for example, yet without the snappiness of some of his shorter plays. And I'm afraid I found the acting over the top and lacking in truth on the whole.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 30, 2020 13:19:11 GMT
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 30, 2020 14:29:40 GMT
To answer Dawnstar's questions - it's not that harrowing except emotionally of course, and both actresses have significant roles but that's true of virtually everyone on stage. Thank for your reply. I was assuming it would be emotionally harrowing but wanted to check that it didn't include scenes showing characters being tortured/murdered in concentration camps or anything similar. |
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Post by MrBunbury on Jan 30, 2020 14:52:54 GMT
To answer Dawnstar's questions - it's not that harrowing except emotionally of course, and both actresses have significant roles but that's true of virtually everyone on stage. Thank for your reply. I was assuming it would be emotionally harrowing but wanted to check that it didn't include scenes showing characters being tortured/murdered in concentration camps or anything similar. No, there is no torture. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 31, 2020 7:48:02 GMT
There’s a big twist at the end? Intriguing. It better not be the cast all coming out in modern clothes or something equally cliched.
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Post by zahidf on Jan 31, 2020 13:27:58 GMT
What's the current running time for this please?
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Post by rumbledoll on Jan 31, 2020 17:55:02 GMT
You are a star! Thanks a million! |
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Post by Jan on Jan 31, 2020 18:21:15 GMT
Ed Stoppard is in it I see. When he played Hamlet in 2005 it seemed like he was set for a great stage career but he seemed to drop from view - at least I didn't see him much subsequently.
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Post by andrew on Jan 31, 2020 18:23:20 GMT
Anyone done TodayTix for this and know where abouts the seats are?
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 31, 2020 18:25:06 GMT
Anyone done TodayTix for this and know where abouts the seats are? Row D of the Grand Circle |
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Post by lynette on Feb 1, 2020 18:38:05 GMT
Ed Stoppard is in it I see. When he played Hamlet in 2005 it seemed like he was set for a great stage career but he seemed to drop from view - at least I didn't see him much subsequently. You checking if I’m awake? THAT was Ed Bennett. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on Feb 1, 2020 18:42:33 GMT
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Post by lynette on Feb 1, 2020 18:48:12 GMT
😂😂😂😂
So I’m not awake then.
Sorreeee.
What’s an ED between friends?
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Post by zahidf on Feb 2, 2020 11:56:50 GMT
Didn't like this. Was all over the place and aside from a few very good moments, not memorable
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 2, 2020 15:00:36 GMT
Found this underwhelming, the story is one we have heard many times and this does not really bring anything new to the table even though it’s timeliness is appreciated as we face a rise in ethnic discrimination.
Had no problem following the lineage of the characters and the arc even though at times it felt as if there were more on stage than an audience in some of the smaller Theatres I’ve frequented.
The TodayTix Rush seats are good value and for me a represented a fair price and would have been disappointed if I’d paid full price.
(The interval was taken up applying the maths problem raised for other values and as Gauss identified the formula is extremely simple when you see the pattern)
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Post by alessia on Feb 11, 2020 11:01:47 GMT
I saw this last night. I too was slightly underwhelmed-I sort of regret spending over my budget to see this. Although the production, costumes and set were well done and beautiful to look at, it failed to somehow connect with me, I can't quite put my finger on the reason. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The script has some excellent lines and most of the actors do a great job with it. It just didn't connect and it left me a bit cold despite a moving ending. Felt that buying the booklet might be helpful to work out the family relationships but having gone over budget already I didn't want to spend more! I got the gist of the connections although it is indeed quite complicated with so many actors and skipping forward twice in time. I see that people comment on the children being great, I was waiting to see why but again I'm still wondering, I don't think any of the children did much great acting to deserve praise, with the exception maybe of one scene.
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Post by nash16 on Feb 11, 2020 11:58:37 GMT
I saw this last night. I too was slightly underwhelmed-I sort of regret spending over my budget to see this. Although the production, costumes and set were well done and beautiful to look at, it failed to somehow connect with me, I can't quite put my finger on the reason. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The script has some excellent lines and most of the actors do a great job with it. It just didn't connect and it left me a bit cold despite a moving ending. Felt that buying the booklet might be helpful to work out the family relationships but having gone over budget already I didn't want to spend more! I got the gist of the connections although it is indeed quite complicated with so many actors and skipping forward twice in time. I see that people comment on the children being great, I was waiting to see why but again I'm still wondering, I don't think any of the children did much great acting to deserve praise, with the exception maybe of one scene. For all the heralding of the large cast and the children, the child actors could definitely have been cut. Beyond some pulling of each other’s hair and running around there was little brought by them. The only child you needed was the one who dropped something important. When you realised you were seeing one of them grown up, you didn’t tend to sit there with fond/distinct memories of their younger counterpart. Free up that dressing room space haha. |
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Post by gibbo1956 on Feb 11, 2020 17:03:18 GMT
I thought it was a shame that with such a downbeat ending the kids didn't get the customary cheer that West End Audiences always give youngsters.
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Post by Steve on Feb 12, 2020 18:48:22 GMT
I loved this. It's like Stoppard put down his calculator and took up painting full-time, as this, for me, is an exquisitely beautiful, detailed and personal portrait of a family passing through time. Some spoilers follow. . . I think for most playwrights, asking questions is the limit, fearing that trying to answer them would border on arrogance, or limit the scope of the art in some way. What's typically great about Stoppard is that he fearlessly DOES try to answer questions, utilising his wit, and a magpie knowledge of facts, philosophies and mathematics. Often, his plays can be written out as equations lol. So, "Arcadia" might be condensed into the equation: (order plus romanticism) divided by time = humanity. Which is actually genius, I think. Or "The Hard Problem" might be condensed into the equation: consciousness plus humanity = religion is proved; which didn't resonate quite so well with me. This play, Leopoldstadt, is the one in Sesame Street that is not like the others: it's so incredibly personal, and yet so beautifully rendered a portrait of Stoppard: his roots, his family, his ideas, his thoughtful dissection of ideologies, his communing with time as his eternal unifying theme, that it struck a massive chord with me. I think Stoppard finds the universal in the personal. It's like Bong Joon-Ho said at the Oscars, quoting Martin Scorsese to Martin Scorsese lol, "the most personal is the most creative." This is personal because it deals with Stoppard's Jewish roots, it's personal because Leo Thallon gets to play a version of Stoppard (in the character of Leo, his young English assimilated self), it's personal because his son's in it playing another version of himself (in the character of Ludwig, a man calmly and compassionately dissecting ideas and ideologies), it's personal because actors from other Stoppard plays are in it, it's personal because it depicts family life (I think children crawling about under tables and pestering adults are key to that depiction), it's personal because it's at once a Stoppardian discussion of ideas and time, as well as being all about Stoppard the man. It is, of course, also another timely reminder about the dangers of ethno-nationalism, but the power of the piece is it's completeness and beauty as a self-portrait of it's author. The ensemble are universally good. Adrian Scarborough (romantic) and Ed Stoppard (rational) stand out as two well-meaning family patriarchs; Leo Thallon nails that purse-lipped conceited self-regard that James Norton trade-marked in his portrayal of Stephen Ward on TV recently, and Jenna Augen and Faye Castelow shine in their portrayals of strong individualistic women. Overall, this show doesn't solve any hard problems, but it beguilingly sums up a life, and life in general. 4 and a half stars from me.  |
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Post by jampot on Feb 12, 2020 19:13:26 GMT
Is it press night tonight?
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898 posts
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 12, 2020 19:37:36 GMT
Is it press night tonight? Yes. Reviews early-to-mid morning tomorrow. |
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Post by jampot on Feb 13, 2020 0:30:31 GMT
Reviews seem quite upbeat...
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Post by lonlad on Feb 13, 2020 0:33:17 GMT
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Post by Jon on Feb 13, 2020 2:12:00 GMT
I wouldn't be shocked if Broadway is on the cards either later this year or next year.
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