Oedipus w/Mark Strong & Lesley Manville - Wyndham’s

[rumbledoll]

Sept 30, 2024 15:22:55 GMT al said:

The front row, except the two outer seats have just gone on sale for performances until Sat 19th October. No great bargain at £45 previews then gradually rising to £55 for Sat 19th. Two outer seats I assume will be day seats/rush seats?

Oh that’s something. Do you know when the rest of performances go on sale please?

[blaxx]

This was mesmerizing tonight!

It is captivating, riveting, and the acting is top notch. 2 hours with no intermission flew by.

[joem]

Mesmerising indeed. An Oedipus for our times... times when the appallingness of the realisation of what Oedipus and Jocasta go through and their reactions will be treated by some with a giggle, a smutty comment and a furtive Google search for "incest" movies.

Although the link with Sophocles is at times tenuous this is a coherent, well-written, well directed and superbly acted work - Strong and Manville are a tour de force (or tours des forces) and their acting is believable throughout, whatever their relationship happens to be at the time.

[alessia]

Booked after reading the above comments. I love Leslie Manville anyway. Looking forward to this now.

[mrbarnaby]

Oh wow, didn’t realise this had started already, I shall get myself along there to see it! Glad to hear good reports

[nialld]

If anyone's interested, I posted 2x £30 under 30 tickets on the noticeboard for Wednesday 16th October - they are row E of the Stalls so really brilliant value, there aren't any under 30 tickets that close to the stage on any other performances

[shakeel]

Thought this was pretty middling. It certainly doesn’t help that it’s a fundamentally silly play — overreliant on coincidences and with characters that don’t make any choices, stripping the play of any stakes. But the production doesn’t do itself any favours. Given that everyone knows the story and ending, a modern production can’t rely on the big reveal as a reveal at all: you’ve got to fundamentally rework the play to embrace the audience’s knowledge, really leaning into it and finding the tension somewhere else. This production does that to an extent, making constant knowing jokes about parents/children/sex, but it doesn’t fully commit. So you’re left with a play where the central conceit doesn’t work, but nothing else has been offered to fill its place.

Strong and Manville were fine, but not particularly impressive IMO; Strong flubbed a few lines too (though it’s previews, so fair enough). I saw Icke’s Dutch production of this a few years ago so couldn’t help but compare; I thought Kesting was a better actor but Strong is probably better suited for the part. Overall this was better than the Dutch version but still not great. 2.5 or 3*

[shakeel]

Actually on further reflection it’s even worse — Icke’s changes actually *weaken* the play.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Sophocles’ version has a chunk of time where Jocasta knows the truth and tries to hide it, and also makes Jocasta blameworthy for giving the child away (she did it to try to outsmart the gods, but in fact made everything worse). Icke’s changes strip both of these out, getting rid of the only tension/agency the play actually has!

[aspieandy]

Oct 9, 2024 20:56:05 GMT shakeel said:

I saw Icke’s Dutch production of this a few years ago so couldn’t help but compare; I thought Kesting was a better actor but Strong is probably better suited for the part. Overall this was better than the Dutch version but still not great.

I was almost confused for a minute. So this is a similar staging of that production but 5 years or so on, now in English and obv. a different cast?

[shakeel]

Oct 9, 2024 21:08:51 GMT aspieandy said:

Oct 9, 2024 20:56:05 GMT shakeel said:

I saw Icke’s Dutch production of this a few years ago so couldn’t help but compare; I thought Kesting was a better actor but Strong is probably better suited for the part. Overall this was better than the Dutch version but still not great.

I was almost confused for a minute. So this is a similar staging of that production but 5 years or so on, now in English and obv. a different cast?

Yep, almost identical staging I think. It was the ITA ensemble, Hans Kesting was in Strong’s role.

[shakeel]

Oct 9, 2024 20:56:05 GMT shakeel said:

Thought this was pretty middling. It certainly doesn’t help that it’s a fundamentally silly play — overreliant on coincidences and with characters that don’t make any choices, stripping the play of any stakes. But the production doesn’t do itself any favours. Given that everyone knows the story and ending, a modern production can’t rely on the big reveal as a reveal at all: you’ve got to fundamentally rework the play to embrace the audience’s knowledge, really leaning into it and finding the tension somewhere else. This production does that to an extent, making constant knowing jokes about parents/children/sex, but it doesn’t fully commit. So you’re left with a play where the central conceit doesn’t work, but nothing else has been offered to fill its place.

Strong and Manville were fine, but not particularly impressive IMO; Strong flubbed a few lines too (though it’s previews, so fair enough). I saw Icke’s Dutch production of this a few years ago so couldn’t help but compare; I thought Kesting was a better actor but Strong is probably better suited for the part. Overall this was better than the Dutch version but still not great. 2.5 or 3*

Actually, I take back the bit about the reveal not working just in modern productions — it would also have been known to ancient audiences. But it does mean the play only works if 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}Jocasta acts badly

as that's the whole crux and tension of the play. Without that, I'm not sure what you're left with.

[Jan]

Oct 9, 2024 21:13:53 GMT shakeel said:

Oct 9, 2024 21:08:51 GMT aspieandy said:

Yep, almost identical staging I think. It was the ITA ensemble, Hans Kesting was in Strong’s role.

OT but the ITA have recently parted company with their long-term AD Ivo van Hove in acrimonious and somewhat opaque circumstances. I wonder if the likes of Icke and Simon Stone will also be sidelined by the "new broom" team in charge there.

[shakeel]

Oct 10, 2024 7:52:36 GMT Jan said:

Oct 9, 2024 21:13:53 GMT shakeel said:

Yep, almost identical staging I think. It was the ITA ensemble, Hans Kesting was in Strong’s role.

OT but the ITA have recently parted company with their long-term AD Ivo van Hove in acrimonious and somewhat opaque circumstances. I wonder if the likes of Icke and Simon Stone will also be sidelined by the "new broom" team in charge there.

Pretty sure both of them were only ever supposed to be temporarily affiliated — it was a residency-type arrangement IIRC. Icke’s last production there was in 2022 and Stone’s in 2020.

[nash16]

Oct 10, 2024 7:52:36 GMT Jan said:

Oct 9, 2024 21:13:53 GMT shakeel said:

Yep, almost identical staging I think. It was the ITA ensemble, Hans Kesting was in Strong’s role.

OT but the ITA have recently parted company with their long-term AD Ivo van Hove in acrimonious and somewhat opaque circumstances. I wonder if the likes of Icke and Simon Stone will also be sidelined by the "new broom" team in charge there.

The Almeida parted company with Icke a few years back, I remember.

That’s when he headed off to Europe.

[rumbledoll]

Some front row seats became available for late Oct - early Nov if anyone is interested.

[aspieandy]

Oct 10, 2024 11:15:00 GMT nash16 said:

The Almeida parted company with Icke a few years back, I remember.

That’s when he headed off to Europe.

Iirc, some time after, he started to talk about Brexit as a motive for leaving but at the time of leaving he said it was weight of work/opportunites, or so he told The Stage:

Icke said he was leaving the position because it had become “impossible” to give his full attention to the venue. His productions have included Mary Stuart and Hamlet, both of which starred Stevenson.

“I’ve had a fantastic six years here, but it’s become impossible to give the building the attention it deserves alongside my other work for theatre and for the screen. I’m grateful to all my supportive and talented colleagues over that time, on stage and off, including so many wonderful actors, and to all of the wider Almeida team, some of whom I first met as an Almeida assistant director a decade ago. I look forward to returning in the future,” he added.

Almeida Theatre artistic director Rupert Goold described Icke’s contribution to the theatre as “immeasurable”.

“His emergence from our time working together at Headlong to international renown through his work for this theatre has been a privilege to be part of. He has been a friend and a visionary and we wish him well on the next stage of his artistic journey and look forward to him making other Almeida productions in the future”

www.thestage.co.uk/news/robert-icke-to-step-down-as-associate-director-of-the-almeida-theatre

[nash16]

Oct 10, 2024 18:30:53 GMT aspieandy said:

Oct 10, 2024 11:15:00 GMT nash16 said:

The Almeida parted company with Icke a few years back, I remember.

That’s when he headed off to Europe.

Iirc, some time after, he started to talk about Brexit as a motive for leaving but at the time of leaving he said it was weight of work/opportunites, or so he told The Stage:

Icke said he was leaving the position because it had become “impossible” to give his full attention to the venue. His productions have included Mary Stuart and Hamlet, both of which starred Stevenson.

“I’ve had a fantastic six years here, but it’s become impossible to give the building the attention it deserves alongside my other work for theatre and for the screen. I’m grateful to all my supportive and talented colleagues over that time, on stage and off, including so many wonderful actors, and to all of the wider Almeida team, some of whom I first met as an Almeida assistant director a decade ago. I look forward to returning in the future,” he added.

Almeida Theatre artistic director Rupert Goold described Icke’s contribution to the theatre as “immeasurable”.

“His emergence from our time working together at Headlong to international renown through his work for this theatre has been a privilege to be part of. He has been a friend and a visionary and we wish him well on the next stage of his artistic journey and look forward to him making other Almeida productions in the future”

www.thestage.co.uk/news/robert-icke-to-step-down-as-associate-director-of-the-almeida-theatre

Hmmm.

[aspieandy]

If you have any links they will be welcome.

[nash16]

Oct 10, 2024 20:26:19 GMT aspieandy said:

If you have any links they will be welcome.

You actually supplied perfect evidence with your post.

As always, all you have to do is read between the lines.

[jr]

Friends of mine were at the Friday evening show. Production stopped for around d 10 minutes, doors were opened but they weren't asked to leave. Production resumed but it seems actors looked unhappy at curtain call.

Anyone knows what happened?

[lonlad]

Gosh, that's odd --- if it were a Jamie Lloyd production, the action would then have continued out on the street.

[Boob]

If it were a Jamie Lloyd production, the actors would have been told to look unhappy at curtain call.

[justsaying113]

Can someone check in on Arifa Akbar - *****

[sam22]

Email to say Lesley Manville isn't going to be on for the evening show on 9 November.

[jake]

Oct 13, 2024 7:14:54 GMT jr said:

Friends of mine were at the Friday evening show. Production stopped for around d 10 minutes, doors were opened but they weren't asked to leave. Production resumed but it seems actors looked unhappy at curtain call.

Anyone knows what happened?

This happened at Wyndham's when I saw The Father.  Stage cleared but announcement made that it was not an interval and please would everybody stay in their seats. There was no explanation given though word got around that everything stopped so an audience member could be safely removed for medical reasons.  I'm guessing this is just the theatre's default way of dealing with unscheduled stops.  It was a little worrying because it was the day after the Bataclan massacre and Ken Cranham had made a little speech before the performance referencing, inter alia, Florian Zeller's secularism.  Some people didn't respect the request to stay seated - which disrespect would normally annoy me; but in the circumstances...