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Post by crowblack on Jan 25, 2020 23:29:45 GMT
I saw it this afternoon too, and enjoyed it, but agree that there is a stronger play in here if only she'd make more cuts and reshape it. As it is, the detail and digressions and curlicues she's fond of, interesting though they are, dilute the power, and there are some really powerful scenes and images here - it's just that often they get buried. I also think, like Common, this would have worked much better staged in the Dorfman in the round, where we could really focus on the women. I really hated the set here - I felt it worked against the themes, language and characters, far too clinical and modern, like a minimalist kitchen or spa hotel, overwhelming the bodies of the characters. Btw, I wonder to what extent specific actors are sought out for the resonances their previous roles carry and plays shaped around that, and how this play would work with a different lead: Maxine Peake played Myra Hindley, to whom Sally's case and words clearly nod, and a somewhat similar role to the character she plays here, in Three Girls, with Ria Zmitrowicz as one of the girls |
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jan 25, 2020 23:32:21 GMT
I saw it this afternoon too, and enjoyed it, but agree that there is a stronger play in here if only she'd make more cuts and reshape it. As it is, the detail and digressions and curlicues she's fond of, interesting though they are, dilute the power, and there are some really powerful scenes and images here - it's just that often they get buried. I also think, like Common, this would have worked much better staged in the Dorfman in the round, where we could really focus on the women. I really hated the set here - I felt it worked against the themes, language and characters, far too clinical and modern, like a minimalist kitchen or spa hotel, overwhelming the bodies of the characters. Btw, I wonder to what extent specific actors are sought out for the resonances their previous roles carry and plays shaped around that, and how this play would work with a different lead: Maxine Peake
Hey your spoiler doesn't seem to be working. I click to open it and nothing appears. |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 25, 2020 23:34:53 GMT
Hey your spoiler doesn't seem to be working. I click to open it and nothing appears. I just tried to fix it but am having problems! |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 25, 2020 23:39:25 GMT
Hey your spoiler doesn't seem to be working. I click to open it and nothing appears. fixed now! |
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Post by joem on Jan 25, 2020 23:44:11 GMT
Starts off very well, very cinematic opening scene with a constructivist aesthetic. The dramatic scene between the accused woman and her husband is somewhat marred by very dim lighting, difficult to see what's happening. The stage then widens and lowers to make it look like the old cinemascope movies. Wonderful effect and then we end up with a set which could have been out of a Greenaway film.
The first hour is absorbing, and the characters are all individually defined - not easy with such a large cast - and the play then develops into a sort of Twelve Angry Women.
At some point though it becomes wordy and the ending, whilst eventually dramatic (or melodramatic) enough should have come 15 or 20 minutes earlier. There is far too much calm between the false and the actual climax.
Great ensemble acting for the female parts, the male parts are rather stereotypical - the butts for laughs mostly.
A good play, perhaps a very good play, I wonder if Lucy Kirkwood might be tempted to revise it and make it a great play?
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jan 26, 2020 0:18:32 GMT
I was there this afternoon too. Great view from the front row. Disappointed that Cecilia Noble was off but her understudy did a decent enough job. Overall I enjoyed it but it is around 20 minutes too long, a couple of times the play seems to go round in circles getting nowhere, but then it gets better again. It's very well acted. Great set, costumes and sound designed. It's still in previews and with a little bit of trimming before the opening night this has the potential to become a great play. Just my two cents It's out of previews now I think. Press night was a couple of days ago I believe. Ooops! I didn't realised it had opened this week. Thanks for pointing it out. Will have to check the reviews. I guess no changes will be made then, which is a pity. Still a good night at the theatre. Sometimes it reminded me a bit of The Crucible and Twelve Angry Men |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 26, 2020 10:42:52 GMT
I guess no changes will be made then, which is a pity. I saw Mosquitoes in a late preview and there had already been changes from the published text (as you'd expect). On a return visit a few weeks later in the run, end of August, I spotted Lucy Kirkwood in the building, and there had yet more changes - it played more obviously as a comedy - so it seems she goes on revising. |
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 26, 2020 12:05:02 GMT
Is there any absurd puppetry in this production? Not unless a child on wires counts. Is it an actual child or a blue or yellow scarf wrapped around a cabbage with a handle on the back of its head? |
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jan 26, 2020 12:08:14 GMT
Not unless a child on wires counts. Is it an actual child or a blue or yellow scarf wrapped around a cabbage with a handle on the back of its head? An actual one thankfully. |
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 26, 2020 12:20:32 GMT
Is it an actual child or a blue or yellow scarf wrapped around a cabbage with a handle on the back of its head? An actual one thankfully. YAAAAASSSS! This play sounds fascinating to me, I will have to pop along once I get rid of this horrid cold x |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 26, 2020 13:38:30 GMT
Good interview with Kirkwood on Front Row (BBC sounds/iplayer, 17 Jan). I think this is going to be NT-Lived so I will try to see it again through that.
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 26, 2020 14:01:12 GMT
Good interview with Kirkwood on Front Row (BBC sounds/iplayer, 17 Jan). I think this is going to be NT-Lived so I will try to see it again through that. It's being NT-Lived on May 21st x |
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Post by crowblack on Jan 26, 2020 14:30:42 GMT
It's being NT-Lived on May 21st x Yes, I'll defo see it again through that. It's messy and frustrating but, having slept on it, I did love it. There were a lot of unexpected similarities/parallels with Mosquitoes, a play which I really loved, though the friends I saw it with didn't: they found it too overstuffed, but I really enjoyed unpacking it, and I'm doing the same with this. |
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Post by johnnyutah on Jan 27, 2020 21:30:27 GMT
I saw this on Saturday and found it beguiling. This felt far more sophisticated than her first National bow. Despite its much talked about length, it moves along at a pleasing clip due to the leanness of the writing. It's a distinct departure from Kirkwood's celebrated previous offerings. The two or three person sparring has now been amplified into a sinuous ensemble that crucially never descends into witless noise. Each character has a unique voice and a clear motivation. Along with her trademark witticisms are passages of lyrical mysticism reminiscent of Jez Butterworth. The cast in this visually ravishing production are uniformly sublime. James MacDonald elegantly conveys the both the humour and gravity of the task these women are forced to endure.
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Post by crowblack on Jan 27, 2020 23:25:20 GMT
If you're quick, 2hrs 54 mins in on today's BBC Breakfast is Maxine Peake talking about the play - it goes off iplayer tomorrow morning though!
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 29, 2020 12:21:52 GMT
Theres a few front block £15/£20 tickets for this available at the moment.
GO!
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 3, 2020 16:59:58 GMT
More 15/20 quid tickets on sale for the next week or so x
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Post by tmesis on Feb 4, 2020 0:19:23 GMT
Vicky Pollard meets The Archers stretched out to interminable length.
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Post by nash16 on Feb 4, 2020 1:23:14 GMT
Vicky Pollard meets The Archers stretched out to interminable length. Haha, that was brilliant. I long for you to see The Visit soon and give us a similar review. I think you’ll have fun. |
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Post by crowblack on Feb 4, 2020 9:50:04 GMT
Vicky Pollard meets The Archers I don't agree - I really enjoyed this, more so looking back on it - but in her radio 4 interview she says Mumsnet was an inspiration. |
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Post by tmesis on Feb 4, 2020 15:25:08 GMT
Vicky Pollard meets The Archers stretched out to interminable length. Haha, that was brilliant. I long for you to see The Visit soon and give us a similar review. I think you’ll have fun. Actually I'm seeing it on Friday but don't fear Kushner's prolixity. He's always engaged me in the past, throughout both parts of Angels and The Homosexual's Guide. |
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Post by nash16 on Feb 4, 2020 18:36:35 GMT
Haha, that was brilliant. I long for you to see The Visit soon and give us a similar review. I think you’ll have fun. Actually I'm seeing it on Friday but don't fear Kushner's prolixity. He's always engaged me in the past, throughout both parts of Angels and The Homosexual's Guide. Just wait for this one..... |
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Post by peelee on Feb 4, 2020 19:22:48 GMT
An intelligent play, good to look at, with other design features enhancing the audience experience. Good writing, memorable characters, thanks to the writer and the actors who generally perform the play well. It was nice to see a production really occupy the National Theatre stage, in this case the Lyttelton, where other flimsier things have sometimes struggled in that respect.
However, it's clearly not for people who want something lighter, shorter, and that won't ask more concentration of them than they are prepared to give. It's a production with ideas, wit, serious argument, and plenty of life. I saw it on press night and hope that it was shortened even by 10-20 minutes to really grab everybody who buys a ticket. Two weeks later, though, the play is still lodged in my consciousness, so vivid an experience was it for the two of us. Well done, the National!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2020 17:13:30 GMT
What’s the running time on this now? The National’s website is unhelpfully saying TBC.
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Post by showgirl on Feb 9, 2020 18:54:51 GMT
When I look it says 2 h 45 and has for some time. Maybe there was a glitch when you checked?
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