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Post by frappuccino on Jun 13, 2021 12:20:03 GMT
Did you watch any of his plays there? No, I'm far too young! I doubt there are any archive recordings either. I have never seen any of Alan's plays (unless you count the illegally filmed version of Seminar on You Tube). I would love to see Antony and Cleopatra to see what all the fuss is about. And of course the famous Les Liaison Dangereus. |
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Post by Fleance on Jun 13, 2021 13:25:32 GMT
Alan Rickman was quite wonderful in the RSC's production of Mephisto. He was also a great Elyot (Lindsay Duncan as Amanda) in the best production of Private Lives that I've seen.
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Post by frappuccino on Jun 13, 2021 14:06:38 GMT
Alan Rickman was quite wonderful in the RSC's production of Mephisto. He was also a great Elyot (Lindsay Duncan as Amanda) in the best production of Private Lives that I've seen. Private lives! I saw that on You Tube :/ |
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Post by Jan on Jun 14, 2021 6:33:25 GMT
No, I'm far too young! I doubt there are any archive recordings either. I have never seen any of Alan's plays (unless you count the illegally filmed version of Seminar on You Tube). I would love to see Antony and Cleopatra to see what all the fuss is about. And of course the famous Les Liaison Dangereus. I saw him quite a few times. I saw him in that RSC season where he played in "Les Liaisons" and "As You Like It" (as Jacques in a great Adrian Noble production with Fiona Shaw and Juliet Stephenson) and later in Mephisto. Previously in Stratford he'd been Achilles in the brilliant Howard Davies production of "Troilus and Cressida" (directed to "play it like he's a big film star") but unfortunately when they transferred it to London they re-cast the role. One other ntable thing is how often I'd see him in the audience for other plays, at the NT and elsewhere. He must have really liked theatre - not the case with some other very good stage actors who never go. |
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Post by frappuccino on Jun 14, 2021 11:46:02 GMT
I have never seen any of Alan's plays (unless you count the illegally filmed version of Seminar on You Tube). I would love to see Antony and Cleopatra to see what all the fuss is about. And of course the famous Les Liaison Dangereus. I saw him quite a few times. I saw him in that RSC season where he played in "Les Liaisons" and "As You Like It" (as Jacques in a great Adrian Noble production with Fiona Shaw and Juliet Stephenson) and later in Mephisto. Previously in Stratford he'd been Achilles in the brilliant Howard Davies production of "Troilus and Cressida" (directed to "play it like he's a big film star") but unfortunately when they transferred it to London they re-cast the role. One other ntable thing is how often I'd see him in the audience for other plays, at the NT and elsewhere. He must have really liked theatre - not the case with some other very good stage actors who never go. Yes he said theatre was like religion to him. You are so lucky to have seen the legendary LLD performance. I never knew he had been given that direction whn he played Achilles. |
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Post by cavocado on Jun 14, 2021 13:14:01 GMT
Yes, he did play Achilles like a film star - langorous, arrogant, glamorous and charismatic. I also remember Alun Armstrong as a very funny Geordie Thersites in the same production. I was lucky enough to see Les Liaisons and As You Like It too - I think all in the same year, 1985? I used to love going there, especially around the time The Swan Theatre first opened. I wish I could rekindle that enthusiasm.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 14, 2021 14:13:18 GMT
The Swan remains one of my favourite theatre spaces of all time.
It has been wasted by Doran et al.
It really is time for Regime Change in Stratford
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Post by Fleance on Jun 15, 2021 1:25:41 GMT
I saw him quite a few times. I saw him in that RSC season where he played in "Les Liaisons" and "As You Like It" (as Jacques in a great Adrian Noble production with Fiona Shaw and Juliet Stephenson) and later in Mephisto. Previously in Stratford he'd been Achilles in the brilliant Howard Davies production of "Troilus and Cressida" (directed to "play it like he's a big film star") but unfortunately when they transferred it to London they re-cast the role. One other ntable thing is how often I'd see him in the audience for other plays, at the NT and elsewhere. He must have really liked theatre - not the case with some other very good stage actors who never go. That was indeed an excellent production of Troilus; sadly, Juliet Stevenson was out the night I saw it. Cressida was played by Emma D'Inverno (where is she now?). A highlight of that production was Clive Merrison's Pandarus. A later RSC Troilus which was great was the Sam Mendes production, with Ralph Fiennes, Amanda Root, and Simon Russell Beale as Thersites, in the Barbican Pit. I met Alan Rickman once, at Irene Worth's memorial service, at the Public Theater in New York. |
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Post by frappuccino on Jun 15, 2021 7:14:17 GMT
I saw him quite a few times. I saw him in that RSC season where he played in "Les Liaisons" and "As You Like It" (as Jacques in a great Adrian Noble production with Fiona Shaw and Juliet Stephenson) and later in Mephisto. Previously in Stratford he'd been Achilles in the brilliant Howard Davies production of "Troilus and Cressida" (directed to "play it like he's a big film star") but unfortunately when they transferred it to London they re-cast the role. One other ntable thing is how often I'd see him in the audience for other plays, at the NT and elsewhere. He must have really liked theatre - not the case with some other very good stage actors who never go. That was indeed an excellent production of Troilus; sadly, Juliet Stevenson was out the night I saw it. Cressida was played by Emma D'Inverno (where is she now?). A highlight of that production was Clive Merrison's Pandarus. A later RSC Troilus which was great was the Sam Mendes production, with Ralph Fiennes, Amanda Root, and Simon Russell Beale as Thersites, in the Barbican Pit. I met Alan Rickman once, at Irene Worth's memorial service, at the Public Theater in New York. Omg! Please give us an anecdote! |
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Post by Jan on Jun 15, 2021 7:35:49 GMT
Yes, he did play Achilles like a film star - langorous, arrogant, glamorous and charismatic. I also remember Alun Armstrong as a very funny Geordie Thersites in the same production. From what I recall Alun Armstrong was brought in at the last minute to cover for Nicky Henson who was ill and couldn't take the part. He was very good. I remember the very first scene of that production - it was set around the time of the Crimea war - a general is reading an update coming in on a tickertape machine - he looks at it, turns to his staff and just shrugs, confused, he doesn't know what it means. The Mendes one with SRB was great too. But my favourite was the Michael Boyd one set in Ireland around the time of the partition, Protestants v Catholics - it made sense of the fact that there was a city under siege (like Belfast) but where the combatants could still mingle and encounter each other. |
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Post by cavocado on Jun 15, 2021 8:10:35 GMT
That's interesting about Alun Armstrong being a late replacement. I read somewhere that he was commuting between rehearsing Les Miserables in London and performing in Troilus in Stratford, which seemed bad planning! He's one of my favourite actors. I wish he'd done more on stage in the last 10-15 years, and it's a shame that he didn't get to do the classic older Shakespearean roles. I'd love to have seen him as Falstaff and Prospero. He'd be great in Waiting for Godot - surely due another revival.
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Post by Jan on Jun 15, 2021 8:38:59 GMT
That's interesting about Alun Armstrong being a late replacement. I read somewhere that he was commuting between rehearsing Les Miserables in London and performing in Troilus in Stratford, which seemed bad planning! He's one of my favourite actors. I wish he'd done more on stage in the last 10-15 years, and it's a shame that he didn't get to do the classic older Shakespearean roles. I'd love to have seen him as Falstaff and Prospero. He'd be great in Waiting for Godot - surely due another revival. Maybe not too late, the RSC are threatening us with another Tempest next year. I was last due to see him in the NT "The Royal Hunt of the Sun" but he was indisposed - very wise given how poor that production was. I've seen him quite a few times on stage, once in "Serjeant Musgrave's Dance" with Albert Finney, Eileen Atkins and Max Wall. Quite a cast. |
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Post by zahidf on Jun 23, 2021 9:06:23 GMT
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Post by lynette on Jul 1, 2021 1:42:00 GMT
Nice photos of the garden theatre going up. Red seats. Might just be the thing, weather permitting. I wonder if they are thinking long term: more of a festival vibe to summer shows? Funny tweet from the Globe - “oh hello” with 😍 which reminded me of the great Carry On vibe.
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Post by Jan on Jul 12, 2021 14:53:20 GMT
From what I’ve seen myself and heard about 2nd-hand there seems to be no reluctance from audiences to return to theatre albeit still with various distancing measures. The RSC’s decision to keep their theatres closed (with that as the reason cited) looks mistaken.
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Post by cavocado on Jul 13, 2021 12:16:08 GMT
It seems like a business mistake, as well as a misreading of their audience. But in a way that's not the issue. Even if audiences were reluctant, surely the RSC should have been one of the first off the blocks encouraging us back, because it's meant to be one of our leading cultural institutions. Comparable institutions like the NT and the large subsidised galleries and museums have mostly found ways to reopen and operate under the restrictions.
In contrast the RSC has done a few things which seem quite ill-conceived - the Dream cartoon which was more about film technology than theatre; filmed rehearsals for a play that won't be performed; and I haven't read anything that clearly explains the thinking behind building the Garden Theatre while their existing theatres remain closed, or how it fits into their long term strategy.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 22, 2021 8:36:25 GMT
Just looked at the Comedy of Errors on the Barbican website. Either the front row is all sold out or they are saving it for a lottery. No cheapies so I'll pass on this one.
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Post by fossil on Jul 22, 2021 8:58:16 GMT
Just looked at the Comedy of Errors on the Barbican website. Either the front row is all sold out or they are saving it for a lottery. No cheapies so I'll pass on this one. Day seats? The press release on the RSC web site says for this production that day seats will be available for £10. |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 22, 2021 9:26:28 GMT
Day seats are great for some people but for folk who like to plan. Or need to plan ie book trains etc it's not very accomadating.
Currently lots of seats available at all prices it will be interesting to see how this sells in the current climate.
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Post by Jan on Jul 22, 2021 12:07:17 GMT
Day seats are great for some people but for folk who like to plan. Or need to plan ie book trains etc it's not very accomadating. Currently lots of seats available at all prices it will be interesting to see how this sells in the current climate. The current climate is almost an irrelevance. I can’t remember the last RSC production at the Barbican which didn’t sell so badly that they ended up offering the best stalls seats as £10 day seats (via Barbican box office). I see TodayTix are involved already marketing this production, my guess is cheap offers may appear there too in due course. |
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