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Post by peggs on Oct 27, 2021 21:05:23 GMT
Yes terrible choice of shots, i'm sure it was 10 times better if you were there and could actually see, how bizarre when you're so many camera choices to pick the one that means you can't see the person who is talking or being spoken to or reacting to. Felt they just needed to calm down and do more simple front of stage shots, it's so small there it's not like you needed all the close ups. And with everyone miced it was very male shouty, what a lot of flem flying about.
I hope for other's sake they re think some of the shots for the remaining nights though i'll be peeved if they do and we got saddled with that.
Thought SR as good as she always seems to be and the choices made as to the macduff killings made sense in the unravelling. JM similarly good but I'm probably more irritated now having got a sense of how much better this could have been if the person calling the camera shots and just got a grip of themselves and not decided to pretend it wasn't live theatre.
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Post by peggs on Oct 27, 2021 21:08:43 GMT
Note the almeida has just tweeted to thank those watching the live stream with a photo of the cast bowing which they decided to not bother showing us.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 27, 2021 21:42:59 GMT
Well we thought it was super!
Tonight's was £10 cheaper than the rest of the run and I presumed that was because this would be like a 'preview' regarding camera choices so I'm totally prepared to cut them some slack there - if anything I prefer that to the slickness of some NT Lives which can feel like TV and lose the live theatre, sometimes a bit messy, feel of it.
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Post by theatrelover123 on Oct 27, 2021 22:13:11 GMT
Watched an hour of the livestream before giving up. It didn't feel fresh or different to any other productions and none of the actors stood out. But there seemed to be a fair amount of mugging and garbled lines. Maybe it got better and justified the 5 star reviews. Guess I will never know  |
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Post by peggs on Oct 27, 2021 22:18:24 GMT
Only £5 cheaper and whilst that might be true it wasn't advertised as such, since in times without a hollywood star I'd have probably got a ticket for 50% less than my stream ticket and seen more I'm not that willingto be understanding. Plus I feel a lot of them were chosen options rather than just they hadn't yet had a practice run with the cameras so that's just irritating. I'm all for streaming that gives people who can't get tickets/go in person etc another option but I still quite like to see the people speaking. I wondered if all the men had beards to match the going beard to beard line  |
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Post by crowblack on Oct 27, 2021 23:02:15 GMT
Thursday, Friday and Saturday's tickets start at £25. These first night ones were £15.
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Post by sweets7 on Oct 27, 2021 23:14:41 GMT
Thursday, Friday and Saturday's tickets start at £25. These first night ones were £15. For me it was a good deal. I paid 15 pounds, which when divided by the number of people in my house watching is like a couple of quid each, is good value for a play I couldnt get tickets to anyway. I sat comfy at home and could loudly translate the Shakespeare to those who didnt understand it; but actually got into the swing of the language as it went on. Thought it was a good deal. I'd pay half that to get a bun and a drink from Costa. Well worth the money for a top rate production. So glad I did it amd brought back memories of directing a student version. I just loved the visceral raw maleness of it. Even the spitting while talking. All actors do on stage though we can't usually ever see. I like to think it's the reason they never get that near to each other because they will end up drenched. |
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Post by rumbledoll on Oct 27, 2021 23:15:02 GMT
Watching live stream and you'd never know you were in a theatre, no sign or sound of audience and all lots of close up shots that I am finding strangely distancing. Yes I agree, it is making it seem even more over-stylised than it appears to be. Cutting the audience applause to a blank screen at the interval was just odd. It is reminding me of the recent NT Romeo & Juliet broadcast (the O'Connor/Buckley one). Was at the actual performance tonight. All side stalls were off, about 60 seats. We were encouraged multiply times not to clap however appreciative of the performance we must feel. No clapping before the interval and at the very end.. 20 seconds of wait for the curtain call when we finally were allowed to cheer the cast! |
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Post by rumbledoll on Oct 27, 2021 23:18:03 GMT
And I must admit that guy that shove his camera into actor's faces was extremely distracting!!
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Post by n1david on Oct 27, 2021 23:26:44 GMT
There's something odd about this livestream, I live near the Almeida and when they've done live streaming before, virtually the whole of Almeida Street has been filled with satellite trucks and broadcast paraphernalia. Nothing today, I assume from the post from rumbledoll that it was actually streamed from a live performance, but when I walked down Almeida St at 5.30pm before the performance and back at 11pm there wasn't any sign of anything other than the usual performance. So I assume that they are using a different process that is much less resource-intensive, although I wouldn't have thought that affected the filming choices. |
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Post by sweets7 on Oct 27, 2021 23:28:16 GMT
Yes I agree, it is making it seem even more over-stylised than it appears to be. Cutting the audience applause to a blank screen at the interval was just odd. It is reminding me of the recent NT Romeo & Juliet broadcast (the O'Connor/Buckley one). Was at the actual performance tonight. All side stalls were off, about 60 seats. We were encouraged multiply times not to clap however appreciative of the performance we must feel. No clapping before the interval and at the very end.. 20 seconds of wait for the curtain call when we finally were allowed to cheer the cast! Obviously geering up for a filmed performance that can be sold. Expecting it on BEEB at Christmas. Can't say I blame them. Gotta make a buck in these times. Only way it could be an even hotter ticket would have been to cast Lowden as Macbeth. Although I am not sure he and Ronan would have been into using their own lives off such blatant commercialisation. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2021 23:42:49 GMT
Yes I agree, it is making it seem even more over-stylised than it appears to be. Cutting the audience applause to a blank screen at the interval was just odd. It is reminding me of the recent NT Romeo & Juliet broadcast (the O'Connor/Buckley one). Was at the actual performance tonight. All side stalls were off, about 60 seats. We were encouraged multiply times not to clap however appreciative of the performance we must feel. No clapping before the interval and at the very end.. 20 seconds of wait for the curtain call when we finally were allowed to cheer the cast! How bizarre! I really don't understand why they were so determined to make it seem as far removed from actual theatre as they could. If I were the actors I might even feel a bit insulted! |
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Post by rumbledoll on Oct 27, 2021 23:53:56 GMT
There's something odd about this livestream, I live near the Almeida and when they've done live streaming before, virtually the whole of Almeida Street has been filled with satellite trucks and broadcast paraphernalia. Nothing today, I assume from the post from rumbledoll that it was actually streamed from a live performance, but when I walked down Almeida St at 5.30pm before the performance and back at 11pm there wasn't any sign of anything other than the usual performance. So I assume that they are using a different process that is much less resource-intensive, although I wouldn't have thought that affected the filming choices. The usual bar (currently closed) was filled with all sorts of equipment, wires and lights-beeping stuff, people with headphones. Looked v serious. Various cameras used - hand held, one on the rack and one curving the stage. I do agree that making it look like cinema only takes away that theatrical experience another broadcasts (NTlive) are famous for. Must feel disconnected from the essence of this experience, audience in particular. |
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Post by peggs on Oct 28, 2021 8:27:00 GMT
Yep disconnected rather sums it up and I've seen a fair amount of streaming and it is possible to minimise that.
Ahh so that sudden muted cheer towards the end of our credit screens was you all finally be able to respond!
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Post by cavocado on Oct 28, 2021 8:42:12 GMT
I actually felt the live performance I went to seemed a bit like a film in terms of the amplification where you could hear really quiet talk at the back of the stage and sometimes I couldn't tell where voices were coming from. I found it a bit diconcerting and it felt 'unnatural' for theatre, but I assumed that was an effect they were aiming at. Not that I didn't enjoy it, and it made it more interesting because it wasn't something I'd experienced in a theatre before, but that's different from watching a stream where it sounds like there's a deliberate choice to almost pretend there's no audience present.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 28, 2021 9:11:40 GMT
Maybe it's the method of recording? I watched with someone who has hearing difficulties and finds today's mumblecore style of TV drama a real problem and she said, afterwards, how great it was that she could hear every word. She didn't believe there was an audience at the recording because 'no coughing', but in the current era maybe coughers stay at home! I missed the applause and bows but apart from that it wasn't an issue for us (if it was a comedy then obviously it would have been).
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Post by bordeaux on Oct 28, 2021 12:23:15 GMT
Presumably they'll be announcing soon what follows Spring Awakening? Something new no doubt after a couple of revivals.
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Post by Jan on Nov 3, 2021 18:40:15 GMT
I thought this was good, but no more than that. Quite a standard almost old-fashioned interpretation and production - having continuous ambient sound and music is an idea that is decades old for example, plus a couple of perspex screens to keep Lynette happy - but quite well done nevertheless. I thought the Macbeths were a bit lightweight - I'd never seen SR in anything before so she carried no "aura" from her previous roles for me (I think this is a big factor in casting star actors) and seemed a bit bland. A bonus point from me for cutting the porter scene entirely - but it's odd because there were lots of other cuts, some via rearrangements of the text, yet it still ran 3hrs which to be honest was 20mins too long.
Nice to see William Gaunt - he was in the previous Macbeth I saw at the Almeida in 2005 also playing Duncan - didn't turn out any better for him this time.
7/10 from me.
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Post by Jan on Nov 4, 2021 7:19:38 GMT
Moving one of the weird sisters’ speeches to the end and the final image felt laboured, not revelatory. Actually having them repeat that speech at the end was the one bit that I thought was somewhat revelatory - that at the end the play is unresolved, the prophecies haven’t come true yet, Fleance isn’t the king, so more of the same has to happen. One of the school kids there commented on the way out that the play had a cyclical structure - directors emphasise it often enough in some of the history plays but I’d not seen it done in Macbeth. |
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Post by sweets7 on Nov 4, 2021 8:57:02 GMT
Moving one of the weird sisters’ speeches to the end and the final image felt laboured, not revelatory. Actually having them repeat that speech at the end was the one bit that I thought was somewhat revelatory - that at the end the play is unresolved, the prophecies haven’t come true yet, Fleance isn’t the king, so more of the same has to happen. One of the school kids there commented on the way out that the play had a cyclical structure - directors emphasise it often enough in some of the history plays but I’d not seen it done in Macbeth. Well quite. I really liked that part as it labours the point: What was it all for? History always rhymes. I think it is a bitnofna shock that this hasn't been done before. And I liked the bigging up of the more druid and Samhain elements rather than it being linked to the more modern Halloween. |
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Post by lynette on Nov 4, 2021 19:57:08 GMT
Haven’t seen this show but as for the ending, it was performed for James I ( VI of Scotland as was ) and he knew what came next …..right up to himself. He didn't need to be told.
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Post by sweets7 on Nov 4, 2021 21:15:05 GMT
Haven’t seen this show but as for the ending, it was performed for James I ( VI of Scotland as was ) and he knew what came next …..right up to himself. He didn't need to be told. Depending on current audiences knowing anything about history. Given that Macbeth and Lady also played Queen Mary and Uncle James. It's quite a nice historical circle. I adore how people literally touch hands through history through their voices, art, writing etc. |
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Post by jaffe on Nov 5, 2021 14:12:18 GMT
Haven’t seen this show but as for the ending, it was performed for James I ( VI of Scotland as was ) and he knew what came next …..right up to himself. He didn't need to be told. Scotland still "is"!! James VI's Daemonologie, a study of witchcraft, necromancy and the like, was quoted by Shakespeare in the play - no doubt, getting into the good books of the new régime. James had been, allegedly, the object of attention by some witches, in Scotland, he returned the favour by having them tortured and put to the flame. Rather like Richard III, Macbeth is another example of Shakespeare traducing the memory of a competent ruler, to flatter his regal audience. |
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Post by lynette on Nov 5, 2021 14:20:53 GMT
Haven’t seen this show but as for the ending, it was performed for James I ( VI of Scotland as was ) and he knew what came next …..right up to himself. He didn't need to be told. Scotland still "is"!! James VI's Daemonologie, a study of witchcraft, necromancy and the like, was quoted by Shakespeare in the play - no doubt, getting into the good books of the new régime. James had been, allegedly, the object of attention by some witches, in Scotland, he returned the favour by having them tortured and put to the flame. Rather like Richard III, Macbeth is another example of Shakespeare traducing the memory of a competent ruler, to flatter his regal audience. He was king of Scotland, James VI, is what I was saying. 🤨 |
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Post by jaffe on Nov 5, 2021 14:36:41 GMT
Scotland still "is"!! James VI's Daemonologie, a study of witchcraft, necromancy and the like, was quoted by Shakespeare in the play - no doubt, getting into the good books of the new régime. James had been, allegedly, the object of attention by some witches, in Scotland, he returned the favour by having them tortured and put to the flame. Rather like Richard III, Macbeth is another example of Shakespeare traducing the memory of a competent ruler, to flatter his regal audience. He was king of Scotland, James VI, is what I was saying. 🤨 Ah. I think I understand what you mean, but, to be insufferably pedantic, he also remained James VI - that didn't change, there was no "as was". |
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