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Post by Jan on Dec 3, 2021 8:06:07 GMT
Saw this last night in a house that was maybe a 1/4 full.I'm sorry to say that I found it rather pathetic. The actors seemed game enough but the fact is that Phillip Breen's overall concept (if that's what it was) was a mish-mash of half thought-out ideas which failed to coalesce around a central thought - not even something as basic as "being funny" or "reveal the dark under current of the different classes of society living together under the rigid laws of Ephesus". Because the concept wasn't unified, the design unclear and the enthusiastic actors completely at sea on the vast Barbican stage, it all seemed to exemplify the deep deep trouble the RSC are in. I wouldn't be surprised if this run is cut short ( the way Wolf Hall 3 was). I haven't seen this yet but of course it was designed and directed for a temporary outdoor summer theatre so it's not that surprising if it doesn't work on the Barbican stage especially with a sparse audience. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Dec 3, 2021 8:31:14 GMT
Always have considered this Will’s pantomime, after the drudge of the back story at the start I just wallow in the ridiculousness and the cast when I saw it in Stratford really excelled at this and am looking forward to seeing it again next week.
Plenty of Will’s other plays to get excited over the conceptualisation and for me which is rare in a Shakespeare play I can leave my brain at home and just enjoy the chaos, in this instance the title says it all.
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Post by lynette on Dec 3, 2021 13:36:21 GMT
Saw this last night in a house that was maybe a 1/4 full.I'm sorry to say that I found it rather pathetic. The actors seemed game enough but the fact is that Phillip Breen's overall concept (if that's what it was) was a mish-mash of half thought-out ideas which failed to coalesce around a central thought - not even something as basic as "being funny" or "reveal the dark under current of the different classes of society living together under the rigid laws of Ephesus". Because the concept wasn't unified, the design unclear and the enthusiastic actors completely at sea on the vast Barbican stage, it all seemed to exemplify the deep deep trouble the RSC are in. I wouldn't be surprised if this run is cut short ( the way Wolf Hall 3 was). I haven't seen this yet but of course it was designed and directed for a temporary outdoor summer theatre so it's not that surprising if it doesn't work on the Barbican stage especially with a sparse audience. Yes I wouldn’t think it is Barbican enough- I mean full and layered. Remember the Cumberbatch Hamlet? The Barbican is a silly theatre, too wide and too big too ‘shushy’ |
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Post by lynette on Dec 3, 2021 13:41:42 GMT
Always have considered this Will’s pantomime, after the drudge of the back story at the start I just wallow in the ridiculousness and the cast when I saw it in Stratford really excelled at this and am looking forward to seeing it again next week. Plenty of Will’s other plays to get excited over the conceptualisation and for me which is rare in a Shakespeare play I can leave my brain at home and just enjoy the chaos, in this instance the title says it all. I love it, maybe because first I met it when I was 13 and we had to do a bit of it in school, all by ourselves and we made it funny, much to the surprise of our teachers! One thing which has always irritated me though is the door scene not being conceived properly. You need a proper door and I expect much was made of the central entrance and balcony above in the original staging at the Globe back in Will’s day. Or in whatever theatre is was performed. You need to have that reality to counter the madness. And the question is, did Antipholus have sex with his brother’s wife? I’ve seen both a clear ‘yes’ and also a more coy interpretation. |
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Post by David J on Dec 3, 2021 15:23:13 GMT
I've seen productions add subtext to this play but at the end it is just a farcical, slapstick, silly, implausible comedy. I mean one of the sets of brothers know they have a twin and yet they can't put two and two together.
And I enjoy it immensely. Especially when you get an director who conceives some imaginative physical comedy. Which is why Blanche McIntyre's 2014 Globe production is my favourite. Go and watch that online.
I remember enjoying Nancy Meckler's production. The door scene was implemented well. The 2012 Dominic Cooke version, not so much. Too static speaking through a buzzer.
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Post by Jan on Dec 3, 2021 20:36:23 GMT
The best one I’ve seen was the Ian Judge RSC one in 1990 where two actors doubled both sets of twins - for those familiar with the play it had the meta-theatrical interest of exactly how they were going to handle certain scenes. I think there was a Globe one that did this too.
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Post by Dawnstar on Dec 3, 2021 21:02:44 GMT
The best one I’ve seen was the Ian Judge RSC one in 1990 where two actors doubled both sets of twins - for those familiar with the play it had the meta-theatrical interest of exactly how they were going to handle certain scenes. I think there was a Globe one that did this too.
I saw a Globe touring production in 2009 with 1 actor for each pair of twins. Presumably it would have played at the Globe itself before touring so it could be the one you're thinking of. Its solution was cardboard cut-outs! It's the only production I've seen of Comedy of Errors so I don't have anything to compare it to in terms of how well or otherwise the doubling worked. I can only say that I enjoyed it.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Dec 4, 2021 0:06:40 GMT
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Post by Jan on Dec 4, 2021 9:27:17 GMT
Yes I saw that one. I didn’t find it amusing at all. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Dec 4, 2021 11:52:26 GMT
I was 13 at the time. So didn't have much to compere it with
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Post by lynette on Dec 5, 2021 12:02:49 GMT
Best production of this play was and remains for me, the 1977 (76?) with Judi Dench and Michael Williams and many other stalwarts. You can see it as it was filmed. It was out of this world, made into a mini musical but not overbearingly so and it was very, very funny. Judi Dench the perfect outraged wife. I’m happier with two actors for each set of twins. All the running about if you only have one actor per set takes away from the flow of the piece and the poignancy at the end.
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Post by Jan on Dec 9, 2021 7:32:45 GMT
A generous 3* from me for this. Not a single laugh from the 25% full house before the interval but an improvement afterwards. Master of comedy Philip Breen has been hung out to dry here really, a production that I can see might have been good fun outdoors in summer has been dumped onto the Barbican stage with no scenery or set at all beyond a patterned floor and with the actors reduced to shouting into the void and miming things (the door that is key to the plot) for no good reason when you have the resources of the Barbican stage at your disposal - as a result no connection between cast and audience. Also the main actor it was intended to be built around Miles Jupp has gone. Really it should have transferred to a smaller more intimate space, it would have even been better on that Guildhall stage in the Barbican complex that Cheek by Jowl used to use. However the main reason I'm inclined to be generous is I only paid £10 for a stalls seat via TodayTix.
William Grint very good, one of the few who seemed to have a natural talent for comedy.
I've seen the play quite a few times but for the first time here I noticed how unequal the two pairs of parts are, two leading roles and two supporting roles really - that's why they can cast a star (Lenny Henry at NT, or Miles Jupp) as one of them.
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Post by cavocado on Dec 14, 2021 9:19:52 GMT
RSC tweeted yesterday that this is cancelled until 23rd due to Covid cases I took a few family members last week and we all enjoyed it - a nice alternative to a panto or other Christmas show. Jokes well done, lots of well-timed slaptick moments. It took me a while to get into it - I agree with dlevi that the production and design seemed a bit swamped by the Barbican stage, and I can see it would have worked better in an outdoor theatre, but it was still fun. Stalls looked about three quarters full. |
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