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Post by pledge on Sept 12, 2021 9:43:45 GMT
New play from (the usually marvelous) Robert Holman.
Frankly...a bit baffling. The first half very solid and traditional - even a bit corny (long-buried family secrets coming to the surface, one character a writer etc) - but packed with tellingly truthful lines and perceptions. Quite superb performances from Penny Downie and Matthew Tennyson in particular. And then in Part Two the plot takes a rather bizarre dog-leg turn into the deeply improbable, and never quite finds its way back. Or so it seemed to me: maybe it didn't really happen, and I missed something. Again individual lines packed with insight and truthfulness, but by then my sense of disbelief had been firmly un-suspended. In particular the Big Event seems to count for almost nothing. Anything by Holman is worth persevering with, so I'll keep pondering it, and maybe others can offer illumination? And worth seeing just for Downie's completely lived portrayal of a completely three-dimensional character.
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Post by cavocado on Sept 13, 2021 9:18:28 GMT
I saw it on Friday and had a similar reaction. I was really looking forward to a play about two older women. The sisters were beautifully-written characters, with an interesting dynamic set up between them and the lodger in the first half, and I loved the gradual exploration of their family history. Sylvestra Le Touzel was excellent too, and very funny. But the bit after the interval was bizarre, which made the ending unsatisfactory because I was still trying to get to grips with something I couldn't believe in. It felt like it switched genre mid-play. I'll have a go at explaining some of my rambling work-in-progress thoughts on what the play was about. The main theme was truth and lies, and whether it matters that we often accommodate and sometimes need/benefit from lying to ourselves and others, and believing others’ lies. The main characters repeatedly tell us all sorts of things about their lives and feelings, both huge and trivial, many of which we find out are untrue (or are they?). And they all have big aspects of their lives which are/have been built on untruths. A play, as fiction, is a form of lying, but can seem as (more?) real than life in terms of its impact on us. So does the 'life mirroring art' aspect of the plot reflects that theme? Maybe Holman is asking questions about our relationship to fiction, both as an audience watching a work of fiction, and in the fictions/lies that are parts of our real lives? Sometimes fiction can seem more honest and fit the narratives around which we build our lives better than what actually happens to us? There are also several mentions of Esther (and I think Jude) being 'shy' as a way of explaining that they're not open/honest about their lives, whereas Dolly is open and upfront {Spoiler - click to view}
but her life has been full of lies - among other things the 1000 child-substitute dolls, the serial philanderer husband So while I still think the Anila story was flawed, I assumed there must be intentionality in that. I'm not sure I understand what it was, but something like Holman throwing us this big part of the jigsaw that just doesn't fit but makes us notice that a lot of the smaller parts don't quite fit either. So it throws up questions about how (dis)honesty functions in lives and relationships, and also what exactly we gain from sitting in a theatre watching people pretending to be real people, and why is it important that these fictional people's lives are 'truthful' when maybe our own lives aren't? {Spoiler - click to view}
I think there’s got to be a reason why Holman is asking us to believe that (a) Jude has written a play that sounds dull and unbelievable but is apparently a great success, and (b) that play comes to life – doubly unbelievable. I might be completely wrong and perhaps it’s just a flawed plot. But there was still enough to make it worth seeing - the performances of the three mains and the relationship between the sisters in particular. It was also lovely to visit the Coronet for the first time. And please, theatres, more plays about the over 50s would be very nice.
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Post by Forrest on Sept 13, 2021 11:13:35 GMT
Thanks for this pledge and cavocado. My main draw to book for this is Matthew Tennyson (I've been wanting to see him in something because of Katie Mitchell's "Cleansed" and the Old Vic's "A monster calls", both of which I've only watched as recordings but thought he was superb!), but perhaps I'll wait a bit until more impressions come in, as this doesn't sound too great (and their tickets are a little above my price level, as my theatre budget is really modest). It's a lovely little theatre and I would want to support them, but... |
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167 posts
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Post by cherokee on Sept 16, 2021 13:28:31 GMT
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1,828 posts
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Post by Dave B on Sept 24, 2021 22:27:01 GMT
We saw The Lodger this evening. Very much enjoyed the performances, found similar issues as described above.
A word on the stage and design, I really liked and thought the pebbles worked well in each setting.
A lot of empty seats around, looks to have been a bit of an effort to fill-up the front couple of rows but then really a good bit of empty space.
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423 posts
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Post by dlevi on Sept 25, 2021 6:01:22 GMT
I'm interested in seeing it, despite the severe criticism it's recieived. Robert Holman is a fascinating playwright and worthy of our attention. But the cheapest ticket is £20 ( with concessions) and looking at how well its sold , one wonders why they aren't discounting it somewhere through various outlets. Surely it can't be good for company morale to play to an average of about 30 people per performance. This is just shabby management on the part of a theatre which is struggling with identity issues anyway. Bravo to them for producing Mr Holman's work, but shame on them for not finding a way to support it.
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686 posts
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Post by cavocado on Sept 25, 2021 8:18:30 GMT
I'm interested in seeing it, despite the severe criticism it's recieived. Robert Holman is a fascinating playwright and worthy of our attention. But the cheapest ticket is £20 ( with concessions) and looking at how well its sold , one wonders why they aren't discounting it somewhere through various outlets. Surely it can't be good for company morale to play to an average of about 30 people per performance. This is just shabby management on the part of a theatre which is struggling with identity issues anyway. Bravo to them for producing Mr Holman's work, but shame on them for not finding a way to support it. I agree they have got the ticket prices wrong. I wonder how much research theatres do on pricing. I get lots of post-visit online questionnaires about things like Covid safety, toilet provision, whether I found a play challenging enough, bar/cafe provision, but I can't remember many that asked my opinion on ticket prices. |
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Post by joem on Sept 27, 2021 23:35:45 GMT
Oh dear. I really wanted to like this. I love this theatre to the point I might leave a legacy for it (not too soon hopefully). The basement bar is a beautiful space too, really quirky.
Staging was interesting and attractive. BUT the play really does not work for me. The lines are exactly that, lines spoken by characters on stage. Then there's huge emotive things which are handled as if they were comments on the weather. And the jumps from scene to scene are handled strangely. New storylines are tagged on then sort of discarded.... a bit of a mess.
Shame so few people are going to this but it's an odd production which doesn't address the evident flaws in the writing.
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Post by perfectspy on Sept 28, 2021 2:29:46 GMT
I saw this play on the Friday night. I thought it was quite good due to a realistic set. Always love coming to the Coronet.
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