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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2018 12:56:27 GMT
I'm looking forward to seeeing the show today having got a last minute ticket via TodayTix! I never thought my first new show of 2018 would be a play (is it a play? Have we clarified this haha). It should be fabulous, i'm excited  It’s a play with music, no glitz and glamour with this one! Time having passed I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s more of a musical than play, the songs don’t advance the plot but they set the mood and create the whole backdrop to the narrative. I don’t understand the glitz and glamour comment, the story doesn’t need it but neither does Oklahoma or Hamilton etc.? |
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Post by Jon on Jan 6, 2018 13:04:43 GMT
The glitz and glamour quip was because Girl from the North Country is by Conor McPherson and Bob Dylan, only meant to be a joke.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2018 14:58:01 GMT
I think it is more a musical as quite a few of the songs the characters sing about their emotions and are singing becausr they aren’t able to say how they feel , which is how it is done in musicals.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2018 17:52:06 GMT
So just got out of this (well, about an hour ago). I preface this by saying I knew nothing going in and know nothing of Bon Dylan bar Make You Feel My Love (which I thought was an Adele song) and Forever Young. I really enjoyed it. Strong performances all around, especially from Shirley, Jack and Debbie. The music and vocals were stunning, truly outstanding. And the play itself was strong and gritty. But this was my issue with the piece as a whole. I get that some of the songs told of the characters emotions, but I relt like these two aspecrs (the music and the play) could of been equally as strong separately as they did together. Don't get me wrong, they were good together, but for me it didn't quite sit right with some of the songs. I'd rather it be a straight play and do a proper musical with the songs, which would be amazing! Thst said, I enjoyed it, and the Stalls were full with a thoroughly deserved, instant standing ovation. |
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Post by daniel on Jan 10, 2018 13:03:36 GMT
Ticket going spare for tonight - Grand Circle slips, I'll take a tenner for it. Info on noticeboard, drop me a message if you want it!
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Post by Stephen on Jan 11, 2018 0:55:12 GMT
Seeing this hopefully on Friday night. Can anyone give me a loud noises warning?!
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Post by nash16 on Jan 11, 2018 1:05:28 GMT
Seeing this hopefully on Friday night. Can anyone give me a loud noises warning?! Gunshot, just the one, after Shirley Henderson accuses the "reverend" of stealing her dollars in the second half. Oh, and the applause and cheers at the end. 😉 Enjoy! |
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Post by mallardo on Jan 14, 2018 11:42:33 GMT
I finally got to see this and from the front row of the Noel Coward Theatre - no better seat for it. I thought it was stunning. What a brilliantly original concept. Conor McPherson's dark Irish sensibility is a perfect fit for a depression era boarding house in the bleak American upper Midwest - it felt utterly and movingly authentic. And, of course, there's Dylan's songs which elevate it into something uncatagorisable and sublime.
I had no problem with a disconnect between the drama and the music as some here have. If the songs are not specific to the action so what? They perfectly capture the tone of the piece in every one its moments. Having the characters step out of themselves to take centre stage at a microphone - in one startling case even after the man is dead - enlarges everything and allows the emotions not only to flow but to fill the theatre. Which they certainly did.
The cast is beyond praise as is McPherson's sure handed direction of his own work. Honestly, play or musical, whatever it is, it was one of the most powerful theatrical experiences I've ever had.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 14, 2018 12:13:27 GMT
I saw it a couple of days ago and liked it, but didn't love it, it was like a less successful Once for me. Some of the songs are too loosely related to the plot, and that's an issue for me. Besides, calling it a play with music is ridiculous, you can't have 19 songs in a show and don't call it a musical. Master Class, Lady Day, End of the Rainbow are plays with music, but a play where the songs are not diegetic and are used to express the characters' thoughts and feelings is a musical.
The cast is phenomenal, I absolutely adored Shirley Henderson, she delivered the best performance I've seen in a musical this season. Also loved Shelia Atim, Sam Reid, Karl Johnson, Bronagh Gallagher, but the whole cast is great, in my opinion it's the vocally strongest ensemble in the West End at the moment. I can finally forgive Ciarán Hinds for his performance in Hamlet. Beautifully staged, loved costumes, scenery, I only wish score and plot had been tied up together more nicely. And I could have done without the pretentiousness of calling it a play with music.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2018 15:42:49 GMT
Well it was opening night recently so the stars were out in force. Tom Burke, Harry Melling, Haydn Gwynne, Bertie Carvel and Ben Batt. Names Names Names. Can You Spare Two Bob?
However, I'd like to make special mention to Bronagh Gallagher. I don't know if it was a bet, a power cut or just plain chutzpah but it's certainly a look. If the light hits that frock at the wrong angle she could probably perform laser eye surgery. I'm willing to bet she's a scream at the bar after work though.  |
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Post by Stephen on Jan 23, 2018 3:14:58 GMT
Saw this tonight with Today Tix Rush. Odd to arrive to see the middle of the stalls empty with a clear divide between those who had payed full price and those on rush/discounted seats. About 100 empty seats in the stalls.
I enjoyed parts of the piece. Shirley Henderson gave an excellent standout performance throughout however the cast in this are great. The songs are mostly beautiful with some stunning vocals and lovely musical moments. This did fall a bit flat for me in places though. I'm yet to really put my finger on why.
3* from me.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 13:25:56 GMT
Made it just before it disappears.
Throughout I kept thinking that I was witnessing something quite special but I really couldn’t put my finger on what was so good about it... I knew it wasn’t the music, which I didn’t know beforehand, and I knew it wasn’t just the story.
So I came to the conclusion that it was the unique presentation and Brechtian style of the piece which I found completely refreshing and engaging. This matched by the incredidbly talented cast of actors, singers and musicians made it a superb afternoon in the theatre, and one I don’t think’ll be equalled for some time. Not in its category anyway.
And I still can’t work out whether it’s a play with songs or a musical. (And if it is a musical, it’s... a jukebox musical!) Whatever it was, I’m glad I caught it.
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Post by duncan on Mar 23, 2018 15:08:47 GMT
10 - Girl from the North Country - Noel Coward - 22nd March 2018
Thanksgiving 1934 in America - the depression has struck, the bank is about to reclaim the boarding house run by Nick - his wife has dementia, his son is in the bottle and his daughter is pregnant. And everyone in the house has secrets, regrets and ambitions that they are hiding. The arrival of a bible selling Minister and an ex-con boxer are about to change the lives of everyone and reveal everything
A turgid mess of a play with added Bob Dylan songs. This is written by someone who has seen/read far too much Eugene O'Neill in his time and decided that the best thing to do is to try and copy that style. And miss horribly. O'Neill does despair and depression like no one else, primarily because he's a better writer than most. And this shows he's certainly a better writer than Conor McPherson - maybe its just I'm not a fan of McPherson as The Weir also bored me to tears, maybe he's just my cup of tea.
Every character has something to hide but none of them are hiding anything interesting - plot lines are thrown in seemingly at random and then as quickly forgotten. You cant just be staying at Nicks, you have to have a secret. Yes its clear that people are staying there as they are at the bottom of the pile and are the waifs and strays of society but when we start throwing in attacks, fraud, a jail break, maybe a phantom pregnancy, lost job opportunities and the kitchen sink it all becomes a bit much. I just think it needed to concentrate on one or two of the stories instead of the 7 or 8 we seem to get.
We should be concentrating on Nick and Elizabeth but they flit in and out of the story until the last 15 minutes or so and whilst they are the glue holding the strands together the other strands just aren't that compelling - and it needs to lose the epilogue. It should end with the two of them sat at the kitchen table but instead we have to go on and on and on and on.....
It’s a basic staging and the performances are in line with that with motivations and emotions signposted with all the subtlety of a giant hammer. Would it work better as a straight drama, well it would be shorter.
Not one I enjoyed. 4/10
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Post by Stephen on Mar 23, 2018 23:03:18 GMT
I agree with you Duncan. There are plays where the plot is as drab as I found this one which I love because of the development of the characters and how interesting they become. With this piece, I felt that I never really got to know anyone or have time to care about them.
I did like the Weir though. Love a ghost story.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2018 23:10:42 GMT
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Conor McPherson should take a break from writing plays and finally pen that compliation of short ghost stories that is clearly waiting to burst forth from within him.
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Post by mallardo on Mar 24, 2018 7:15:41 GMT
I thought it was pure genius. A work of stunning originality and enormous emotional depth, beautifully played and radiantly sung. When one considers that this was (apparently) an assignment for McPherson, that the Dylan people came to him and asked him to write something that used the Dylan song catalogue, it's astonishing what he came up with. Nothing in the theatre in recent times has affected me as much as The Girl From The North Country - not even Angels in America.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2018 8:35:41 GMT
Rather than O’Neill, on reflection, I think it is closer to Saroyan or Steinbeck. The humanity and celebration of community over conflict of the former in particular (there ar definite touches of The Human Comedy).
Its structure is, therefore looser, its characters more empathetic, its tone more elegiac.
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 24, 2018 12:23:36 GMT
I was pretty blown away by this.
Didn't go in expecting anything, and went on Monday purely because I'd had friends who had gone and said how beautiful it was. And I fully agree. The story is workable for what is needed, and gives some really beautiful moments. I thought the cast were top notch, although I'm not behind Cairan's Olivier nomination if I'm honest. Thought Shirley Henderson took a little while to get going, but when she sang Like A Rolling Stone she snowballed and just didn't stop. I knew none of the music really going in, but thought it was gorgeous.
I'm glad I only saw it the once - I think return visits would ruin it personally, but I'm thrilled I caught it. 4 stars
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Post by Oleanna on Mar 24, 2018 22:09:42 GMT
So now this has been and gone, and has nominated for multiple Olivier Awards, I have to ask...
IS IT A PLAY OR A MUSICAL?
Are the songs only diegetic, or do they exist non-diegetically/further (or at least comment on) plot and character...?
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Post by couldileaveyou on Mar 24, 2018 22:14:46 GMT
So now this has been and gone, and has nominated for multiple Olivier Awards, I have to ask... IS IT A PLAY OR A MUSICAL? Are the songs only diegetic, or do they exist non-diegetically/further (or at least comment on) plot and character...? Most of the songs are heterodiegetic (or not even related to the plot), there is absolutely no valid point for not calling it a musical, a part from Conor McPherson's pretentiousness. Some of the songs are an expression of the characters' feelings or thoughts, others bring the plot forward. Really, I still have to hear a valid argument from those who claim it's a play. |
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Post by lynette on Mar 25, 2018 12:30:41 GMT
Me, I think it is a play. Not up to the valid arguments I’m afraid. Maybe later.
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Post by caa on Mar 25, 2018 15:54:19 GMT
So now this has been and gone, and has nominated for multiple Olivier Awards, I have to ask... IS IT A PLAY OR A MUSICAL? Are the songs only diegetic, or do they exist non-diegetically/further (or at least comment on) plot and character...? Having seen this twice I still think its a play with music, as I'm not convinced its a musical.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2018 20:13:14 GMT
I think its two seperate things. A play and a Bob Dylan concert that somehow got double booked into the same theatre so they worked it out as best they could. My one issue with the show, the two elements didn't work together for me. Both work well, but not together.
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 25, 2018 20:58:15 GMT
I’d go down the side of a musical actually, which I wasn’t expecting. It felt like one to me, although I can fully appreciate the play with music argument.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2018 21:09:35 GMT
It's such an odd one. I usually follow the diegetic=play with music/non-diegetic=musical rule, but although the songs didn't exist naturally, they just didn't feel a part of the characters' thoughts and communications in the way they are in more traditional musicals, so for me at least it feels like a play with musical augmentation (like War Horse maybe). Or it could just be as simple as Conor McPherson being a playwright by trade and me not being quite able to reconcile that in my head with a musical! |
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