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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2017 10:02:53 GMT
Well. Can't find another thread on this but do feel free to merge if necessary. Rhys Ifans will star in 'A Christmas Carol' at the Old Vic at err . . Christmas! Adapted by Jack Thorne. No doubt after his marvellous 'Woyzeck' there'll be bucketloads of effing and blinding. So, one for the whole family. What the Dickens?
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Post by Marwood on Jul 21, 2017 10:10:11 GMT
I like Rhys Ifans, but isn't he a bit too young to be playing Scrooge?
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Post by publius on Jul 21, 2017 10:14:12 GMT
Not convinced he'll make a good Scrooge but at least it can't be as bad a production as the one with Jim Broadbent who was born to be him.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2017 10:16:46 GMT
He's had a rough life...he's not exactly youthful looking hhaha
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2017 10:18:28 GMT
I guess Scrooge doesn't *have* to be old. Just mean. And Rhys Ifans looks like he could be mean.
Perhaps we've all been spoiled by Tommy Steele playing Scrooge because he's like, 120.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2017 10:22:18 GMT
I don't know, Dickens doesn't seem to have given Scrooge a definitive age, and the internet generally theorises he could be anything from 40 to old (thanks, internet), so a 50 year old (as of tomorrow) Ifans sounds pretty reasonable.
Couldn't they do a more interesting, less overdone story though? Couldn't Warchus find anyone better than Jack Thorne, or did he just want the adaptation done quickly?
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Post by paplazaroo on Jul 21, 2017 10:22:40 GMT
Is it not time for Thorne to have a rest, the poor guy looks like hasn't slept in years and his plays are starting to feel a bit thrown together
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Post by Rory on Jul 21, 2017 11:32:00 GMT
I may be in a minority of one here, and I haven't seen Girl from the North Country which seems to be going down a treat, but I'm almost yearning for the Spacey days where you got a decent run of some classic, well cast plays and the marketing was altogether more attractive and distinctive. Maybe it's just me but it all just seems a bit too random under Matthew Warchus even though I know he is going for diversity which in itself is no bad thing. There has been a lot of good stuff like Groundhog Day, and I enjoyed The Caretaker and Rosencrantz, but still a lot of his programming seems a bit meh.
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Post by iamian on Jul 21, 2017 11:42:43 GMT
After his adaptation of Woyzeck I assume he will take out all the ghosts and Scrooge will be bad tempered because of a childhood trauma.
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Post by publius on Jul 21, 2017 12:06:11 GMT
I may be in a minority of one here, and I haven't seen Girl from the North Country which seems to be going down a treat, but I'm almost yearning for the Spacey days where you got a decent run of some classic, well cast plays and the marketing was altogether more attractive and distinctive. Maybe it's just me but it all just seems a bit too random under Matthew Warchus even though I know he is going for diversity which in itself is no bad thing. There has been a lot of good stuff like Groundhog Day, and I enjoyed The Caretaker and Rosencrantz, but still a lot of his programming seems a bit meh. I miss the Spacey days terribly. |
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Post by bordeaux on Jul 21, 2017 13:36:16 GMT
So that's two Christmas Carols this winter - one at the RSC (David Edgar/Rachel Kavanaugh/no lead announced) and one at the Old Vic (Thorne/Warchus/Ifans. The RSC one suggests it's suitable for 7 and older; the Old Vic one is 11+. I love Warchus as a director, but haven't seen much of Rhys Ifans. Had intended to go to Stratford but the 7+ puts me off; I have children of 11 and 13. Can one get away with waiting for reviews, or will it sell out because it's Christmas and Ifans had a brief moment in the sun God knows how long ago? Tricky.
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Post by lynette on Jul 21, 2017 13:43:42 GMT
Two Salomes, RSC and NT now Two Christmas Carols, RSC and OV. Don't these theatre peeps talk to each Other? S'pose RSC serves the shires and Old Vic the metropolis but really.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jul 21, 2017 13:51:58 GMT
Leicester Curve doing Scrooge (the Musical) if anyone fancies a sing....thank you very much!
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Post by bordeaux on Jul 21, 2017 14:06:39 GMT
I may be in a minority of one here, and I haven't seen Girl from the North Country which seems to be going down a treat, but I'm almost yearning for the Spacey days where you got a decent run of some classic, well cast plays and the marketing was altogether more attractive and distinctive. Maybe it's just me but it all just seems a bit too random under Matthew Warchus even though I know he is going for diversity which in itself is no bad thing. There has been a lot of good stuff like Groundhog Day, and I enjoyed The Caretaker and Rosencrantz, but still a lot of his programming seems a bit meh. I miss the Spacey days terribly. He had a very tricky opening year, though. It took quite a while for him to get into his stride. And how many of the non-Spacey productions do we remember? |
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Post by lynette on Jul 21, 2017 14:09:08 GMT
I think The Old Vic is doing better programming than the NT at the moment though of course they only have one house to fill. But it is a big one!
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Post by zahidf on Jul 21, 2017 14:17:11 GMT
I find the Old Vic hit and miss nowadays. I didn't much like Rosencrantz and Woceyk. Girl from the north country was excellent though, as was groundhog day.
I wait for the 12 pound previews nowadays.
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Post by publius on Jul 21, 2017 15:27:04 GMT
I miss the Spacey days terribly. He had a very tricky opening year, though. It took quite a while for him to get into his stride. And how many of the non-Spacey productions do we remember? True, but he ended his reign as the best around in my humble opinion. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2017 11:53:23 GMT
True, but he ended his reign as the best around in my humble opinion. Yes, Much Ado About Nothing with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Lady Redgrave was such an outstanding critical and popular success. |
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Post by publius on Jul 22, 2017 12:02:32 GMT
True, but he ended his reign as the best around in my humble opinion. Yes, Much Ado About Nothing with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Lady Redgrave was such an outstanding critical and popular success. Ha ha! Nitpicking at its best!! That was bloody awful though.... |
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Post by Rory on Jul 22, 2017 13:26:13 GMT
True, but he ended his reign as the best around in my humble opinion. Yes, Much Ado About Nothing with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Lady Redgrave was such an outstanding critical and popular success. I suppose the following just slipped your mind then: The Entertainer, Gaslight, All About My Mother, The Norman Conquests, The Real Thing, The Bridge Project's The Tempest / As You Like It, Design for Living, A Flea in Her Ear, Cause Celebre, The Playboy of the Western World, Noises Off, The Duchess of Malfi, Hedda Gabler, Kiss Me, Kate, The Winslow Boy, Sweet Bird of Youth, Other Desert Cities, The Crucible, Electra, High Society plus most of the stuff Spacey himself was in such as Richard II, Richard III, Speed-the-Plow, Inherit the Wind, A Moon for the Misbegotten and Clarence Darrow. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 23, 2017 8:35:58 GMT
Spacey ruined that place. Pandered to the built in snobby audience. At least Warchus us trying to get a more diverse crowd in
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Post by wickedgrin on Jul 23, 2017 9:19:44 GMT
Spacey ruined that place. Pandered to the built in snobby audience. At least Warchus us trying to get a more diverse crowd in It is interesting you use the word "snobby" as I would completely agree about the Old Vic audience. I go to the theatre a lot (obviously) and attend many theatres and the Old Vic is the one theatre I find myself distinctly uncomfortable, always feeling slightly underdressed - despite my immaculate smart casual clothing!. The front of house staff seem to have "attitude" and there is always this ticket checking going on as you even re-enter the auditorium after the interval as if you are trying to "steal" a look at the second half. I always feel like telling them they are lucky I am returning to my seat at all! |
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Post by Rory on Jul 23, 2017 9:52:12 GMT
Spacey ruined that place. Pandered to the built in snobby audience. At least Warchus us trying to get a more diverse crowd in Though he also tirelessly raised funds for it and invested time, energy and commitment to rescue it from the doldrums it had been in to a large extent prior to his appointment, give or take a few highlights such as the Whishaw Hamlet. The threat of it being turned into a lap dance venue hadn't completely subsided as I recall. Spacey put it back on the map and also tried to expand its community outreach. |
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Post by bordeaux on Jul 23, 2017 11:20:30 GMT
Yes, Much Ado About Nothing with James Earl Jones and Vanessa Lady Redgrave was such an outstanding critical and popular success. I suppose the following just slipped your mind then: The Entertainer, Gaslight, All About My Mother, The Norman Conquests, The Real Thing, The Bridge Project's The Tempest / As You Like It, Design for Living, A Flea in Her Ear, Cause Celebre, The Playboy of the Western World, Noises Off, The Duchess of Malfi, Hedda Gabler, Kiss Me, Kate, The Winslow Boy, Sweet Bird of Youth, Other Desert Cities, The Crucible, Electra, High Society plus most of the stuff Spacey himself was in such as Richard II, Richard III, Speed-the-Plow, Inherit the Wind, A Moon for the Misbegotten and Clarence Darrow. There's a lot of fairly dull, safe middle-of-the-road things in that list - Gaslight, The Winslow Boy, High Society and others may have been enjoyable evenings at the theatre but they're not exactly cutting edge or going to make anyone's list of great productions of the decade. Some of them were classics done just as well or even better elsewhere within recent memory (The Real Thing, Electra, Hedda Gabler), or just rather dull: The Entertainer for example. I saw all five Bridge theatre productions and enjoyed them but none was as good as the best Mendes work at the Donmar or RSC. The standout productions on that list are The Norman Conquests, Richard II and A Moon for the Misbegotten, but little in Spacey's time had the impact of the best of Hytner's reign at the National or Grandage at the Donmar or the current regime at the Almeida. Were there any notable new plays, for example? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2017 11:43:46 GMT
Too many safe revivals in treditional stagings in the Spacey years for me, they had barely an effective new play and let the Young Vic, down the road, lead the way with the freshness and ingenuity of their revivals.
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