546 posts
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Post by drmaplewood on Sept 6, 2022 9:18:27 GMT
Oh. Dear.
I don't like giving new writing a kicking and it was only the 2nd preview but I don't think anything other than a total re-write will save this, it was *dreadful*.
No idea what it wanted to be. So many unnecessary subplots, most of which didn't go anywhere. An incredibly hysterical second half that got even more ridiculous the more it went on that I had to stifle laughter several times.
Lots of giggling in the foyer afterwards (though bafflingly some people did get on their feet at the end, I do not know what show they had just watched).
Fortunate that the Almeida have a full hit-heavy season upcoming because they will want to forget this one quickly.
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Post by Jan on Sept 6, 2022 16:58:20 GMT
Oh. Dear. I don't like giving new writing a kicking and it was only the 2nd preview but I don't think anything other than a total re-write will save this, it was *dreadful*. No idea what it wanted to be. So many unnecessary subplots, most of which didn't go anywhere. An incredibly hysterical second half that got even more ridiculous the more it went on that I had to stifle laughter several times. Lots of giggling in the foyer afterwards (though bafflingly some people did get on their feet at the end, I do not know what show they had just watched). Fortunate that the Almeida have a full hit-heavy season upcoming because they will want to forget this one quickly. The inexplicable standing ovation is a feature of fringe theatre - it is explained by the presence in the audience of friends and colleagues of the actors and other creatives. |
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19,677 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 6, 2022 17:19:47 GMT
Did anyone “ whoop” when their friend from acting school took their bow?
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Post by alessia on Sept 12, 2022 5:26:15 GMT
Oh dear...i am supposed to see this on Saturday...anyone else has got feedback? Thinking that if press reviews are equally bad I won't bother.
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1,502 posts
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Post by foxa on Sept 12, 2022 9:15:47 GMT
I haven't seen any reviews for it at all nor much audience comment - not sure when official opening is. Think its last performance is 1st October, so if it is going to be reviewed they need to get a move on.
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2,744 posts
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Post by n1david on Sept 12, 2022 9:26:17 GMT
Press night is tonight, so should be some reviews around tomorrow.
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2,744 posts
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Post by n1david on Sept 13, 2022 12:44:45 GMT
Not great reviews but most seem to find something of interest in it.
WOS, Telegraph and The Stage 3*
The Times and Guardian 2*
Telegraph: "I’m not sure in the end what the play is really saying, but I’m very glad I saw it. An interesting mess."
WOS: "The Clinic is an ambitious undertaking, that never loses the attention, but it doesn't make the impact Baruwa-Etti's talent deserves. It's big, bold and unruly, but not quite as focussed as it needs to be."
Stage: "Now, this is a trip. Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s drama is so crammed with switchback plot twists, stylistic jolts and jump-cut focus shifts that it’s like watching six plays at once – every one of them absorbing."
Times: "A provocative question lies at the heart of Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s latest offering: how much common ground exists between black individuals at different ends of the class spectrum? What a shame the script doesn’t rise to the challenge."
Guardian: "Its ominous signs lead nowhere, turning back into political argument as the plot yields one odd turn after another without delivering in its climax. Yet, incredibly, this drama never stops being absorbing, partly because of the calibre of performances; Obianyo and Berlin are particularly strong."
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195 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 13, 2022 15:16:55 GMT
I'm seeing this tonight. Will try to ignore the less than favourable reports and go with an open mind.
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Sept 13, 2022 21:48:07 GMT
The Clinic is an ambitious undertaking, that never loses the attention, but it doesn't make the impact Baruwa-Etti's talent deserves. It's big, bold and unruly, but not quite as focussed as it needs to be." "I’m not sure in the end what the play is really saying, but I’m very glad I saw it. An interesting mess." I think these probably sum it up the best. I thought I knew where this play was going, and plot wise I don't think I was far off, but thematically I was wrong. |
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309 posts
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Post by jm25 on Sept 14, 2022 21:22:11 GMT
I think I enjoyed this but was quite conscious throughout that it wasn’t firing on all cylinders. As others have said, the writing was the biggest problem. There were definitely interesting ideas but it painted in broad brushstrokes and seemed to get a bit lost in itself.
Liked the performances, though, and in particular I thought Gloria Obianyo as Ore was a standout.
On a more practical level, by the interval I felt pretty lost in terms of the actual plot. I didn’t quite understand why Wunmi had been invited into the family home (except to drive the plot along). I thought it was just me and that I’d missed something, so was frantically flipping through the play text at the interval. Was quite relieved when I overheard the couple next to me express their confusion about the exact same thing! Comes down, again, to the writing.
On balance worth seeing, but nothing to write home about.
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195 posts
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Post by tal on Sept 14, 2022 21:54:50 GMT
I was enjoying this in the first act, but the second act just went everywhere and lost me completely. Still, the performances were great and there were some great ideas that I wished were tied together in a more concise way.
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1,485 posts
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Post by Steve on Sept 15, 2022 13:08:39 GMT
Saw the matinee yesterday, and liked a lot of it. This tries to do (and be) so many things, but in it's essence, and in how it's directed, it's "An Inspector Calls" for the affluent British black community, asking whether each or any of them have done enough for the less well off. This could have been brilliant if it had been laser-focused, but it isn't, and thus it's bemusing for how many things it tries to be. Gloria Obianyo is terrific. Some spoilers follow. . . This begins with a black family dancing in their kitchen, which immediately had me thinking this was going to be a "Fairview" style critique of the way white people see black people. After all, that play powerfully argued that this sort of reductive and clichéd view of black families is a modern day form of minstrelsy, or at the very least, a lazy way to portray three dimensional people. This wasn't what the play was about, though I do believe that the dancing family image is there deliberately to suggest there might be something disturbing going on lol. Nor was the play your standard family-gathering-erupts-in-conflict play, though it seemed like it might be. Nor was it your standard Wesker-inflected epitaph of a decaying politically motivated family type of play, though it seemed like it. It certainly name checked lots of politicians, from Starmer to Johnson to Cleverly to Badenoch. It also could have been a full on melodrama for all the thick full on thrust of plot. Or, it could have been a send-up of a melodrama, like that old Billy Crystal TV sitcom, Soap, which just kept getting more and more complicated, until you just start laughing. This was, I felt, at one point, almost certainly, a Brimstone and Treacle style outsider-brings-poison-into-family-well horror show. Or was it, the "Spur of the Moment" twist on the poisonous Outsider plot, where you actually discover that it's an insider who is the real poison in the well? Essentially, I was mouth-open flabbergasted half the time, and fascinated the other half of the time. But eventually, I formed the view that it is probably all of the above, but more than any of them, the plot screaming to get out from all the clutter was a very special twist on "An Inspector Calls," whereby the invading outsider, Wunmi, essentially investigates the hearts of a somewhat complacent family. This reading was supported by the spooky supernatural flames and sounds that the director utilises, and really could have been a great play if (1) all the other plays within plays had been sidelined; and (2) if Gloria Obianyo had played the part of Wunmi. The actress playing Wunmi is perfectly fine, but she lacks the brooding thoughtfulness and intensity that Obianyo brings to every scene, and which I felt would really light up the fiery inquisition this play is supposed to be. Messy but intriguing. 3 stars from me for the excellent play that almost peeks out from behind all the other plays that this is.  |
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1,828 posts
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Post by Dave B on Sept 18, 2022 9:28:26 GMT
I enjoyed this more than the thread suggested. Usual pillar seats but it wasn't full (and has been on offer this week) so there was opportunity for people to move but with the staging, no need for me.
The cast are pretty good and some of the staging is great, the shocks/connections and the flames and the repeated use of the word glow. It is so much all over the place though and it feels like a lost opportunity, is it a drama about a family supporting someone in need or is it a horror about a stranger wrangling her way into a home and then causing chaos? Gloria Obianyo was great and had such intensity, appeared to have such coiled up rage/tension throughout and I really expected her character to be more of a driving force.
Lots of potential and I'd totally agree with the Telegraph of all places, 'an interesting mess'.
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2,744 posts
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Post by n1david on Sept 26, 2022 22:58:15 GMT
I'm pretty much in agreement with the comments already on this thread, I enjoyed watching this whilst acknowledging that it was all over the place.
What I found interesting tonight was that it was a much more diverse audience than usual at the Almeida, the audience was very responsive during the show, and (in the stalls at least) there was a near-universal standing ovation. While it didn't get great reviews, and was probably about 80% full tonight (not sure if they are seat-filling, and this is low for the Almeida), this seems to have reached an audience which is responding to it.
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