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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 17, 2023 22:55:57 GMT
Going to see it next week. The NT says: "This is a multilingual production with English subtitles". Is this not in English? I cannot stand reading subtitles, it completely distracts me - I cannot 'see' and 'read' at the same time. I believe it's during blackout scenes (like Yerma which had the thrash music instead) while scenery is getting changed, so not during the actual performance. |
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Post by G on Feb 17, 2023 23:34:55 GMT
Going to see it next week. The NT says: "This is a multilingual production with English subtitles". Is this not in English? I cannot stand reading subtitles, it completely distracts me - I cannot 'see' and 'read' at the same time. I believe it's during blackout scenes (like Yerma which had the thrash music instead) while scenery is getting changed, so not during the actual performance. Some spoken bits are also not in English during actual scenes in the performance. |
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Post by adolphus on Feb 18, 2023 2:10:58 GMT
There is an Arabic voiceover which is translated into English on a black screen at the start and between several scenes. There's also a long monologue towards the end of the play which is translated onto surtitles on the base of a revolving set, and is very difficult to read as it's also delivered breathlessly. It would be difficult to read even if the set was static.
The staging is overly- complicated, and this Phaedra is simply too selfish, shallow and unlikeable for us to care or in fact believe that she is finally undone by a real love. The script should have have deepened her plight rather than make her more Ab-Fabby Edina grotesque.
Janet McTeer is tremendous, and like the rest of the cast, transcends the text
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Post by youngoffender on Feb 18, 2023 20:42:01 GMT
Today was my first outing to the NT for at least three years, and it was great to see the building so full of life again. It remains my favourite indoor space in London, and I have spent more enjoyable hours in its cafes and foyers than I have in its auditoria (read that how you will...) So was Phaedra the right show to come back for? Well, I certainly found much to admire: the uniformly excellent performances, the sharp familial banter, and the sleek revolving set. But ultimately the play felt as airless as the box they perform in, and I was left entirely unmoved.
I wonder if anyone else was troubled by the play's sexual politics. It's achingly correct in its post-colonial perspective, seeing Helen's initial 'conquest' of Achraf as an appropriation of the exotic from which all future troubles flow. However, it's also as reactionary as Genesis in in its view of female sexuality, where women are succubi from whose insidious charms men must be protected. We only hear Achraf in voiceover, but he is romanticised and ennobled in a way that feels 'exoticising' in its own right, and without any sense that he had his own agency in the betrayal of his family. Likewise, his son's behaviour seems to be painted as the inevitable consequence of Helen's original sin, rather than the freely chosen and destructive actions of a selfish gigolo.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 19, 2023 15:52:56 GMT
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Post by londonpostie on Feb 19, 2023 16:24:06 GMT
That is some reading ..
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Post by theatrelover123 on Feb 19, 2023 16:34:47 GMT
Those are dreadfully written reviews. Was there no Editor to check them? They read like a drama student reviewer on work experience stepped in to write them at the last minute |
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 19, 2023 20:20:49 GMT
I wonder if anyone else was troubled by the play's sexual politics.
I won't be. I go to see theatre to see other people's stories, not my own. |
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Post by stevemar on Feb 19, 2023 22:45:51 GMT
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Post by edi on Feb 21, 2023 10:29:59 GMT
I really don't know, I have very mixed feelings about this.
I enjoyed more when it was played out as a comedy, I found it very modern and in a way relatable to our modern middle class entitled lives. I didn't like the long black outs but I understood it was needed for the glass cage and I was OK to endure it because the glass worked for me. I liked how it rotated and as a previous poster said, mixed the ingredients of the cake of this family. So for the first half and until the end of the restaurant scene, I thought this was a 4+ evening.
But it completely lost me during the long Arabic/French sequence. Even though the subtitles are on various places, none were comfortable for me, and my neck started to ache very soon. Not only that but I was unable to keep up with the reading, it's so fast. So I completely lost my interest and in fact gave up on reading - and it is a longish scene and I felt it would've been important for me to understand - to understand the back story of Sofiane.
The very last melodramatic scene was OK but impossible to reconcile with the previously ruthless and modern woman. But by that time I was simply just too bored to care much.
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Post by cavocado on Feb 21, 2023 11:07:39 GMT
I have mixed feelings too because of the mix of gripping/entertaining and extreme dullness.
I enjoyed a lot about this - good performances all round, good comedy, nice design, some jaw-droppingly shocking moments.
But I found the Arabic voice over parts tedious and odd. I don't know the other versions of the play, not even sure I've ever seen it before, so I assumed the v/o represented the chorus role? It felt unnecessary and incongruous - oddly sentimental compared to the rest of the play and too much info to read.
I hated the captions in the long scene near the end - it felt like a test of my speed reading (not very good) and I barely managed to look at the actors.
I liked the final scene, especially Hugo's translating - perfectly pulled off the blend of comedy and tragedy.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 23, 2023 9:11:38 GMT
Well, I went in a sceptic (interview with Stone in the programme which led me to believe I was in for another couple of hours of being told off) but came out a convert. In fact I was converted within a very few minutes, and my only worry was whether they'd be able to keep up the high level of tension and hilarity throughout. I think it's the best thing I've seen since lockdown. Worth mentioning that it is very funny, superbly acted and manages the move into tragedy with great skill. Yes, the subtitles in the final act could be clearer - from my row C cheapie, there was a lot of craning and they were barely legible - but my major gripe was that the script hasn't been published yet and I was keen to read the play on the way home.
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Post by G on Feb 24, 2023 23:22:29 GMT
Well, I went in a sceptic (interview with Stone in the programme which led me to believe I was in for another couple of hours of being told off) but came out a convert. In fact I was converted within a very few minutes, and my only worry was whether they'd be able to keep up the high level of tension and hilarity throughout. I think it's the best thing I've seen since lockdown. Worth mentioning that it is very funny, superbly acted and manages the move into tragedy with great skill. Yes, the subtitles in the final act could be clearer - from my row C cheapie, there was a lot of craning and they were barely legible - but my major gripe was that the script hasn't been published yet and I was keen to read the play on the way home. Agree with all that. There was also a screen up to the sides of the stage when I went, not just below, which made reading subtitles easier. At the National bookshop they said that the script might only get published after the run in case there was a feeling small changes need to be made. |
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Post by ruperto on Feb 25, 2023 18:41:12 GMT
Just saw the matinee of this. I thought it was sensational - probably the best thing I’ve seen at the theatre in the last couple of years. I’m already planning my return trip. For me, the critics who said this was tonally unsure are completely missing the point - IMHO it’s precisely that crunching together of melodrama, comedy, tragedy and social commentary (and probably a few other genres too) that’s one of the best and most daring things about it. Plus some really amazing acting - Janet McTeer really is something in this. But it’s clearly a Marmite production - while there were a number of us on our feet at the end, I heard others on the way out who clearly weren’t keen…
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Post by tmesis on Feb 25, 2023 18:52:14 GMT
I too was at the matinee and thought it one of the best things at the Nash in a while. I was seriously hampered at the end by being on the end of row B Stalls and the subtitles were very difficult to read there. Shame because this detracted from the amazing intensity of the ending.
Overall, some hilarious moments too and it’s fabulously well acted.
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Post by andrew on Feb 25, 2023 20:31:38 GMT
Can somebody unveil a bit of stage magic for me. People have remarked on the interruptions to change sets. How many sets would you say were used? I have no insight, but my guess is {Spoiler - click to view}
They are using both the side and rear stage to store sets as suggested, based off the fact you can see the ramp mechanism on stage left (the side with the massive store) and behind the glass. The glass piece on the revolve doesn't change, it's the inside of the set which is altered. One specific side of the glass cube has obvious doors and hinges on it, and when blackouts end it's usually facing either the rear or stage left side because that's where it's being facing during the unload/reload. I don't know how many bases they're working with, they could be redressing 1 or 2 bases when not in use or they could have them all pre-set (I suspect not just due to space constrictions).
The switches are well done but even from mid stalls I could hear them rolling things on or off, the doors creaking open and closed. It was nowhere near as impressive as Yerma which was similar in concept, where they could roll on or off into the YV Workshop area the base to redress, and had a bunch of crew with night vision goggles moving stuff and actors around in between, all of it a few feet in front of the audiences unseeing eyes, but obviously this is a more complex and versatile setup.
In this the actors are all individually mic'd up, and as discussed earlier hide in different parts of the set when they need to be inside the cube but aren't actually in the scene. It would make an interesting behind the scenes video from the NT as they like to do for their big set pieces, perhaps one will come. I thought this was good not great. Ultimately I didn't find the ending earned, JMcT does her best but I don't think her unravelling was believable or well paced enough. Still enjoyed it. |
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Post by G on Feb 25, 2023 20:53:44 GMT
Can somebody unveil a bit of stage magic for me. People have remarked on the interruptions to change sets. How many sets would you say were used? I have no insight, but my guess is {Spoiler - click to view}
They are using both the side and rear stage to store sets as suggested, based off the fact you can see the ramp mechanism on stage left (the side with the massive store) and behind the glass. The glass piece on the revolve doesn't change, it's the inside of the set which is altered. One specific side of the glass cube has obvious doors and hinges on it, and when blackouts end it's usually facing either the rear or stage left side because that's where it's being facing during the unload/reload. I don't know how many bases they're working with, they could be redressing 1 or 2 bases when not in use or they could have them all pre-set (I suspect not just due to space constrictions).
The switches are well done but even from mid stalls I could hear them rolling things on or off, the doors creaking open and closed. It was nowhere near as impressive as Yerma which was similar in concept, where they could roll on or off into the YV Workshop area the base to redress, and had a bunch of crew with night vision goggles moving stuff and actors around in between, all of it a few feet in front of the audiences unseeing eyes, but obviously this is a more complex and versatile setup.
In this the actors are all individually mic'd up, and as discussed earlier hide in different parts of the set when they need to be inside the cube but aren't actually in the scene. It would make an interesting behind the scenes video from the NT as they like to do for their big set pieces, perhaps one will come. I thought this was good not great. Ultimately I didn't find the ending earned, JMcT does her best but I don't think her unravelling was believable or well paced enough. Still enjoyed it. This was very insightful - thank you. I thought they would have been using multiple glass pieces, and interesting to hear how they likely did it instead. |
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Post by londonpostie on Feb 25, 2023 22:44:20 GMT
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Post by cavocado on Feb 26, 2023 9:51:32 GMT
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Post by nottobe on Feb 26, 2023 18:12:49 GMT
I caught this last night and enjoyed it a lot. I had seen Stone's production of Medea at the Barbican and was enthralled by that so was excited to see this. For me it didn't quite have the emotional punch Medea which I thought was a five star production however I would still give this a very positive 4.5.
Stone has made a two millennium old play still as exciting and entertaining. These are characters we can place in our own world. As with all great drama we enjoy watching characters make bad decisions.
Obviously the set is breathtaking and I loved trying to work out how they did the quick transitions. The cast are all top notch and I expect a few Olivier nods for cast and creatives. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of comedy and drama and how on the whole there was a cinematic quality. I look forward to Stone's next play!
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Post by orchidman on Mar 1, 2023 18:19:33 GMT
This is a good play and probably only got on at the National because it flies over Rufus Norris's head. But whilst acknowledging that, Simon Stone should have had the confidence to write his own work rather than leaning on the work of others which results in the very weak ending here.
Janet McTeer's character is too resourceful and the world has changed too much for it to end like that.
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Post by Mark on Mar 1, 2023 18:21:30 GMT
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would this afternoon. The set is very clever and Janet McTeer is well worthy of her Olivier nomination. Lots of laughs.
Some struggle with the overlapping dialogue, especially at the beginning, but got better as the play steadied.
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 1, 2023 18:35:42 GMT
Full house as well, this afternoon - not bad for a cheeky midweek matinee. Presumably the same next door with the Park Hill crew.
#RufusReboundsAgain
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 2, 2023 14:29:12 GMT
Simon Stone should have had the confidence to write his own work rather than leaning on the work of others which results in the very weak ending here. Janet McTeer's character is too resourceful and the world has changed too much for it to end like that. SPOILER!
I don't know how it should end though I note we do have types of suicide, of a fashion - political and human (McTeer's probably taken from Eurydice).
The world has indeed changed, to the extent political suicide can now seem to involve a stint in the jungle with Ant and Dec.
We sometimes hear speak of 'Shakespearian' narratives or characters in modern day politics, not much about yer Greeks. This works for me a loose, general signpost and entry-level primer. Given full houses and entertainment value, it's really not an easy thing to pull off, imo.
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Post by mkb on Mar 12, 2023 5:23:34 GMT
This is so close to being five stars, but there are too many little niggles to quite make it.
The cast are first-rate, Janet McTeer especially, and my attention was rapt throughout, save for those clunky scene-shifting delays.
The update to the story works brilliantly in a modern setting, and, for a moment, having been led on this journey of frenzied emotions, I really was persuaded that events could end as they do here.
What I especially like about this form of theatre, where the characters are incarcerated in a glass box, is not just the symbolism of confinement and intense pressure and audience-as-voyeur, but what it does to the sound. The acoustics of an open stage are replaced by the harsher reverberations of a room, perfectly captured by the mics, and lending a much more natural soundscape.
Writer/director Simon Stone presents a family almost too modern and realistic. The way in which they talk across each other and with such sharpness of thought, at first seems impressively believable, but they never let up to pause for breath. Who would not be exhausted after an hour in their presence? The contrast with the calmness of their visitor is marked.
But the family is peripheral, as this tale is centred on the matriarch, Helen, and her effect on those around her. McTeer delivers an awards-worthy performance. I am still unsure whether her character should elicit sympathy, pity or contempt, or some of all three. I found myself torn this way and that. It's gripping stuff.
What detracts from the experience is the fact that the glass box is not stationary. It spins. At times, it never bloody stops. The reflections of several fire-exit signs whizz past in a most distracting fashion. Instead of concentrating on the dialogue, you find yourself looking for actors hiding and working out how the scene changes are achieved.
The subtitles are placed where, from the front row, they are difficult to see and take in quickly, and they advance at lightning speed in the final scene.
I imagine this play stands up to repeated viewing. I caught lots of interesting details, but I'm sure I missed many more. This is essential viewing.
Four stars.
Act 1: 19:37-21:03
Act 2: 21:24-22:14
(This is from Friday's show.)
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