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Post by david on Jul 2, 2018 20:51:28 GMT
I’m tempted to book for this. Has anybody seen this yet or planning to?
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Post by showgirl on Jul 3, 2018 17:06:13 GMT
Yes, I saw an early preview and have just seen some online reviews, with star ratings (should anyone be interested) of 3, 4, 4.5 and 5 - so tending towards the high end so far.
It's a sound production of an inevitably very static, serious play, heavy on long speeches but with good characterisation - apart, unfortunately, from that of the young soldier being court-martialled - and well acted.
It probably didn't help to see it with such a sparse audience and on a swelteringly hot day; those familiar with the venue will know how oven-like it can be and I wondered how the cast, trussed up in their army uniforms, managed not to keel over.
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Post by david on Jul 3, 2018 17:10:46 GMT
Yes, I saw an early preview and have just seen some online reviews, with star ratings (should anyone be interested) of 3, 4, 4.5 and 5 - so tending towards the high end so far. It's a sound production of an inevitably very static, serious play, heavy on long speeches but with good characterisation - apart, unfortunately, from that of the young soldier being court-martialled - and well acted. It probably didn't help to see it with such a sparse audience and on a swelteringly hot day; those familiar with the venue will know how oven-like it can be and I wondered how the cast, trussed up in their army uniforms, managed not to keel over. Thanks for the review. Where you would suggest is best sitting along the sides or the end on seating? |
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Post by showgirl on Jul 3, 2018 17:30:52 GMT
You should be fine sitting anywhere but maybe best to opt for the middle block of the 3 used for this production, or if in one of the other 2 blocks, then towards the end nearest the middle block, if that makes sense?
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Post by david on Jul 3, 2018 17:41:35 GMT
You should be fine sitting anywhere but maybe best to opt for the middle block of the 3 used for this production, or if in one of the other 2 blocks, then towards the end nearest the middle block, if that makes sense? Thanks. Going to sort it out now. I just hope that it’s cool inside the auditorium when I go in a fortnight. Last time I went to the YV in the summer was to watch toxic avenger and was a boiler room environment then. |
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Post by showgirl on Jul 4, 2018 3:03:56 GMT
Just seen another 4-star review online but no national/press views yet - perhaps those critics are all too busy with Miss Littlewood at the RSC?
My only quibble about the writing would be that as this was written 50 years after the start of WW1 and given that it's now c 100 years since the end, it's impossible to know whether the attitudes to shell-shock (now PTSD) portrayed are realistic. I could believe in the approach of the medical officer, determined to dismiss it as malingering but am not sure anyone else would have held a view both so opposed and far more enlightened - and this happens conveniently to be the defending officer, also coincidentally a lawyer in real life. Yes, it serves the plot perfectly but is this device too schematic and implausible to ring true?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2018 18:24:24 GMT
Well. I rather liked it. I cried, i had an ice cream, I cried again.
Yes it was a bit dated (obviously) and yes, the lawyer did seem a little bit too liberal for the British Army in 1918 but those are mere niggles. The first half was a little slower but I shed more than one tear in the second half. Poor little Private Hamp! He only wanted to go home and just couldn't take it any more. Bryan Cranston won an Olivier for that! It just really makes it all so clear just how utterly devastating and unnecessary the "Great War" was (or any war really).
Lovely performances all round although it was sad that the theatre wasn't even half full and I'm sure the boots were a bit too modern as well. The ice cream really was rather nice though.
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Post by david on Jul 13, 2018 21:56:41 GMT
Having seen this tonight, overall a very thought provoking night at the theatre. It certainly didn’t shy away from dealing with the issues of mental health and PTSD in war and how these subjects were handled by both the military command and the medical staff during WW1.
I wasn’t exactly convinced that such a liberal lawyer would exist in 1918 as @ryan said, but it did highlight the futility of defending so called deserters during the war as ultimately, those soldiers where found guilty by the military even before being sent to trial. What was interesting was a comment made in the programme notes that during WW1 no less than 306 men were executed for acts of cowardice or desertion, a truly shocking number. Though it has taken 90 yrs for those soldiers to receive a posthumous pardon.
Great performances overall, though it was a shame that the auditorium was only half full but a very appreciative audience at the end who must have shed a tear or two at the final outcome.
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Post by showgirl on Jul 14, 2018 4:24:45 GMT
I'm glad this play is receiving some attention as both it and the production deserve to be seen; it's a shame it seems so far to have remained below the radar of some bloggers and all professional critics, so far as I am aware.
Maybe the timing was slightly off, as given that this year is the 100th anniversary of the end of WW2, had this been staged to coincide with the Armistice, or in the autumn at least, more might have been made of its significance and the advances in psychology since. Trivial as this may sound, I also wonder if there is sufficient appetite for serious, talking-head-type plays in the height of summer, especially during the current heatwave - which of course is both untypical and was unpredictable? I somehow feel as though people would rather see something shorter and/or less substantial - unless at a venue with better aircon so they not only enjoy escaping the heat but can concentrate.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jul 14, 2018 15:06:52 GMT
I cried, i had an ice cream, I cried again. was the ice cream that bad? |
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Post by david on Jul 14, 2018 16:13:07 GMT
I cried, i had an ice cream, I cried again. was the ice cream that bad? It was probably how much he paid for it that caused @ryan to have that reaction. |
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