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Post by londontheatrefan on Feb 8, 2019 22:59:52 GMT
Tonight's performance was much improved from Monday's. Changes have been made, there seems to be a little more action on the actual stage, and the ending is much better. Gillian too seems much more at ease in the role, while Lily was great as always (she sounds like she has a cold!) and Monica killed it once again. I'm still not entirely connecting with it, but it was more enjoyable than the first time. Interesting crowd sitting near me though, those who didn't walk out or spend the entire time filming or taking photos were very restless, although the reception to the actors at the end was very warm and enthusiastic. I'm interested in what reception it'll get from the critics next week. Where were you sitting? The ushers in the stalls seemed very vigilant, everyone around me was engrossed and only one person got up to go to the bathroom in the entire half of the stalls I could see in front of me (I was Row O). The only thing that distracted me was the lack of rake that meant I had to keep moving my head to peer around the head that kept moving in front of me! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the play and think the current ending works (though some might argue it is a bit cliched or too obvious) - I'd be intrigued to know what the ending originally was, at least I can now safely read back through the thread. I did think some of the dialogue was a bit overblown and stating the obvious, and some of the additional screen use a bit too much, with some awkward camera work going on. It is very effective at other points though, particularly in the ladies room scene towards the end. The cast are uniformly excellent - Monica Dolan is indeed superb, and Gillian Anderson also very good (though I agree with whoever said she was better in Streetcar). Lily James was the highlight for me - I admit it took me a while to not be a bit distracted by her accent, as it's practically the same one she used for Mamma Mia 2 and does occasionally slip back into an English one momentarily, but from a slow burning start (which seemed to be deliberate and worked for the character), she hit her stride in the second half as her character gets more development and really is wonderful towards the end. And she sings beautifully while keeping it in character. I'm not sure this will get complete raves - it manages to be both experimental and entirely predictable at the same time, the background music is a bit much in places and the transitions between scenes are often too long, but the cast deserve to get very good notices and I expect the reviews to be positive on the whole. I'd give it 4 stars. I was sat up in the circle, thankfully near the front so I could see the screens. Quite a few people had toilet breaks, but there were two guys near me who left and didn't come back. The phones were everywhere, and conveniently they didn't see the staff trying to warn them, so they kept on filming! (staff were really good but the people were dead centre so they couldn't get to them).I completely agree about the background music, there was one scene tonight where it sounded so loud that I struggled to hear some of the dialogue. I echo your rating, tonight I felt was four stars, it was good despite a lack of connection but the other night it would have just scraped three. If it could tighten up a little, lose a little more camera work and make a few more subtle changes I think it could be great.
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Post by frosty on Feb 10, 2019 9:03:02 GMT
I was at Company last Wednesday (loved it, and luckily got to see it the night before the cancelled show) and the American lady next to me said she had been to see All About Eve the day before. I told her we were seeing it Saturday and what did she think of it? She absolutely hated it! Not a single good word to say about it, but I went in with an open mind, one mans meat etc... But I could see what she meant. Some of the directorial choices were bizarre. We were in the centre of row D in the stalls, so had a great view of the stage and the screen above and the kitchen and bathroom in the wings...but I'd imagine anyone further back would struggle to see the whole thing. I didn't get the point of the birthday party scene where all the action in the kitchen was on screen, for no apparent reason, and also the restaurant scene where characters were sat with their backs to the audience, but a camera spinning around them. I couldn't quite work out the era it supposed to be set in either, the clothing didn't seem right for the 40s, especially the men with their very tight trousered suits and a close up of a tube of cocktail sticks in the kitchen with a very visible bar code on it. And the constant incidental music was a constant distraction....
I agree with previous posters, the standout performance was Monica Dolan as Karen, but I got zero chemistry between her and Lloyd. I thought Gillian Anderson needed to turn up the sassyness and attitude, I expected a bit more Karen Walker. Such a shame, I had been really looking forward to this, such great material and a great cast, but it all looked like it was trying to be too gimmicky for me.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2019 14:20:37 GMT
Has van Hove become too fixated on using video? His Angels and his A View from the Bridge stripped all artifice from the props and staging and were both devastatingly compelling in their simplicity.
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Post by floorshow on Feb 10, 2019 15:10:46 GMT
Has van Hove become too fixated on using video? His Angels and his A View from the Bridge stripped all artifice from the props and staging and were both devastatingly compelling in their simplicity. Antigone was pretty sparse, Lazarus had a bit of video just for the perspective change in the rocket bit, it's only Network that really went all in.
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Feb 10, 2019 19:42:19 GMT
in the same way that artificial light and the ability to manipulate it changed theatre we are beginning to experience a new change, where the artificial barriers between different media are broken down, merged, switched etc.
The advent of dimmable gas lighting led Wagner to wanting a darkened auditorium, with Henry Irving following a couple of years after. Both realising that it would enhance the illusions that they wanted to create. This separation of stage and auditorium changed plays and the acting too, allowing for realism and fourth wall as opposed to the overt theatricality employed previously. That never completely eliminated what came previously and there isn't any chance of what we have now completely disappearing yet, either.
Now, however, we have two artforms, able to inhabit the same space. Screens are no longer bleached out by more powerful stage lighting, digital media allows for instant projection at a very high resolution and, just as importantly, the audience are well versed in the differing languages of both screen and live performance.
It's an exciting time and, although I won't be around to see even greater changes to come, it's fascinating to see how theatre, playwriting, directing and acting are scrambling to catch up. The lack of critical vocabulary is an issue at the moment, the old specialisms and divisions of criticism are lagging behind. Directors like Van Hove and Mitchell are the vanguard, testing things out, succeeding, sometimes failing but they have made a start.
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Post by westendcub on Feb 11, 2019 22:05:21 GMT
I enjoyed this play, I actually really liked the set & direction for this with the camerawork & pre-filmed elements.
It does like some bite, felt there need needed to a bigger scene between ‘Eve’ & ‘Margo’ in Act 2 however this didn’t drag for m and 2 hours 10 mins not an issue.
Gillian excelled in the party scene and Lilly towards the end of the play.
I was sat on row A Grand Circle and yes whilst hand rail is in sight (you soon get used to it) and it was a good seat (I could see the main screen perfectly) but yes in the next level you would be able to look at the smaller screens & not the one on stage.
Can see how this play will divide opinion and debate!
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Post by frankubelik on Feb 12, 2019 8:46:53 GMT
I really echo "frostys" comments here. Monica Dolan is the standout performer and totally agree about the lack of chemistry between her and Rashan Stone as her playwright husband. Lily James is very good but I found Ms Anderson far too languid overall and even from the fourth row struggled to hear her at times (AND she was miked!) Sheila Reid is similarly underpowered. The entire production lacks pace and the really annoying use of music is misplaced (as is the song - bizarre). I found the use of the video distracting overall and simply did not understand why everyone was crammed into the kitchen for the party scene (flashback to similarly ridiculous moments in COMPANY). It's a great and intriguing story deserving of a First Class production which this ultimately does not deliver. It needs a good ten minutes shaved off the time which, with some tighter direction should be altogether possible.
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Post by n1david on Feb 12, 2019 9:01:51 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2019 9:09:25 GMT
Well. I found this very frustrating, it's far too long, too tricksy and some parts are buttock-numbingly dull but then you get some flashes of brilliance. I thought the best performance came from Lily James, who I thought was terrific even when she's in the background, just watching and planning. And when Eve turns, she's pretty psychotic but Lily doesn't really overplay it (this ain't no 'Fatal Attraction' [sadly]), she was quite chilling I thought. Gillian Anderson was more disappointing I thought, she looks utterly sensational swanning around in a selection of red outfits and her lack of vanity at times is admirable but you struggle to hear her sometimes and most shamefully, seeing as Margo gets some absolutely fabulous lines, she barks out her lines in the same monotonous tone as though she only discovered the script 5 minutes before going on. But then there are some absolutely glorious moments, mostly when she's reacting and not speaking and some wondrous looks. I can't quite decide if it's a dreadful performance or not (although she does improve a little after the drunken scene (which she's great in actually).
On the plus side you do get Julian Ovenden in a lovely selection of very snug outfits (God bless you An D'Huys) where you are reminded of his night with Reg in the right light, Monica Dolan in a sparkly frock clearly designed to distract your eye should she be in danger of tumbling out of it (which she quite magnificently stops herself from doing), some delightful waiters preparing a few vol-au-vents in the kitchen, a fabulous bit of ageing trickery on the screens and the sight of a drunken Gillian Anderson falling in the bath.
Some of the video work is a bit dull and really, all that style and yet Margo has got one of the ugliest kitchens I've seen. I can't for the life of me understand why everyone wanted to spend so much time in it.
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Post by timothyd on Feb 12, 2019 10:29:58 GMT
Quite a few spoilers in your post there Ryan. Would you mind putting them in the spoiler tags?
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Post by londontheatrefan on Feb 12, 2019 12:55:25 GMT
How did the play end last night? I know there have been a few and I'm intrigued as to how it's turned out so close to press night
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2019 13:17:58 GMT
How did the play end last night? I know there have been a few and I'm intrigued as to how it's turned out so close to press night With a standing ovation from the great unwashed natch. {Cross Channing Ferry} Eve comes home from the awards show and Addison basically tells her he owns her now. She plays the piano and a new "Eve" jumps out from the bed and presumably the whole thing starts again as she says the same things Eve told Karen at the beginning. New Eve looks into the camera and gives us all a little wink. Lights down. Bows. La Anderson in a silver frock.
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Post by Mark on Feb 12, 2019 13:19:24 GMT
Quite a few spoilers in your post there Ryan. Would you mind putting them in the spoiler tags? You're reading a thread about the play. There's really no need for spoiler tags.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Feb 12, 2019 13:53:48 GMT
Quite a few spoilers in your post there Ryan. Would you mind putting them in the spoiler tags? You're reading a thread about the play. There's really no need for spoiler tags. Some people like to read opinions before they go/before they book, myself included, and I'd like to be able to avoid spoilers for the plot if possible. I don't think that's unreasonable.
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Post by floorshow on Feb 12, 2019 14:22:46 GMT
With a standing ovation from the great unwashed natch. Yikes, too easily misread..
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Post by drmaplewood on Feb 12, 2019 16:35:35 GMT
With a standing ovation from the great unwashed natch. Yikes, too easily misread.. Guilty lol
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Post by poster J on Feb 12, 2019 16:58:07 GMT
How did the play end last night? I know there have been a few and I'm intrigued as to how it's turned out so close to press night With a standing ovation from the great unwashed natch. {Cross Channing Ferry} Eve comes home from the awards show and Addison basically tells her he owns her now. She plays the piano and a new "Eve" jumps out from the bed and presumably the whole thing starts again as she says the same things Eve told Karen at the beginning. New Eve looks into the camera and gives us all a little wink. Lights down. Bows. La Anderson in a silver frock. That seems to be the settled ending then, it was the same last Friday.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2019 17:05:44 GMT
With a standing ovation from the great unwashed natch. {Cross Channing Ferry} Eve comes home from the awards show and Addison basically tells her he owns her now. She plays the piano and a new "Eve" jumps out from the bed and presumably the whole thing starts again as she says the same things Eve told Karen at the beginning. New Eve looks into the camera and gives us all a little wink. Lights down. Bows. La Anderson in a silver frock. That seems to be the settled ending then, it was the same last Friday. It's basically . . {Margo-go-go Joseph, you know what they say . . } . . the film's plot so I don't think Ivo had to think too much about it. There's always someone coming ups behind you to steal your crown. It's the circle of life as Elton John once said.
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Post by partytentdown on Feb 12, 2019 18:28:17 GMT
I'm confused? The ending changed? Can someone else (in spoiler tags)
Thanks
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Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 12, 2019 18:33:43 GMT
Isn't that basically the ending of the movie?
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Post by l0islane on Feb 12, 2019 19:32:58 GMT
I'm confused? The ending changed? Can someone else (in spoiler tags) Thanks {Spoiler - click to view} To my knowledge there have been three endings: New Eve goes crazy jumping around the room, screams at the audience and it ends (I saw this one). New Eve puts on the red dress and spins around. Play ends (I've also seen this one). New Eve looks in the mirror and winks at the audience. Play ends.(Haven't seen this one yet)
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Post by Ade on Feb 12, 2019 20:50:05 GMT
I'm confused? The ending changed? Can someone else (in spoiler tags) Thanks {Spoiler - click to view} To my knowledge there have been three endings: New Eve goes crazy jumping around the room, screams at the audience and it ends (I saw this one). New Eve puts on the red dress and spins around. Play ends (I've also seen this one). New Eve looks in the mirror and winks at the audience. Play ends.(Haven't seen this one yet) So I saw the last of these three. And that was last Tuesday. So it sounds like they have stuck with that one.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2019 20:54:57 GMT
Count me in the interested but unmoved, but interested in my unmovedness. All to say I don't think this is Van Hove's strongest work, and I'm one that counts him as a genius when he gets it right. But it's no Jude Law and Motor Oil either, for which we can all be thankful. The camerawork for me, while I can see and yes be interested in as a conceit did little for me at best, and frustrated me at worst. I also ultimalty think that in putting a film back on stage it's the stage element and the intimacy, and interest that offers you should be playing with and while my little Ivo devil's advocate in my head goes 'ah but that's why then putting cameras back in makes it interesting' the rest of me goes 'ah but shut up Ivo I don't care'. Because for me ultimalty they frustrated the story, and i don't think that was the point of them. I did enjoy the use of the one on the mirror and the mix of the pre-record and the live images there, that was an interesting use of it. But the lengthy scenes locked away in shipping containers filmed and projected were not I don't think, adding anything. Ivo's strength also is when he strips a piece back and lets it speak for itself. That's why Kushner considers his Angels the best, that's why his View from a Bridge was so powerful, that's what made Lazurus asi incomprehensible as that was, evocative and engaging. And there are frustrating moments where that happens here, but there are also parts where it's too troubled with camera work and over direction. And ultimalty it made me think not feel, and somehow I feel like I should feel more with this. Because there's so much in it- there's so much about women and the way they treat each other and the way they see each other and themselves, there's so much about ageing, and women and beauty and yes how men add to that. And I felt I should have been raging and burning at it, and yet...aside from wanting to yell 'AMEN GIRL' when Gillian declares 'I hate men' mostly I was more thinking 'hmm interesting' than 'YES THAT TOO' which is a missed opportunity I felt. Gillian I felt too didn't get a chance to rise to the occasion. She does some stellar work, and a Margo that is as cold as ice is again, an interesting approach. But it felt like she was at times doing 'Gillian Anderson' and at times stuck in third gear a bit- knowing what she can do, this didn't quite click (and I say that as a full on Gillian worshipper here). Lily James was admirable and I loved what she did, lurking in the background until she pounced. Of them all Monica Dolan was the Queen however, waltzing in and stealing every scene she was in. Julian, well Julian is looking rather lovely and becoming something of a silver fox. But that aside he does quiet but great work. I agree about the slow doom laden pace, and that works, there's a quiet fear and sadness in that, and that's the good Ivo coming out. I think Bad Ivo currently is half stuck in Network and not quite working out how the same idea translates here- because the film feed might well have worked but it doesn't feel like it quite does. Anyway a sneaky early review here: thenerdytheatre.blogspot.com/2019/02/all-about-eve-noel-coward-theatre.html
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Feb 12, 2019 22:04:13 GMT
The two questions that I am pondering on are -
'Does Van Hove's use of film for plays written for the theatre subvert that medium effectively?'
&
'Does Van Hove's use of theatre for screenplays written for film subvert that medium effectively?'
At the moment I'd suggest one is more fully developed than the other.
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Post by sf on Feb 12, 2019 22:11:37 GMT
You're reading a thread about the play. There's really no need for spoiler tags. Some people like to read opinions before they go/before they book, myself included, and I'd like to be able to avoid spoilers for the plot if possible. I don't think that's unreasonable.
Well... as much as I sympathise - really - with wanting to avoid spoilers, avoiding spoilers for the plot (as opposed to staging or performance choices) in this case is likely to be an uphill battle given that the film is almost 70 years old and very well-known and the show stays very close to the original screenplay. It's not unreasonable for people to assume the plot is a known quantity - so your reminder is well taken.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2019 7:20:17 GMT
I think I might be one of the five people left in the world who doesn’t know what happens in All About Eve, so I am very thankful for the spoiler tags. I’ve approached this thread with caution because I was also one of the two remaining people who didn’t know the plot of A Star Is Born, and I had that spoiled reading the thread on here. Sometimes this board really makes me realise how little I know about older movies.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 13, 2019 7:37:06 GMT
Count me in the interested but unmoved, but interested in my unmovedness. Love this line, one of my favourite reactions when I leave the Theatre, sums up how I felt when leaving Cougar at the Orange Tree Theatre last week and still musing on it over a week later.
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Post by dani on Feb 13, 2019 9:46:36 GMT
The newspaper reviewers' consensus seems to be around the 3* mark. 4* from Time Out, the Daily Mail and Whatsonstage, though the WOS one contains a lot of caveats, and 2* from The Times. A jaded 3* in the Daily Telegraph, and also 3* in the Guardian, The Stage and ES.
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Post by Polly1 on Feb 13, 2019 10:31:23 GMT
I think I might be one of the five people left in the world who doesn’t know what happens in All About Eve, so I am very thankful for the spoiler tags. I’ve approached this thread with caution because I was also one of the two remaining people who didn’t know the plot of A Star Is Born, and I had that spoiled reading the thread on here. Sometimes this board really makes me realise how little I know about older movies. I am that other person! Seeing A Star is Born tonight, unspoiled and hoping to get to the live transmission of AAE. Cautiously skimming this thread, def not reading reviews.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2019 10:41:06 GMT
I too have never seen All About Eve and am only skimming this thread rather than fully reading every post. Honestly, popping the spoiler tag on a post doesn't *hurt* anyone, I don't understand why people are so resistant to the idea...
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