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Post by jadnoop on Dec 14, 2023 1:06:58 GMT
Between lockdown and having a child, my theatre visits have been few and far between for a few years now. As a huge fan of Annie Baker’s past plays at the NT (The Flick is probably my favourite play I’ve seen in the last decade, and John was also wonderful), my expectations were sky high going into Infinite Life.
Perhaps a little too high.
Like the previous plays, the performances here were great; getting the right balance of quiet melancholy, with comedy that felt like a slightly heightened reality. I also enjoyed the little bits of fourth wall breaking (although I didn’t really get why they were so uneven). However it never really clicked together for me and, despite being shorter than The Flick and John, I found myself losing interest and -dare I say it- getting slightly bored.
So, all in all this didn’t quite work for me, but I can’t wait to see whatever she writes next.
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Post by jadnoop on Jan 8, 2023 18:05:24 GMT
As someone who’s part-Japanese and with this film being a v cherished part of my childhood (and now my child’s as well), I was pretty nervous about seeing this.
However, I neednt have worried. Following some comments from family and those on here I’m very pleased to have caught it. The play was a delight, with the puppetry, visuals and music being personal highlights. Whenever the puppets were on stage the claps and gasps from kids in the audience was really lovely. And my daughter was completely captivated. The smattering of Japanese here and there in the dialogue (names, small words & phrases), worked nicely and accents seemed generally good. Acting was also pretty good, although I found the grown woman playing a 4yr old quite odd at times; perhaps amplified as we were at the front.
If there’s one thing I found let the piece down it was that the changes made from the film generally made it worse in my opinion. This might be my love of the film bias, but so many parts that were subtle, or implied in the film had to be made explicit and explained at length in the play. New scenes like those between Kanta and his dad seemed unnecessary, and some of the characteristics of some key characters have been changed. Cutting those changes would’ve also helped with length.
All in all a fab day out and a solid 4 stars for me.
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Post by jadnoop on Oct 19, 2022 13:09:52 GMT
Haven't seen a thread about this, but Royal Ballet have just started a new 3-part ballet called 'Light of Passage' which is Crystal Pite's expansion of her piece Flight Pattern from a few years back. www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/light-of-passage-detailsLight of Passage started yesterday, and was very good. Having loved Flight Pattern in 2017 and 2018, I was nervous that any additions might feel disconnected or an afterthought, but the 3 parts seemed to fit together really nicely for me. The first part is Flight Pattern and, as far as I can remember, pretty much unchanged, so as hypnotising and moving as it was when it premiered 5 years ago. Part 2 was similar, albeit at a slightly smaller scale, and with child (~10 years old) dancers involved. While I enjoyed this, and it had the same feel and rhythm as Flight Pattern, some bits felt a little uninspired/flat (repeated jogging on the spot which felt a bit silly, and some religious imagery that felt very well-worn for example) so it didn't quite click with me as much. Part 3 on the other hand was wonderful. This had two older dancers alongside the wider corps and seemed to be about life, memory and mortality. A beautiful and moving finale to the evening. If FP didn't click with you, then this evening probably wouldn't do anything to change that. But if you enjoyed Flight Pattern I'd highly recommend seeing Light of Passage.
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Post by jadnoop on Oct 19, 2022 12:58:22 GMT
How are the accents in this? As someone who's part-Japanese, this film is a v fond part of my childhood, so I'm in two minds about going. On the one hand, I've got no doubt that the visuals will be great (Improbable's work in a couple of ENO operas was fantastic), and I think my daughter would enjoy the puppetry. On the other hand, I'm conscious that sitting through such a quintessentially Japanese story in English might be v weird, especially if they're doing American accents (from clips I've seen online they use American actors for the film's English dub) or if the story has been tweaked too much to fit a more Western or modern context. If they are using any of the original songs, are they still sung in Japanese?
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Post by jadnoop on Sept 23, 2021 11:18:37 GMT
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Post by jadnoop on Feb 18, 2021 21:58:26 GMT
Lots of positive points to this play. Fantastic acting, largely a great script, and the emotional heft translated well on the screen (even if it certainly would have been more powerful in person). It reminded me in some of the ideas and tone of Death of a Salesman. I also thought the integration of music worked really nicely.
If there’s one downside for me, it was that a key narrative beat, that shifts the story completely, felt a little off. I’m not suggesting that this doesn’t happen in real life, but it just felt too unusual/convenient in a play that otherwise feels very real and (in the best way) mundane.
All in all though, a fab piece and well worth the time and money. Four stars and can’t wait til see what the almeida puts on next.
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Post by jadnoop on Feb 8, 2021 13:27:06 GMT
Fantastic! I was nervous that, if there's not enough people signing up then NT might lose interest in this, but they've just added a few new plays to the site: Antigone, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and Angels In America parts 1 & 2. They all look good and I'm especially glad for the opportunity to see Angels again.
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Post by jadnoop on Dec 16, 2020 3:17:45 GMT
Pretty glad to have the chance to see this when it's live streamed in January. It'll be interesting to see how this will feel. For other theatre the streaming process has seemed to slightly remove me from the experience, but assuming this is similarly multimedia as the other van Hove productions I've seen, the streaming process may add another layer. Either way, can't wait... ita.nl/en/shows/kings-of-war/1535263/
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Post by jadnoop on Dec 6, 2020 11:47:49 GMT
Wow. This is fab. The picture & sound quality certainly varies massively between those plays originally recorded for the cinema, and those for the archive, but it's a wonderful way to see some old productions again.
Hopefully they get enough of an audience to make it worthwhile, and keep putting up great productions. What's everyone else hoping for in the coming months? For me, the top of the list would be to see The Flick and An Octoroon again (although the former may suffer from watching in the living room), Angels in America, and would love to see the NT's production of Dark Materials.
I now suspect that I'm signed up to way more streaming services that any single household could reasonably get through...
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Post by jadnoop on Nov 22, 2020 1:55:40 GMT
This was rather fab. I've not read the book before, so it took a little while to get into the sprawling story that shifts around in time, space, media and perspective. However, once it all clicked into place it was an interesting murder mystery with a fantastic cast and a dark sense of humour. Some of the characterisations and references are very on-the-nose (the main family are comically horrid), so I can imagine that it won't work for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
If I have one little niggle it's that it feels slightly mis-advertised as 'theatre'. With a slightly bigger budget this wouldn't seem out of place on Netflix. That's not a negative really, but anyone expecting something like the Old Vic's recent plays online might be a little disappointed.
Highly recommended.
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Post by jadnoop on Nov 10, 2020 9:35:36 GMT
For anyone wanting to get a bit of online ballet back in their lives, Royal Ballet have started streaming a number of performances. Currently, they're showing the wonderful Flight Pattern www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/flight-pattern-stream-details I'm definitely looking forward for the opportunity to see this again. However, it's fairly dark & emotional, so perhaps not appropriate if you're looking for something uplifting.
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Post by jadnoop on Jul 4, 2020 12:26:35 GMT
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Post by jadnoop on Jul 4, 2020 12:23:50 GMT
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 20, 2020 13:26:09 GMT
Guardian is reporting that theyre finally meeting to discuss forcing the closure of pubs, cinemas, theatres, etc. in London. I suppose it's easier to enforce when many have 'voluntarily' closed already...
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 16, 2020 21:24:13 GMT
Hopefully that does happen, but I suppose the difficulty is that -given the range in type & severity of symptoms- not everyone will be able to be certain that they did have it (and then recover). Presumably eventually they will roll out tests more widely, but until that happens there's always the risk that people think they have recovered (and become immune) but actually they just had something else. ...and I suppose further mutation (or if it turns out people can be re-infected further down the line) would be another spanner in the works. You are not immune to it once you've already had it, that is a fallacy. www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/03/15/can-you-get-infected-by-coronavirus-twice-how-does-covid-19-immunity-work/#f3dac2c5c0f8Ah, I thought that the cases of reinfection in China were down to differences in how the viral load reduced in different parts of the body and how that would be measured in testing, but that's disappointing... Well, presumably that puts the herd immunity idea into a new light.
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 16, 2020 21:04:36 GMT
As increasing numbers of people recover I suppose then those people will be allowed to get out and about with no restrictions ? Hopefully that does happen, but I suppose the difficulty is that -given the range in type & severity of symptoms- not everyone will be able to be certain that they did have it (and then recover). Presumably eventually they will roll out tests more widely, but until that happens there's always the risk that people think they have recovered (and become immune) but actually they just had something else. ...and I suppose further mutation (or if it turns out people can be re-infected further down the line) would be another spanner in the works.
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 16, 2020 20:12:29 GMT
Technically dance rather than theatre, but Sadlers Wells shows are cancelled until June 8th.
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 16, 2020 18:27:13 GMT
And more advice from Mitchell and Webb:
(edit: In all seriousness, I suppose many of us will be on this board sooner or later ... good luck all!)
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 16, 2020 10:40:38 GMT
What I'm most worried about is Creature by Akram Khan at Sadlers Wells in early April ... This was looking to be one of my highlights for the year too. It might make thematic sense to join it onto the Akram Khan festival going on at SW around October, but I guess it's unlikely since ENB will be touring Raymonda then. In any case presumably venues like SW will be trying to squeeze in lots of postponed shows amongst an already busy schedule.
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 14, 2020 13:32:45 GMT
So they'd like my money 14 months in advance... Yes, the long timeframe is definitely annoying. Having said that, I think the Barbican is generally pretty good about refunds (although not as good as the NT)
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 13, 2020 12:25:19 GMT
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 5, 2020 13:35:20 GMT
Wow. This was really quite special.
A strange, dark, dance-theatre hybrid, this interweaves a relatively straight forward (yet absolutely compelling) narrative about mistaken identities, back-stabbing and institutional corruption in a totalitarian state, with a meta-discussion about identity and the creative process. Like Crystal Pite & Jonathon Young's magnificent Bettrofenheit, this mixes dance, mime and theatre with striking lighting and visual effects and interesting dubbing and layering of sounds, voices and music to create an at-times overwhelming spectacle.
Unlike the former piece, however, Revisor also has a really light & humorous touch in places: Long segments feel like a Buster Keaton silent comedy, with exaggerated staccato movements. This strange, slightly unnerving sense of humour worked really well, with the performance being dark in places and very funny in others.
This certainly won't be for everyone, but if you're on the fence, then I'd say it's certainly worth a go. For me it was an easy 5 stars.
This season at Sadlers Wells is proving to be really great. Last month's Mam by Michael Keegan-Dolan was simply wonderful, and I can't wait for Akram Khan's new piece in April.
(Side note: At yesterday's performance it looked like they were filming, so I suppose it will eventually be on the BBC with a future DVD release much like happened with Bettrofenheit.)
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Post by jadnoop on Feb 14, 2020 1:09:55 GMT
Not sure if it’s been announced or not, but looks like Dominic Cooke is directing Nicola Walker and Iwan Davies in The Corn Is Green in July.
Details about Kate Tempest’s Paradise should be announced in the next week or so too.
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Post by jadnoop on Jan 18, 2020 16:18:52 GMT
Hmm. This one really tested my patience. The opening, bizarre parody of 80s/90s sitcoms was awkward, but had the potential to set up something really interesting. However, at the end of the day, the message seemed disappointingly superficial and delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
As someone who’s mixed race and with parents with very different backgrounds (Asian and South American parents), the questions of identity, culture, stories, and who we are, and so on are particularly interesting and important topics to me. And yet this really didn’t feel like it had anything new or interesting to say.
And in terms of the approach, the various meta moments had the energy, but none of the exhilarating power of recent plays like When We Have Tortured Each Other Sufficiently, The Watsons, or the magnificent An Octoroon.
Two stars for me.
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Post by jadnoop on Jan 6, 2020 18:24:01 GMT
I'm surprised that people seem to be talking, not in terms of the NT trying to encourage a broader group of people to come to the National, but suggesting that Norris actually 'doesn't want' white, male, middle-aged or well off people in the audience. As though the policy is not simply to widen access to those that may not have usually gone to the National, but to actively restrict access to those that already do. Apologies, I must have missed this change in policy, but if anyone has the relevant quote from the NT or Norris himself, that would be greatly appreciated. He’s running at 91% capacity so he can’t “expand” his audience - he can only bring in more under-represented groups by having fewer of the over-represented groups. Simple maths. One way he does it is to offer discounts only to selected groups whilst massively putting up prices for other groups. I’m not complaining, I’m just voting with my feet and my money that doesn’t go to the NT any more - his pricing policy is actively stopping me going. Of course those who benefit from his pricing policy and who like his “relevant” programming will think he’s doing a fine job, of course, but they are driven by self-interest just like me. You're treating the long-term audience of the National as though it were a one-in-one-out packed nightclub on a single evening. As though, having reached full capacity, marketing should simply cease until someone from the audience passed away or gave up their seat. Never mind that the supply is flexible (since the NT chooses the number of performances, NT Live, whether or not to tour, and so on), and the demand is inconsistent (the audience varies from production to production).
There has always been some level of subsidisation in this way; whether it's more expensive seats allowing for other cheaper seats, or bigger & more popular plays allowing for other riskier, more experimental ones. You might feel that the pricing structure impacts on your ability to buy seats, and that the current prices specifically is the point at which you bow out. However, this is quite different from an active attempt by the NT to reduce the proportion of well-off, middle-aged, white males in general who try for tickets.
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Post by jadnoop on Jan 6, 2020 14:45:09 GMT
I'm surprised that people seem to be talking, not in terms of the NT trying to encourage a broader group of people to come to the National, but suggesting that Norris actually 'doesn't want' white, male, middle-aged or well off people in the audience. As though the policy is not simply to widen access to those that may not have usually gone to the National, but to actively restrict access to those that already do.
Apologies, I must have missed this change in policy, but if anyone has the relevant quote from the NT or Norris himself, that would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by jadnoop on Dec 9, 2019 16:39:12 GMT
3 high seats upstairs seem to have been released for most performances (N15 - N17). Slightly nervous about the view from there, but this looks like a really interesting play so may go for it...
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Post by jadnoop on Nov 16, 2019 15:15:32 GMT
Ok to sum up, people are complaining that Norris has programmed Romeo and Juliet, and people are also complaining that he’s not programming enough Shakespeare Completely agree. Design one season and a portion of the public will say you're being elitist and using public money for a niche artform; go in another direction and others will say you're rejecting traditional theatre-goers to appeal to the masses. Have too many established plays and some will say that public money should be bringing in new British authors; too many new shows and they'll say you're ignoring the classics. Play around with the casting and some will complain of 'diversity for its own sake'; be too straight and others will complain about a lack of diverse roles. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't state their gripes on social media like TheatreBoard, but I can imagine that running an organisation like the NT must at times be a rather demoralising & thankless task.
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Post by jadnoop on Oct 23, 2019 22:35:53 GMT
Good luck to anyone else trying for Fidelio tickets tomorrow. It seems fairly unclear what tickets have been held back for public sale, but there’s much discussion over on the Ballet forum. It would be interesting to know how the ticket allocations work for this compared, to similarly popular theatre, like say last year’s When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other at the NT.
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Post by jadnoop on Oct 23, 2019 9:52:40 GMT
Priority booking for Members Plus opens at 10am on Fri 25 Oct, and for Members at 10am on Mon 28 Oct, November 1st is public booking.
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