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Post by bordeaux on Mar 28, 2024 9:40:11 GMT
I thought this was excellent from beginning to end. Reminiscent of other works about dictatorial bureaucracies - I thought of Vaclav Havel and Ismail Kadare - but also very funny and cleverly structured. I don't want to give any more away than that. I was pleased to have read so many wildly differing opinions on this site, so my expectations were lowered before going in.
If you wanted to be critical you could argue that this play costs Sam Holcroft nothing - there is no risk as she is writing about free speech issues that don't relate to this country; the fit is more with totalitarian regimes as they existed in eastern Europe before 1989 or perhaps with the Arab world now (see programme note by Lebanese author), Russia and China. If she'd wanted to create a challenging play about free speech issues in the west, she could have written about the hounding out of university jobs of professors who are gender critical feminists, say, or something like the Rushdie affair or something else involving Muslim protest. We all know what side we are in Holcroft's play; no one is going to be offended or outraged by her message.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 28, 2024 9:13:10 GMT
I thought this was tremendous. The updating, both by Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier, worked for me - this seemed a highly plausible situation with believable characters and dilemmas. The town hall bit did drag a little - the brutal truth is that people in the audience have less of interest to say than Ibsen or Macmillan do - but I liked the way it returned to the real drama at the end.
I've seen the play twice before - an excellent David Thacker production of the Arthur Miller version at the Young Vic with Tom Wilkinson in the late 80s and the rather overblown one (too much going on on stage, too many bystanders) which Trevor Nunn did with Ian McKellen at the start of his NT tenure. I'd love to see Ostermeier do more - I missed the Hamlet and Richard III when they were over here.
Good to have read the mix of positive and negative reviews here before going - it means one's expectations are tempered and I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 26, 2024 17:44:54 GMT
Is there more to be announced? Yes, a couple more things - but they've got ages!
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 26, 2024 15:44:25 GMT
Worth pointing out that this is summer 2025! Exciting news, though.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 22, 2024 20:56:08 GMT
A couple more things announced for the Deborah Warner Ustinov season, though no play. In late June, early July a new dance piece from Kim Brandstrup, Echo and Narcissus. Then late July Catherine Wyn-Rogers singing Bach's Ich habe genug and other sacred songs. I must admit I'd like to see Warner direct a play there again.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 21, 2024 13:01:10 GMT
The same production will be at Bristol Old Vic, Malvern and Royal and Derngate, Northampton.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 20, 2024 21:17:38 GMT
I think he and Hytner could do a very good job with the Merry Wives of Windsor.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 20, 2024 21:14:46 GMT
I'd like them to bring back the Enescu Oedipe, which I didn't see first time round (2016) - it would mean a nice trio of Oedipuses next year. It's probably too soon to see the John Adams Antony and Cleopatra which I think will be at the Met next year. I'd like to see Barrie Kosky direct something again.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 20, 2024 9:29:10 GMT
Big queue now!
Let's hope Joe Penhall has still got it. Blue Orange was excellent - has anyone seen anything he has written since then? The Old Vic can be an unforgiving venue.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 19, 2024 14:45:40 GMT
Exciting news - though what I really want is to see him in a major theatrical role again. Or even a minor one. Amongst plays not mentioned by fans above, the first time I saw him was in Edward Bond's Restoration in the RSC Pit, 1988 I would imagine - he was very funny, of course. He was in a revival of The Philanthropist at the Donmar, directed by David Grindley in 2005. The play was funny, but felt rather dated in its portrayal of women. I suppose the question is what else would we like to see him in. As Falstaff certainly. Cymbeline - could he make that role interesting (I love the play but it's not about him, usually)? Julius Caesar? Claudius. Polonius. Hamm in Endgame. Either role in No Man's Land.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 19, 2024 13:38:54 GMT
Booking to 4th January 2025. DMT+ on sale now. How are people getting this information? I have an active DMT+ account but have had nothing. There was a pre-sale sign-up a couple of months ago. It's nice to have something for 2025 in the bag...
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 19, 2024 13:00:05 GMT
Just to say that if you see the Time Out or whatever message, refreshing does work for once. At each stage (choosing tickets, putting them in basket, going for payment) it seemed to time out and there was an error message, but each time I refreshed and it worked - though often took minutes. I nearly left the site to start again three or four times, but thankfully didn't.
I can't see any special cheap seats - front three rows are not on sale, or they have already been picked up by early buyers (which I doubt). Again, there is the frustrating question. Do I book early to get the best £50.00 seats or wait in the hope that the front three rows will be that price or the next price up?
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 17, 2024 11:37:20 GMT
This finished yesterday at the Dorfman. One of my favourite theatre experiences of all time. It has to be transferring, surely? One would hope so. It should tour, of course. When was the last time the NT toured a play?
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 14, 2024 12:59:20 GMT
It feels a bit like a very nice school theatre, to be frank, but it seems to be going from strength to strength. I saw The White Factory there last autumn, a contemporary Russian play about the Lodz ghetto, which was a very powerful evening.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 13, 2024 14:13:28 GMT
NT have sent a link. Stage seats look good but apart from that prices seem very high indeed. There are 30 rows of seats in stalls and circle, only 5 of which have seats at less than £60.00 (including booking fee). And theatre people constantly tell us they want to widen access....
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 10, 2024 10:09:11 GMT
Lovely to see raves in the Guardian and Telegraph for Death in Venice. The company needs a hit.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 9, 2024 12:36:07 GMT
I saw Red Island last weekend, French film about a boy growing up on a military base in Madagascar in the early 70s. I enjoyed it but I felt it was a classic case of where a five-star review (Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian) gives you such high expectations that mere goodness or even excellence feels slightly disappointing. Off to see Perfect Days tonight - it's been decades since I saw anything by Wim Wenders.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 9, 2024 8:40:08 GMT
Fascinating to read these contrasting views, as with the Player Kings. I've got a Vanya-Falstaff day booked in a couple of weeks and am looking forward to making up my own mind!
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 8, 2024 13:43:24 GMT
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 7, 2024 13:36:06 GMT
I don't think anyone is suggesting bringing food to eat during the performance. This is food to eat during the interval, surely? It doesn't seem unreasonable to me, if you don't have time to eat before a 7.30 performance and you don't want to eat after a 10.30 finish, to bring a sandwich in to eat in the interval, to avoid paying for the over-priced stuff some theatres sell.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 7, 2024 12:25:21 GMT
Four from the FT and Telegraph, three from the Evening Standard, Time Out and Whatsonstage.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 7, 2024 6:56:06 GMT
The usual three stars from the Arifa Akbar in the Guardian - and reading the review, that sounds generous, as if she wanted to like the play more than she did because of who Bevan was.
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 3, 2024 21:58:18 GMT
You've been made artistic director of the Donmar and you're planning your first season. What's it going to be? Something new, something old, a modern classic, a rarity, the first major revival of a recent play? Timothy Sheader will be announcing his first season soon. What would yours be?
I'd copy Mendes and start with Sondheim's Here We Are, which would cover the new writing base and the musical one. And the Donmar is a great place for Sondheim musicals. For my modern classic/first revival I'd go for Intimate Apparel or Ruined by Lynn Nottage as I'd like to see some of her pre-Sweat work and didn't see these when they were originally on. For my rarity I'd like to see Arthur Schnitzler's Undiscovered Country, in Tom Stoppard's translation, which may need updating as, for reasons I don't fully understand, translations date more quickly than the original writing. I love Schnitzler's work and, from reading about it, Stoppard turned it into something witty and wise. For my more well-known classic I'd like to see Titus Andronicus in that intimate space. The only time I've seen it was Deborah Warner's superb production in the Pit with Brian Cox in the late 80s.
Over to you....
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 27, 2024 10:13:31 GMT
There is going to be a History Boys at Bath Theatre Royal, late August, directed by Sean Linnen. Sorry, I now see someone has already mentioned that!
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 27, 2024 8:19:45 GMT
In the printed version of Stoppard's Leopoldstadt the word is used - some joke about marrying a Hottentot - but in the version on stage the word was replaced by Eskimo - softer, old-fashioned, but less likely to make an audience uncomfortable. I think that jokes whose butt is black people, even in the mouths of those who might have made them in the past, do make audiences feel uncomfortable.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 26, 2024 21:04:53 GMT
Some interesting things planned for here. In the tiny Ustinov Richard Jones will be directing Pinter's The Birthday Party following his success with Machinal. That takes up the whole of August. Deborah Warner will be directing Ian Bostridge in Schubert's Die Winterreise with dates in June and September. Countertenor Iestyn Davies will be performing with a lute-player for a couple of nights in September.
A revival of Emlyn Williams' Accolade coming over from the Theatre Royal, Windsor, may hit the spot for those of us interested in early 20th century rarities. Set in a very different world to that of The Corn is Green, it focuses on a successful writer as he is about to be awarded a major prize, the blurb says. It's directed by Sean Mathias. Tom Littler's production of Coward's Suite in Three Keys will be coming over from The Orange Tree.
Rather exciting in my view - and I think there'll be more in the Deborah Warner season.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 20, 2024 18:33:06 GMT
Ha ha. Telegraph and Guardian in permanent counter idealogical orbits. Makes sense; both readerships only want to be entertained by versions of their blinkered world. Except that last week they both gave King Lear four stars, they both gave the Picture of Dorian Gray five stars, Dear Octopus four stars. Sometimes their critics agree, sometimes they don't. It usually has nothing to do with what you call ideology, simply on how the critic assesses the quality of the play.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 18, 2024 19:31:08 GMT
It's not Susannah though. It's Kate Kellaway, and this is highly predictable from her. I don't think there's a world where Susannah would rate this anything below a 3. You're right; my mistake.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 18, 2024 12:03:59 GMT
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 16, 2024 12:50:04 GMT
Their last Peter Grimes was directed by the great Peter Stein in 1999. He also did a magnificent Falstaff and Pelléas and Mélisande with them in the 90s. Great days!
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