515 posts
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Post by callum on May 18, 2016 21:44:53 GMT
How's the running time coming along? The Branagh Theatre website says 2 hours, Nimax says 2 hours 45 minutes, it was 3 hours when I saw it on Friday night. Programme says 2hr45 as well. When I was at the matinee today I remember checking my watch at 5:10 and that was before Paris' death. So probably went on an extra 15 minutes after that, close to 3 hours just like you.
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515 posts
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Post by callum on May 18, 2016 20:06:04 GMT
The fella who played the Chicago gangster (forgot his name, apologies) was dreadful! Was as if some bloke had just been plucked from the street. Hardly knew his lines and when he did so they were delivered in such a stiff and stunted way. I guess there was some shuffling about between the cast. Was that the role of Big Jule? Can't remember who the Chicago gangster was. Yes that's it! He was played by a huge black guy but then at the Oliviers he was being played by a white actor so obviously different arrangement to then. I'd most definitely assume he was an understudy. I'm not saying this to be bitchy but he was just excruciating! Like a GCSE Drama performance.
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515 posts
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Post by callum on May 18, 2016 19:55:41 GMT
Saw this on Sunday afternoon. Felt bad for Samantha Spiro, the best thing an otherwise laboured production. SDYRTB was the only time it ever achieved lift-off for me. Sat in second row of the stalls for only £17 - I guess business isn't going that well! Richard Kind was off and was obviously very disappointed as he was high on the list of the reasons why I wanted to go. Understudy was perfectly competent. The fella who played the Chicago gangster (forgot his name, apologies) was dreadful! Was as if some bloke had just been plucked from the street. Hardly knew his lines and when he did so they were delivered in such a stiff and stunted way. I guess there was some shuffling about between the cast. Although it's not this production's fault I just found the book incredibly disparate and unengaging - heresy I know! Wouldn't rush back to see this version or another production.
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515 posts
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Post by callum on May 18, 2016 19:46:10 GMT
The scene at the end with her mother was so devastating, sheer theatrical ecstasy.
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515 posts
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Post by callum on May 18, 2016 19:44:15 GMT
Saw the matinee today and I've got to say it was close to 10/10 for me. The style is very hyper mediterranean chic with a monochrome palette that goes through the set, the costumes, everything. Friar Laurence's ginger hair as well as the inevitable blood is virtually the only bit of colour! Madden was a perfectly competent Romeo and did well but Lily James' Juliet really blossomed, especially in Act II. Would love to come back later in the run and see how she improved.
Jacobi is playing a version of his character from Vicious but does so entirely in sync with this interpretation of the play. I had reservations about an older Mercutio before seeing the play but was a total revelation. In fact it adds an extra layer of vulnerability and poignancy to his dying speech about the diseases inside both of the Montagues and Capulets. I didn't find Meera Syal to be that hammy but the actress playing Peter was WAY OTT and almost ruined the first part of the play. Marisa Berenson was excellent at crying over dead bodies! Her age did seem a little particular. From my seat in one of the boxes I'd have said she was early 50s but was astounded to see she's almost 70. Still her diva-persona was terrific and fitted in with the quasi-camp tone of the play.
As this was a preview a few things could be done that I think would make the play run a lot smoother. Firstly Lily James' wig was extremely distracting - is there any reason why she couldn't just use her normal hair? Or is there some tradition I'm not aware of that Juliet ought to be brunette? Nurse and Peter have bizarre accentuated Midlands accents in an RP play - lose it. The death of Mercutio showed they're not afraid of blood, perhaps I'm being gruesome but would've loved a splash of blood/gore as Romeo killed Tybalt.
An unfortunate moment also occurred in the second act - two members of the crew came on stage during scene change to put in the wall for Juliet's balcony but couldn't get it fixed in to the stage quick enough - Madden and James had already started talking while the two crew members were still on stage. There were a few laughs in the audience but everyone soon forgot about it.
The staging of the party as well as Juliet taking the poison were highlights for me. A staggeringly well done play with a lot more coherence and conviction than The Winter's Tale. Branagh wouldn't have been out of place as Friar Laurence I thought. All in all, really quite spectacular and definitely in the top five bits of theatre I've ever seen. Having never really been a huge fan, I felt myself falling in love with the play during the first half an hour, and, without being too kitsch, isn't that what modern Shakespeare is all about? Amazing.
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