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Post by joem on Apr 14, 2017 14:12:56 GMT
Isn't it wonderful when the algorithms decide to delay your purchase of theatre tickets because you've already purchased a few in the last half hour or whatever? After all, it's only your money in the account. How dare you try and spend it?
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Post by joem on Apr 14, 2017 2:32:56 GMT
It is quite a feat to fit thirteen actors into the tiny stage at the Finborough. More than this, it is also a feat to hold the audience when very little movement is possible - the action takes place entirely in a crowded waiting-room. But this timely revival manages that, and more.
Miller's language hooks you in and quickly develops the theme of how an individual can behave in the midst of horror. Does the mere fact of survival when others are bing murdered imply some sort of moral collaboration? How do we square obedience to the rule of law when the law has been corrupted to incorporate the legal murder of innocents?
Insofar as its politics is concerned, Miller was no prophet - if he was he wouldn't have married Marilyn - so there is no point in crediting him with a vision of our times. He wrote about what he knew, his present and his immediate past, and if there are any echoes beyond the immediate fact of the rounding up of Nazi victims, they lie in the racism which was still being practised in the US as he wrote. We can draw parallels with current scenarios but those parallels are ours, not Miller's. It is not a preachy type of play, ultimately he seems to suggest that it is only through individual acts of heroism that humanity can be saved rather thn by any ism.
The acting was mostly very good - a distracting tendency from a couple of actors to ham it up, especially when the focus should be elsewhere. Word of advice: terror can be conveyed by stillness as much as by trembling and shaking. The proof is that the straight-through ninety minutes performance in the crowded and not especially comfortable benches is not onerous.
Full house, what a nice thing to see in a fringe theatre.
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Post by joem on Apr 11, 2017 21:12:44 GMT
Utter rubbish. Not the production, although why this should be given such a high-profile revival beats me, but the play is neither fish nor fowl. I pity the actors who have very little meat to get hold of here.
Tragedy? Comedy? Who cares! It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaad.
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Post by joem on Apr 11, 2017 10:23:37 GMT
I am not sure why but Twelfth Night is always being performed. Might this be a reason why sales are slow?
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Post by joem on Apr 8, 2017 0:37:51 GMT
Sad news. A good actor. Definitely saw him in Pygmalion and probably in other stuff. Anyone recall him doing any Pirandello?
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Post by joem on Apr 2, 2017 19:26:59 GMT
Are they doing any packages so you can see both parts of Imperium in a day? Or two at least? Not clear on the website.
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Post by joem on Apr 2, 2017 19:23:38 GMT
Well? Where's your comment on it???
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Post by joem on Mar 31, 2017 18:28:55 GMT
Maybe he went back to Stratford because the RSC made him a better offer? Who knows.
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Post by joem on Mar 30, 2017 21:10:20 GMT
In the 60s there wasn't a record shop as such in Burnt Oak where I lived. You had to go into "Rumbellows" the electric goods shop & see if they had the LP you wanted from their limited selection. Remember going up to HMV in Oxford Street with my dad in early 70s to buy Peter Wyngarde's LP because I couldn't get it locally. While we were there a group of Hari Krishnas passed & the staff put on George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" at full blast. I miss all record shops. But it's all right, we can steal all our music from the internet now. I know the producer of the Peter Wyngarde album by the way.
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Post by joem on Mar 30, 2017 21:03:22 GMT
I am not sure how much I buy into the "farewell" theme of Shakspear's late plays. There are no solid grounds to believe he was anything other than healthy until he had his mortal illness. So no reason why he would have been writing farewells to the stage for years.
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Post by joem on Mar 29, 2017 21:54:54 GMT
Too much Fletcher maybe? I think Shakespeare must have been wary of using the meatier aspects of Henry's life - too close in time and showing him killing all those wives might have been seen as anti-monarchy and/or treasonable.
It was quite some time since the earlier histories, perhaps he was a bit rusty?
I wouldn't read too many parallels into the current situation. Henry never intended to start a new religion anyway, he just wanted control of the old one.
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Post by joem on Mar 28, 2017 8:53:49 GMT
13/4 for me, so I'll get my review in first!
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Post by joem on Mar 27, 2017 22:21:38 GMT
Just got my tickets and thought I would warn you good people (especially Miller completists) that over half the nights seem to be sold out already.
You wouldn't want to have to wait another fifty years to see it.
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Post by joem on Mar 26, 2017 22:51:59 GMT
Not at all, yes those two were hits at the time but Equus especially hasnt entered the repertoire despite being 45 years old. You obvs like him, fair enough but as usual we disagree! Well it's played both the West End and Broadway in the last 10 years so I'm not sure what you're on about. It's not so much that I like him but rather I dislike the playwrights who get elevated above him by some critics - the unsuccessful Simon Gray and the tedious old bore Edward Bond for example. Any post which correctly describes Bond as a "tedious old bore" deserves to be quoted so that it's seen again. Although I debated whether you shouldn't have added "sanctimonious" as well.
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Post by joem on Mar 26, 2017 22:47:10 GMT
Given how good the Joan Hickson versions were, I find it hard to see the need for anyone else to take on the role. The ITV versions just weren't Marples to me - they were just playing at it! Bizarrely, I never took to Suchet as Poirot. I could see how technically impressive it was but my Poirot will always be Ustinov. If we must have new Golden Age crime novels on screen - why not turn to some of the other writers? Ngaio Marsh is ripe for rediscovery and I think we could live with a Wimsey reboot. Whilst there surely is an element of when one watches something - people's favourite Bond tends to be the one they grew up with - and there were many good qualities to Peter Ustinov as an actor, as Poirot he is simply utterly and completely miscast. It wasn't much better than if they'd cast Charles Hawtrey as Bond.
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Post by joem on Mar 26, 2017 9:28:53 GMT
The Alan Rickman/Helen Mirren production was one of the most excruciating things I've ever seen in a theatre.
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Post by joem on Mar 26, 2017 0:56:42 GMT
An interesting, informative play. Well acted and with a good pace and flow. The references to current situations are rather Laboured. Good for some laughs of recognition but not relevant to the actionEach historical situation is different and drawing parallels, whilst an engrossing pastime, leads to seeing patterns which aren't necessarily there.
In political terms it was quite even-handed, I was expecting this to be more anti-SDP. The balance between the politics and the human dilemnas was good, I thought.
Row C in the Circle isn't fantastic but at £10 you can hardly complain, especially when the re-sellers probably sell these at 10 or 20 times the price. Does the lampshade on the set have to hang so low though? It interferes unnecessarily with he view at times.
I agree that the postcript was unnecessary.
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Post by joem on Mar 24, 2017 13:33:07 GMT
Arcadia, The Real Thing and Rock and Roll are the three I've enjoyed most. I agree Arcadia is probably the most intelligent out of those although the problem with some of his works occurs when inteeligence outpaces accessibility. I do have a weakness for The Real Inspector Hound as well, from his short plays. I saw Night and Day with the replacement cast, Maggie Smith (not a bad option to have on your bench) and Patrick Mower. Surprised it hasn't been revived yet. The lack of a revival may be because technology has rendered some of the issues in the newspaper world at the end of the 70s to do with production dated. It may also be because, I seem to remember from reading it, the print unions are one of the targets, and some theatre folk might not be keen on putting on an anti-union play - even it it's only an attack on how one union abused its power. A lot of the debate on newspaper ethics and responsibility would have a lot of contemporary relevance, though, I think. And during the Murdoch/News of the World hearings there were a lot of articles quoting the line 'I'm with you on the freedom of the press, it's the newspapers I can't stand'. Could well be. Might explain why Pravda isn't being revived too. But syphilis isn't really a burning issue today and we get loads of revivals of Ghosts. I think generally speaking theatre audiences understand that plays are written for their times and such relevance as there is to our times has to be found or imposed on a classic. Perhaps we have to wait for more historical perspective for these plays to be liberated from the stigma of irrelevance.
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Post by joem on Mar 24, 2017 12:02:54 GMT
Arcadia, The Real Thing and Rock and Roll are the three I've enjoyed most. I agree Arcadia is probably the most intelligent out of those although the problem with some of his works occurs when inteeligence outpaces accessibility. I do have a weakness for The Real Inspector Hound as well, from his short plays.
I saw Night and Day with the replacement cast, Maggie Smith (not a bad option to have on your bench) and Patrick Mower. Surprised it hasn't been revived yet.
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Post by joem on Mar 24, 2017 10:00:22 GMT
Does what it says on the tin. An uncomplicated romp about a couple trying to resolve their problems by having a threesome with a younger girl and ending up perhaps with a little more than they bargained for. The awkwardness of the married couple (Chris Willoughby and Gemma Rook) is contrasted with the brazen openness of the girl (April Pearson) and the evening develops into a series of episodes straight out of farce.
If you go expecting an angst-ridden exploration into the human condition and the psyche of modern couples... you'll be disappointed. If you go wanting an entertaining evening with plenty of laughs, you'll be ok.
Liked the new Union Theatre, hadn't been there since the move.
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Post by joem on Mar 23, 2017 22:17:22 GMT
It's a free country. He wants to give up his time to raise funds for a decent neighbourhood theatre in need of help? Good for him. I don't knock charity work unless it's raising funds for terrorists.
I can understand people getting worked up about huge profits for fat cats but I don't think anyone at the Park Theate is rolling in it. Sometimes t seems to me that although we all love theatre we begrudge theatres having the means to support themselves. If theatres only existed because they were subsidised or played safe commercial shows the sector would be far, far smaller and much less interesting.
Let a thousand flowers bloom.
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Post by joem on Mar 22, 2017 18:53:42 GMT
'On tour with a phenomenal cast' - I'll happily offer Rufus Sewell a bed for the night if he needs one. *whistles innocently* He'll keep you up all night. With his snoring.
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Post by joem on Mar 22, 2017 18:52:16 GMT
Robert de Niro. Talking Italian.
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Post by joem on Mar 12, 2017 20:14:42 GMT
Is anyone trying to complete Ayckbourn? I think he's withdrawn performing rights for a handful of them. Really? That's an end to that then, Sisyphean task though it would have been anyway.
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Post by joem on Mar 12, 2017 19:56:37 GMT
Is anyone trying to complete Ayckbourn?
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Post by joem on Mar 12, 2017 19:31:19 GMT
The joys of Sunday theatre! This might not have been my first choice on another day but one has to be less fussy on a Sunday and I am grateful for this today.
Being more of a straight play than musical type of person, the idea of a musical based on a best-selling novel by Marie Corelli, itself loosely based on the Faust story, and set thirty years (1924) after its original publication in a small theatre with scant resources and a cast of four... wouldn't normally have rang many bells for me.
I am delighted to report that this is a potential little gem. The premise is that Geoffrey Temple (Simon Willmont), an unsuccessful writer of musical plays, has a big idea (the Faust myth) for a new work and is invited to the aristocratic home of Prince Lucio Rimanez (Dale Rapley) to put on a performance in the hope of getting backers. All is not what it seems and the charming but overbearing Prince is soon making suggestions - ie rewriting - the musical, which is just as well as Temple's songs all sound the same, and on top of that proposing to give Temple success in his career and love in exchange for his soul. Claire-Marie Hall plays the various female roles ("the Woman") with sensitivity for their similarities and differences. Stefan Bernardczyk who plays Amiel the dumb pianist and also doubles as Musical Director, is an effective lugubrious presence on sage.
The writing is witty, in many ways beguilingly retro, both in in its books and lyrics, and I got the feeling that a couple more listens would have me humming or whistling the tunes. Very good performances all round but the Devil is said to have the best tunes, and Dale Rapley's all-round performance is a master-class of comic excellence.
No disrespect to the Tristan Bates but this musical play needs a bigger stage and a bigger audience now. Whether it could ever work on a large West End stage without considerable re-working (bigger cast, more songs, more staging, perhaps a tad longer) is a moot point. But as a sort of chamber musical it is charming and very much worth checking out. All the best to the writers and cast and the whole team.
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Post by joem on Mar 12, 2017 11:50:21 GMT
I'm happy with seeing it once. Although happy to see them again on an ad hoc basis without feeling the need to complete a second round.
Massacre at Paris was done (quite decently) at the the Rose Playhouse Bankside a couple of years ago. A very atmospheric venue, in need of investment.
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Post by joem on Mar 12, 2017 11:25:59 GMT
How do we feel about Arden of Faversham? Is it now definitely in the Shakspear canon?
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Post by joem on Mar 12, 2017 11:16:12 GMT
I missed it. I was mortified. When you have a rare opportunity to see one of those you have to take it and I didn't. Was it any good? Reading it, it feels slight but not totally tedious.
Yes, our hope lies with the fringe. The idea of Olaf Liljekrans at the National sounds a bit hollow.
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Post by joem on Mar 11, 2017 22:32:54 GMT
Transfer of a production from The Watermill Theatre of the classic Mary Shelley novel as adapted by Trsitan Bernays.
A very physical piece, starts off with significant amounts of mime. George Fletcher plays both the monstar and Dr Frankenstein in what must be a pretty gruelling experience. With only some assistance from Rowena Lennon as "Chorus" who helps out with music and some lines, Fletcher basically tells and enacts the whole story by himself.
It is strange how the weathered paint on the whole behind the stage is transformed by different colours of light to persuasively acquire the hint of varying landscapes.
The austerity of the production may not appeal to everyone, specifically those who want more stage setting and larger casts and more polished production values but this is a well-crafted and dignified piece of work. Hats off to the team.
Note to the Wilton's management. Can you either close the bar when the actors are working on stage or get someone to control the noise levels? It is disrespectful not just of the audience but particularly the actors to have a constant din just outside the auditorium. It wouldn't be tolerated if it came from the audience, so why do you allow it from the drinkers???
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