2,495 posts
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Post by zahidf on May 7, 2024 9:53:49 GMT
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Post by clarefh on May 7, 2024 10:30:21 GMT
I have a strange fondness for Corialanus so looking forwards to this. Still have strong memories of Greg Hicks in this role ( and watching it in a practically empty but boiling Old Vic …).
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Post by Jan on May 7, 2024 11:39:46 GMT
I have a strange fondness for Corialanus so looking forwards to this. Still have strong memories of Greg Hicks in this role ( and watching it in a practically empty but boiling Old Vic …). Yes I saw it there too. It toured with Merry Wives which I saw somewhere else in which Hicks was wildly mis-cast as Dr Caius. |
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Post by clarefh on May 7, 2024 12:04:49 GMT
I think it closed early in London?
Was literally me and I think about 4 other people when I saw it. It was baking hot as well - possibly added to my very clear memories of it!
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Post by Jan on May 7, 2024 13:52:11 GMT
I think it closed early in London? Was literally me and I think about 4 other people when I saw it. It was baking hot as well - possibly added to my very clear memories of it! Yes. It had been on in Stratford and then on an extensive tour then unexpectedly it came into the Old Vic. I assumed at the time it was partly so Greg Hicks could be nominated for an Olivier award (which he was) but by then I suppose many people who were interested had already seen it elsewhere. |
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1,103 posts
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Post by alicechallice on Jun 28, 2024 10:46:03 GMT
I've noticed from the cast list that they haven't got anybody announced to play Volumnia yet...
Unusual. Unless there's plenty of cast still TBA.
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Jun 28, 2024 20:59:23 GMT
A one man show with a cameo usually given to a well known, slightly older actor. I always feel this play, though containing one or two great moments, lacks something, maybe a subplot with parallel story. The NT should make something of it though, something like they did with the Greek stuff recently.
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Post by Fleance on Jun 29, 2024 1:14:11 GMT
I've seen many fine Volumnias. I hope they get someone worthy of these women. It's a great role.
Maxine Audley (1978)
Irene Worth (1984)
Barbara Jefford (1990)
Caroline Blakiston (1995)
Alison Fiske (2003)
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Post by Jan on Jun 29, 2024 7:01:31 GMT
I've seen many fine Volumnias. I hope they get someone worthy of these women. It's a great role. Maxine Audley (1978) Irene Worth (1984) Barbara Jefford (1990) Caroline Blakiston (1995) Alison Fiske (2003) Yes it is a good role. Judi Dench, Janet Suzman, Vanessa Redgrave and Deborah Findlay amongst others have also played it in versions of the play. Irene Worth was good, able to stand up to McKellen at his most imperious. Around the same time she also played it on TV with Alan Howard. |
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Post by aspieandy on Jun 29, 2024 12:15:15 GMT
I've seen many fine Volumnias. I hope they get someone worthy of these women. It's a great role. Irene Worth (1984) I wanted to remind myself of her. The Guardian's OB is rather good, with an addition by Peter Eyre. What a career :
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Post by Fleance on Jun 29, 2024 13:47:12 GMT
I've seen many fine Volumnias. I hope they get someone worthy of these women. It's a great role. Irene Worth (1984) I wanted to remind myself of her. The Guardian's OB is rather good, with an addition by Peter Eyre. What a career :
I worked with Irene many times, late in her career. She became a good friend. In addition to being a great actor, she was a brilliant woman with a sparkling personality and a deep respect for, and knowledge of, the history of the theater. |
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41 posts
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Post by shakeel on Sept 11, 2024 15:41:52 GMT
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Post by parsley1 on Sept 12, 2024 0:24:11 GMT
Cancelled as they were unable to complete the dress rehearsal in full that same afternoon Sometimes I think theatre Is as crap and lazy as everything else has become here |
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5,056 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 12, 2024 0:52:29 GMT
Is this the new Normal for every show to cancel their 1st preview?
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Post by helenfrombath on Sept 12, 2024 1:48:52 GMT
Is this the new Normal for every show to cancel their 1st preview? It does seem quite common post pandemic. Last spring I had tickets to the first preview of London Tide and I was genuinely surprised that the performance went ahead as scheduled. About halfway through act one I was really wishing it had been canceled, but that's another story. |
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Post by greenandbrownandblue on Sept 14, 2024 11:57:24 GMT
That's good to hear! I've not booked for this as I really didn't get on with the Tom Hiddleston Donmar production - my only experience of the play - but I may give it another chance if word of mouth is good.
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395 posts
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Post by lichtie on Sept 16, 2024 10:17:37 GMT
Ended up seeing the first preview as it was (easy to see why the previous night had got cancelled given the need for precision in moving all the stage props around to fit under the descending "scenery"). Only a couple of fluffs early on to show it wasn't otherwise well underway. Definitely worth watching - David Oyewolo really nails the intrasigence of Coriolanus and makes it believable he would go over to the enemy in his hatred of the proles...
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Post by crabtree on Sept 16, 2024 12:23:50 GMT
yep, rather love this quirky play, and especially enjoyed Janet Suzman as Volumnia in the final production of the old RST
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Post by blaxx on Sept 17, 2024 2:02:38 GMT
Is this good, as in unmissable?
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Post by hamletothello on Sept 19, 2024 9:00:16 GMT
Here are my thoughts on Coriolanus. CONTAINS SPOILERS.
I would give it a 7.5/10 probably rising to 8.5 when it has settled. The sound design was amazing. I also thought the set was brilliantly conceived and the transitions were seamless. The set had NT Othello resonances but was more dynamic and had a clearer sense of place. And so beautiful to look at. It is essentially set inside a museum with Roman artefacts on display but dress is modern. Huge columns ascend and descend to hide and reveal aspects of the set. I don’t think I have ever seen so much fire on stage in one go! ! At one point Aufidius and Martius took their weapons from the museum display. Really smart.
Virgilia was bland but it is a thankless role. I wish they hadn’t doubled the actor as a citizen. They have the budget to avoid such distracting choices. I think Volumnia will be good when she has settled into the role. She stumbled a bit last night.
My biggest issue was with Aufidius. What happened to the homoerotic references? Why did they play down this aspect of their relationship? It is there in the text. I normally love that actor but he was underwhelming. Badly directed? I also didn’t love the stage combat. Too much slo-mo for my liking.
Menenius and Martius were both great, as was Titus Lartius. And for someone whose research has been focused on childhood (ie ME), the use of Young Martius was really interesting. I found the ending incredibly impactful (I won’t spoil it). It felt like a comment on legacy – ‘who lives, who dies, who tells your story’. Also a comment on the cyclicality of history.
I know that projections are ubiquitous these days but they were used with clear intent and did not overwhelm. Other directors should take note.
The details in the tribunes scenes were lovely. Having Brutus cowering when Martius turned threatening and then being measured for a suit were wonderful touches. I also loved the scene where Martius arrives in Antium and you see Aufidius dining in the background. The lighting in that scene was beautiful and the details in the design were a joy.
This is a personal gripe but the use of plastic wine glasses is tiresome. You can hear the sound of plastic tapping when they are put down. It is just plain wrong!
I am looking forward to seeing it again once it has had chance to bed in. Oyelowo is a thrilling performer. I would love to see him play Macbeth or Othello. Or maybe Antony in A&C. I noticed that the audience was more diverse than a typical NT audience so that can only be a positive thing. And so attentive. I hope it gets good reviews.
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Sept 21, 2024 18:13:04 GMT
Saw the matinee today and found it soporific. I was literally nodding off. I think the main fault is with the verse speaking, which for me had very little expression to it - it seemed almost monotone - but I found the whole production rather lacklustre.
I completely loved the Donmar-Hiddleston production and kept flashing back to the aspects of that production that for me were so much better than this.
Obviously, the verse speaking was a big part of that - there is a huge difference between listening to actors who make verse sound completely natural and expressive and those who don’t.
Then, there was the humour that an actor like Mark Gatiss can bring to a role, and of course, the fight scenes, which really lack that sense of viciousness and personal animosity in this production. The slow motion just took all the impact out of them - I did not believe for one moment that these men were trying to kill each other.
The prop and set work, while technically impressive, also seemed over-fussy to my eye, and I really didn’t get what the point of the museum-style display was. Other than the chance for a beauty-shot of Oyelowo at the end.
The projections were fine, not overused or too distracting.
I also found it disappointing that the NT coulda’t find a few supernumeries to bulk out the plebeians, who were rather thin on the ground.
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Post by cavocado on Sept 21, 2024 18:43:23 GMT
I liked this. It wasn't outstanding, but, after seeing a couple of very poor Globe Shakespeares recently, it was nice to sit watching a Shakespeare where everything was well thought out and the acting, design and sound were all consistently good quality. I liked the slow-mo battle scenes too. 3.5 stars at the moment, but will probably be a solid 4 in a couple of weeks.
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1,495 posts
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Post by Steve on Sept 21, 2024 23:10:51 GMT
Saw this evening's performance, and liked lots of it. My main problem with it is that David Oyelowo's Coriolanus was played too nobly, too reasonably, tonight, as if he was playing noble Othello rather than imperious, contemptuous, superior Coriolanus. Some spoilers follow. . . There is a scene where he boils with fury, and that worked brilliantly, but it all comes a bit too late, and without Coriolanus having that consistently fiery nasty imperious edge, it's hard for any of the other performers to get fired up about how unreasonable he is. Jordan Metcalfe does give a deliciously camp scheming self-regarding performance as the tribune, Brutus, pretending to be reasonable, while being deliberately provocative, so it may be that the director, having decided the tribunes are populist rabble-rousers, felt that a particularly noble and decent Coriolanus would contrast well against that, but the result is that the energy of the production is sapped. Perhaps the director also felt that the homoerotic vibes between Coriolanus and Aufidius would unnecessarily detract from a focus on a noble nature versus a corrupt world, but I felt this reduced the complexity of the character. I mean, Pamela Nomvetes's powerful Volumnia does effectively roar those famous lines about Coriolanus: "Before him he carries noise and behind him he leaves tears," but here, he mostly approaches with reason, and behind him leaves respect. This felt wrong. For me, Coriolanus is a bit like the movie "First Blood," in which an invincible soldier Rambo (Coriolanus) finds it hard to live with normies, who don't understand him and try to arrest him. Trautman (Menenius) is the only one who understands this killing machine, but noone listens, so he starts killing people in revenge. . . Tom Hiddleston at the Donmar had that uncontrollable Ubermensch killing machine vibe, so the whole show sparked as the other actors tiptoed around him, and Mark Gatiss had that wry knowing Trautman-esque humour about the danger of messing with such an ubermensch. None of this fire is lit here. Peter Forbes, so funny and fiery as Buddy in "Follies," forsakes his sardonic side for the sincerity of the conception. And Oyelowo doesn't really seem to be playing Coriolanus at all but nobility incarnate instead. Alot of this works anyway, but, for me, this was a theatrically warm rather than a hot fire. 3 stars from me.  PS: This was a preview, so maybe the production will gain more of an edge by press night. The running time was 2 and three quarter hours including one interval. Start time was 7pm, not the typical 7:30pm. |
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