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Post by Steve on Jul 3, 2024 22:24:39 GMT
Saw this tonight, in preview, and, for me, it's another excellent Downstairs play.
Some spoilers follow. . .
This play is a bit like a Jacqueline Wilson novel for grown-ups, in that Wilson's child protagonists have a lot to deal with, and in "The Illustrated Mum," a girl has to deal with an alcoholic parent.
This play is also a bit like Gary Owen's "Violence and Son," which played at the Royal Court Theatre, in which an alcoholic Dad's destructive behaviour threatens to shape the life of his son.
As in the latter play, Bo (an absolutely fantastic, muted, secretive, self-contained, brilliant yet needy, Catherine Ashdown, giving a breakout performance) fears that her own behaviour might be shaped by her alcoholic father's. And as in the Wilson novel, the teenage Bo finds herself as much parent as child.
In the free programme (it's great how you get a free programme for the Downstairs shows: in previews, its £10 for both play and programme, whereas you might pay £10 for the programme alone in the West End lol), the playwright reveals that she herself had an alcoholic father (as did Jacqueline Wilson for that matter) and boy, can you feel that reality in the utterly authentic portrayal of Bo's father, known to her as "Grud," the title character.
Karl Theobald's Grud is exactly like every alcoholic you ever saw on the streets, a mere whisker away from joblessness and homelessness himself, surrounded by cans, living in a slurred slow-motion haze of pretending its all good combined with utter desolation and bitterness. Theobald is so good that it's impossible to see where the actor ends and the alcoholic begins. He's harrowing.
There is one other character in the story, Kadiesha Belgrave's Aicha, and she seems to have leaped out of a wacky comedy, her every wide-eyed witticism timed perfectly for a punchline. Its at first hard to reconcile the difference tonally between Aisha's boundless joviality and the horror show endured by the other two, but that's the point, that there are different worlds, and the question is whether Bo can cross from one world to the other. . .
Anyhow, the wide stage, high on one side, low on the other, bridged by a skateboard type ramp, clearly presents this idea of two worlds bridged together awkwardly, the central tension of the central character.
There are three moments that our audience thought this play was over, and only one proved to be correct, so I'd say building to the ending more elegantly is something to aim for before press night, but for me, overall, this play succeeds just as well as any Jacqueline Wilson novel or any Gary Owen play at dramatising authentic problems in an authentic and moving way, to the tune of 4 stars
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Post by parsley1 on Jul 3, 2024 22:39:25 GMT
Saw this tonight, in preview, and, for me, it's another excellent Downstairs play. Some spoilers follow. . . This play is a bit like a Jacqueline Wilson novel for grown-ups, in that Wilson's child protagonists have a lot to deal with, and in "The Illustrated Mum," a girl has to deal with an alcoholic parent. This play is also a bit like Gary Owen's "Violence and Son," which played at the Royal Court Theatre, in which an alcoholic Dad's destructive behaviour threatens to shape the life of his son. As in the latter play, Bo (an absolutely fantastic, muted, secretive, self-contained, brilliant yet needy, Catherine Ashdown, giving a breakout performance) fears that her own behaviour might be shaped by her alcoholic father's. And as in the Wilson novel, the teenage Bo finds herself as much parent as child. In the free programme (it's great how you get a free programme for the Downstairs shows: in previews, its £10 for both play and programme, whereas you might pay £10 for the programme alone in the West End lol), the playwright reveals that she herself had an alcoholic father (as did Jacqueline Wilson for that matter) and boy, can you feel that reality in the utterly authentic portrayal of Bo's father, known to her as "Grud," the title character. Karl Theobald's Grud is exactly like every alcoholic you ever saw on the streets, a mere whisker away from joblessness and homelessness himself, surrounded by cans, living in a slurred slow-motion haze of pretending its all good combined with utter desolation and bitterness. Theobald is so good that it's impossible to see where the actor ends and the alcoholic begins. He's harrowing. There is one other character in the story, Kadiesha Belgrave's Aicha, and she seems to have leaped out of a wacky comedy, her every wide-eyed witticism timed perfectly for a punchline. Its at first hard to reconcile the difference tonally between Aisha's boundless joviality and the horror show endured by the other two, but that's the point, that there are different worlds, and the question is whether Bo can cross from one world to the other. . . Anyhow, the wide stage, high on one side, low on the other, bridged by a skateboard type ramp, clearly presents this idea of two worlds bridged together awkwardly, the central tension of the central character. There are three moments that our audience thought this play was over, and only one proved to be correct, so I'd say building to the ending more elegantly is something to aim for before press night, but for me, overall, this play succeeds just as well as any Jacqueline Wilson novel or any Gary Owen play at dramatising authentic problems in an authentic and moving way, to the tune of 4 stars Do you read Jaqueline Wilson novels? |
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Post by Steve on Jul 3, 2024 22:43:19 GMT
Not to myself. Haha.  |
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Post by parsley1 on Jul 3, 2024 23:42:55 GMT
Not to myself. Haha. One for adults out soon |
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Post by ftfadia on Jul 4, 2024 14:27:48 GMT
Saw this tonight, in preview, and, for me, it's another excellent Downstairs play. Some spoilers follow. . . This play is a bit like a Jacqueline Wilson novel for grown-ups, in that Wilson's child protagonists have a lot to deal with, and in "The Illustrated Mum," a girl has to deal with an alcoholic parent. This play is also a bit like Gary Owen's "Violence and Son," which played at the Royal Court Theatre, in which an alcoholic Dad's destructive behaviour threatens to shape the life of his son. As in the latter play, Bo (an absolutely fantastic, muted, secretive, self-contained, brilliant yet needy, Catherine Ashdown, giving a breakout performance) fears that her own behaviour might be shaped by her alcoholic father's. And as in the Wilson novel, the teenage Bo finds herself as much parent as child. In the free programme (it's great how you get a free programme for the Downstairs shows: in previews, its £10 for both play and programme, whereas you might pay £10 for the programme alone in the West End lol), the playwright reveals that she herself had an alcoholic father (as did Jacqueline Wilson for that matter) and boy, can you feel that reality in the utterly authentic portrayal of Bo's father, known to her as "Grud," the title character. Karl Theobald's Grud is exactly like every alcoholic you ever saw on the streets, a mere whisker away from joblessness and homelessness himself, surrounded by cans, living in a slurred slow-motion haze of pretending its all good combined with utter desolation and bitterness. Theobald is so good that it's impossible to see where the actor ends and the alcoholic begins. He's harrowing. There is one other character in the story, Kadiesha Belgrave's Aicha, and she seems to have leaped out of a wacky comedy, her every wide-eyed witticism timed perfectly for a punchline. Its at first hard to reconcile the difference tonally between Aisha's boundless joviality and the horror show endured by the other two, but that's the point, that there are different worlds, and the question is whether Bo can cross from one world to the other. . . Anyhow, the wide stage, high on one side, low on the other, bridged by a skateboard type ramp, clearly presents this idea of two worlds bridged together awkwardly, the central tension of the central character. There are three moments that our audience thought this play was over, and only one proved to be correct, so I'd say building to the ending more elegantly is something to aim for before press night, but for me, overall, this play succeeds just as well as any Jacqueline Wilson novel or any Gary Owen play at dramatising authentic problems in an authentic and moving way, to the tune of 4 stars I haven't been on this board in ages (hi!) and came on just to see if anyone was talking about this show. I agree it was fantastic! And you summed up the reasons why perfectly. Only thing I'd add is that I think its themes are more broad than parental alcoholism...anyone who themselves has tried to bridge the gap between different worlds (class, race, disability, etc.) will find something to relate to in this story. And the acting was brilliant on all 3 accounts. Highly highly recommend. |
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Post by cavocado on Jul 5, 2024 12:53:42 GMT
Grud didn't appeal to me at all from the Hampstead marketing:
"Hey I know you! You’re the one that’s always in the back of the library. Like a little library gremlin. Eating up knowledge. And Haribo…" & the first line of their description: "It’s a new term at college and, for most of the Sixth Form students, all that matters are mocks, UCAS applications and whether or not Elliot Park and Georgia Smith had sex in the study room at lunchtime…"
But it sounds more interesting from comments here.
Hampstead could really improve the way they describe their plays, especially the one-line quotes. I imagine they look for the sharpest line in the play, but they rarely tell ticket buyers much about the subject or themes.
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Post by Steve on Jul 5, 2024 13:20:37 GMT
Grud didn't appeal to me at all from the Hampstead marketing: "Hey I know you! You’re the one that’s always in the back of the library. Like a little library gremlin. Eating up knowledge. And Haribo…" & the first line of their description: "It’s a new term at college and, for most of the Sixth Form students, all that matters are mocks, UCAS applications and whether or not Elliot Park and Georgia Smith had sex in the study room at lunchtime…" But it sounds more interesting from comments here. Hampstead could really improve the way they describe their plays, especially the one-line quotes. I imagine they look for the sharpest line in the play, but they rarely tell ticket buyers much about the subject or themes. I agree. That's pretty much the first line in the play, as I recall, and its spoken by the jokey comedic character to the main character. The purpose of marketing this line is precisely to hide what the play is about. Hampstead must think that not knowing and then discovering the actual subject matter is the interesting way to go. I disagree, because any review will reveal the main character set-up, as it's clear 5 minutes into the play, so hiding this information will be impossible anyway, after reviews are published. And that blurb sounds so superficial and in no way reflects just how deep and weighty (and good) that this play is. |
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Post by wiggymess on Jul 12, 2024 10:31:37 GMT
Really fancy this -
Could I please just ask, is downstairs bench style seating? Never been down there and I always dread 'unreserved seating'
Thanks!
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Post by cavocado on Jul 12, 2024 11:15:28 GMT
Really fancy this - Could I please just ask, is downstairs bench style seating? Never been down there and I always dread 'unreserved seating' Thanks! It's padded benches with backs. I haven't seen this, but have been to Hampstead downstairs many times and not found the seating a problem. It's not the most comfortable, but is fine, especially for a short play (which I think this is), no armrests but decent legroom and not too squashed up. I don't think this is selling very well so there are likely to be quite a few empty spaces. I've never had a bad view there, and there's a nice foyer area downstairs too - lots of seating if you want to get a drink beforehand or just sit and chat, read or whatever. |
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Post by wiggymess on Jul 12, 2024 20:14:58 GMT
Really fancy this - Could I please just ask, is downstairs bench style seating? Never been down there and I always dread 'unreserved seating' Thanks! It's padded benches with backs. I haven't seen this, but have been to Hampstead downstairs many times and not found the seating a problem. It's not the most comfortable, but is fine, especially for a short play (which I think this is), no armrests but decent legroom and not too squashed up. I don't think this is selling very well so there are likely to be quite a few empty spaces. I've never had a bad view there, and there's a nice foyer area downstairs too - lots of seating if you want to get a drink beforehand or just sit and chat, read or whatever. Thanks very much |
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Post by drmaplewood on Jul 28, 2024 7:37:09 GMT
I enjoyed this a lot last night, all 3 performances were really excellent.
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Post by cavocado on Jul 28, 2024 12:39:59 GMT
Grud didn't appeal to me at all from the Hampstead marketing: "Hey I know you! You’re the one that’s always in the back of the library. Like a little library gremlin. Eating up knowledge. And Haribo…" & the first line of their description: "It’s a new term at college and, for most of the Sixth Form students, all that matters are mocks, UCAS applications and whether or not Elliot Park and Georgia Smith had sex in the study room at lunchtime…" But it sounds more interesting from comments here. Hampstead could really improve the way they describe their plays, especially the one-line quotes. I imagine they look for the sharpest line in the play, but they rarely tell ticket buyers much about the subject or themes. An update on this. I saw and enjoyed the play, and it was indeed very badly described by the Hampstead marketing department. It sounded like a comedy about teenage stereotypes, when the bulk of it is about a father-daughter relationship damaged by the father's alcoholism, and sensitively acted and written. I imagine most of us will have seen (or been) someone struggling to avoid home/personal problems affecting other aspects of life like school, work, friendships. It's a very relatable subject, whether or not you have personal experience of addiction. But none of that comes across in the marketing - even the poster (blue/pink, broken toy rocket) makes it look like a comedy maybe for kids, and doesn't reflect what the Space Club in the play is actually about, both in terms of the two girls being really good at science, and also that it gives the main character, Bo, an escape from her difficult life. I honestly can't guess what/who HT was aiming at with this marketing. It must be frustrating for people involved in a play to see it selling badly and papering everywhere, but more so if the theatre has done a poor job of selling the tickets. |
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Post by xander on Jul 28, 2024 13:27:50 GMT
Agreed on the marketing. I saw it last night and was glad I did. But I didn’t even consider it when it was first advertised: I only booked after reading some comments on this forum.
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Post by Steve on Jul 29, 2024 22:37:21 GMT
Grud didn't appeal to me at all from the Hampstead marketing: "Hey I know you! You’re the one that’s always in the back of the library. Like a little library gremlin. Eating up knowledge. And Haribo…" & the first line of their description: "It’s a new term at college and, for most of the Sixth Form students, all that matters are mocks, UCAS applications and whether or not Elliot Park and Georgia Smith had sex in the study room at lunchtime…" But it sounds more interesting from comments here. Hampstead could really improve the way they describe their plays, especially the one-line quotes. I imagine they look for the sharpest line in the play, but they rarely tell ticket buyers much about the subject or themes.
You might have had an impact lol. The tag line on the Hampstead Theatre website now is much darker than what it used to be, I think:
"Do you ever worry you’re a bad person? Like, do you ever worry you might do something really bad." |
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Post by cavocado on Jul 31, 2024 11:15:20 GMT
Grud didn't appeal to me at all from the Hampstead marketing: "Hey I know you! You’re the one that’s always in the back of the library. Like a little library gremlin. Eating up knowledge. And Haribo…" & the first line of their description: "It’s a new term at college and, for most of the Sixth Form students, all that matters are mocks, UCAS applications and whether or not Elliot Park and Georgia Smith had sex in the study room at lunchtime…" But it sounds more interesting from comments here. Hampstead could really improve the way they describe their plays, especially the one-line quotes. I imagine they look for the sharpest line in the play, but they rarely tell ticket buyers much about the subject or themes.
You might have had an impact lol. The tag line on the Hampstead Theatre website now is much darker than what it used to be, I think:
"Do you ever worry you’re a bad person? Like, do you ever worry you might do something really bad." I hope HT are on Theatreboard! HT if you are reading, the nonsense about teenagers having sex in the school study room and the childishly irrelevant poster are both unappealing and misrepresent a play that is actually about some very relatable things like watching a loved one fall apart, losing the security of family/home, trying to comparmentalise to cope. None of that came across in the marketing. I'm in HT's core audience of over-50s and see most of their output. I don't just want to see plays about people like me and I love the variety at HT, but I do want to read marketing that tells me what the interesting themes of a play will be. If the marketing doesn't appeal, then I'll leave booking until there are reviews, and by then maybe I don't have time because I've booked other things, or I see there are lots of discounts around and get a cheap ticket. None of that benefits the theatre which needs people to book early and pay full price. And if they are really reading, multi-buy or early-buy discounts would be very appealing! Things like book 4 plays for the price of 3 or 20% discount if you book in the first month... |
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Post by joem on Aug 2, 2024 20:40:24 GMT
I thought this was ok but was hoping for better. It had a work-in-progress feel for me. Possible spoilers. Alcoholics (real ones) are fundamentally boring people because their illness and self-obsession makes them so. Add to this a character like Bo who is so introverted and inexpressive that it's hard to get anything positive out of her, except towards the end, that it isn't easy to "get" her even of you empathise with her situation. Aicha, played by Kadiesha Belgrave, was the redeeming character, her vivacity and chutzpah caught the eye and lifted the piece.
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 3, 2024 11:26:05 GMT
Is it explained why the title character is called Grud, which I have discovered is slang for underwear in New Zealand?
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Post by Dave B on Aug 3, 2024 22:31:14 GMT
Is it explained why the title character is called Grud, which I have discovered is slang for underwear in New Zealand? It is!
{Spoiler - click to view}
There are a number of animal references throughout suggesting Bo and Grud had a much different relationship when she was younger and it occasionally brings them moments together. 'Grud' is a childhood nickname for a monster and so it ended up applying to him.
Anyways thanks to various posts for spotlighting this. I had given it a miss based on the marketing blurb but I caught the matinee today and I'm very glad I did. The two professional debuts in Catherine Ashdown as Bo and Kadiesha Belgrave as Aicha are excellent. Such different performances but both so very good. I suspect they'll go far. A full afternoon and a pretty receptive audience.
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 4, 2024 10:59:54 GMT
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