Amadeus - NT

Managed to get a ticket confirmed today for Tuesday next week, can't wait!

Wow! Looks as though it's gonna b full on!

There's nothing quite like a National Theatre set!

The curse that it goes wrong or that it's the most exciting thing that takes place?

Isn't it sort of the *point* that Mozart is unbearably annoying though?

And at which part in the play does Lucian Msamati sing this?

Yes! Considering the Travelex element (I've come to expect cheaper productions for the sake of many #15 tickets) this actually looks really good. High cast numbers, a small orchestra in the form of the Southbank Sinfonia (the revolve is made the be an orchestra by lowering down at times). There's some weird mix of modern and period costume but any cheapness the set does have is covered up by some skilled lighting. The period costumes look amazing. As Travelex productions go this is definitely one of the most extravagant looking. 

What, the drum that's so in need of TLC they've sent out emails to all and sundry pleading for donations to fix it up? For a production where a huge percentage of tickets are selling for £15? Yeah, I don't think the drum revolve is going to be the likeliest prospect here, or for any production for at least the next little while.

Story Time - often told by Peter Hall, NT Director and director of Amadeus.

Margaret Thatcher attended a performance of Amadeus and straight afterwards told Peter Hall it was disgraceful to present Mozart on stage in such a disgusting way when he wrote all that lovely music and he would never have used such language. Peter Hall meekly replied that in fact much of Mozart's text in the play is based quite closely on his letters to his wife where he did use exactly such language. Thatcher fixed Hall in her glare and said in a raised voice: "I said that Mozart would not have used such language." End of conversation.

Hello all. I found this board a few months ago but have refrained from joining until now, so allo et bonjour. But enough of that, and let's talk about "Amadeus", as I too was there last night.

What. A. Mess. 3 hours 20 minutes of mess in fact, as, contrary to the earlier post, this actually didn't finish until 22:50 (I know, because I had to leg it for my train), and that was after a prompt 7:30 start and a short 15 minute interval.

The play itself is wonderful. Interesting, erudite and compelling but unfortunately very much overshadowed by the film. If you've seen that, you'll be left wanting.

There's a strange modern day framing piece where everyone is in modern dress at the start and the end that doesn't seem to serve any purpose. Salieri's guilt is timeless? Who knows.

The set is as shown earlier in this thread, bar the ladder at the back (!). That's it - it was finished. They don't use the drum (sorry mrslovettsmeatpie, it must still be broken) but there is a bit of shunting around (up/down/front/back) of what scenery there is.

The London Sinfionetta provide the music and are on stage a lot of the time. Cue some excruciating "rhubarb rhubarb" acting before it all goes completely south for an am dram finale. They play nicely though. There are 6 singers who try to give the Mozart pieces some welly, none of whom sounded particularly impressive to be honest but they are singing some very tricky stuff. The big aria from "The Abduction From The Seraglio" sounded particularly rough unfortunately though.

The performances are some of the worst I've seen on stage. Salieri does not carry the play in the slightest. He spends the first act barking at you in a pseudo-Italian staccato manner and absolutely fails to give you any sense whatsoever of this (intentionally) horrible character's motivation, angst, fear and loathing. In the end we're supposed to sympathise as much with him as with Mozart but in skilled hands you would. Not here. Not in the slightest. Constanze is just as bad - her barking in a TOWIE monotone over the Requiem finale is criminal, but she hadn't been much better before that.

Mozart though, I happened to really like. It's Johnny Rotten meets a 4 year old toddler missing his meds, but it worked for me. I was touched by the (indeed endless) final death scene and really felt what he was going through. Salieri at the same time looked like he was waiting for the 78 bus to arrive.

This one is going to be like Marmite, I am sure. Looking forward to hearing other views!

Salieri's notion that "we're all mediocrities" throughout doesn't imply that we should identify with him. It suggests that he knows that that is how he saw himself and why he worked so tirelessly to destroy Mozart. If you play it right, we should absolutely understand and feel why he acted the way he did and how much pained it caused him. We should absolutely empathise with the horror of this all for him.

Mozart's genius and brilliance is what destroys Salieri. We should feel that. In this, you absolutely don't. This one note performance gets it absolutely wrong.