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Post by lynette on Mar 24, 2017 21:41:10 GMT
Parsley apart, come on, is this rubbish or not? I've got tix. Dump or keep?
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115 posts
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Post by Peach on Mar 24, 2017 21:57:40 GMT
Parsley apart, come on, is this rubbish or not? I've got tix. Dump or keep? Dump. Unless you're a Tennant fan in which case dump and buy the Casanova dvd instead. I read an interview today where he says he was surprised to be offered it as he didn't think it was for him at first. Trust those instincts, David, always trust those instincts. On the plus side, Adrian Scarborough and the girl who played the blonde prostitute (sorry - don't have name to hand) were very watchable. |
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 25, 2017 14:10:11 GMT
think I'll dump too. Mine were £10, and I just can't justify London next weekend money wise(i'm down for Audra in concert and Carousel a fortnight later...)
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Post by Marwood on Mar 25, 2017 15:33:38 GMT
I was pondering whether to buy a 'Monkey Nest' ticket for this when it first went on sale and procastinated for so long they'd all gone when I went back (I also left it too late for the Rhys Ifans/Donmar version), and have no intention of paying the sort of prices they're looking for for for stalls tickets, looks like I made the right decision going by the comments above.
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 25, 2017 17:19:00 GMT
That's what I love about this board...just honest opinion. Glad I decided to give this a miss given the comments above. Expect 4 and 5 star raves from the press next week after press night on Tuesday!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2017 18:10:27 GMT
That's what I love about this board...just honest opinion. Glad I decided to give this a miss given the comments above. Expect 4 and 5 star raves from the press next week after press night on Tuesday! Thing is, I went along to Ugly Lies the Bone expecting it to be amazing because the majority of what I'd read here about it was positive. I thought it was poor. Always best to go along and make up your own mind, I reckon. Given that this is still in preview and thus not locked down, there's always a chance we may be judging it a little harshly and it will turn out to fairly earn any raves... |
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Post by theatrefan77 on Mar 26, 2017 14:17:29 GMT
I watched this mess on Thursday. It really is a very weak play imho. I generally like Patrick Marber, loved Closer and really enjoyed his recent version of Hedda Gabler, but this Don Juan is really not very good at all. It will be successful because of David Tennant and he does what he can with the material he's given. Adrian Scarborough is good but wasted on this. The dance numbers were awful and pointless, the acting from the supporting cast was all over the place. The set was amateurish at best. For me this is the worst play I've seen this year...
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Post by callum on Mar 26, 2017 15:41:23 GMT
I saw this from a Monkey nest last night and was a VERY mixed bag. For the crossover of people that like hedonist humour and are David Tennant superfans this will be a huge hit, but for everyone else not so much.
Basically it lurches from crude blowjob jokes, c-bombs and drug-taking to pretentious dance sequences and long monologues without much cohesion - the direction and the script seem to be at war with one another. David Tennant and Adrian Scarborough do their best to hold it together but it really doesn't go anywhere. There are some nudge wink-wink lines to the audience like 'are you a Doctor?' and Trump references that are extremely on the nose and very problematic to the rhythm of the play.
Still, there are some homorous throwaway lines and Tennant and Scarborough make seeing it worthwhile - the £10 nest was good value but if I was sitting in the best seats in the house I wouldn't want to pay more than £30; put it that way.
Will be looking forward to hearing about how Tennant's big speech towards the end changes during the run - there was a line about Prince George going to school that I imagine is '...insert current news event here...'. Reminds me a bit of The Audience in that respect.
In summary, if you have nest seats, keep them. It's not a total bomb but nevertheless still fairly disposable.
And I didn't even ATTEMPT stage door.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2017 16:45:42 GMT
Parsley apart, come on, is this rubbish or not? I've got tix. Dump or keep? I'd dump. It's not really a bad show, it's worse than that. It's just dull. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2017 16:53:31 GMT
Parsley apart, come on, is this rubbish or not? I've got tix. Dump or keep? I'd dump. It's not really a bad show, it's worse than that. It's just dull. I'm a somewhat devoted Tennant fan, but even I can't bring myself to pay these prices for this. I'll also settle for a re-watch of Cassanova (incidentally well worth a watch!) |
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Mar 26, 2017 18:52:40 GMT
Ok, thanks for the honest opinion. Ill mull
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2017 6:13:59 GMT
This really isn't much cop. Central character should be a lot less sympathetic, Tennant is far too loveable. Presume the original production was 90 minutes straight through - this is stretched out to just over 2 hours with some dance routines and what seemed like a longer than usual interval.
Did my good deed for the day - as I was leaving the theatre a couple of (I think) tourists approached me asking "Was it any good?". Told them "not really!" and they said "Great, thanks - that's that decision made then!" and walked off. So presumably saved them £100 or so!
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115 posts
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Post by Peach on Mar 27, 2017 10:25:02 GMT
Central character should be a lot less sympathetic, Tennant is far too loveable. Yes! This was exactly my problem with it. |
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Post by Peach on Mar 27, 2017 10:32:23 GMT
Tennant is entirely capable of playing it unsympatheticly imo, just doesn't.
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Post by Steve on Mar 27, 2017 13:00:33 GMT
Saw this Saturday matinee. Incoherent but entertaining. Some spoilers follow. . . This production can't make it's mind up about how much integrity this Don Juan has. I remember Simon Keenlyside playing Don Juan's opera counterpart, Don Giovanni, and he was furious in his integrity, for a debauched but free life, a nietzschean superman. Marber, who is in total control of this production, having written, partially re-written, and directed it, opts for the "integrity" ending. But it isn't earned, as Tennant's Don Juan has no integrity whatsoever, a man who nonchalantly lies even to those he says he doesn't lie to. Marber certainly thinks that Tennant's Don Juan has integrity, and goes to some lengths to distance him from Donald Trump's "p---ygrabbing" antics, but the problem for Marber is that essentially his Don Juan is exactly the same as Donald Trump: a man with no integrity who thinks he does have integrity, ie a dreamer. In one scene, Marber tacitly admits that his Don Juan is a narcissistic dreamer fooling himself, and it is beautiful: as Don Juan sings the Ella Fitzgerald - Louis Armstrong romance duet "Under a Blanket of Blue" with Adrian Scarborough's equally delusional Stan, Don Juan's personal assistant. If Marber had focused on the theme of delusion he would have struck gold, and he could even have gone on to end this play by having Don Juan elected Prime Minister, just as Trump became President. Instead, Marber meanders from scene to scene, without clarifying who Don Juan really is, or what his play is really about. I found the production entertaining anyway. The aforesaid duet was lovely, and Tennant and Scarborough are in Blackadder-Baldric ribald humour mode for much of the play. Marber gets the tone right, in that he pushes the broad comedy as far as he can, without sacrificing the serious undertone he is going for. Central casting is just right, with Tennant and Scarborough both experienced enough to know how to play broad scenes, then retreat into callousness, and then wistfulness For people who like to laugh at rude comedy, there is plenty to laugh at. For anyone wanting a meaningful play, forget it! 3 and a half stars  |
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Post by bordeaux on Mar 27, 2017 14:15:31 GMT
You wait years for a Molière revival and then two crap ones come at once... Let's hope the forthcoming Bristol Tobacco Factory Tartuffe shows us the way to do it.
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Post by peggs on Mar 27, 2017 20:45:29 GMT
I took that to mean that there was some exciting flat pack furniture assembly but now I fear that was not what you alluded to.
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Mar 27, 2017 20:47:30 GMT
If you like IKEA, you'll love it. |
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Post by Jonnyboy on Mar 28, 2017 19:29:45 GMT
Interval of Press Night. Seen Richard Wilson, Rupert Graves, Jonathan Ross and Phoebe Waller Bridge.
Entertaining enough but all rather pointless. No depth at all but I can't say I'm bored.
Tenner nest seat. I'd be horrified if I'd paid £100+ for this.
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369 posts
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Post by Jonnyboy on Mar 28, 2017 21:17:06 GMT
Okay, so I got bored in Act 2, apart from an entertaining speech by DT.
Really can't see why this is being revived or why DT chose it.
2.5 out of 5, including half for seeing the wonderful star of Fleabag in the audience.
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Mar 28, 2017 21:19:49 GMT
It's not been reviewed well in the papers I've seen so far, I seem doomed to only see David Tennant in productions that I dislike (lowering all estimations now in hope it won't be as bad as it all sounds).
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369 posts
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Post by Jonnyboy on Mar 28, 2017 21:26:29 GMT
2* Telegraph
4* Guardian
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 21:46:15 GMT
4* WoS
2* The Stage
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Post by vickster51 on Mar 29, 2017 10:49:35 GMT
I have been away from the forum for ages. Life getting in the way of theatre for too long! I'm not surprised about the reviews coming out for this. I'm a big Tennant on stage fan, so went to the first preview and press night last night, but I didn't expect great reviews for this. I enjoyed his performance and his wonderful on stage chemistry with Adrian Scarborough, but aside from that it's all rather weak. The rest of the cast is distinctly average, playing two-dimensional roles. It could also easily scrap the interval and be cut down further in my view. Also, unlike his other stage work, it's not something I'd want to see multiple times. It makes you laugh at times on first viewing, but as I found out last night, not so much a second time. There's a fuller set of thoughts on my blog for anyone interested. vickster51corner.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/theatre-review-david-tennant-is-don-juan-in-soho/ |
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Post by bellboard27 on Mar 29, 2017 13:32:47 GMT
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