4,631 posts
|
Post by Phantom of London on May 5, 2019 19:10:42 GMT
I was there also and really enjoyed it, for all of Arthur Millers’ skill, he certainly underperformed when it came to Awards first time around, Salesman is the exception which garnered him both the Pulitzer and Tony, So this is the second production I have seen of Salesman, the first being the excellent RSC production with the heavyweight Anthony Sher who was an exceptional Willie Loman, however I found Wendell Pierce put his own spin on this, but was just as enjoyable. Sharon D. Clarke, needs no praise, I just take it as red she is going to be great. The other actors played their roles well.
The play has one of my favourite quotes from stage, “Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there’s no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple spots on your hat and your finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream boy, it comes with the territory.”
New York is due another production of Salesman, so wonder if that is a reason why they had an American playing Willie Loman?
4 Stars
|
|
3,070 posts
|
Post by Rory on May 8, 2019 21:49:44 GMT
Just out of this. It is a very fluid, clever, inventive production with superlative performances, great movement and beautiful music and lighting. Really enjoyed it and think it compares very favourably with the Brian Dennehy version in 2005. I expect raves.
|
|
2,347 posts
|
Post by zahidf on May 8, 2019 22:19:12 GMT
Slow start but was great overall. Brilliant cast and lighting
|
|
1,197 posts
|
Post by theatrefan77 on May 9, 2019 8:12:00 GMT
I thought this was wonderful last night.
Marianne Elliott has added so many layers to a play which is already a masterpiece in its own right. She has a great ability to reinvent a classic by making some changes while being faithful to the original source. In her production of Company the male lead became female, and now in Death of a Salesman the Lomans are a black family. I really enjoyed the way she has cast black and white characters in different roles. It made me look at the play in a different way. Some examples below {Spoiler - click to view} The final line 'We're free and clear' has an even bigger impact in this production with the Lomans family being black.
Interesting also having a young white man firing a black man in his sixties.
The family next door to the Lomans are white and their geeky son becomes successful in life
5 stars
|
|
4,560 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Mark on May 9, 2019 12:07:22 GMT
Rush was pretty painless today. Managed to get a front row seat in row AA for Monday - £10. Glad I’ll get the chance to see this.
|
|
|
Post by craig on May 9, 2019 13:06:05 GMT
Taking my parents to see this next month and I'm delighted to hear the rave reviews!
|
|
1,192 posts
|
Post by Steve on May 9, 2019 14:39:55 GMT
Yes, I saw this last night and also loved it. Marianne Elliott plus superb performances make for pitch perfect Miller. Some spoilers follow. . . Elliott uses music, in the form of song and strummed guitar notes, to convey not only a sense of time and place, but a sense of multiple times and places existing at once in Willy Loman's fragmenting mind. She creates a visual corollary by having characters freeze frame themselves in poses etched into Willy's memory, like photographs, as he revisits key moments of his life. The feel is reminiscent of a theatrical rendering of the kind of subjective cinematic dreamscape of a Dennis Potter or a Stephen Poliakoff. In my opinion, the concerns of this piece are resolutely the concerns of Miller's "Death of a Salesman," not a comment on race, except in so far as suggesting that the concerns of Miller are the concerns of everyone. I recall how in Arinze Kene's "Misty," his character felt his humanity squeezed by racial concerns on all sides, resisting bigoted stereotypes of black masculinity, while also resisting the call to define his entire life as a resistance to such bigotry: Kene trapped inside a giant yellow balloon is the most indelible, unforgettable and successful image of that production. Here, the balloon is burst, as this production is not about race, but humanity. Biff's flaws, Biff's strengths, Willy's flaws, Linda's strengths are universally human, which every human can relate to. The acting is universally urgent: especially the way Wendell Pierce slowly shatters Willy Loman's exuberance into shards, of desperate affability, seething anger and endless delusion; Sharon D. Clarke serves up deep wells of resolve and compassion; and Arinze Kene's and Martins Imhangbe's Biff and Happy, effortlessly embody different versions of themselves across time. Kene's great strength is that he shows us Biff the man, Biff the child, then best-of-all, Biff-the-child-inside-the-man! Meanwhile, Matthew Seadon-Young just as effortlessly becomes multiple characters, from scene to scene, here a caring friend, there an indifferent boss. A fantastic ensemble. Elliot uses singing sparingly, honouring the primacy of the play, which feels like a deprivation for the audience, as there is never enough of it, so wonderfully do Clarke, Kene, Seadon-Young and co. sound when their voices blend into this still sad song of our common humanity. For me, a very moving 4 and a half stars.
|
|
3,070 posts
|
Post by Rory on May 9, 2019 16:52:22 GMT
Fantastic review Steve.
|
|
|
Post by londonpostie on May 9, 2019 20:47:43 GMT
Just picked up a £10 lucky dip for the last night on 13th July, more there to be had
|
|
985 posts
|
Post by nash16 on May 9, 2019 23:00:39 GMT
AT this one tonight.
Am really sure it's going to get 5* from everyone, go to the West End, then be taken to Broadway, where they will herald it a revelation, and give Marianne her Tony's,
But, I'm still not sure about this one. Why have they turned it into a musical? Well, we know why: you've got Arinze and Sharon in your cast, and in casting them you're not going to not let them sing.
But the songs feel weirdly out of place. They could be set to be setting the scene and African American family, but they aren't needed. The play gives us the play. The songs just drag it out, making for a long evening.
Manchester Royal Exchange did the first African American Death of a Salesman I'd seen, late last year, but this one seems to be being heralded as revolutionary and a first-event.
The performances are all excellent across the board. Wendell Pierce started very upbeat, and I worried, but he got into the groove of Lohman and ended on a high.
Sharon was great, the best I've seen her in a play. The familiar folded arms of Caroline are here, and the singing voice, but she rises above both of those.
Not sure I completely felt the tragedy at the end though, but that could have been the play with its dreamlike structure and almost Brechtian playing.
The photography flash movement was really annoying. And again another factor in making this a long evening. I didn't think it added much at all. Fine for the sports field at, butthey kept using it again and again and again. To little effect.
The set was disappointing too. Like those initial sets in Angels, metallic wood, lacking imagination and I didn't feel lowering and raising chairs and tables on wires did much. It certainly didn't add to the dream like nature of the piece. And why did the bed/bedroom move slowly up at the start of a scene and then down? Does anyone see a reason for this?
Great view from side stalls seats about halfway back. Can't imagine much restriction in any seats.
But I was never fully connected with the piece, instead feeling like an outsider observing it all.
Instant standing ovation, but only myself and a few others further down my row seemed to stay seated (but that's for another thread). Do we leap up at everything? I mean this was good, but a standing ovation? I'll start something in General Chat.
3-4* from me. The critics will wet themselves though.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 11, 2019 10:03:52 GMT
Reading the board this morning, I realised that I was supposed to go and see this last night. Clearly I must have been very much looking forward to it!
Oops.
|
|
5,586 posts
|
Post by lynette on May 13, 2019 10:17:52 GMT
Songs? ??
|
|
562 posts
|
Post by jadnoop on May 13, 2019 12:14:19 GMT
Had tickets for this on Saturday but had to drop out at the last minute as I was unwell. I'm definitely going to try for tickets again, but haven't seen anything about day seats on TheatreMonkey, and nothing on TodayTix (where I bought my tickets originally). Am I right in thinking that the only way for tickets is via returns on the phone, or on the Thursday Rush tickets? Cheers,
|
|
Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
|
Post by Xanderl on May 13, 2019 12:41:41 GMT
Had tickets for this on Saturday but had to drop out at the last minute as I was unwell. I'm definitely going to try for tickets again, but haven't seen anything about day seats on TheatreMonkey, and nothing on TodayTix (where I bought my tickets originally). Am I right in thinking that the only way for tickets is via returns on the phone, or on the Thursday Rush tickets? Cheers, This tweet might help. Returns are put up on the website so you don't need to phone to check. I think the only rush tickets TodayTix normally does for the Young Vic does is the first preview one.
|
|
3,472 posts
|
Post by showgirl on May 13, 2019 18:26:55 GMT
Yes, but the Young Vic itself is doing a weekly rush (Thursdays at noon) for tix the following week, for the entire run.
|
|
|
Post by partytentdown on May 13, 2019 18:34:44 GMT
Slightly random but I have one ticket for Thursday I'd love to swap for another night. It was from TodayTix so I can't change it. I'll keep it if there's no other option, but if I can swap it I'd be happy. Please send me a message if anyone wants to swap!
|
|
562 posts
|
Post by jadnoop on May 17, 2019 9:45:43 GMT
Tickets seemed to disappear very quickly at yesterday's rush ticket release, but lots of £10 tickets online now.
|
|
|
Post by firstwetakemanhattan on May 17, 2019 10:03:02 GMT
A bunch of lucky dip tickets have just been released this morning, i managed to get one for week Saturday
|
|
3,070 posts
|
Post by Rory on May 17, 2019 12:52:48 GMT
Baz reports that a transfer is (unsurprisingly) definitely being discussed and that the cast could re-group in November. It's very early days obviously but my money would be on the Gielgud after the Les Mis concert.
|
|
|
Post by wannabedirector on May 17, 2019 23:28:34 GMT
Saw this tonight, thought it was absolutely excellent. It doesn’t feel like a mere “black version of” the play, the reinterpretation has clearly been thought about very deeply and it works really well. Some great performances, especially from Sharon D Clarke and Arinze Kene, both of whom were sensational. One of the best things I’ve seen in a long time, and deserves all the plaudits it’s got, and likely will continue to get.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2019 8:13:06 GMT
I’ll probably have my membership revoked for admitting this, but I had never seen nor read Death of a Salesman before last night. Mention of the play always made Dustin Hoffman pop into my mind, so it was on my cultural periphery, but I went in cold.
I came out hardly able to believe that this was written 70 years ago. The exploration of male relationships and the societal pressure on men couldn’t have have been more finely written today. And then the wonderful Sharon D Clarke, the mother, in the middle of it all, doing all the emotional labour. (Am I wrong to be desperate to see her in something happy?)
I knew when I missed Misty that I was going to kick myself. Arinze Kene finds all the layers in this. Yes to whoever said ‘Biff the man, Biff the child, Biff the man in the child.’ It’s all there. He’s a victim of the patriarchy no matter how buff, handsome and well-liked he is.
It is a slow-burner, took a while to hook me. The audience was a little frustrating at times, laughing at a lot of things, I think to break the tension. Because this is deliberately tight and coiled, to build to that devastating ending.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2019 8:15:46 GMT
Saw this tonight, thought it was absolutely excellent. It doesn’t feel like a mere “black version of” the play, the reinterpretation has clearly been thought about very deeply and it works really well. Some great performances, especially from Sharon D Clarke and Arinze Kene, both of whom were sensational. One of the best things I’ve seen in a long time, and deserves all the plaudits it’s got, and likely will continue to get. Yes to the comment about ‘more than a black version of the play.’ I can see how that adds layers, but for me it deepens the theme of what does it mean to be a man.
|
|
|
Post by londonpostie on May 22, 2019 18:01:11 GMT
Matinee today. Bloody hell.
|
|
|
Post by happytobehere on May 23, 2019 21:05:30 GMT
I’m seeing this tomorrow (very very excited!) but I’ve never been to the Young Vic before & remember that when I booked, my ticket didn’t have any seat number on it. Is that normal? How will I know where to sit?
|
|
|
Post by londonpostie on May 23, 2019 22:06:38 GMT
yep, the 'x' prefix or 'zone' thing was a placement holder (before they settled on the seating configuration). They'll have your name on a ticket tomorrow
|
|
1,465 posts
|
Post by foxa on May 24, 2019 10:25:17 GMT
I thought I'd posted a review of this, but think checking, I think I put if off, probably because I was too busy gulping back sobs.
This was superb.
That's it.
|
|
|
Post by happytobehere on May 24, 2019 22:30:38 GMT
Just saw this: sensational.
I went in completely blind, unfamiliar with the story & not having encountered any of the cast before (though I obviously had heard of them), and it was all so fantastic. I can’t even single any of the cast members out specifically because they’re all incredible.
|
|
1,465 posts
|
Post by foxa on May 24, 2019 23:00:14 GMT
I envy you such a fantastic introduction to the play!
|
|
1,846 posts
|
Post by NeilVHughes on May 25, 2019 22:14:49 GMT
Devastatingly Sublime.
|
|
562 posts
|
Post by jadnoop on May 26, 2019 1:06:59 GMT
There’s not much I can say, except to add to the chorus of praise by others on this board. This was moving, thought-provoking, and timely. I had not seen this play before, but it more than met my high expectations. Fantastic production, with wonderful acting across the board. And I really loved the design, especially the clever & poignant visual trick with the bench outside the family home at the end. Lots of audience members wiping away tears by the end, and pretty much a full standing ovation.
I hope I can see it again. This has surely got to transfer to the West End, right?
For anyone with Lucky Dip tickets, the seats are given out on a first-come-first-served basis, from any latecomers or unsold seats. Therefore, its worth joining the queue as soon as you arrive to get the best seats, especially if you’re in a group. We arrived ~45 mins before the performance started and were first in line. We ended up with fantastic seats next to each other.
|
|