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Post by theatremad on Jun 4, 2017 10:25:46 GMT
Saw this second preview last night. I have never seen any production of this before.
Like Vice Versa this is going to be another marmite show, I loved it and thought once it's tightened up it will be spotless.
The set is another one in a string of not the usual Swan Theatre designs. For those who remember The Family Reunion in the Swan in the 1990s there is a similar mirror at the back, and then "ladders".
Very modern dress, almost futuristic.
Matthew Tenyson as Salome was actually for me a really interesting character and person to watch, and didnt feel irreverential to the text.
For me the stand outs were Suzanne Burden as Herodias, Tenyson and Matthew Pidgeon as Herod.
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Post by moelhywel on Jun 5, 2017 22:16:30 GMT
Just back from seeing this and like theatremad I had never seen the play before. I'm not sure having Salome played by a man really worked (my husband certainly didn't think so) although Matthew Tennyson made a very androgynous figure and was very good. I thought the set worked very well, especially the ladder down into Iokanaan's cell and the music, which plays quite an important part, I found rather over amplified at times. An interesting concept but having the play presented as a gay version just confused the story for me. I will be interested in other people's reactions to it.
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Post by drowseychap on Jun 9, 2017 23:49:49 GMT
Saw this last night and never seen it before and never been to the rsc ... what a wonderful theatre . Wouldn't have been something I'd have ever gone to see before but so glad I got to see it ... my partner wasn't looking forward to it as thought be too high brow and wordy for him but was hooked from the start .... a little hard to get all the text ... but followed it well .
Great set and the whole look of the show although minimal worked so well the small details were great lighting too was so atmospheric.
Fab live band and the singer and use of music really kept the play moving along ... the dance was very stricking and the veils dropping was great touch
We and the 5 people I went with all enjoyed it gave it 4out of 5
I didn't think Salome being a man detracted from it at all the allmost all male cast worked well lovely to see this new production marking 50 years since decriminalisation of homosexuality real great piece and important theatre
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Post by lynette on Jun 21, 2017 20:20:52 GMT
Well.....well....smashing acting, nice ahem scenery but I just don't see the point of making Salome a boy.
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Post by bee on Jul 1, 2017 16:58:47 GMT
Mixed feelings about this. I thought the music was too loud and rather intrusive. It just didn't seem to fit. I didn't really think Matthew Tennyson worked as Salome. He gave it his best shot, but I thought he just looked a bit silly in his high heels and skimpy dress. Why not just put him in male clothing and turn it into a proper gay adaptation? That would have worked better for me.
On the plus side, the acting was generally good, especially Gavin Fowler as Iokanaan. He chewed the scenery a bit but I thought that worked well for the part.
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Post by schuttep on Jul 3, 2017 9:42:45 GMT
I saw this last Saturday and thought it worked much better than a version I'd seen several years ago at the Gate Theatre in Dublin (also saw the statue of Oscar Wilde reclining on a rock there, known locally, colloquially and affectionately as the Fag on the Crag!)
I didn't mind an androgynous Salome and thought Matthew Tennyson did a good job; not everyone was going to like the casting decision there. But Gavin Fowler was mesmerising as Iokanaan (and rather sexy in his little pants). In fact he was sexier partly clothed than Matthew was naked. The dance was a bit uncoordinated and the final reveal, pulling down a pair of black underpants, a bit clumsy: why didn't they finish with him slinking out of his pink slip?
Suzanne Burden was a nasty Herodias and therefore perfect in the role.
I was totally bowled over, though, by Perfume Genius' music. I had never heard of him before but will be listening to more of his songs. I thought they fit rather well into this particular version.
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Post by crabtree on Jul 28, 2017 23:28:57 GMT
A great double bill in the Swan today of the exquisite Venus and Adonis and the hit and miss Salome. The hits were the family, the fake head and the brilliant dropping of the veils from above. The misses, well, gee I'd like a moratorium on army fatigues, cheap S&M studded leather, and having a probably wonderful tall black actor having to be a fabulous drag queen to show how decadent we all are, is getting somewhat predictable. They messed up the ending I think...the drag queen singing for ever undercut the 'kill her', and more could have been done with the head really......watch the Royal Opera House Salome for some good head (oh that didn't turn out right) acting - truly horrific. I had expected more corpses by the end.....The whole production felt a bit Drama school with messages imposed on it, drama school but with some real pro performances at the centre.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2017 8:12:12 GMT
Quick! - This ends tomorrow.
Later this month, Owen Horsley is following up this Salome with a minimalist, three-woman, stage adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Watermill, by Newbury. I love such links between shows so I'm making a last-minute visit to the Swan and my first-ever visit to the Watermill, walking the lanes.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2017 0:24:52 GMT
I think this is one of the best productions I've ever seen in the Swan. I didn't understand lots of it, but then I never can with classic plays, and I got vivid jolts from it all the way through. This is a million miles away from the stock RSC show, and all the better for it. It was a bit disappointing not to be able to make out many of the Perfume Genius lyrics, but I can never hear song lyrics. Cheered to see this at the last minute - it finishes tonight.
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