Knives in Hens - Donmar Warehouse

Given it is only a few hours since seeing Salome, I have to report my immediate reaction is not one of enthusiasm.

It's very big in Germany and very different to the sort of thing the Donmar put on in the starrier days of Mendes and Grandage. This is an interesting interview with the writer (who also wrote Blackbird) and actress in the original production.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/aug/06/how-we-made-knives-hens

I haven't seen any of Yael Farber's shows but there are parallels between Knives in Hens and The Crucible, which she directed previously. Both plays have rural, historical settings. Knives in Hens is a much quieter play but quite disturbing in its content.

Knives in Hens follows Making Noise Quietly in Josie Rourke's Donmar programming strand of deserved, major revivals of searing domestic plays originally premiered at the Bush Theatre under Dominic Dromgoole's leadership.

On the chicken?

I haven't booked for this but am getting a lot of ads for it popping up on social media.
The marketing strategy seems to be to emphasise the sheer gorgeousness of the cast.

I know it's difficult to say because of the stoppage but how long do you think it might be when it's running properly? And is there an interval?

I found this quite dreary. The forced intermission gave some of the audience the opportunity to depart. However, I persevered & by the end regretted it. Its a shame i haven't been disappointed at the Donmar for a while.

Likewise I also was in the circle. I thought she may have fainted, but whatever it was she needed an Ambulance.

Didn't know that and thanks.

Maybe then there is a temporary suspension on performing Blackbird in theatre because of the film.

In the royal court playwriting podcast Simon Stephens says that this is his favourite play so I am keen to see what makes it so good but not encouraged by WOM here

Well, I may stick out like a sore thumb here, but I loved this. Once I realised that this is essentially an exploration of language, its limits, its power, the difference between language and knowledge, so much became clear. The written statement read by Roddy (which refers at the start to a knife in a hen) I thought was beautifully written. She understands that God's purpose for her is to understand the world, but she refers to this as naming what she sees in the world (echoing Adam naming the animals in Eden). However, she struggles that there is so much more about an object that she cannot name. Without being able to name something, there is a barrier to understanding. Hence we have the miller writing his thoughts and the reverence and fear of books expressed by the three characters. The play explicitly explores meaning at various points ('like a field', tree, puddle, etc.), but once the simplest language is questioned, even the most innocuous statements in the play cannot be taken at face value. Do the characters refer to concepts, objects, people by name, but are trying to say something more for which they have no name? If so what is meant? I can see that some will hate this play, but it's a thumbs up from me.

Oh dear, having swerved booking for this myself I just agreed to go with my friend who had a spare ticket. May have been a mistake, based on the above reports,