The Way of the World - Donmar

They mostly already know the plays (if it’s a revival), so can better assign blame to either a flaw in the text or production.

Got a klaxon ticket for this on Thursday (12th) that I’ll give away for free, if anyone wants it?

If we suppose that critics are more refined than the general audience, more educated (at least with regards to theatre), and feel they have a mission to refine and educate the audience, then one can easily see where the critics will fall down hard and fail that audience, with regards to COMEDY.

I know comedies can transmit enlightenment values, refine and educate, satirise and reveal, and whatnot, but first and foremost, they've GOT to make us laugh.

At the interval, of the last preview, a number of audience members, including myself, had a chat. Two people to my left, one lady looked despairingly at me, and asked what i thought. I said "it's not funny, so it's tedious." She said "Thank God for that, I thought I was the only one," and promptly walked out. The two witty ladies to my immediate left also thought it wasn't funny, but decided to stay to see if things improved. They did. In front, a younger lady mournfully admitted she "hadn't been paying attention" in the first scene of the play, and now felt she couldn't understand anything.

To mis-paraphrase Shakespeare, the quality of laughter is "not strained, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven." Well, the audience all about me were clearly straining to laugh, desperate to get their money's worth. I myself am happy to laugh against the stream of an audience, even if I look silly doing it, but I just wasn't getting any comic surprises, being instead inundated with emotional subtleties from the actors. The result was muted and/or strained laughter all round. Thankfully, things improved in part 2.

Now critics will have seen previous revivals, whether it be Jeremy Northam playing Mirabel, or Maggie Smith playing Milliamant, Margaret Rutherford playing Lady Wishfort, or in Billington's case, Mrs. Bracegirdle premiering Millamant in 1700. So they know the plot, and the comic twists are pre-spoiled. Therefore, all they have left is to obsess over  refinement and elevation.

This is why the critics tend to HAMMER an OTT comedy like "Ruthless," at the Arts Theatre, with two star reviews, while the paying audience is roaring with laughter. That is because for some critics, that audience is being debased by that low humour, rather than elevated, so the play needs to be spanked.

For me, much revived comedies can be great, even if I remember their twists, as long as unique actors create uniquely humorous characterisations of well-known parts, like Tamsin Greig, Tim McMullan and Daniel Rigby all managed in the National's uproarious Twelfth Night. There, director Simon Godwin put his audience first, and encouraged some truly wild and crazy and unique comedy characterisations that came way before all the refinement and elevation in the world.

The only critic base enough to truly join his audience in their low appetites was Charles Spencer, but he's retired. Quentin Letts is base, but unfortunately he tows the Mail's party line of hating on everybody not like himself, so he is base in more ways than one.

My feeling is that this production will be at it's best in the very last performance, when director James Macdonald's own refinement is forgotten by the actors, and they have been chasing laughs for a month, and have figured out how to get them.

Just saw this. The odd comic moments were welcome, because otherwise it was very hard to follow. I have to confess to dozing during some of the wordier, less amusing bits. I think the previous comment about most of the actors playing it too straight was spot on.

E mail from Donmar saying tomorrow evening has been cancelled, assume tonight is too.

I had a ticket for tonight as well. Quite disappointing but at least I am in London. I hope there were not people travelling to the Donmar from outside London just to see the play because the email came quite late.

Which performances are cancelled? Nothing on their twitter feed or the website about this!

Thanks!

Yes, I had tickets for Friday night and got an email this afternoon saying it was cancelled and they would be in touch later to see if I wanted a refund or new tickets. But all a bit mysterious.

What would we do without board tip offs. I'm not until the following sat so will watch and wait now.

Oh god, how awful. He was no age at all.

Yes, that's horrible news. I can understand now why they've been in a bit of disarray about announcing the cancellations - must have been very shocking for everyone at the Donmar.