The American Clock - Old Vic

I did quite like this one this evening. It clocked in at three hours but didn’t feel overly long. I particularly liked the tap dance sequence. I imagine Chavkin’s vision for this is vastly different from what the original play was like, but it is very visually effective.
I did struggle with some of the doubling ups of the characters and the seemingly “triple” casting of some roles. I didn’t know who was who at some points.
I was side row M “restricted view” and found it fine to be honest.
And toilet watch: those port-a-loos are better than the facilities in some west end theatres!

I got called by the Old Vic last week letting me know that my seat was now restricted view and I could either keep it or move. They moved me very easily and I am seeing it on Monday.

I had a similar dilemma and decided on home (though I haven't actually left it today) and pizza, not feeling well enough to sit through 3 hours tonight.

I was also there this afternoon. I was sat in the Baylis Circle and for 3hrs wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences. By the end of Act 1, I was glad just to get out of there and stretch my legs and get some fresh air It didn’t help that it seemed very warm up there as well. If All my Sons is of a similar running time, I’m glad I’ve booked a stalls seat as I wouldn’t want to go through that again any time soon.

As for the play itself, I thought it was well done and an interesting examination of the impact of the Depression on people’s lives. The use of song and dance at different points during the show were the highlight for me. The band playing preshow was a nice touch to the proceeedings. Fred Haig dancing was a big plus. I was enjoy seeing a revolve in action on a stage and this certainly didn’t disappoint here.

As someone who also saw the Lehman Trilogy, I can definitely see the similarities between the two plays in terms of its staging Though I didn’t get as lost as to who was playing who with this one as I did with the LT so that’s another plus for this play for me.

The outside toilets weren’t an issue, though why FOH had buckets of sweets outside of them is a bit baffling. Though I must admit, I did take one or two.i mean it would of been rude not to as they are being offered.

I am never watching another Rachel Chavkin production. The double bassist in the band spent much of the play with his head hung down or fiddling with his bow. When the people on stage look so bored, what hope is there for the audience?

She fills the stage with too many people, it’s too busy.
She has dance, but it’s really sloppily executed. Either cast people who can dance, or choreograph something simpler.
She favours this old-timey aesthetic that I find very chintzy and dull.
She does a ticker tape drop in the first ten minutes which makes the stage a mess for the rest of the play.

Did she double up solely so that the main characters could form the numbers on the clock at the end of the first act?

My ticket was £10 and I resented paying it. Left at the interval.

Oh dear. I'm there tonight. Great £10 tix in row J Stalls and I've never seen the play....I'm dragging Mr Foxa (pray for him.) Come say 'hi' at the interval, if you are there - you'll probably recognise me as the bespectacled woman trying to talk down an outraged husband.

Oh THAT'S where he's gone. He gets about, doesn't he, old Garnon. Last time I saw him in the Old Vic was in the EXCREBLE Much Ado.

Didn't much like this. Too long and was annoying.

And indeed from the cast itself. 

Friend went tonight and said Clarke Peters was wearing an earpiece and taking quite a while to say some of his lines. That's going to take me back to Richard Dreyfus in that awful one a few years back.

Also, the reasoning behind the white/black/Asian tripling:

www.timeout.com/london/theatre/rachel-chavkin-i-think-its-funny-that-im-a-broadway-director

Does anyone who has been know if they have got a "south East Asian" family in this? Or have they gone down the road of "we can't find any Asian actors" again?

This was a confusing production. I was excited at first (in the round, band, showy set, movement) but in the end, it was a bit of a mess. Snciole and a friend were there to try to help me figure it out and I bought a programme too...

According to my programme, the groupings were:

Rose 1: Clare Burt, Moe 1: James Garnon, Lee 1, Fred Haig.

Rose 2: Amber Aga Moe 2: Abhin Galeya Lee 2: Taheen Modak

Rose 3: Golda Rosheuvel, Moe 3: Clarke Peters Lee 3: Jyuddah Jaymes

The ways the roles were divided, family 1 had most of their scenes at the beginning of the narrative journey, family 2 had the middle and family 3 had the ending - though it wasn't as clear as that and sometimes they were sharing scenes or all on stage together.

As Snciole pointed out last night, Clarke Peters had a lot of parts to play (the narrator character, one of the fathers and a poor farmer with two scenes.) If he was brought in late and possibly assumed extra roles, it's not surprising he had an earpiece (he was wearing one last night.) I wasn't aware of him obviously taking cues from it and he gave a warm, varied performance so it wasn't a Dreyfus situation. Some of the allocation of roles was confusing, with some members of the cast having very little to do and others, like Golda Rosheuvel, going straight from one very big scene as a political organiser to another long scene as Rose 3.

Structurally it's very frustrating, and made the more so by the tripling. However, I am really interested in the time period (1929-1939) and there are some political resonances. Another lovely performance from Francesca Mills and Ewan Wardrop can certainly tap dance.

My £10 Row J ticket ended up being second role of the stalls, so excellent value.

Reading this thread makes me remember why I try to avoid an in depth scanning before going to see a production. I came to see a rough running time and am now positively dreading my visit on the 23rd!!