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Post by Jan on Oct 4, 2018 10:45:57 GMT
Modern Shakespeare has been so bastardised by directors it’s sickening Rarely does anyone succeed in updating it well But Pompey and his actual submarine!! All the stars for whoever made that update. You should spoiler that, though several reviewers have mentioned it of course. The worst used to be Charles Spencer, he’d exhaustively list every single staging surprise in a production.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2018 18:43:12 GMT
I went with a friend She left at the interval I left about 10 mins into the second half Sophie Okonedo was funny And would make a good panto dame Modern Shakespeare has been so bastardised by directors it’s sickening Rarely does anyone succeed in updating it well Sophie Okonedo was funny And would make a good panto dame I read today that Okonedo reckons that she had only ever seen the Carry On version of the play. Parsley vindicated.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 9:20:35 GMT
Well. I think it should be a rule that all Shakespeare plays should be done and dusted in 100 minutes tops. For such a slight story they don't half drag it out. In the words of Baccara in their 1978 Eurovision Song Contest classic 'Parlez-vous français', 3 and a half bloomin' hours is just "too much Maria". On the plus side, you get Sophie Okonedo giving us her best Frankie Howard impression as Cleopatra in some lovely frocks. She was almost upstaged by a giant corsage on one of them which threatened to chew off an ear in 'Little Shop of Horrors' style and I think a little "no missus, titter ye not" would have gone down a treat but I'll overlook that for the joy of seeing her cope in a yellow ruffled number without corpsing. How the costume designer got her to wear it without losing a limb is a minor miracle. You also get two scene stealing performances from Fisayo Akinade as Eros (there really seems to be no show he cannot steal) and Sardon Yelda as a wonderfully camp Pompey who no doubt would have been delighted to have spent all his time surrounded by seamen. But really, the whole thing is worth it for the set. Not only does Cleo's palace remind me of a hotel I once stayed in on a delightful trip to Tangier but then you get your money's worth from the revolve when it turns into . . . {Cleopatra. Comin Atcha.} . . a gigantic SUBMARINE! Yes, you read that right. A submarine. At The Nash! I almost gave it a round of applause. The great unwashed loved it, Ralphie getting belly laughs for every mildly amusing line. Or perhaps they were just laughing at his palazzo trousers and bolero jacket at the beginning. I couldn't really tell through the boredom.
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Post by peggs on Oct 11, 2018 11:27:11 GMT
We're you there last night @ryan and I missed you?! I wonder if you were one of the people I stared at near the beginning whilst I wondered if I was going to be as bored as parsley. Damn. Yes those trousers were particularly bad, what a lot of outfits Cleo had and people do laugh at odd things. I warmed into it but it took quite a time to get there.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 11:59:19 GMT
We're you there last night @ryan and I missed you?! I wonder if you were one of the people I stared at near the beginning whilst I wondered if I was going to be as bored as parsley. Damn. Yes those trousers were particularly bad, what a lot of outfits Cleo had and people do laugh at odd things. I warmed into it but it took quite a time to get there. Oh the shame of it but I was on the back row of the circle with the riff raff I'm afraid. In a way I'm glad as I sometimes like to live dangerously and see how the other half live and also because I would have been particularly narked orf if I'd paid any more to see it. I was wearing some gorgeous trousers in a small brown check and a green knitted polo. I looked rather dashing last night so I'm disappointed that you missed me. In all honesty, there were a few sh*ts 'n' giggles in it but I couldn't wait for them both to peg it really (pardon the pun). If I could have, I'd have hunted out the snake and brought it out on stage myself just so that the interminable night would end. I think it was because they were just such an unlikeable pair. I was Team Tunji all the way. Fisayo Akinade splashing about in the swimming pool was the highlight of the whole evening.
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Post by harry on Oct 11, 2018 12:10:13 GMT
Sorry to be that bore, but seeing this tonight and having read the gunshot warning (and being a wuss) would anyone be able to give me something a little more specific so I know when to brace myself. Thanks in advance.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 12:22:22 GMT
Sorry to be that bore, but seeing this tonight and having read the gunshot warning (and being a wuss) would anyone be able to give me something a little more specific so I know when to brace myself. Thanks in advance. Oh goodness, there's rather a lot during the battle scene in the second act from what I remember. Plus some explosions. It does go on for quite a bit.
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Post by harry on Oct 11, 2018 13:01:04 GMT
Sorry to be that bore, but seeing this tonight and having read the gunshot warning (and being a wuss) would anyone be able to give me something a little more specific so I know when to brace myself. Thanks in advance. Oh goodness, there's rather a lot during the battle scene in the second act from what I remember. Plus some explosions. It does go on for quite a bit. Thanks and that's ok, forewarned if forearmed. Are there lots of blank rounds and pyrotechnic explosions, or is it more pre-recorded sound effects? Weirdly I never seem to jump as much at one as the other.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 13:08:20 GMT
Oh goodness, there's rather a lot during the battle scene in the second act from what I remember. Plus some explosions. It does go on for quite a bit. Thanks and that's ok, forewarned if forearmed. Are there lots of blank rounds and pyrotechnic explosions, or is it more pre-recorded sound effects? Weirdly I never seem to jump as much at one as the other. Oh I'm not sure. There are some pyrotechnics going on though. You'd think I'd have been able to remember that because I once went out with someone who always used to fire lots of blanks. It didn't bother me really but apparently it really used to annoy his wife. Ba-dum Tsh.
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Post by peggs on Oct 11, 2018 16:43:58 GMT
Hmmmm blanks maybe and some explosions as noted but it's fairly obvious that battle is about to occur. @ryan the outfit sounds Devine, sorry to have missed you but also somewhat relieved as not sure my woolly hat fleece combo would have impressed you. I was a £15 lucky return at the front with a little old lady who must def did not want to chat and next to the girl who insisted on draping herself on the stage, can't have been comfy.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2018 17:19:51 GMT
next to the girl who insisted on draping herself on the stage, can't have been comfy. Oh gosh I think I saw her! Were you on the curvy bit of stage right? She seemed to be leaning right on the stage, I thought perhaps she thought she was a groundling at the Globe!
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Post by peggs on Oct 11, 2018 17:57:02 GMT
next to the girl who insisted on draping herself on the stage, can't have been comfy. Oh gosh I think I saw her! Were you on the curvy bit of stage right? She seemed to be leaning right on the stage, I thought perhaps she thought she was a groundling at the Globe! I was sat on the left as you enter so yes that would be stage right wouldn't it? She was end of row A (I was in one of those 2 seats to the side) and it looked very much I am going to do this cos I can, unless she was actually trying to get onto the stage, the angle to watch must have impractical, I unkindly thought she was trying to make a statement and being unnecessary. When she desisted mad laughing very loudly lady took over, she found Ralph hilarious and did clap randomly in a sort i'm clapping I have seen what no one else has seen sort of way. What's with the slightly altered ending {Spoiler - click to view} Octavia confirming Caesar's real plans for Cleopatra, was this meant to be some female solidarity? Seemed unlikely since Antony had up and left her. I kept wondering why Caesar and his lot didn't wear socks, was it very hot in Rome? Yes Fisayo Akinade is a joy isn't he whenever he turns up and i'm always happy to see Tim McMullan. I liked Ralph Fiennes take on Antony once he'd got rid of that alarming first outfit (there were some funny outfits all round, what was with the big shouldered suit or very obviously stuck on plastic military ribbons? I could believe he'd been a rather successful brawler now gone a bit hunched over and to seed. Sophie Okonedo just wasn't what I expected of a Cleopatra, I rather thought Antony was putting up with a lot and could she not pipe down and calm down. Good death though. And yes kudos for pulling off those outfits.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Oct 12, 2018 7:53:59 GMT
Sorry to be that bore, but seeing this tonight and having read the gunshot warning (and being a wuss) would anyone be able to give me something a little t more specific so I know when to brace myself. Thanks in advance. Gosh I am muffing up this spoiler business something awful... let's try again...
During the big battle scene (second half) Ralph fires off about four shots ("real" not pre-recorded) then there are two big flashbangs that go off one after the other (either side of the stage). It's after they come on with machine guns, which they don't fire, then they run off to swap them for handguns.
From memory I think it's after Enobarbus says, "No: I will go seek some ditch wherein to die; the foul'st best fits my latter part of life."
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Post by dlevi on Oct 12, 2018 7:54:19 GMT
I saw this last night and thought it was smashing! Maybe a bit too long but who cares, it's one of the most clear-headed productions of the play I've seen and all the acting was terrific. Simon Godwin can be great ( Strange Interlude) or downright awful ( Cherry Orchard in New York) but when he hits it right, it's something to celebrate. The physical production was also wonderful and great to see the Oliver drum being put to good use. This is the kind of production for which people go to the National from all over the world. Totally satisfying. Let's hope Rufus and the powers that be take note. So many of their other choices have been downright lousy.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2018 7:15:13 GMT
We're you there last night @ryan and I missed you?! I wonder if you were one of the people I stared at near the beginning whilst I wondered if I was going to be as bored as parsley. Damn. Yes those trousers were particularly bad, what a lot of outfits Cleo had and people do laugh at odd things. I warmed into it but it took quite a time to get there. The trousers reminded me of MC Hammer’s in the “Can’t Touch This” video all those years ago.
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Post by youngoffender on Oct 16, 2018 14:00:19 GMT
Very much a play of two halves for me. The first was tight, lucid, and visually inventive; the second baggy, static and tedious, to the point where any impact from Cleopatra's death is blunted by exhaustion. Much of the blame for this must lie with the text, and the inevitability in these weaker tragedies that just makes you long for everyone to hurry up and die, but for the production too it felt to me that 75% of the creative energy was expended on the first 90 minutes, and after the break it was more 'OK, let's just get through the rest of it word for word'.
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Post by lynette on Oct 16, 2018 18:22:43 GMT
I think that Shakespeare himself was making fun of this ‘die please now’ thing with the end of Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pyramus.
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Post by another100ppl on Oct 18, 2018 2:53:17 GMT
Very much a play of two halves for me. The first was tight, lucid, and visually inventive; the second baggy, static and tedious, to the point where any impact from Cleopatra's death is blunted by exhaustion. Much of the blame for this must lie with the text, and the inevitability in these weaker tragedies that just makes you long for everyone to hurry up and die, but for the production too it felt to me that 75% of the creative energy was expended on the first 90 minutes, and after the break it was more 'OK, let's just get through the rest of it word for word'. I agree with this entirely. Saw it Wednesday afternoon and thought Act one was brilliant, but Act two was painted with far too broad strokes. Sophie was amazing, Ralph I was less taken by (but I’m not his biggest fan anyway). Overall for me, a solid and sensical production of a play that naturally has a few teething problems.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Oct 18, 2018 7:42:56 GMT
Earlier this week the Nash twited about a free understudy performance of Antony and Cleopatra, but I can't find the twit anymore. I know it's tomorrow but forgot the details. Does anybody know? Thanks
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Post by theatrefan77 on Oct 18, 2018 8:40:28 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2018 9:11:59 GMT
Well, I really like this play, but this production never managed to take off. The two leads are excellent actors but had zero chemistry so the relationship never felt remotely real or established and Ralph F in particular was a charisma black hole - he just seemed to get sucked into the background.
Both performances felt phoned-in and one-note to me - they basically shouted in the same tone throughout the play. The whole thing was pedestrian and oddly rushed, despite the length - for eg, when A tells C about the death of Fulvia neither react and they just gabble through the scene.
A real shame - ok but absolutely not memorable. I can't really put my finger on why - there's nothing terrible I can point to, but it just never got going.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2018 9:13:14 GMT
PS - the snake at the end was very pretty - probably my favourite character.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2018 9:16:04 GMT
They should let you know which snake it is. Just signs on the doors or something, "tonight the role of aspic will be played by Mr Jangles" or whathaveyou.
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Post by david on Oct 24, 2018 9:44:22 GMT
Hopefully the snake is RADA (Reptilian Academy for the Dramatic Arts) trained.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2018 21:40:36 GMT
I’m hoping all of the snakes are ‘indisposed’ the night I have tickets and they have to use a rubber snake understudy.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2018 22:31:50 GMT
The snakes they use are milk snakes, they're very beautifully coloured and larger than the usual snake you'll find in a production of Antony & Cleopatra (they wanted them to be visible to every audience member). I tell you this not to tease you but so you can prepare yourself for the sight of a decently-sized red stripey snake. But rest assured, even acting dead, Okonedo has a pretty good grip on the snake until someone else takes it off a few minutes later, so even if you get a wiggly one, there's an extremely low risk of escape and it'll be gone before very long.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2018 10:50:08 GMT
The snakes they use are milk snakes, they're very beautifully coloured and larger than the usual snake you'll find in a production of Antony & Cleopatra (they wanted them to be visible to every audience member). I tell you this not to tease you but so you can prepare yourself for the sight of a decently-sized red stripey snake. But rest assured, even acting dead, Okonedo has a pretty good grip on the snake until someone else takes it off a few minutes later, so even if you get a wiggly one, there's an extremely low risk of escape and it'll be gone before very long. I am utterly petrified about the use of snakes but I am determined to overcome my fear and see this. Just wish I had booked circle seats for this.
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Post by peggs on Oct 27, 2018 13:18:46 GMT
The snakes they use are milk snakes, they're very beautifully coloured and larger than the usual snake you'll find in a production of Antony & Cleopatra (they wanted them to be visible to every audience member). I tell you this not to tease you but so you can prepare yourself for the sight of a decently-sized red stripey snake. But rest assured, even acting dead, Okonedo has a pretty good grip on the snake until someone else takes it off a few minutes later, so even if you get a wiggly one, there's an extremely low risk of escape and it'll be gone before very long. I am utterly petrified about the use of snakes but I am determined to overcome my fear and see this. Just wish I had booked circle seats for this. Good on you for giving it a go, hope it's not too terrifying.
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Post by lynette on Oct 27, 2018 23:31:43 GMT
'Larger than usual' Er? I’m beginning to feel a little queasy
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2018 9:20:36 GMT
When I've seen live snakes used previously, they've usually used wee snakes that aren't much bigger than a slow worm, but milk snakes are a little bigger than the corn snakes you see in pet shops (which I assume are all juveniles and will get bigger). It's not "bigger" like "large enough to constrict a child to death", just bigger like "you should probably hold this baby with two hands but it's not the end of the world if you need to let go with one hand to open a door".
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