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Post by zahidf on Oct 9, 2018 7:33:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2018 8:13:08 GMT
Excellent, thanks!
Wish the Barbican would get a move on and announce their 2019 theatre season! The 2018 season announcement was at the start of November.
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Post by bordeaux on Oct 9, 2018 10:13:23 GMT
Confirmation on Comedie Francaise website too. Running time 2hrs 10, no interval. Disappointing - I was hoping for a five-hour epic. |
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Post by n1david on Oct 9, 2018 11:46:05 GMT
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Post by asfound on Jun 20, 2019 12:09:51 GMT
Saw this last night. I quite enjoyed it even though for a lot of it I had no idea what was going on or who the characters were. The problem was I had a side view seat and at the beginning had to pay attention to what was going on on stage, the surtitles way above me, and the screen at the back introducing the characters with subtitles. So I missed who at least 3 of the characters were and how the fit in. As everyone was amplified it was also quite hard to even tell who was speaking at times so I'd suggest middle of stalls or circle.
Still, it was quite the spectacle - sometimes camp, sometimes grotesque, plenty of nudity, fake blood, gunshot and deep rumbling noises if that's your bag. The plot wasn't too interesting to me, family industrialists and nazis, dynasty and country, family and duty, loyalty and betrayal etc. but the over 2 hours (no interval) flew by. There were both walk outs and standing ovations, my kind of production!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2019 7:31:48 GMT
Thought this was excellent, well worth a visit if you can fit in one of the 4 remaining performances. A long haul with no interval (was about 2 hours 20 last night) but as asfound says it does fly by! Also agree it takes no prisoners with the character introductions at the beginning! Plenty of opportunities to play Ivo Van Hove bingo - cast getting changed and made up on stage, soft furnishings, set looks like a 1980s hotel lobby, based on a film everyone is pretending to have seen, action you can't see getting filmed live and projected, member of the cast leaves the theatre and goes for a wander around the theatre foyer followed by a video camera. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2019 13:55:24 GMT
Yes, one scene in particular was very uncomfortable and I can't see it being staged that way by a UK company. On the other hand this production has been staged since 2016 with presumably no issues regarding this. An interesting article in the Guardian the other day may give some background on the formal style of some of the acting (particularly among the older members of the cast) - 'People think it's a nest of vipers!' Inside the illustrious Comédie-Française . It's a very different setup to (eg) the RSC over here and is much more actor-led. For instance ... |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jun 21, 2019 22:05:57 GMT
The Barbican continues to excel this year, not quite as good as Medea but came close at times.
Uncomfortable as expected for such a dark subject. Standout was our complicity when we became part of the production.
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Post by ncbears on Jun 22, 2019 22:31:59 GMT
Well, I wanted to see something different than I could see in the States, and this was definitely it. Only, it would have been nice to have known the play was performed in French (after last night's Russian Three Sisters!). The supertitles were mostly easy enough to follow without being too distracting (the titles at Three Sisters were distracting and confusing). But, to echo what others wrote - what a dark dark dark piece. (I have not seen the movie, but maybe now I might?) It was shocking, provocative, disturbing, challenging. And NeilVHughes is absolutely right about how the play indicts the passivity of the audience as people who did nothing to stop the horror and terror. Credit to the actors who somehow manage to perform this repeatedly. I can only imagine what rehearsals were like! But, this was stagework using all the bells and whistles and tricks and techniques to create an expereicne. I had a an excellent seat thanks to a late return and very nice box office people - so I did see the introductory slides of who everyone was - although I did occasionally get confused about the relationships.
There were seats in the back of the stalls available. An usher also gave a warning shortly before the play began about not being let back in if you left during the performance.
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Post by jadnoop on Jun 22, 2019 22:59:10 GMT
I think I would have really liked this, but sitting in the gallery was a huge mistake.
Trying to keep track of what was going on, looking between the surtitles, a (half-blocked) video screen, and the tops of actors’ heads was too much. Half the time I couldn’t figure out who was talking (amplified dialogue, plus lots of actors on stage, plus not seeing faces) so following the story in detail was difficult. The experience felt like watching a foreign movie in a shop window tv, with subtitles coming by text.
I enjoyed the visceral & emotional assault of the production, and the play had some magnificent moments, like the cameras in the coffins. In a better seat I think I would have really enjoyed it. (maybe ‘appreciated’ rather than ‘enjoyed’)
As it was, it didn’t make the sum of its parts. But boy were there a lot of parts.
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Post by asfound on Jun 23, 2019 10:07:25 GMT
Reading these other comments it's amusing to me that having spent a lot of time watching French films, including the New French Extremity, Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis etc. I didn't even think about, shall we say, the "logistics" of the uncomfortable scenes with Martin. It just seemed perfectly natural even as disturbing as it was but thinking back it is actually surprising they went there and I'm glad they didn't hold back. Good thing there wasn't a reviewer from the Daily Mail there.
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Post by rosmersholm on Jun 23, 2019 14:40:05 GMT
And for Ivo’s next trick... The Shining adapt. Simon Stephens, straight to West End.
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Post by romeo94 on Jun 23, 2019 20:31:56 GMT
Are there any discounts lying around for this? Does anyone know if the Barbican do day seats?
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Post by bordeaux on Jun 23, 2019 21:19:10 GMT
And for Ivo’s next trick... The Shining adapt. Simon Stephens, straight to West End. Where did you hear that? I have to admit, it doesn't appeal, but I'm always intrigued to see what he does. |
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Post by ncbears on Jun 23, 2019 21:24:28 GMT
And for Ivo’s next trick... The Shining adapt. Simon Stephens, straight to West End. Where did you hear that? I have to admit, it doesn't appeal, but I'm always intrigued to see what he does. I think Rosmerholm was making a joke. As for day seats, I think officially the answer is no but the box office may try to help if you ask nicely |
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Post by bordeaux on Jun 23, 2019 21:26:36 GMT
Where did you hear that? I have to admit, it doesn't appeal, but I'm always intrigued to see what he does. I think Rosmerholm was making a joke. As for day seats, I think officially the answer is no but the box office may try to help if you ask nicely Thank you for pointing that out so gently! A whoosh moment. But not inconceivable choice for him...?! |
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Post by dlevi on Jun 23, 2019 21:36:14 GMT
I saw this on Friday night and as much as I have loved many of Ivo's productions, I'm getting wary of his bag of tricks. And this one especially toward the end I feel that the production was bordering on the most offensive kind of violent pornography. The stage craft was terrific but in service of what?
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Post by rosmersholm on Jun 23, 2019 22:32:05 GMT
I think Rosmerholm was making a joke. As for day seats, I think officially the answer is no but the box office may try to help if you ask nicely Thank you for pointing that out so gently! A whoosh moment. But not inconceivable choice for him...?! Not a joke. Aside from any productions which may visit from Europe, this is his next London project. |
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Post by zahidf on Jun 23, 2019 22:48:20 GMT
And for Ivo’s next trick... The Shining adapt. Simon Stephens, straight to West End. It's odiepus in edinbrugh next I believe... |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2019 8:21:01 GMT
Oedipus in Edinburgh is the Robert Icke-directed production, nothing to do with van Hove (apart from obvious stylistic influences).
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Post by zahidf on Jun 24, 2019 8:42:26 GMT
Oedipus in Edinburgh is the Robert Icke-directed production, nothing to do with van Hove (apart from obvious stylistic influences). Ah, fair enough. My mistake! |
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Post by ncbears on Jun 24, 2019 10:16:54 GMT
Thank you for pointing that out so gently! A whoosh moment. But not inconceivable choice for him...?! Not a joke. Aside from any productions which may visit from Europe, this is his next London project. My apologies. It seems like such a "dream" pairing for an adaptation that I thought it couldn't be real. But, I did see a reference in an interview with Stephens about adapting The Shining. So, my bad. I do find it interesting that King would sign off on van Hove directing an adaptation given how much King reportedly disliked Kubrick's "auteur" version - if King even has a right of approval. I know there was an opera version a few years ago - but you do wonder how much stage audiences will be expecting the Kubrick version rather than what King actually wrote. That aside, I am very intrigued by a Stephens/van Hove pairing. |
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Post by lynette on Jun 24, 2019 18:02:58 GMT
I read a review of this. Said no British director would get away with it.
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Post by zahidf on Jun 24, 2019 21:47:42 GMT
Saw this to today: I did like it, was very well staged and visceral.
The paedo stuff was VERY uncomfortable mind you. And some of the scenes went on a touch too long. Still a brave and fascinating piece.
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