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Post by alessia on Dec 16, 2022 17:41:35 GMT
oh no! I am worried this will be me as well lol. I'm older than you but similarly have no idea about the context of this, I definitely ought to read up a bit beforehand. Watch the Netflix doc it's based on, it's great x Learning something new every minute-I didn't know there was one lol. Thanks! |
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Post by lookingatthestars on Dec 19, 2022 23:30:46 GMT
Saw this last Wednesday, and really enjoyed it. I knew very little of the events/charaters but was able to follow along after a while and was helped by the brief inclusion of other more famous charaters/events from that time in history.
Apart from the enjoying the play from the point of view of the subject matter - the political discource and it's context in history, I appreciated watching the skill of the actors, particulary the two leads. It's quite a lot of dialogue with precise staging and it's been a while since I've seen something so technical.
I agree about the very expensive tickets, I don't think they are doing themselves any favours.
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Post by pledge on Dec 21, 2022 9:17:28 GMT
Enjoyed this far more than much of the new writing I've sat through recently - a welcome opportunity to learn more about a significant moment in US/ western history. Not sure that some of the "scene-setting" scenes were particularly necessary or convincing - I always find it rather embarrassing when a "crowd" of six actors are pretending to be a crowd of hundreds - and the production couldn't seem to decide whether or not to go for "look alike" impersonation/veracity (eg James Baldwin) or frankly not even bother trying (Tariq Ali etc.) Quint in particular did a lovely job recreating Vidal's languid drawl, and his body language is fascinating - a serious stage actor. (And far from being a mere "commentator" Vidals novels offer a major heavyweight if idiosyncratic analysis of US history). The play is drenched in sly ironic references to our current media-saturated age and I'd really like to know if the final scene - which predicts our identity-driven cultural crisis - literally quotes the speakers or is an authors speculative "re-creation" - if the former then Vidal for one was wickedly prescient...Not a play for the ages perhaps, but certainly one for our times.
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Post by Steve on Dec 21, 2022 17:56:46 GMT
Just saw the matinee (using TodayTix - still too expensive), but what a perfect matchup these two actors are, David Harewood a great big puffed up balloon of self regard and smugness, and Zachary Quinto all knives. Loved it! Some spoilers follow. . . Regardless of the politics, it's just such fun to watch two actors at the top of their game tear shreds off each other, though one is far more damaged than the other. It's actually an astonishingly prescient play, the way it demonstrates how it only takes an explosion of pique on the public stage (intimated from the very beginning, fully revealed at the end) to completely redefine a person in the public imagination. I mean, Elon Musk's claim to tread a middle ground was solidly believed, until he bought Twitter, and started spouting conspiracy theories about Nancy Pelosi's husband, needlessly mocking trans people and demanding Anthony Fauci be prosecuted. Suddenly, he's not the bridge-building gentleman he was pretending to be, and just another culture warrior. It's this same story we see with Harewood's character, Buckley, a great big balloon of pomposity and pretend reasonableness, exploded by all the sharp needles of Quinto's sarcastic words, his blank deliberate ruthlessness. Quinto's whole body is calculated savagery, his eyebrows, his hands, his comic timing. Just watching this one man puncture another, see him fight back, then see him punctured again is at once hilariously pleasurable, but also exactly the form of gladiatorial combat that saps all our attention, and makes intelligent argument pointless. James Graham suckers us into enjoying the death of civility, and Quinto's Gore is the perfect debauched savage and single-minded wit to unwittingly kill it off. This show makes the age of Trump seem inevitable. A very entertaining 4 stars of needles going repeatedly into balloons, for me.  |
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Post by andrew on Dec 23, 2022 8:42:10 GMT
I liked this a lot, more than I thought I would, I would put this very near the top of James Graham plays. It's very in his mould, you could clip out any 5 minutes of this and play it to most Theatre Board members and I think we'd all be able to comfortably say this was a James Graham play. Zachary Quinto is absolutely riveting as Vidal, I've gone back to watch some YouTube clips and it's not exactly a great impression but it is an extremely engaging mixture of writing and acting. I could have done without the in medias res framing, I know it's a technique as old as time but I feel like half of all plays for the last few years begins with the denouement and I'm just tired of it. But JG has managed to make compelling an event very few patrons will be aware of, continuously make it relevant to the present day, and have it be funny and interesting at the same time.
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Post by digne on Dec 23, 2022 11:28:45 GMT
I went into this with zero background knowledge and expecting to be bored out of my mind and actually had a really good evening! I thought it did a great job actually giving you whatever background knowledge you were lacking via the little ensemble history interludes that provide the political context.
I was sitting in A32 in the Royal Circle which meant I had an extreme side view but was quite close to the stage, and I think that really helps, because so much of this is carried by the emotions and charisma of Harewood and Quinto. I don't think I would have enjoyed this as much from the back of the balcony.
Also, both Balcony and Grand Circle were closed yesterday. I don't know where the rush seats for this are, but my A32 side seat was only 22.50, and I don't think I missed out on anything because 90% of the play was taking place centre stage.
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Post by alessia on Dec 23, 2022 11:53:35 GMT
I went into this with zero background knowledge and expecting to be bored out of my mind and actually had a really good evening! I thought it did a great job actually giving you whatever background knowledge you were lacking via the little ensemble history interludes that provide the political context. I was sitting in A32 in the Royal Circle which meant I had an extreme side view but was quite close to the stage, and I think that really helps, because so much of this is carried by the emotions and charisma of Harewood and Quinto. I don't think I would have enjoyed this as much from the back of the balcony. Also, both Balcony and Grand Circle were closed yesterday. I don't know where the rush seats for this are, but my A32 side seat was only 22.50, and I don't think I missed out on anything because 90% of the play was taking place centre stage. I will be in A31 so this is good to know, thank you. |
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Post by andrew on Dec 23, 2022 11:59:08 GMT
Also, both Balcony and Grand Circle were closed yesterday. I don't know where the rush seats for this are, but my A32 side seat was only 22.50, and I don't think I missed out on anything because 90% of the play was taking place centre stage. Rush seats whenever I've looked have been unsold top non-premium seats, at £30, so more expensive but better views. |
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Post by alessia on Dec 27, 2022 9:04:15 GMT
I thought this was great. Despite my best intentions, I didn't prepare at all beforehand, but this did not affect my enjoyment of the play. I had a very (very) broad understanding of the facts that were discussed, so I did not feel unable to follow the story. I have heard of Gore Vidal but the other guy's name was new to me.
Agree with some others above that perhaps the bits with the crowds protesting weren't necessary but this is the only negative I can think of. It was long but I was never bored, with the script is so fresh and sparkly, and the acting v good, the staging perfect too. View from my seat A32 was fine, I had to slightly lean forward but it was not a problem, nothing was missed as the action is all happening in the centre of the stage.
Didn't know Quinto would be so accomplished, I've only ever seen him in Star Trek so had zero idea of what he'd be like, and he was excellent. Likewise Harewood- interesting that he was playing the republican, which surprised me at the start. Many hilarious exchanges and scenes, and the pace is very fast so I'm sure I've missed words here and there but no matter.
This was my first play by James Graham and now hoping his old ones will be revived soon.
Two upper levels closed yesterday also, and it was a very very quiet central London I walked through yesterday on my way to the theatre. First time I step into a theatre bar and find it empty at less than 30 minutes before the show!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2022 17:27:23 GMT
Quinto really is an excellent stage actor.
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Post by vernongersh on Dec 27, 2022 22:53:18 GMT
EXCELLENT piece of theatre. Two exceptional actors in top form - truly. They inhabit these characters. The play is very entertaining - funny, poignant and prescient to where we are today with media. politics etc. Superb ensemble work (my only slight quip would be some dubious American accents at times from the ensemble). The Direction is razor sharp and production design is tremendous.
Highly recommend.
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Post by Dave B on Jan 10, 2023 10:01:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2023 22:21:51 GMT
Sat in the last row of Royal Circle on the aisle (H6) and my 198cm height luxuriated in being able to stick my legs down the steps of the aisle.
Liked this, but did not love it, primarily because of all the 30-60 second snippet scenes used so many times in the first half.
I know providing some background was necessary, but despite the variety in how some of these quick cuts were staged, I grew weary of it pretty quickly. But once Vidal and Buckley began their commentary and debating, the play started to lift.
Really enjoyed Quinto as Vidal. Some of the vocal and physical tics were vaguely reminiscent of when he played Tom in The Glass Menagerie, another role in which I thought he excelled greatly.
Why Mr. Q has yet to propose we get married remains a mystery to me, but I do not give up hope easily.
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Post by solotheatregoer on May 14, 2023 9:53:46 GMT
Anyone planning on catching the NT Live showing of this next week? In two minds about whether to go given the mixed reviews.
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Post by David J on May 19, 2023 13:09:21 GMT
Saw the broadcast yesterday and enjoyed it.
As someone who knows nothing about the debate and only a little about the events surrounding it I appreciated the amount of set up the play took amongst the debate scenes. Though they did make the play feel long.
Whilst the sudden switching back and forth between scenes felt jarring initially, it was better compared to Motive and the Cue's predictable structure.
Enjoyed David Harewood and Zachary Quinto's performances. The others played characters a bit larger than life but like James Graham and Jeremy Herrin's This House it helped me get up to speed with what's going on and everyone's point of views
4 stars
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Post by solotheatregoer on May 19, 2023 21:22:07 GMT
I did go in the end but ended up leaving at the interval. I just couldn’t get into this at all. I don’t usually like being too negative as I know the effort and skill it takes to put on a production but man this was so dull. I don’t think it helped that I wasn’t feeling great so struggled to concentrate but this was the first time I walked out of a show (NT Live or a film in general) at the cinema. I can usually struggle through until the end but this was way too much effort for me.
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