1,064 posts
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Post by David J on Feb 20, 2016 21:08:41 GMT
Well I've got to say I'm enjoying this
Not the funniest. There were definetly laughs here and there that increased as the play went along. Maybe it's just because this is a preview, and a more receptive audience might help
A play about this 1950s American family who lost their son Jack Fox in ww2. After 14 years this soldier who was found a prisoner in east Germany, and was being kept in a mental hospital, is brought them. Merely because the soldier and family seem to be "well bred". The problem is he has lost his memory
Katherine Kinglsey owns the stage for the first 30 minutes. Overshadowing everybody as socialite lady who brings this so called Jack Fox to the family.
The chap playing the so called Jack fills in for Kingsley after she leaves. Trying to find out whether he is Jack
By the interval however things get dark as we discover how terrible this Jack and his family are
I'm looking at a set full of stuffed dead animals right now
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1,064 posts
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Post by David J on Feb 21, 2016 11:28:36 GMT
I had a good time
Okay the play doesn't really know where to take the dark undertone. The family is horrible in that 1950s suburban America way and that's that
Fanella woolgar however becomes a cold hearted seducer in the second half
The family is interesting to follow and see their attitudes to the soldiers condition
A good fun night out that I hope will improve
Well recommended
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406 posts
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Post by MrBunbury on Feb 21, 2016 11:39:24 GMT
I saw it on Friday and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Katherine Kingsley is a powerhouse. It may need a bit of tightening but it was just a preview.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2016 22:18:40 GMT
It's only when you see utter rubbish like this
Starring "actors" who are supposed to be talented and at the top of their game
That you realise how pitiful the life of an actor and the theatre can be
You would have to be in dire straights to want to star in this
I would leave it off my CV
And so would anyone with any self respect
Quite what a crappy director like McIntyre is doing at this venue is anyone's guess
Josie Rourke really does know how to pick turds
This and Teddy Ferrara are the 2 worst things I have seen at The Donmar
Also- a big thanks to the 2 TopShop wearing greasy faced Ones who sat next to me and spent the whole second half clinking ice cubes
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2016 10:13:17 GMT
I also found this slight but enjoyable; very well acted and a nice Friday night, sit back with a glass of wine and not think too deeply sort of play. Probably excellent to see after Cleansed!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 9:50:33 GMT
I rather enjoyed this. It's a fairly slight play but rather funny and I thought the cast were fabulous. Each one gets their moment but the standouts are Katherine Kingsley channelling her inner Joan Cusack and Rory Keenan giving us his best Greg Kinnear. Kingsley in particular is sensational.
Not a play for someone who doesn't like stuffed animals though.
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on Mar 10, 2016 20:11:30 GMT
Saw this this afternoon whilst wandering around London with a friend wondering what to see on a Thursday afternoon after Beautiful & War Horse failed us. Got £7.50 standing seats which, at the *very* last minute, were upgraded to centre of the second row stalls due to some no-shows! Maybe that contributed to my enjoyment of this!
Had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, frequent belly laughs and really fantastic performances with some lovely line deliveries. Agree that the women were stronger, particularly Sian Thomas and Katherine Kingsley. However, the small boy we had kept corpsing onstage whenever he or anyone else got a laugh. Preferred Act 1 to Act 2. Very polite response at the end.
Overall, I felt the Telegraph review got it spot on. "Entertaining but forgettable" - 3*.
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1,103 posts
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Post by mallardo on Mar 11, 2016 22:50:48 GMT
A strange and unsatisfying piece with some of the actors (Katherine Kingsley and Danny Webb) playing cartoons and others (Rory Keenan and Fenella Woolgar) trying to keep it real. It's a response, I suppose, to a play that is all over the place. My guess is that Jean Anouilh's original was more grounded than what his translator (Anthony Weigh) has perpetrated here. Certainly Weigh's decision to set it in The Hamptons in the 1950's facilitates a lot of the stereotyping and over the top silliness.
There are laughs, yes, but they drift away as the play drifts on and on and on. The central conundrum of the plot has the potential to be interesting but that potential remains unrealized. I just kept wondering why the Donmar was doing this thing.
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270 posts
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Post by littlesally on Mar 19, 2016 18:11:06 GMT
Watched this today and really enjoyed it. The entire cast was on top form with some of the best comic timing I've seen since Noises Off. Rory Keenan (indeed channeling Greg Kinnear with hints of Cary Grant and a young William H Macy) was perfect in the role.
It was odd to see half the audience lapping it up (with so many genuine belly laughs) and the other half looking lost!
First Donmar show in ages that I'll be returning to see (Barclays Front Row permitting?)
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751 posts
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Post by horton on Mar 29, 2016 12:46:54 GMT
Saw this last night in a full house.
Nice to see a play I know nothing about- it passed a happy couple of hours. Contrary to what others have said, I thought the play had some interesting things to say about the nature of identity and how we accept responsibility for our past- and especially how we come to terms with the indiscretions of our youth.
Given the surreal nature of the plot, I would have liked a more surreal staging- I kept thinking of Too Clever By Half at the Old Vic 25+ years ago.
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Apr 9, 2016 21:48:07 GMT
Really enjoyed this tonight. I thought the ghastliness of the Fox family was really well done. Lots of laughs from the audience in tonight. It's not the most profound play I've seen this week, but it was just what I wanted.
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Post by perfectspy on Apr 11, 2016 21:15:22 GMT
I enjoyed this play. A great cast. The returned soldier is released from one prison and could well end up in another, as the Fox family are far from normal.
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