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Post by cavocado on Jun 18, 2021 13:14:50 GMT
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Post by Jan on Jun 18, 2021 13:33:31 GMT
Honestly I despair of Kingston. It will be empty for this. Why don’t they put something more lightweight and cheerful on which would appeal to their local audience and potentially make them some money ? Unless the casting for this is sensational.
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4,993 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 18, 2021 13:50:56 GMT
It's a good play. I hope you enjoy it. |
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Post by Jan on Jun 18, 2021 14:01:45 GMT
It's a good play. I hope you enjoy it. The last major London production they refer to was the NT/Complicite one - you saw that one ? |
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5,160 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Jun 18, 2021 14:17:54 GMT
It's a good play. I hope you enjoy it. In that case you won't want to miss The Doncastrian Chalk Circle...in Doncaster, funnily enough. Adapted by Chris Bush. August 2022. The Brecht estate has given permission for the title to be changed, and everything! |
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Post by cavocado on Jun 18, 2021 14:29:03 GMT
Honestly I despair of Kingston. It will be empty for this. Why don’t they put something more lightweight and cheerful on which would appeal to their local audience and potentially make them some money ? Unless the casting for this is sensational. It's on at least one GCSE drama syllabus, so that must guarantee a few school coach parties. |
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Post by cavocado on Jun 18, 2021 14:37:52 GMT
I will definitely see The Doncastrian Chalk Circle if I can. I've never seen the play but have read it and it's been on my wish list for years, so I'll happily go and see two different versions.
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Post by Jan on Jun 19, 2021 7:40:31 GMT
Christopher Haydon always seemed like a strange choice as AD for this theatre in the same way that he seemed like the perfect fit for The Gate.
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4,993 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 23, 2021 8:40:40 GMT
It's a good play. I hope you enjoy it. The last major London production they refer to was the NT/Complicite one - you saw that one ? I would have loved to as I like their work. I caught the production at the Cottesloe theatre. It was a touring production that got panned, reworked, moved into the Cottesloe and then a another press night. It was an NT and Billington love in. |
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Post by princeton on Jun 23, 2021 11:11:54 GMT
The Complicite/National version wasn't great even with Juliet Stevenson in the lead. I think it ran for about 3hrs 30 minutes.
It was however part of the first Olivier in the round season (along with a production of Marat/Sade) - which I don't think they've done again fully until the current layout was put in place in September. If I recall correctly, in 1997 the circle was closed altogether and there was a huge fabric canopy/umbrella type thing over the stage area and part of the seating to improve the acoustics. The auditorium was rather more exciting that the productions, which may be why they never repeated the experiment until now.
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Post by Jan on Jun 23, 2021 12:02:07 GMT
The Olivier was vaguely in the round for the McKellen Coriolanus. Those of us playing Various Citizens had banks of on-stage seats arrayed in a semi-circle around the back of the stage from where we periodically entered the playing area to demand more corn and so on and were subject to the withering contempt of McKellen at close quarters.
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1,250 posts
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Post by joem on Jun 23, 2021 18:10:05 GMT
The Olivier was vaguely in the round for the McKellen Coriolanus. Those of us playing Various Citizens had banks of on-stage seats arrayed in a semi-circle around the back of the stage from where we periodically entered the playing area to demand more corn and so on and were subject to the withering contempt of McKellen at close quarters. I didn't know you were in this, will you autograph my programme? I do remember the withering contempt. |
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Post by bordeaux on Jun 24, 2021 8:55:46 GMT
The Complicite/National version wasn't great even with Juliet Stevenson in the lead. I think it ran for about 3hrs 30 minutes. It was however part of the first Olivier in the round season (along with a production of Marat/Sade) - which I don't think they've done again fully until the current layout was put in place in September. If I recall correctly, in 1997 the circle was closed altogether and there was a huge fabric canopy/umbrella type thing over the stage area and part of the seating to improve the acoustics. The auditorium was rather more exciting that the productions, which may be why they never repeated the experiment until now. I must disagree! It was the best Brecht production I've seen in 35 years of theatre-going, probably one of the ten best productions of a European classic I've seen. It was very highly regarded in Germany too when it toured there. I remember how well they brought out the comedy (McBurney excellent as always), the brilliance of the design - those hanging bodies, the doll which turned into a human - and the sheer power of the story-telling, which one doesn't always get with Brecht productions. The Complicité style really worked with him. |
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Post by Jan on Jun 24, 2021 11:28:01 GMT
The Olivier was vaguely in the round for the McKellen Coriolanus. Those of us playing Various Citizens had banks of on-stage seats arrayed in a semi-circle around the back of the stage from where we periodically entered the playing area to demand more corn and so on and were subject to the withering contempt of McKellen at close quarters. I didn't know you were in this, will you autograph my programme? I do remember the withering contempt. Lynette was in it too. |
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