Thread: The play's the thing... Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.
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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on
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I'm starting this thread to see if people want to mention what shows they've seen and how they liked them. This would be for discussions of plays, musicals and opera. Movies and Television discussion should go to the existing threads for those topics.
I went to see a play last night at the West Seattle Arts West. The play is "Chinglish" by David Henry Hwang. I found it really funny and at the same time educational about how hard it is to communicate across differing cultures. The playwright had a note in the program. When the play was performed on Broadway it was a success but Chinese nationals claimed that the love affair between a United Stats businessman and the wife of a Chinese government minister was unrealistic and would never happen. Since the murder of British Businessman Neil Haywood who appears to have had an affair with the wife of a Chinese Government official the play seems prescient.
Hwang previously wrote "M. Butterfly" about a Chinese spy transsexual and a French Diplomat. It's interesting to see how everything has changed into a business world rather than cold war espionage.
Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on
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Hmmm. Long time since I've been to a live play.
About 20 yrs. ago or so, I went to "Only The Truth Is Funny", a one-man comedy play about growing up in a dysfunctional situation. Very good. The author, who wrote about himself, performed it.
I really loved the film musical of "Les Miserables". Any one thing about it--clothing, cast, music, makeup--makes it worth seeing. Taken all together, that makes for quite an experience.
Posted by mousethief (# 953) on
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We go to at least 2 plays a year -- Seattle's Shakespeare-in-the-park theatre company, Greenstage, puts on two full-length Shakespeare plays every year, and we pick a double-header (a venue and day when both are playing back-to-back) and go to that. This past summer we saw Othello and Love's Labour's Lost.
[ 16. March 2015, 01:38: Message edited by: mousethief ]
Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on
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Finances and knee problems have kept from doing it this year, but I've always enjoyed going to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a long weekend of plays. They're consistently high quality in both Shakespeare and modern Plays.
I don't get to the Seattle Shakespeare shows as much as I should. It seems these days that most of the surviving theater groups toss a Shakespeare play into their lineup.
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on
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I enjoy our local Shakespeare company, and this summer (for the second year in a row) I'll be seeing several plays at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and later at the Stratford Ontario Festival. I also attend several other plays locally throughout the year -- and subscribe to the Opera.
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on
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I go to a lot of live theatre - mostly on my own or with my daughter when she's at home not university (PhD student now). She's down for Mothering Sunday so we have cheap Time Out tickets tonight and tomorrow for musicals.
I introduced her to the Shakespeare's Globe groundling tickets a few years back and we both get to at least some of the Shakespeare and the more modern offerings. These are standing tickets and cost £5 each. Last year I saw Dr Scroggy's War based on the work of Harold Gillies in WW1 and Holy Warriors from the modern offerings. We both loved Howard Brenton's Dr Scroggy's War. There was a great light touch to some quite challenging material - the start of plastic surgery to deal with the injuries of WW1. I found David Eldridge's Holy Warriors a bit worthy - it was looking at the history of the Middle East and roots of the war there.
As the centre of the Globe is open to the elements the season runs from April to October. In the last couple of years the Sam Wannamaker theatre has opened, a Jacobean candlelit theatre with shows all year. Those standing tickets are £10, but the view is very restricted from those positions. This winter I have seen Sir Gawain and the Green Knight semi-dramatised reading of the the Simon Armitage translation and It's a Pity She's a Whore.
Elsewhere I saw Ruddigore in a pub theatre, tiny cast, piano accompaniment, fun choreography to cope with the limited stage space earlier this month. It's a Gilbert and Sullivan take on Victorian melodrama and is also subtitled The Witches Curse
Posted by Gill H (# 68) on
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We are fortunate to have the West End on our doorstep, and families who give theatre tokens for Christmas and birthdays! We get cheap tickets and go during the week, so we are often bumped up to a better seat.
We also have a theatre school and a prestigious amateur theatre in the area, so we get to see some great shows that way too. This week we have 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase' to look forward to. We know one of the young girls in the cast, and since we were the ones who encouraged her love of theatre as a child, her parents have kindly given us tickets.
Next week it's 'Made in Dagenham' and then in April we are fulfulling a dream by seeing 'Gypsy' which doesn't often get done in the UK.
Also hoping to book for 'Spring Awakening' in May at the theatre school.
Posted by ElaineC (# 12244) on
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We also have the the West End on our doorstep. I could happily visit every week - if only I had the time or the money!
Recently saw Cats with my youngest daughter at the Palladium and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr. C and I saw the original cast all those years ago and in the eighties my parents took both daughters to see it. The younger daughter reckons it was responsible for her interest in musical theatre and her career as a dance teacher. Incidentally her singing teach from college was playing Bustopher Jones/Gus/Growltiger.
In a couple of weeks we will be celebrating Mr C's birthday by seeing 'Sunny Afternoon' and we are also planning to see 'Miss Saigon' in the summer.
Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on
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I've an interest in the less well-known musicals:
And so to Bed (Fagan and Ellis) is set in the household of Samuel Pepys and has some fabulous music, especially the rollicking Bartholomew Fair.
The Arcadians was a massive success in its day, running for over 800 performances, and two of its songs in particular (Charming Weather and Half-past Two are perhaps the best examples of their type in any musical. And, of course, there is a clear line of descent between The Arcadians and Salad Days.
As for taking a 'serious' play and making it into a musical, look no further than Half in Earnest.
I get rather peeved when people speak of Andrew L-W as if he invented the musical. If you're looking for British musicals then you need to consider Vivian Ellis and Lionel Monckton: Ellis, in particular, wrote the song with the wonderful lines quote:
This is my lovely day
This is the day I shall remember the day I'm dying
They can't take this away
It will be always mine, the sun and the wine
The sea birds crying
All happiness must pay
And who can tell if fate means well
Or the sky is lying
But look at me and say
You will remember too that this is our lovely day
from Bless the Bride - the Ellis musical that stopped Oklahoma! being number one in the West End in 1947; pure magic.
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on
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We are very fortunate to have thriving theater opportunities in My Fair City. There is a good performing arts hall where I've seen The Lion King and Wicked. Both of those are my favorites of all the musicals I've seen there.
There's a dinner theater that has shown a huge variety of musicals over the years, such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.
We also have small, local theater groups that put on excellent plays. When Daughter-Unit was about twelve, we saw Wit downtown. Afterwards, she and I had a great conversation about what was happening in the story.
If I had been a little better organized, it would have been wonderful to keep a flyer of every play and musical I've seen over the years. Happy memories.
Posted by Sarasa (# 12271) on
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I used to enjoy going to the theatre, but my poor hearing makes it a bit of a trial now. However we did go to our local theatre to see Three Men in a Boat recently. We were near the front, the theatre is small, and there was a lot of physical comedy. So, although I didn't get all the dialogue, I enjoyed it. We're going again in a few weeks time to see a 'serious' play - I must enquire whether or not the loop system actually works before hand.
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on
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Our local theatre now advertises "captioned performances". Not sure if this means surtitles, or if they give you a tablet on which you can read the script as it happens.
Posted by Ferijen (# 4719) on
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I'm going this weekend, to see To Kill A Mockingbird.
By far the most memorable thing I've seen is Bully Boy , by Sandi Toksvig. Two outstanding actors carried the whole performance. If it gets shown again (it's topical, it may not) I would definitely recommend it.
Posted by Carex (# 9643) on
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We saw Five Gentle Persons of Verona this weekend, an adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare's first play that was not performed until something like 200 years after his death. This one had an all-female cast (plus a pug dog) and was rewritten based on two older rewrites, but it came off well.
The local theatre company is a mixed bag - sometimes it feels like they are trying to be different just for the sake of being different rather than to improve the presentation. Fortunately there are a number of other options around, both professional and amateur, including a couple of groups who perform Shakespeare outdoors at local wineries during the summer.
Posted by JoannaP (# 4493) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I go to a lot of live theatre - mostly on my own or with my daughter when she's at home not university (PhD student now). She's down for Mothering Sunday so we have cheap Time Out tickets tonight and tomorrow for musicals.
I introduced her to the Shakespeare's Globe groundling tickets a few years back and we both get to at least some of the Shakespeare and the more modern offerings. ... I found David Eldridge's Holy Warriors a bit worthy - it was looking at the history of the Middle East and roots of the war there.
We don't go to the theatre as often as I thought we would when we moved to London but I think the Globe is the theatre I have been to most since coming here. Yes, Holy Warriors was rather worthy but it worked brilliantly in the space. I would not go out of my way to see it again but I am glad that I did see it - and Dr Julian Bashir has aged very nicely ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Sarasa:
I used to enjoy going to the theatre, but my poor hearing makes it a bit of a trial now. However we did go to our local theatre to see Three Men in a Boat recently. We were near the front, the theatre is small, and there was a lot of physical comedy. So, although I didn't get all the dialogue, I enjoyed it. We're going again in a few weeks time to see a 'serious' play - I must enquire whether or not the loop system actually works before hand.
The amplification systems can do a very good job if they work.
We formerly had season's tickets to a theatre company here but the artistic director moved things in the Lion King direction and we stopped. I'm more of a Waiting for Godot kind of guy.
I've found that smaller theatre venues and less famous companies can sometimes do more intimate and highly polished versions of plays promoted in bigger venues. We've seen all sorts of things in theatres here that I thought were as good as things we've seen abroad in world-famous venues.
Another note is that programmes in Canada are almost always handed out at no additional cost.
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on
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quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
I'm more of a Waiting for Godot kind of guy.
I just saw this somewhere last week.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
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Both Macarius and I really, really dislike musicals but the last thing we saw was one - 'I need a doctor - the Whoosical'. Slightly embarrassed to admit to that. It was 2 people, early 20's I would imagine, a keyboards player, someone doing the lights and sound and a front-of-house-and-director. All done on a shoestring, quite amusing, a bit studenty (that's not pejorative, I don't think it can be long since they were all students). They were very accomplished.
But we have also seen Murder in the Cathedral (though it was actually in Temple Church) and Love's Labour's Lost (at Stratford upon A.) this year. And we're looking forward to seeing Harvey this Saturday. We have King John at the Globe booked for June (had to in 2015, didn't we? It's also on at Temple Church and I feel we should have booked there, really, as Temple was where King John was based at the time of Magna Carta*.)
M.
*I really want to add, 'Brave Hungarian peasant girl...' after that.
Posted by Paul. (# 37) on
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Haven't been to "proper" theatre in a while but I tend to go to my colleague's AmDram performances. last one was a Murder Mystery evening - short performance, followed by fish n' chips (included in ticket price), during which you could interrogate the actors in character and then had to vote on who did it. Great fun.
Last real play I saw was "A Dangerous Corner" by J.B. Priestly before Christmas. I enjoyed it.
Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on
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I go to the theatre a couple of times a year with two friends. We go to a small theatre which is built in the round and we particularly like Shakespeare. We recently saw a production of "Romeo and Juliet" which was set in the 60s - not very successfully. What do you do with a nurse and a thirteen year old being forced into marriage in that era? ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
In a few weeks' time we're going to see "School for Scandal" at the same place.
I quite like musicals but Mr Nen doesn't. Some years ago we took the Nenlets to see "Joseph" and he really didn't get it. "So, is it always like that, with Pharaoh as a rock star...?" Bless. ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Posted by MrsBeaky (# 17663) on
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I love the theatre, all sorts of productions from Shakespeare to musicals.Live theatre is magical.
One of the best plays I have ever seen was years ago at Chichester Festival theatre "King Lear in New York" Absolutely stunning.
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on
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I love the theater, and review everything I see on my blog.
I think the last thing I saw was a production of The Great Divorce in Washington DC. It was based on the work by C. S. Lewis, a not entirely successful adaptation.
Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on
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Living so close to Stratford-on-Avon it would be remiss of me not to go to see a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company once in a while. I've seen a lot of The Bard's plays over the years, but my favourite would have to be the version of Hamlet I saw with David Tennant in the title role and Patrick Stewart as his fratricidal uncle.
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on
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Still buzzing from seeing Jersey Boys this evening, which was brilliant and far, far better than Billy Elliot, which I am afraid totally underwhelmed both me and my daughter.
Billy Elliot: Ruthie Henshaw can dance and sing, but she really can't produce anything approaching a Geordie / Durham / Maccam accent amongst the accents she was attempting. Having lived in Sunderland for a few years the failed attempts at Easington accents from several of the cast just killed any suspension of disbelief. The boy acting Billy Elliot was fantastic and there were some fun numbers and clever juxtapositions. The story was more about the miners strike than the film, with some political digs at Maggie Thatcher. Sadly Elton John's score didn't come close to the film score music from The Clash, T-Rex and the rest. Lesson learned, do not go to musicals that are created out of films.
Jersey Boys was just amazing with the music being a far more coherent part of the story.
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
Living so close to Stratford-on-Avon it would be remiss of me not to go to see a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company once in a while. I've seen a lot of The Bard's plays over the years, but my favourite would have to be the version of Hamlet I saw with David Tennant in the title role and Patrick Stewart as his fratricidal uncle.
A friend lent me the DVD of that production -- I would love to have seen it in person! I've made it to Stratford-on-Avon twice and admit to being quite envious of your living so close.
Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on
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I saw a video of the Tennant/Stewart production in a movie theater last year. Tennant was incredibly good.
Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on
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The best RSC production I have ever seen was in London a couple of years back. They did Julius Caesar with an all-black cast, with a setting in modern-day Africa. This turned Caesar into an African wannabe dictator who gets assassinated by his generals, which precipitates a civil war.
It was phenomenal. Mark Antony was the star of the show IMO, raising the rabble with his “friends, Romans, countrymen” speech. I loved his repetition of “these are honourable men”, which I thought was one of the genius bits of the setting. ISTM that honour is a concept that has far more currency in Africa than in Europe these days.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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Before I had children I went to a play about once a month, helped by working in a small London hospital which regularly had free tickets donated. Saw a very good Romeo and Juliet at the Barbican with Tim McInnery as Mercutio (we got lots of free tickets to the Barbican as we were nearby).
I saw a wonderful production of Helen Keller's Teacher once, and Patricia Hodge playing the lead in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was amazing. I saw a dramatization of The Hiding Place at Spring Harvest a few years ago which moved me to tears. The only time I ever walked out of a theatre was at The Globe during a rather tedious Restoration play.
The best Shakespeare I ever saw was a small touring production of Measure for Measure when I was about 19 (25 years ago!)in the unlikely location of the local theatre in Luton. I keep meaning to check out the theatre here in Cambridge as my children are now old enough for long late nights.
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on
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When my son was about 17 his BTec drama course went to see "Twelfth Night" at the Globe. He came home raving about it: it was so good that he was going to see it again the following night and I must come too.
Well I did, and he was right. Even though we stood for half the evening in pouring rain, it was magnificent, far better than an RSC production I'd seen a few years before. The fact of having Mark Rylance playing Olivia (it was an all-male cast) was an added bonus - although he wasn't famous then.
An utter contrast to a dire and hacked-about Macbeth at the Lyric, Hammersmith a few years earlier!
By the way, has anyone else seen Roger McGough's Liverpool Playhouse versions of Moliere: "The Misanthrope" and "Tartuffe"? Utterly brilliant.
[ 18. March 2015, 09:10: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on
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Another great afternoon was David Suchet and a then-unknown Michael Sheen in "Amadeus" at the Richmond Theatre. In fact we saw quite a lot of stuff there when we lived in London, including a splendid "Cherry Orchard" (or was it "Uncle Vanya"?)
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
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Baptist Trainfan - I'm interested in what you say about Mark Rylance as Oliva in Twelfth Night. Macarius and I saw him in that role - presumably the same production - at Middle Temple Hall, for the 400th anniversary of the premiere.
I hated, hated, hated him - I thought he was so up himself. It prejudiced me against him for years.
Which was why I was so surprised at how much I liked him in Wolf Hall.
M.
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on
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quote:
Originally posted by ElaineC:
<snip>
In a couple of weeks we will be celebrating Mr C's birthday by seeing 'Sunny Afternoon' ....
Snap! I took Mr Marten out last night to see this for his birthday (he had no idea where he was being taken ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
) and it was fabulous! Excellent cast - particularly the actor playing Dave - great music, great production...you'll have a wonderful time
We go to the theatre as often as possible, and are booked to see 'The Broken Heart' at the Globe's Wanamaker Playhouse in April. We saw 'Tis Pity She's a Whore' there last year and it was very good indeed, and the candlelight just added so much to the ambience.
I'm a volunteer usher at our local small theatre, one advantage of which is that I get to see the plays for free...
Posted by Kittyville (# 16106) on
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Last time I was in New York, I saw "Raisin in the Sun" with Denzel Washington. I'll freely admit that I bought the ticket thinking mostly "Whenever else would I get the chance to see Denzel Washington live on stage?", but it was an amazing production and he was fabulous and I felt very glad afterwards that I'd gone.
[Spelling fail]
[ 18. March 2015, 11:21: Message edited by: Kittyville ]
Posted by Gill H (# 68) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
When my son was about 17 his BTec drama course went to see "Twelfth Night" at the Globe. He came home raving about it: it was so good that he was going to see it again the following night and I must come too.
Well I did, and he was right. Even though we stood for half the evening in pouring rain, it was magnificent, far better than an RSC production I'd seen a few years before. The fact of having Mark Rylance playing Olivia (it was an all-male cast) was an added bonus - although he wasn't famous then.
An utter contrast to a dire and hacked-about Macbeth at the Lyric, Hammersmith a few years earlier!
By the way, has anyone else seen Roger McGough's Liverpool Playhouse versions of Moliere: "The Misanthrope" and "Tartuffe"? Utterly brilliant.
I saw that awful Macbeth too! Fortunately saw another with Sean Bean which was superb.
Would love to see Misanthrope. We did it for French A Level years ago, and the quote we all used in our essays was that it was not written as broad humour, but instead to make you 'rire dans l'ame' (laugh in the soul). Which I assumed was French for 'it's not funny'...!
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on
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quote:
Originally posted by M.:
Baptist Trainfan - I'm interested in what you say about Mark Rylance as Oliva in Twelfth Night. Macarius and I saw him in that role - presumably the same production - at Middle Temple Hall, for the 400th anniversary of the premiere.
I hated, hated, hated him - I thought he was so up himself. It prejudiced me against him for years.
I wonder if the venue had something to do with it? At the Globe the players had to "act big" to get over the fact of acoustics, rain pouring down and no amplification. The MT might have needed something more subtle.
I loved "Wolf Hall" too.
[ 18. March 2015, 13:02: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
Would love to see Misanthrope. We did it for French A Level years ago, and the quote we all used in our essays was that it was not written as broad humour, but instead to make you 'rire dans l'ame' (laugh in the soul).
Roger McGough has translated/adapted these pieces into deliberately bad (and very funny) verse.
An amazing experience last year was seeing Graeae's production of Brecht's Threepenny Opera, mixing both able-bodied and "less able" actors - all hugely talented - together into one seamless whole. One of the leads returned as an Ugly Sister in the same theatre's Rock-and-Roll Cinderella (also great stuff, and I thought I wouldn't enjoy it). (They do over 80 panto performances at over 95% average capacity - admittedly it's a smallish theatre, but it must be exhausting! My son, who's a "techie", has twice worked backstage on it).
Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on
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I used to make a point of seeing every D'Oyly Carte production at the Savoy until their hiatus but it must be five years or so since I last went to see anything on stage other than a band. Most of the theatres hereabouts are struggling so it is a constant diet of popular stuff, Lloyd Weber musicals to sing-along Sound of Music. I am more of an Alan Bennett or Francis Durbridge fan, less singing, more innuendo or a good murder. Having said that, I am looking forward to seeing Jeeves and Wooster at Nottingham next month.
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
I wonder if the venue had something to do with it? At the Globe the players had to "act big" to get over the fact of acoustics, rain pouring down and no amplification. The MT might have needed something more subtle.
I saw the 2012 production of Twelfth Night at the Globe with Mark Rylance as Olivia and loved it too. Wasn't so sure about Stephen Fry as Malvolio, but it was great to see Roger Lloyd Peck as Sir Toby Belch, and I thought Mark Rylance was brilliant. That's the one that transferred to Broadway.
I wasn't so sure about 2013 production of the The Tempest with Colin Morgan as Ariel and Roger Allam as Prospero (although I'm probably in the film version - standing by the stage in camera shot as James Garnon capered past as Caliban). The Footsbarn version that summer had a far more entrancing Malayalam Ariel and a fantastic Sanskrit speaking Prospero.
Posted by M. (# 3291) on
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Whereas I really liked the 2013 Tempest! As it started, there was a roll of thunder and the heavens opened, brilliant timing.
We went to see - also at Middle Temple - the Hamlet that the Globe took around the world and we left half way through (and we weren't the first to leave). It was just boring. Most of the actors acted as though they had wandered off the street and had a script put in their hand. I was embarrassed to think it was going around the world.
Hadn't thought about the difference in theatres, Baptist Trainfan. But perhaps it wasn't the same production - it didn't have Stephen Fry in it. It was in 2002, 2004?
Anyway, this is turning into a Shakespeare-fest! We're off to see Harvey with Maureen Lipman this weekend. I've only seen her before as a sort of Joyce Grenfell tribute, but she was great then!
M.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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Having read this thread I've now booked the family to see The Importance of Being Earnest, with David Suchet playing Lady Bracknell. It'll be my children's first trip to see a play I think (other than at Greenbelt) but my 10 year old is rather keen on Poirot .
Posted by The Phantom Flan Flinger (# 8891) on
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I went to see The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - The Musical earlier this week - I've put something about it on my blog...
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
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There should be more matinees. Public transport in my area is such that I'd either have to leave an evening performance halfway, at the interval, or else not be home until after midnight. Which is no good if you have to work the next morning.
And it's a waste of a theatre not to have matinees and leave it unused for all but three hours in the evening.
Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by Gill H:
Would love to see Misanthrope. We did it for French A Level years ago, and the quote we all used in our essays was that it was not written as broad humour, but instead to make you 'rire dans l'ame' (laugh in the soul).
Roger McGough has translated/adapted these pieces into deliberately bad (and very funny) verse.
...
Yes, saw that at Liverpool a couple of years ago: it was very good.
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on
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I went to see the musical 1776 at Ford's Theater, in downtown Washington DC. It is a working theater, but kind of eerie. The box where Abraham Lincoln was shot is kept exactly as it was on that fatal night, and the rumor is that occasionally a tall figure can be dimly discerned, at the back of the box. I trust that Abe enjoyed the show.
Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on
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I was lucky enough to see the late Alan Howard in Coriolanus at the Aldwych - even the late Bernard Levin raved about it.
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on
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I remember seeing a young Alan Howard play Lussorioso in Trevor Nunn's production of The Revenger's Tragedy at Stratford around 1966...Ian Richardson was Vendice...such good stuff <sigh>
Posted by venbede (# 16669) on
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quote:
Originally posted by M.:
Baptist Trainfan - I'm interested in what you say about Mark Rylance as Oliva in Twelfth Night. Macarius and I saw him in that role - presumably the same production - at Middle Temple Hall, for the 400th anniversary of the premiere.
I hated, hated, hated him - I thought he was so up himself. It prejudiced me against him for years.
I have to say I find Rylance deeply irritating - I've only seen him at the Globe and there's something a bit off about an ensemble theatre director who takes all the star parts.
Playing Richard III for laughs all the time...
I'm off to The Broken Heart at the Globe tomorrow and I've just finished reading the text as preparation.
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on
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I'd be interested to hear what you think of The Broken heart, venbede - we're seeing it in April.
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
There should be more matinees. Public transport in my area is such that I'd either have to leave an evening performance halfway, at the interval, or else not be home until after midnight. Which is no good if you have to work the next morning.
And it's a waste of a theatre not to have matinees and leave it unused for all but three hours in the evening.
I can't agree with this enough. I'm within easy public transport distance of numerous theatres spread over several cities and towns, until I want to go to an evening event. So many theatres don't give information about the length of a play which would at least enable some planning and last buses seem to be getting earlier and earlier.
[ 20. March 2015, 22:20: Message edited by: ArachnidinElmet ]
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on
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quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
I have to say I find Rylance deeply irritating - I've only seen him at the Globe and there's something a bit off about an ensemble theatre director who takes all the star parts.
Playing Richard III for laughs all the time...
I only really started going to the Globe in 2006, after Mark Rylance left as theatre director. He was there from 1995 to 2005 and was replaced by Dominic Dromgoole, who leaves in April 2016. There was a 2001 production of Cymbeline performed Japanese Noh style with all white costumes, masks and very small cast that had me walking out for a number of years. It wasn't as if it was a play I had much idea about before I went and I certainly didn't by the time I left.
That said I also saw Mark Rylance's revised production of Richard III in 2012 and didn't think that was played for laughs. He tried to make Richard likeable and tortured rather than a villain. There were moments when I wondered what Shakespeare would have thought. That was another all male, traditional dress production, with Roger Lloyd Pack as the Duke of Buckingham.
Last night I saw Sunny Afternoon - the Kinks musical and loved it, albeit I still feel slightly deafened this morning. It was very, very loud. The actors for the two leads, Dave and Ray Davies, were great. John Dagleish (Ray) and George Maguire (Dave) are up for Olivier Awards, two of the five awards it is short-listed for: additionally sound, Ray Davies' contribution, best new musical.
Posted by David (# 3) on
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We try to go a few times each year, but my son is doing Drama at high school and he's seen some awesome productions over the last year or so, eg. Waiting for Godot with Richard Roxburgh, Hugo Weaving and Philip Quast.
Last thing I saw Cyrano de Bergerac, Richard Roxburgh again. He was stupendous. Prior to that was a hamburgered but otherwise excellent Henry V. The prior to that, son was the minstrel in Spamalot.
Next thing is my daughter in Tommy in May. Should be creepy but fun.
Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on
:
I go to the theatre a lot. My parents and I have been subscribing to one of the local theatre seasons for over 20 years.
Trying to think of particularly good ones... I'll tell you one that popped into my head, from years go. There's an Australian play called Summer of the Seventeenth Doll which in this country is considered a classic, written in the 1950s. It was probably the 1990s when I saw it, and it lived up to its reputation.
The thing is, though, it's so specifically Australian (which is one of the reasons it was hailed as a classic) that I'm not sure how well it would translate for other audiences.
[ 23. March 2015, 06:32: Message edited by: orfeo ]
Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on
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I saw the dress rehearsal of a new musical at Seattle Repertory Theater. It's called "The Lizard King" and it's about a gay boy in Seattle who finds love, a ne evil villain and coming to terms with his superpower as a dragon.
It was good. The cast of 3 (including the writer) were in their early twenties. The theater group is trying to "turn over the keys to the kids" and just in time. The artistic director of 20 years and the original director both died during the 2 year workshop period.
The play was on a tiny budget but professionally done, using projections to give it a comic book look.
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