Subject: Theatre Reviews
Posted by: Mixamatosis
Date: Sep 13 16
There doesn't seem to be a thread on theatre performances though it is a subject that comes up in funtrivia quizzes. Anyway I'd like to hear anyone's views of any theatre performance they've seen. I love going to the theatre when I can. I can kick this off if no one is bursting to post anything yet, but I'd rather allow the opportunity for others to post first.
Posted by: Mixamatosis
Date: Sep 13 16
There doesn't seem to be a thread on theatre performances though it is a subject that comes up in funtrivia quizzes. Anyway I'd like to hear anyone's views of any theatre performance they've seen. I love going to the theatre when I can. I can kick this off if no one is bursting to post anything yet, but I'd rather allow the opportunity for others to post first.
45 replies. On page 2 of 3 pages. 1 2 3
Mixamatosis 
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Went to see "The Woman in Black" yesterday at The Fortune Theatre. This is a ghost story, originally from a book by Susan Hill but varied and adapted for the stage. It was very enjoyable and scary enough. We bought some cheap tickets and found on the day that the box office had moved us forward so we were near the front of the stalls. Excellent. Glancing at other people's tickets I think they must have done the same for others. If the expensive tickets don't all sell, I suppose they want to fill any gaps at the front. Reply #21. Mar 16 18, 3:15 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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One thing that struck me travelling there and while there was the number of people glued to their mobile phones. One girl in the theatre, in front of us, spent all her waiting time taking selfies and 2 other girls near us both had their phones ring during the play although everyone had been asked to switch their phones off. Life is now lived through mobile phones it seems, but to me it seems a kind of enslavement. Reply #22. Mar 16 18, 11:32 AM |
brm50diboll
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I think you're right. Cellphones are a kind of enslavement to people who let themselves get too attached to them. I find it refreshing to be completely "unreachable" at times. And having cellphones on when management has requested they be turned off is rude and grounds for expulsion, in my opinion. Reply #23. Mar 22 18, 8:57 AM |
Skyflyerjen
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Absolutely. People paid to be there and having bright, loud phones going off takes away from the experience. How hard is it to silence one's phone? Reply #24. Mar 22 18, 9:18 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I think they were allowed to stay because they reacted fast and immediately switched them off, but why they didn't check they were off when initially asked to I don't know. I'm excited to have bought some tickets for the RSCs productions of my favourite living author's books. Robert Harris's trilogy on Cicero has been adapted into 2 plays called "Imperium I: Conspirator" and "Imperium II: Dictator". We'll be seeing them on consecutive days in June. I loved the books (Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator). We have cheap tickets at the back of the stalls but still able to see well I hope. I'll post a review afterwards. Reply #25. Mar 23 18, 3:50 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I love this trailer for a student production of "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare. I wish I could have seen the full production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB_5F4050-s Reply #26. Mar 25 18, 7:02 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I went to see a local amateur production of "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" last night. It was just great. It was a very inventive production unlike any I'd seen previously, and much funnier than many other productions I've seen (intentionally funny, not accidentally so). Shakespeare's humour doesn't always translate to modern audiences but the actors used a lot of visual humour with it, which came across well. Also I loved the way they used lighting, especially to denote when magic was happening and the flourescent face paint used by Puck which glowed in the lights. It was generally modern dress but magical dress at the same time. Reply #27. May 10 18, 2:14 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I realise no one except locals can generally see the local amateur theatre productions I mention, but if it inspires anyone to watch their own local am/dram theatre companies, it will have been worth posting. Reply #28. May 10 18, 2:18 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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Just bought tickets to 'The Lieutenant of Inishmore play by Martin McDonagh. He has a good reputation for writing black comedies. i like plays about Ireland, and there's an added bonus that it stars Aidan Turner of 'Poldark' Fame. I'll post a review when I've seen it. Reply #29. Jun 17 18, 3:06 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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Yesterday I went to see 'Imperium part 1; Conspiracy and today I'll be seeing part 2; Dictator. These plays are based on Robert Harris's trilogy of books about Cicero (Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator) Getting 3 books into 2 plays and having to deal with a lot of stuff that goes on inside characters heads must have been difficult. As a result the plays are in an unusual format. Each play has 3 sections lasting 1 hour each, with intervals of 15 minutes in between. Each section is named after a character in the story. The performance was by the Royal Shakespeare Company. If I had to choose I'd prefer to read the books rather than watch the play. I can imagine it would be a bit confusing if you didn't know a bit about the history or if you hadn't read the books but it covers some of the most fascinating political history in Rome. The actor playing Cicero was good and convincing. I was less convinced by the actor playing Julius Caesar. The words were right but somehow there was a softness in the performance of the character that didn't seem right for Caesar. It was as if the actor had learned the part from the script but wasn't otherwise familiar with the character or the history. Roman politics are a complicated knotty thing but in the end you see how it all works out. Though Cicero is principled and clever, his principles work against him eventually. Many of his rivals are not as clever as he but some are. Great fun is made of the character Pompey Magnus with similarities to Donald Trump, including hairstyle, drawn out. Parallels between Roman and modern politics are sometimes recognisable in the play, as if to say some things haven't changed much over the centuries. Reply #30. Jun 29 18, 1:43 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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P.S I have to say that Pompey Magnus was a bit of a risible character in his lifetime and not just because in this play he wears a Trumplike hairstyle. He was always the very grand character - Pompous Magnus more like, with a great military reputation but his intelligence, judgement and abilities didn't match his own great opinion of himself. Julius Caesar and Octavius (later Augustus Caesar) were far cleverer and more able, so he was doomed as soon as he got on the wrong side of Octavius. Reply #31. Jun 29 18, 1:52 AM |
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Saw part 2 Dictator and it was better than part I I thought but then it covers an even more interesting period in Rome than part I. There were actually fewer people in the theatre though and those in the back seats of the stalls were allowed to move forward as far as row P. I'm getting to know this theatre well now (The Gielgud Theatre). I once got lost following a sign to the loo that sort of misdirected me and then there were no more signs. I know the quick route now. Part 2 was really quite moving in the end and made me want to read the books all over again. I love the way the actors sometimes talked to the audience as though the audience were part of the story and the little jokes that have modern day resonance. What a clever player Octavius is. He has to do it to survive but he plays his opponents to win out. In a way it's Cicero's humanity and lack of sheer ruthlessness that causes him to lose out. Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony are the other main players in this part, and Cicero's ex slave and companion, Tyro, is great as the voice of reason and the character the audience would most identify with, I'd say. Reply #32. Jul 01 18, 3:22 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I went to see the Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh today. It's a black comedy set in Galway, Ireland and it is extremely black, but also very funny. The audience were laughing throughout. Hard to imagine you'd be laughing at such subject matter but that is the cleverness of the writing and the skill of the actors who deliver it. It stars Aidan Turner of Poldark fame but there are 6 other main characters and it's very much an ensemble piece. Turner plays a fighter in the INLA, a splinter group of the IRA, who decides to further splinter from INLA. His cat plays a big part in the story. It seems to be his only friend. Violence is depicted on stage and I don't know how they did the special effects for that so well, but it's not for the highly sensitive or the easily upset. It lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. The time never dragged at any point. Reply #33. Jul 25 18, 1:25 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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Just before I started this thread, (or maybe after and I accidentally left them off) I saw 'War Horse' and 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' and both were excellent and very entertaining. War Horse is also very moving and the puppetry is astonishingly good. The Curious Incident (about an autistic boy solving a murder mystery and more) is a difficult book to convey in dramatic form but the staging was just brilliant. Here are the trailers for them, though the leads and other actors were different when I saw them. The lead for 'War Horse' in this trailer is 'Kit Harington' of recent Game of Thrones fame. He was younger in 'War Horse' - his stage debut I believe. He landed the lead part while still at drama school. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-bni4QqSv4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVrOsXhG61Q Reply #34. Aug 09 18, 3:23 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I've just seen our local amateur dramatic group perform a play called 'Sea Airs'. The storyline was a bit thin, though charming, and rather moving, but the main strength of the play, in my opinion, was the music it contained, mainly sea shanties, which the actors sang very well. They are not necessarily the best actors you'll see on the stage, but they have such heart and always connect well with the audience. A convivial evening is practically guaranteed when you go to see them. The songs included almost every sea song I'd heard of and many that I learned at school but I doubt that schools cover that kind of folk music now. Reply #35. Oct 21 18, 1:10 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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Going to see an Arthur Miller play 'All My Sons' soon at the Old Vic. A friend got 'standing only' tickets and offered us two. I'm not sure how standing through it is going to go - might not make it past the interval. Reply #36. May 22 19, 3:07 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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I very much enjoyed 'All My Sons' . It's a well constructed and well thought out play, though it was not my best or most comfortable theatre experience. My friend had bought 4 of the last 5 tickets for this sell out show, on this particular day, and they were standing tickets only. We were standing in the gallery on the right hand side, and could only see about the left third to half of the stage. Unfortunately most of the action took place on the right hand side so we couldn't see it, but you can't expect much from standing only tickets. Also the toilets were out of action due to renovations so they had constructed a covered line of portable toilets on the pavement outside the theatre. They weren't in very good condition. The one I used did not flush and had a broken seat. Well known actors/actresses in the play included Sally Field and Jenna Coleman (from Dr Who and Queen Victoria fame). Reply #37. May 29 19, 1:19 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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I went to see Shakespeare's Henry IV part 1 at the Globe with some schoolfriends and partners. It was chosen because we all had to study it at school. I'd never been to The Globe before. It's a fascinating theatre constructed on traditional Shakespearean lines. We had a box at the side of the stage (to fit my friend's wheelchair in). It was very enjoyable especially the way the actor playing Falstaff interacted with the audience, sometimes demanding and drinking their beer - very authentic. The roles were not played according to written gender or race so Falstaff and Hotspur were played by women. Henry IV's son Hal was played by a black female actor as was a courtier, Sir Walter Blunt. It was very well done. You weren't so aware of the differences after a while. Reply #38. Jul 03 19, 2:25 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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P.S The staff at the Globe were very caring and attentive to my friend in the wheelchair, and her route in led her backstage which was interesting. Reply #39. Jul 03 19, 2:26 AM |
| Mixamatosis
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The National Theatre in London is broadcasting plays online for free. Every Thursday a different play for a week. It starts tonight with 'One Man, Two Guvnors'. When I say free, they do invite voluntary contributions but there's no obligation. Reply #40. Apr 02 20, 7:54 AM |
45 replies. On page 2 of 3 pages. 1 2 3
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