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This play was good fun, as I recall it and well received by most critics.
But it was not, in truth, a great play, nor an ideal outlet for the immense talent on show, both cast and creatives.
Still, we had a fun evening at the theatre and the National had somewhat of a hit on its hands.
Here is a link to a search term that finds reviews and stuff – click here.
Below is a trailer:
Below is an interview with the playwright:
Below is a vid with cast and author interviews:
Janie and I really like a bit of Ibsen. In some ways that is odd, in Janie’s case, as she tends to prefer modern plays and eschew classics. But she makes an exception for some classics; not least Ibsen, Strindberg and to some extent Chekhov.
Anyway, Rosmersholm is rarely performed and here was a production at one of our favourite theatres with a stellar cast and production team.
It’s hard to explain why this play is so rarely performed. In some ways Rosmersholm is über-Ibsen; it seems to throw in a lot of Ibsen’s favourite political, social and moral themes all at once. But then most of his great plays do that. Perhaps it is über-gloomy.
So although this was a superb night at the theatre, with wonderful performances and a truly top-notch production, we didn’t end up thinking that “everyone should see a great production of Rosmersholm” in the same way that we might say that about Hedda Gabler, Ghosts or A Dolls House, for example.
Still, a great theatrical event and right up our street.
There is an excellent stub resource on this play/production on the Almeida site – click here.
Gosh I thought this was very good.
I think it might have been my first experience of a Lorca play and by gosh this production of Blood Wedding was powerful.
I saw this with Bobbie.
Subsequently Janie and I both became very keen on Lorca and saw a good production of Blood Wedding at the Almeida in 2005.
But returning to this production, the Theatricalia entry for it is here. A very young Helen McCrory starred as the bride and Cyril Nri was the groom.
It seems that we saw a preview, as press night was three days after our sight of it.
Below is Michael Coveney’s review from The Observer:
Coveney On Blood Wedding Sun, Jan 5, 1992 – 41 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
I think they got their timing wrong having press night on 17 December… a rare Cottesloe opening that missed out on Michael Billington or indeed anyone from the Guardian. But in my view it was the critics who missed out on a very good production.
