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I recall us both rather liking this play, without being bowled over by it.
Some very clever writing and lots of issues to chew over afterwards. A good blend of family comedy/drama and global issues. Very Islington.
Here is a link to the Almeida resource for the play/production.
The trailer below is quite good:
The reviews were, deservedly, good but not great – click here for a search term link. As Woody Allen might have said, “it was a good play, not a great play…”
This was one of the first plays/productions we saw at the Hampstead Downstairs, which helped to cement our view that the small house down there is a happening space.
Here is a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.
In truth, this particular piece did not really float our boat – we’ve seen rather a lot of Kafkaesque pieces about absurd bureaucracy, yet there was enough in this one to keep us motivated and wanting to come back for more.
No formal reviews down there, but this search term will find what little informal stuff is floating around on-line.
I remember we were really looking forward to this play/production.
Transfers from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the US are usually top notch, as are Cottesloe productions.
In many ways this was top notch; a well written, well-acted, well-directed piece about suburban America. It just didn’t really light up.
Perhaps we had been spoilt too recently by Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park – another mid-west suburban play…
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, Royal Court Theatre, 4 September 2010
…or the harder-hitting Neil LaBute’s we’d been enjoying the last few years.
We enjoyed our evening but had been (perhaps unfairly) half-expecting to be wowed, which we were not.
Mixed reviews from the critics – click here for a link.
Below is the RNT trailer – not very revealing…
…this Steppenwolf vid explains more:
We were really looking forward to this piece but found it disappointing.
It felt to us like a rather inconsequential, silly piece trying to be profound.
Cate Blanchett has never really done the business for me on stage. Strangely, with this piece, my feelings about her undoubted abilities as an actress were enhanced but it would have been a struggle for anyone to wring much out of this play.
Here is an interview with Cate Blanchett from this tour:
Cate Blanchett and Benedict Andrews talk a good game.
I recall Janie and I both really enjoying this short, unusual, imaginative piece, written and performed by Inua Ellams.
I think it pleased us more than it pleased many of the critics, many of whom found the piece lightweight compared with its big themes of globalisation, the fashion industry and anti-gay prejudice in Africa.
Here is a search term that finds the reviews and stuff.
Below is a link to the trailer:
We found the piece entertaining and thought-provoking. That was enough for us.
I seem to recall that this piece charmed me more than it did Daisy. Eduardo De Filippo is never going to be her type of playwright, even when Tanya Ronder writes a spicy version of this uber-Neapolitan play.
Here is a link to the Almeida resource on this one.
A fine production. Samantha Spiro was excellent as the eponymous lead, along with a good supporting cast.
Below is the trailer:
Also an interesting interview with Michael Attenborough about the play:
…but ultimately the play could only achieve so much – I think most of the critics, like Janie, were underwhelmed by the play but they also – like me – found the production charming and worthwhile – click here for a search term to find the reviews.
A double bill of Martin Crimp plays, the first brand new, the second an older one.
Part of the Orange Tree’s 40th anniversary celebrations and a nod to one of its bigger achievements; championing Martin Crimp’s work in the early days.
Here is a link to the Orange Tree resource on this double bill.
I recall us liking the first, more recent play more than we liked the older play on this evening.
They were very different and we were pleased to have seen both.
We’re not normally wild about writers directing their own work, but Crimp did a good job with these pieces.
Verbatim Theatre and Physical Theatre don’t seem, on the face of it, to be complementary genres.
But this piece, conceived by Lloyd Newson and performed by physical theatre company DV8, tries to combine the two, around the tricky subject of Islamic extremism, Islamophobia, multiculturalism, censorship, freedom of speech and hate crimes.
It sort-of worked, in that it got me and Janie talking about those subjects afterwards, but it didn’t really work for us, in itself, as a piece talking about those tricky subjects.
In truth, verbatim theatre about such tricky subjects would need more words and less dance.
I think the critics pretty much concurred with our view – here is a link to a search term for the reviews.
The vid link below gives you a reasonable idea of what this production looked and sounded like:
I remember surprisingly little about this evening. I do remember it being short, physical and interesting, but nothing tangible about it really sticks. I’m not sure that the complex subject matter and verbatim style lends itself to this sort of physical theatre – the issues get buried or confused in the performance and visuals.
Still, you can read all about it here, the RNT resources on the production.
It seems that the Daily Mail got it and liked it; perhaps that explains my confusion.
Charles Spencer in n the Telegraph liked it too.
Michael Billington gives the show a fair review, I think. I’m starting to remember it a bit better.
I might chat it through with Janie, see what she remembers and edit in some more thoughts. If you are reading this paragraph, then I haven’t yet done that or drew a blank from Janie too.
This was our first theatre visit after returning from Vietnam in February.
A really good one too.
Here is a link to the Royal Court stub for this piece.
We rate David Eldridge highly as a playwright. Here was a superb cast and Dominic Cooke himself directing.
We really enjoyed this play and production.
The critics on the whole loved this piece – click here for a search term that finds the reviews.
Below is a link to the trailer: