Tag: RNT

The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, Temple Studios, 11 January 2014

This was an extraordinary installation/show. Not quite in the same class as The Masque Of The Red Death, another punchdrunk masterpiece, but not far off.

We went with Kim and Micky, eating a spread of Big Al goodies at the flat before ambling over to the venue. The “Temple Studios” installation was in the old Paddington sorting office; the place from whence I used to collect my parcels and “must be signed for” mail, back in the day.

This piece is about the making of a Hollywood movie and the studio that is making it. But are the scenes we see playing out scenes from the movie or real violent drama playing out in the studio?

Kim tried to amuse herself by putting the performers off, but they were all too seasoned for that. I enjoyed getting lost around the studio and examining the incredibly detailed artefacts punchdrunk had strewn around the place, before wending my way through the various performance scenes.

It was great fun.

The bar and entertainment therein was good too. At that juncture, Kim’s style of intervention was positively sought after and Kim did not disappoint.

Here is a link to punchdrunk’s explanatory on-line resource and you might enjoy the “film trailer” below.

This link will take you to plenty of reviews; mostly excellent but some reviewers didn’t get it.

Marianne Elliott And Simon Stephens On Port, 7 February 2013

We went to see this play about 10 days before attending this talk/discussion:

Port by Simon Stephens, Lyttelton Theatre, RNT, 26 January 2013

The “platform” (as the RNT calls such talks) was held in the Lyttelton.

I think I asked an incisive question – Janie might even remember what it was about…I don’t.

Below is a short on-line interview with Elliott & Stephens – not as good as attending the platform, but still good.

Port by Simon Stephens, Lyttelton Theatre, RNT, 26 January 2013

This was an excellent play/production.

We’re really keen on Simon Stephens work and had high hopes for this play – high hopes that were indeed met.

The play is basically about Simon Stephen’s home town – Stockport.

This was a revival of one of Simon Stephen’s early works – we didn’t realise that when we booked it, bit never mind.

Years later, when Janie and I went to Southport, I had terrible trouble convincing Janie that they are very different places in the North-West with vaguely similar names.

Unfamiliar names in the cast but all did a cracking job. Superb design too. Marianne Elliott is such a good director.

Below is a trailer vid:

The piece had very good reviews – here is a link to a search term that finds them.

Below is a vox pop audience feedback vid:

Our vox pop – both Janie and I really liked it.

We went to see Marianne Elliott & Simon Stephens talk about the play 10 days later, which was interesting and good too:

Marianne Elliott And Simon Stephens On Port, 7 February 2013

The Effect by Lucy Prebble, Cottesloe Theatre, 10 November 2012

Our last ever visit to the Cottesloe Theatre – we had no idea at the time – but what a good one to have in our memories as our last visit there.

A fascinating play by Lucy Prebble, very well acted, directed and produced. the design was stunning.

Click here for a link to a Tumblr resource on this play/production, i think from Headlong.

Here is a promotional video – basically an interview with Billie piper:

Janie and I were really taken with this play/production. It was entertaining and kept us talking for much of the weekend.

It was pretty much universally well received – click here for a search term that finds the reviews.

A fine piece for me and Janie to say goodbye to the Cottesloe…except we didn’t say goodbye because no-one really told us it was going!

This House by James Graham, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 September 2012

This was a bit unfortunate for us, as we were there for a preview and Phil Daniels had just been forced to pull out of the leading role, so we saw the understudy (Andrew Frame I think, although we might have had a temporary understudy our night) reading from the script.

Even so, I don’t think this was really our type of play.

The Cottesloe had been laid out like the House of Commons, with the audience on both sides forming the back benches.

The play is basically about the chaotic era of the hung parliament in the mid-to-late 1970s; not least the scheming of the whips to try to get some semblance of business done in trying times.

At the time of writing (March 2018) this seems like a hark back to halcyon days, but in 2012 I think we were supposed to be thinking, “thank goodness our 2012 coalition is so much saner and more stable – politics is just more mature now, isn’t it?”

Below is the trailer:

There were some amusing lines, but it was all a bit obvious and of course, as the case with all dramatisation of historical events, there was no suspense for us in the “what happens next” department because we lived through it all as youngsters.

As a play, it all felt a bit “tell” rather than “show”.

I have a lot of time for John Graham as a playwright but this one didn’t really do the business for us and I don’t think it was just the unfortunate understudy business – we’ve seen enough theatre to be able to adjust and allow for that.

We saw Beth (from downstairs) and her dad across the political divide; I discovered afterwards that they got more out of it than we did…

…as did most of the critics, who hailed the piece and the production – click here for a link to the reviews – so don’t listen to us.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon adapted by Simon Stephens, Cottesloe Theatre, 11 August 2012

I don’t normally go for adaptations of my favourite novels, but something told me this would be well worth seeing and also that Janie would like it. I was right on both counts. It was probably down to the fact that Simon Stephens was adapting it and also the stellar-looking cast and creatives boasted.

It was a fabulous evening of theatre. This adaptation deserved the plaudits it received in the press and the many transfers and re-runs that have followed.

There is even a Wikipedia entry to document the play’s progress – click here.

…and so on.

From our point of view, this was a cracking night at the theatre. It was also darned close to the 20th anniversary of our very first date, in August 1992, which happened to be at the Cottesloe. There’s cute for you.

The Last Of The Haussmans by Stephen Beresford, Lyttelton Theatre, 9 July 2012

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:

 

Detroit by Lisa D’Amour, Cottesloe Theatre, 12 May 2012

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:

Black T-Shirt Collection by Inua Ellams, Cottesloe Theatre, 14 April 2012

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.

Can We Talk About This? by Lloyd Newson, DV8, Lyttelton Theatre, 17 March 2012

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: