This year at the theatre....
- Thread starter belboid
- Start date
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I've been wondering whether something like that might appear online, a website compiling everything that's out there.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Watched it last night and agree it was dreadful. My 12 year-old enjoyed it though.
Will watch Jane Eyre. Saw Treasure Island when it came out (with kids) - Patsy Ferran is excellent. I seem to remember it relied quite a lot on the set though so not sure how successful it will be on YouTube. I think I saw Tamsin Grieg in Twelfth Night too. Will watch again anyway.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Good to know there are some people out there with their critical facilities intact
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Still working on the 12-year-old.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
We saw it and mostly enjoyed it, tho could have done without that fucking Craze band. I always enjoy commedia del arte, tho, as I was saying to mrsb during the interval, I was concerned as to what Corden's motivation would be in the second half, seeing as he'd been fed.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Hopefully sent to their room to think about things for a few days?
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
A useful portal (not just theatre):
Culture Fix
Cultural content from the world's leading organisations. From online exhibitions to performance videos, virtual tours, podcasts and more. While their doors are closed, and performances cancelled, you can still get your culture fix here.
culturefix.digital
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
I saw 2 Guvnors as a freebie - really was dreading it, because I loathe Cordon, but I quite liked it in the end. It’s very old-fashioned, though, theatrically. (I mean obv Commedia is old fashioned, but this was all a bit Variety-show).
Really don’t fancy Jane Eyre but, because my students never got to see Endgame at the Old Vic, we have 24 hours to watch that (starting at 8am this morning). And as an extra sweetener we have 14 days free of the Digital Theatre site.
Tried watching “Funny Girl” last night but it kept booting me back to the start and (on my tv at least) the ffwd was very hot and miss. I guess the site is struggling with expone traffic the last couple of weeks, and I was trying to watch it at about 7.30pm - as I’d guess were thousands of others.
Really don’t fancy Jane Eyre but, because my students never got to see Endgame at the Old Vic, we have 24 hours to watch that (starting at 8am this morning). And as an extra sweetener we have 14 days free of the Digital Theatre site.
Tried watching “Funny Girl” last night but it kept booting me back to the start and (on my tv at least) the ffwd was very hot and miss. I guess the site is struggling with expone traffic the last couple of weeks, and I was trying to watch it at about 7.30pm - as I’d guess were thousands of others.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I saw that, at the Old Vic, very shortly before they had to shut down. Quite good. They had a cast Q&A afterwards. It was just at the point people were realising that the virus thing was real and about to start affecting london. The Q&A started off on the theme of the post-apocalyptic scenario of the play being relevant to current times, with the ominous unknown plague existing outside of the walls of the room. Then someone in the audience collapsed and they had to stop and ask if there were any doctors present and it was all a bit weird.
(The audience member was fine I think, she just fainted. Maybe got too excited about seing Daniel Radcliffe)
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Saw Fleabag last night. Glad I never spent vast sums buying it as a present for anyone. Interesting to see how they changed it for the TV series and what bits they kept in/cut. But mostly they toned it all down to stop PWB being such a vilely objectionable upper-class cunt.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Watched Jane Eye from the NT stream last night. My god it’s long: 3 hours and could/should have been cut to 2. Why do theatre directors do this?
The lead was very good I thought but didn’t think the design really worked (although maybe that was lost by not being there). And too many musical interludes (as in Two Guvnors).
The lead was very good I thought but didn’t think the design really worked (although maybe that was lost by not being there). And too many musical interludes (as in Two Guvnors).
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
we watched it last night, I'm not sure I've seen it at all before, the mrsb has. tamsin grieg was very good, but i'm not at all sure whether swapping their gender really works or not. The treatment of Malvolio is just plain nasty, not funny. That bit in the second half was horrible to watch, and there was nothing else to balance it out to show her getting revenge or any comeuppance upon the tormentors. Other than that, I did actually laugh at more of it than I do at most Shakey comedies.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Watched that too and agree with most of what you say.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Didn't see Twelfth Night in the end. Watched Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Extraordinary performance from BC and though the whole thing was OK but it didn't really grab me. I'm starting to thin that you (I) really need to be there.
We saw Anthony and Cleopatra at the theatre and loved it (particularly Ralph Fiennes) but won't bother seeing it again. Really looking forward to This House though as I missed it when it was on and I think it's likely to work well when streamed. Will also try to catch Barber Shop Chronicles.
We saw Anthony and Cleopatra at the theatre and loved it (particularly Ralph Fiennes) but won't bother seeing it again. Really looking forward to This House though as I missed it when it was on and I think it's likely to work well when streamed. Will also try to catch Barber Shop Chronicles.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Something that bugs me a bit about these recorded performances: too much camera movement. Theatre is designed to be seen from a stationary position. You're not supposed to have someone editing what you look at and from where. This was particularly evident in that Frankenstein one, with the camera flying around to positions no-one in the audience would ever see.
Is it worth the 3.5 hours? Currently have it scheduled for watching tomorrow night.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
that's true, ish. For sure, the camera moves around a lot, especially in the NT Lives where they really make an effort. The Asian Football Casual one didnt do as much, I'd guess because it was one of the first that company had done. But it is necessary to do so or it would be really boring. A recording can never quite capture that feeling of being in a captive audience so they have to do something to hold your attention. Also, your eye is often moving around the stage anyway, focusing on different characters or parts of the stage, so some camera movement is absolutely essential. You do focus in on a specific part of the stage at particular moments and miss whatever is happening elsewhere, and you usually wish you were sitting somewhere else at some point in a production because there can't be perfect viewing for every angle all the time. All in all, a price well worth paying imo.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Looking forward to Streetcar and Coriolanus, saw This House live so not sure if I'll bother with that.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Not yet... several evenings with an intention to do so and then it ends up getting too late...
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
I hear you. This is why playwrights should write shorter plays if they want to be successful.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Watched This House last night. I've seen in person and I'm not sure whether it was watching on the computer rather than in a cinema or just that it is a very physical play but while it was good I think this was probably one of the less successful NT Live pieces I've seen.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I found it to have a bit of the "radio 4 play" about it, I'm not sure it's really such a physical play. I found it quite forgettable.
you think that's long? it was 4 ½ hours split over 2 nights in the original run at the Bristol Old Vic
the excessive camera movement on Frankenstein was a pain. I think it was one of the first NT Live's they ever did, so weren't quite sure of how to balance that. the others I've seen have been all better in that regard.
the really obvious edits where they'd had to cut for YouTube's content policies were worse.
I can understand a small outfit using YouTube as they don't have the resources to maintain their own website. but surely the National are big enough they can? then not have to deal with some random American company's idea of what could offend the audience.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Coriolanus from NTLive starring Tom Hiddleston, I can imagine that seeing this in the theatre it was very good indeed, unfortunately seeing it on a screen I found it hard not to compare it to the Ralph Fiennes film adaptation, and some of the limitations of filming a live play are exposed. That said I still enjoyed this and got more drawn into it as it went along. I was also pleasantly impressed by Mark Gatiss as Meneleius, Gatiss sometimes over does it but here he was very good.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
The NTLive adaptation of Midsomer Nights Dream is great, only on until tomorrow but if you get the chance definitely worth watching.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
I saw it live at The Bridge. We were in the pit. It was amazing.
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