tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post2596530914896900269..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Review: King Lear/The SeagullAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-40958506636191591722007-09-09T15:07:00.000+10:002007-09-09T15:07:00.000+10:00Two hours ago I returned home from the RSC product...Two hours ago I returned home from the RSC production of "The Seagull" at Brooklyn Academy of Music with William Gaunt as Sorin. Like August 11 I found Romola Garai's sometimes grating - but real pathos emerged in her final scene with Konstantin, despite a few too many trembling hands. She comes across as a good actress playing a quite deluded, lovely, idealistic and untalented actress. In Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-22032017694820145712007-08-11T18:28:00.000+10:002007-08-11T18:28:00.000+10:00Oh Be Still thy beating heart!I am not a Shakespea...Oh Be Still thy beating heart!<BR/>I am not a Shakespeare goer nor<BR/>overpunctified pontificator of both<BR/>plays of the Seagull and King Lear.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately I was my own melodrama<BR/>in in the audience of King Lear<BR/>and did not really get into the <BR/>production till after the second half.<BR/><BR/>I would dearly love to see King Lear close and personal from<BR/>the proximaty ofAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-17641137023930431862007-08-10T23:29:00.000+10:002007-08-10T23:29:00.000+10:00I find it fascinating that NTG, Bardassa, Alison a...I find it fascinating that NTG, Bardassa, Alison and my own reactions to the Gloucester/Lear scene at Dover are all very similar. I was almost brought to tears by that scene, by the sheer commited vulnerability of a father, a son and the deposed King of a realm. Almost worthy of putting up in my top theatre moments, along with Nonso Anozie as Othello in the final scene of Cheek By Jowls BigNickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233480114691336750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-65069065628539031462007-08-07T15:08:00.000+10:002007-08-07T15:08:00.000+10:00"What a wonderfully exotic name - Romolo Garai."If..."What a wonderfully exotic name - Romolo Garai."<BR/><BR/>If you want to see her on screen, she is in "Amazing Grace", currently showing. She plays the woman who marries William Wilberforce.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-28088595263615061412007-08-07T13:11:00.000+10:002007-08-07T13:11:00.000+10:00"And Romolo Garai is a thrillingly fearless Nina ...."And Romolo Garai is a thrillingly fearless Nina ......"<BR/><BR/>"In her throbbing musicality, Garai ......"<BR/><BR/>Nina presented insurmountable problems for me, exemplified by the long scene with Trigorin. She seemed to be stuck in a rut - emotionally, physically and in voice. The Trigorin scene should be a delight. For me it sadly became tedious. The other 1500 odd in the audience seemed toAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-23152362812495038002007-08-07T12:34:00.000+10:002007-08-07T12:34:00.000+10:00just testing the system.just testing the system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-71223177420771567752007-08-06T00:47:00.000+10:002007-08-06T00:47:00.000+10:00a point of order... it wasn't a wolf's howl, it w...a point of order... it wasn't a wolf's howl, it was the howl of a newborn. ("We came crying hither;/Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air/We wawl and cry.")Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-17438507644681975702007-08-04T14:57:00.000+10:002007-08-04T14:57:00.000+10:00The gun, god, what was that about. I refused to c...The gun, god, what was that about. I refused to clap until I heard the shot! Waiting, waiting... <BR/><BR/>Having once played Horatio (I was wondrous strange), I assumed this was one of those "I am more an antique Roman than a Dane/Here's yet some liquor left" self-slaughter moments. LOL!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-272230467555493702007-08-03T23:07:00.000+10:002007-08-03T23:07:00.000+10:00Do you think you understood the language? I though...Do you think you understood the language? I thought most of the time it didn't make sense, it hardly ever - except in the odd moment - rang with any clarity of truthfulness. Will Gaunt seemed to gain a speech impediment after his eyes were gouged out, shomething happened to his shibilants, but I have a feeling he was just being Tragic. Kent - one of the most affecting roles in the play - made no Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-50092774826086941632007-08-03T18:54:00.000+10:002007-08-03T18:54:00.000+10:00Funnily enough, Alison, I'm with you on this one. ...Funnily enough, Alison, I'm with you on this one. (That said, we reach out conclusions via different paths.) After half an hour -- a blissful first half hour -- I decided this was a perfect <I>first</I> Lear. It reminded me of The Old Vic's Hamlet with Derek Jacobi (1979?!) as the Dane. I hated DJ's mincing Hamlet, with a passion, but it was the most clear and easily understood production ofAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-51575762619136644682007-08-03T16:24:00.000+10:002007-08-03T16:24:00.000+10:00And what happened to Cressida?And what happened to Cressida?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-87017981323873865992007-08-03T15:16:00.000+10:002007-08-03T15:16:00.000+10:00Thou grumblest, Anon, and railest every hour on Ac...Thou grumblest, Anon, and railest every hour on Achilles,<BR/>and thou art as full of envy at his greatness as <BR/>Cerberus is at Proserpine's beauty."<BR/><BR/>- Troilus and CressidaGeoffreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05409350618909242278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-14026177748169072432007-08-03T10:00:00.000+10:002007-08-03T10:00:00.000+10:00PS Also, emotional responses to theatre are privat...PS Also, emotional responses to theatre are private and delicate, and so are often what people feel most shy about expressing. And just as mine are real, so are those of other people. Myself, I think the emotional exchange that is possible in a theatre is one of the things that makes it unique and deeply human. I would never question another's emotional response, and I hope that others would not Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-58895180177757997282007-08-03T09:23:00.000+10:002007-08-03T09:23:00.000+10:00Funny how the narky comments here are all by Anony...Funny how the narky comments here are all by Anonymous. I quite understand why some people wish to remain anonymous, and Anon and his siblings often contribute generously to discussion here. So I haven't changed the settings. But sheesh. Sometimes I'm tempted.<BR/><BR/>I'm on the record for years as saying that what we need in this town is a generous and diverse discourse about theatre. I have Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-9199725445726539652007-08-03T08:56:00.000+10:002007-08-03T08:56:00.000+10:00Methinks the lady doth protest too muchMethinks the lady doth protest too muchAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-70506160135005838212007-08-02T20:21:00.000+10:002007-08-02T20:21:00.000+10:00Yes, Eamon (and others here) - it is an extraordin...Yes, Eamon (and others here) - it is an extraordinary, and wonderful, thing when theatre works like that for you. And I feel that I want to make clear that, different though my responses were - aside from brief moments, mostly to do with McKellen's performance, I found this production strangely unmoving - that doesn't, and can't, invalidate the very real feelings you had while you watched the Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-4661629583975532332007-08-02T17:45:00.000+10:002007-08-02T17:45:00.000+10:00My experience of the 31st differs so extrodanarily...My experience of the 31st differs so extrodanarily, I have avoided professional Shakespear performance for nearly three years now due to constant dissapointment, my return to the fray was not without apprehension. <BR/>Its a rare moment when in an age of instant entertainment I happily drowned in the RSC company performance, men around me openly wept and McKellans descent into maddness from a Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-52035399210028001282007-08-02T16:50:00.000+10:002007-08-02T16:50:00.000+10:00Gloucester jumping off the "cliff" is certainly on...Gloucester jumping off the "cliff" is certainly one of the most beautiful scenes in the play. (Cordelia's reunion with Lear is another that mirrors that complex tenderness, it can move me to tears). I wish I had been able to feel it so keenly.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-45524080267852627692007-08-02T15:10:00.000+10:002007-08-02T15:10:00.000+10:00Bingo mate! And that's (for me) the essence of th...Bingo mate! And that's (for me) the essence of the tragedy. That scene is powerful enough. Image how Edgar must feel, walking with his mutilated father, not telling him his identity, and then listening to that defeated speech as the old man thinks his about to throw himself to his death but only to live and join with Lear in lamenting the loss of humanity.On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-71139697521309146302007-08-02T14:55:00.000+10:002007-08-02T14:55:00.000+10:00"How moving it was in the Dover scene with the bli..."How moving it was in the Dover scene with the blind Gloucester to see the King’s madness lift quickly when Gloucester broke down crying. He stopped suddenly and said quietly “I know thee well enough, thy name is Gloucester” and then how the two old and deceived men sat and cried, Gloucester in abject sorrow and Lear, forcing that incredible wolf’s howl to try and cry – something Lear may never Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-24099343631008806442007-08-02T12:54:00.000+10:002007-08-02T12:54:00.000+10:00I saw Lear for the second time last night after ha...I saw Lear for the second time last night after having watched the matinee of "The Seagull" while sitting close by to McKellen himself (yikes!).<BR/><BR/>I thought “Seagull” was very well done. I loved the way it ended with Arkadina's self satisfied laugh, that same laugh she emitted with her satisfaction on getting her way every time (I wonder though if Francis Barber wasn't taking the mickey On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-9452079571950761772007-08-02T11:32:00.000+10:002007-08-02T11:32:00.000+10:00That was in another country, and besides, the wenc...That was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead. Or Playbox is, anyway. Having spent a fair part of yesterday looking at photographs from Tuong Sleng, the most notorious of Pol Pot's prisons and torture centres, I'm inclined to think that being banned by a theatre doesn't count among the "worst". :)Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-72848888842308391182007-08-02T11:05:00.000+10:002007-08-02T11:05:00.000+10:00"We are not the first who with best intent have in..."We are not the first who with best intent have incurred the worst"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-69372873153407906222007-08-02T10:55:00.000+10:002007-08-02T10:55:00.000+10:00Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speakW...Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak<BR/>When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound<BR/>When majesty falls to folly...Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-31844647996771099442007-08-02T10:07:00.000+10:002007-08-02T10:07:00.000+10:00"Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low."was her ..."Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low."<BR/><BR/>was her banishment by Playbox/Malthouse as unjust as Cordelia'sAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com