tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post5588915118042671062..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Review: Life is a Dream, When The Rain Stops FallingAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-69227869738639801962010-10-22T13:59:40.052+11:002010-10-22T13:59:40.052+11:00I know this is coming a bit late to the party but ...I know this is coming a bit late to the party but this show just opened in Brisbane. <br /><br />I absolutely hated it. And everyone loved it. Cheering and applauding. Three curtain calls. I was furious. <br /><br />Hollow. Superficial. Dull.<br /><br />The smell of theatre, where none existed.<br /><br />Thank you so much for your review, Alison. And for expecting the best.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-56503538606324871322010-03-16T11:02:53.116+11:002010-03-16T11:02:53.116+11:00Thanks, Anon.Thanks, Anon.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-83592738434903354002010-03-16T10:42:34.570+11:002010-03-16T10:42:34.570+11:00Alison, I found your review so refreshing and insi...Alison, I found your review so refreshing and insightful---I saw the play at MTC last year and while it had some beautiful moments and ideas, it felt as though it was a bit contrived. I guess I just wanted to say...thanks-love the boldness!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-199709305967307642010-03-10T09:12:06.405+11:002010-03-10T09:12:06.405+11:00Hi Karl - I gather it's doing well in NYC. It ...Hi Karl - I gather it's doing well in NYC. It did well here too. You never know, you might like it. But yes, it's quite safe.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-1096713096063530182010-03-10T05:06:01.484+11:002010-03-10T05:06:01.484+11:00Hi Alison!
I'm in charge of reading all the N...Hi Alison!<br /><br />I'm in charge of reading all the NYC reviews for WTRSF (for stagegrade.com) and so I thought I'd dig through your archive to see what you thought. I haven't seen the show and I'm trying to decide if I should.<br /><br />But a larger point ... Seems to me WTRSF falls into the Too Clever By 3.14159 category. All the NYC reviews talk about the play's Karl Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11406387629846020306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-30678011308144662512009-12-01T10:22:38.738+11:002009-12-01T10:22:38.738+11:00Oh, yeah! John Simm gazing ponderously out a fake ...Oh, yeah! John Simm gazing ponderously out a fake window might be worth seeing!Christine Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-32684155100391407562009-11-26T06:02:21.415+11:002009-11-26T06:02:21.415+11:00Gracious! That takes risk to a whole new level. Th...Gracious! That takes risk to a whole new level. Though maybe it was having to play Professor Quirrel what did it to his mind.<br /><br />I'd risk it all to see John Simm on stage, all the same. I have a bit of a crush on John Simm.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-79414433578667377522009-11-25T23:43:52.591+11:002009-11-25T23:43:52.591+11:00Careful Alison. Never mind climbing onstage. We in...Careful Alison. Never mind climbing onstage. We in the audience sooner fear the actor's descent. For lo! THE CURSE OF BOVELL is at work internationally! Inflated self-importance is the order of the day!<br /><br />from today's TIMES (London):<br />The Times November 25, 2009<br /><br />Actor Ian Hart faces police action after lunging at member of audience<br /><br />Chris Smyth and Sarah Ethel Malleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-5584802203861264462009-11-25T23:25:29.441+11:002009-11-25T23:25:29.441+11:00But of course. Unless you clamber onto the stage, ...But of course. Unless you clamber onto the stage, of course, which might cause dismay.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-50857903718217494942009-11-25T19:47:49.153+11:002009-11-25T19:47:49.153+11:00I'm incontinent, but it's medical. Can I c...I'm incontinent, but it's medical. Can I come?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-66964639173952893992009-11-25T17:11:31.405+11:002009-11-25T17:11:31.405+11:00Er...right. I'm all for a continent audience, ...Er...right. I'm all for a continent audience, Balosh, so it's just as well for everyone concerned that you didn't see the show.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-25452669239943357142009-11-25T16:32:03.316+11:002009-11-25T16:32:03.316+11:00Settle down, Balosh. The spirited debate is great,...Settle down, Balosh. The spirited debate is great, but a significant piece of creative effort - no matter what you think of it - doesn't deserve to be urinated on.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426164442182655675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-10305763435680544592009-11-25T15:46:18.798+11:002009-11-25T15:46:18.798+11:00I didn’t see the production of WTRSF but I read th...I didn’t see the production of WTRSF but I read the script a couple of years ago and what struck me about the writing – apart from the contrivance of the plot, the tiresome and obvious over-use of ‘symbolism’ (WE FUCKING GET IT!!! you find yourself screaming six pages in) – was the almost total lack of humour. This always makes me suspicious. The tone felt so reverential, serious and They Call Him Baloshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-66941263810822854872009-11-24T22:53:37.634+11:002009-11-24T22:53:37.634+11:00Oh, I'm sorry that you didn't like When th...Oh, I'm sorry that you didn't like When the Rain Stops Falling. Because out of the three MTC productions I saw this year (August: Osage County, God of Carnage) this one was my favourite. I thought it was beautiful, engaging, surprising, imaginative and thought-provoking.<br /><br />Jetsetting JoyceJetsetting Joyce (MEL: HOT OR NOT)http://www.melhotornot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-17201528708532444182009-11-24T18:57:57.066+11:002009-11-24T18:57:57.066+11:00Oooh I know exactly what you mean! I love you, Als...Oooh I know exactly what you mean! I love you, Alsion Croggon. A reality is not realism...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-12968435509097564162009-11-24T17:10:00.202+11:002009-11-24T17:10:00.202+11:00Hi Tom - it certainly does divide people! For the ...Hi Tom - it certainly does divide people! For the record, I wasn't missing a sense of "messy liveness" here. I love the strict musical structures employed by (say) people like Beckett or Foss or Bernhardt or Genet or Vinaver or whoever... Aside from what I thought were heavy-handed symbolic gestures (the dressing gown reminds me of that clunky monologue about Diderot) what bothered Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-31112544180004614692009-11-24T14:58:45.797+11:002009-11-24T14:58:45.797+11:00WTRSF really does seem to totally divide audiences...WTRSF really does seem to totally divide audiences! I'm a defender. I think it's easy to tear down writers who are interested in structure in the musical sense. They don't invest in the open, messy, 'liveness' that (probably rightly) has been seen as the saviour of local theatre but want to set up fugal, sonata like patterns which carry emotional weight not simply via the tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052329710059135012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-20438803317145549062009-11-24T11:36:19.265+11:002009-11-24T11:36:19.265+11:00"The falsity mounts to an almost hysteric ove..."The falsity mounts to an almost hysteric over-compensation" - that sums up the AFI-nominated movie Blessed, which Bovell co-wrote. Indeed the symptoms described are so typical of Australian cinema that I read this review with a sigh of relief.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05523747990880689432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-34864831828954500562009-11-24T11:12:26.681+11:002009-11-24T11:12:26.681+11:00Glad you reviewed this, as I wanted to know what y...Glad you reviewed this, as I wanted to know what you thought. As a scarred veteran of many bad MTC productions, I begged off this one when my wife and her friends (one of whom works for the MTC) went to see it. I have to stress that they are the kind of people who will bend over backward to find something good to say about any new play, new art, etc. But they came back home speechless and Cuckoonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-9819440765208106102009-11-24T07:46:55.781+11:002009-11-24T07:46:55.781+11:00Thanks David - not that it matters whether others ...Thanks David - not that it matters whether others agree, but the general feeling among those I've talked to since seeing the show is a similar puzzlement. <br /><br />Hi EP - I don't see how my response invalidates your experience, although no doubt it reveals something about the things I want from theatre. Emotional verisimilitude being a major component. I think the contrast between Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-85540493820573616852009-11-23T17:53:55.035+11:002009-11-23T17:53:55.035+11:00Shocked and stunned, Alison, shocked and stunned!
...Shocked and stunned, Alison, shocked and stunned!<br /><br />WTRSF was my third play (I saw it in Sydney), and also the first one that I ever reviewed, so I guess I probably have a soft spot for it, much like I still think that my first cinematic treat, Sister Act, is a classic (and am not ashamed to admit it). I wish I could see it again to see if my reaction would still be the same.<br /><br /Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-28503061144322727192009-11-23T14:19:51.179+11:002009-11-23T14:19:51.179+11:00Hi Alison, I don't think that it's the per...Hi Alison, I don't think that it's the performances being possibly tired that contributed to your boredom. I saw the play in Adelaide very early in it's original run, and found it ponderous, tedious, structurally transparent ( in an uninteresting way) and just plain dull. My comment at the time was that it was a monochrome play, accompanied by monochrome design and performances. I David Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00206474261372528319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-81476215768673707792009-11-23T10:28:15.246+11:002009-11-23T10:28:15.246+11:00Man, that response is so typical of the weird reac...Man, that response is so typical of the weird reaction to this play, Jason. It's an okay play - not the second coming of Christ.<br /><br />I was bored bored bored. Who cares about that fucken fish? WHO CARES. And paedophiles, again? OH man. <br /><br />I think Australians enjoy being bored.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-3987974382955788162009-11-23T08:12:53.163+11:002009-11-23T08:12:53.163+11:00Thanks Jason. I know a lot of people loved this on...Thanks Jason. I know a lot of people loved this one, but I was really squirming.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-61551228242463799052009-11-23T00:48:15.183+11:002009-11-23T00:48:15.183+11:00Wow. Like...wow.
That hurts. Good on you for not ...Wow. Like...wow.<br /><br />That hurts. Good on you for not mincing words over something you clearly felt disappoints. But we couldn't have had more disparate opinions.<br /><br />The Sydney Theatre Company production I saw of When The Rain Stops Falling earlier this year was deeply emotionally resonate. Not sure why you were left cold.<br /><br />Can I say, in seeing a GREAT lot of theatre Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426164442182655675noreply@blogger.com