tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post6692614938719211220..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Review: Half LifeAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-74367183135276855042007-10-19T09:56:00.000+10:002007-10-19T09:56:00.000+10:00Or perhaps somewhere on the border of zone one and...Or perhaps somewhere on the border of zone one and zone two?On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-43616649861346718102007-10-18T09:25:00.000+10:002007-10-18T09:25:00.000+10:00Thanks Tom - that fairly comprehensively addresses...Thanks Tom - that fairly comprehensively addresses the question! Though all those brows give me a bit of an ache in my forehead. But you know, it would make Half Life a cross between high and upper middle brow.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-41222025672323814742007-10-17T17:28:00.000+10:002007-10-17T17:28:00.000+10:00Don't forget Monobrow.Don't forget Monobrow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-66782024510061318032007-10-17T15:56:00.000+10:002007-10-17T15:56:00.000+10:00Sorry, found it, the above was from Gans (1974) vi...Sorry, found it, the above was from Gans (1974) via Stephen Bayley (1991)<BR/><BR/>cheers<BR/> Tom WrightAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-35624746619830163142007-10-17T15:53:00.000+10:002007-10-17T15:53:00.000+10:00I can't remember where this came from, but I find ...I can't remember where this came from, but I find it useful as a starting point to discussing these things;<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Highbrow<BR/>• Interest in creative process and symbolism <BR/>• Preference for experimentation <BR/>• Introspection preferred to action <BR/>• Accepts different levels of meaning <BR/>• Expects consideration of philosophical, psychological and social issues <BR/><BRAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-65938586764463769492007-10-17T12:14:00.000+10:002007-10-17T12:14:00.000+10:00Yeah, Ying-Tong was very 'middle-brow' and lively....Yeah, Ying-Tong was very 'middle-brow' and lively. Half-Life was middle-brow and sentimental (I wish Quentin Crisp were alive to define it terms of popular theatre - ever read his collections of movie reviews?), whereas, what was it 'Japanese dancers dancing around a bored cow' and things selected by lesbians is decidedly not middle brow (I'm still getting a laugh out of that article, he's like On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-31041699304319364152007-10-17T11:37:00.000+10:002007-10-17T11:37:00.000+10:00I can quite see the importance of appealing to a v...I can quite see the importance of appealing to a variety of taste. And, let's face it, theatre is for the most part a middle class activity (I am irredeemably middle class myself), and the middle class comprehends a broad range of taste. <BR/><BR/>But, you know, if you're talking middlebrow (a dubious division at best) I'd much rather spend my night at the rather livelier Ying Tong, that STC showAlison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-55783397400839574942007-10-17T10:17:00.000+10:002007-10-17T10:17:00.000+10:00It being a 'terrific piece of middlebrow theatre' ...It being a 'terrific piece of middlebrow theatre' is really important - Middle-aged, middle-brow (and yes, middle class) theatregoers are the ones generate the most money for theatre companies. I'd rather watch a year's worth of plays are well structured as "Half-Life" than mish-mashes of soap opera sentiment acted in a style closer to semaphore ("Glass Soldier" anyone?).<BR/><BR/>The control ofOn Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-19179283201932903572007-10-17T09:42:00.000+10:002007-10-17T09:42:00.000+10:00From memory there were bits of "Peepshow" that had...From memory there were bits of "Peepshow" that had a kind of Seinfeld feel to it, e.g., the style in which observations were made about relationships, etc. Maybe AndyB would have enjoyed some of that. Then again, maybe even Seinfeld is too racy for AndyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-10889463231155390752007-10-17T06:28:00.000+10:002007-10-17T06:28:00.000+10:00Mr Bolt might well have enjoyed Half Life. (Peep S...Mr Bolt might well have enjoyed Half Life. (Peep Show is another question, I think, quite probably a bit dicey, what with all that sex.) Half Life certainly is inoffensive. Sorry guys, but it just bored me to catatonia. I didn't think it entirely without virtue (as I said in the review) but that kind of direction does nothing for me at all. Putting everything in frames.<BR/><BR/>I don't get what Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-36624206954116444232007-10-17T00:55:00.000+10:002007-10-17T00:55:00.000+10:00you think andy b would have enjoyed 'Peepshow', ch...you think andy b would have enjoyed 'Peepshow', chris?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00119074859765429301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-34349241959834459602007-10-17T00:45:00.000+10:002007-10-17T00:45:00.000+10:00This grey-haired-at-heart matinee audience member ...This grey-haired-at-heart matinee audience member was certainly awake to its charms. I didn't tire of the grey-outs... Why? Because the actors moved so damn well. I can't think of a bunch of actors who move as beautifully. I loved the slo-mo and the evocative soundscaping. <BR/><BR/>Now, as a sometime pioneer of AI (I exaggerate... slightly!) I thought the neural net stuff was a bit Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-34311670320179987752007-10-16T19:17:00.000+10:002007-10-16T19:17:00.000+10:00I quite liked it, though that may be partly becaus...I quite liked it, though that may be partly because of the contrast with what I saw the day before, viz., "This Show is About People". I thought the text for that consisted largely of dreary, hackneyed pseudo-profundity. There were many things I liked about it (dance, music, singing, etc) but the text certainly wasn't one of them. So I think I was hungry for something that had an intelligent Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-61466945394928164072007-10-16T17:09:00.000+10:002007-10-16T17:09:00.000+10:00I should qualify the statement, that "Half Life" m...I should qualify the statement, that "Half Life" makes shows of a similar nature done here look like dreck. I agree, the lighting felt strange, I wonder if the play is normally given in smaller venues where it would have registered better.<BR/>Still, many people were moved by "Half Life" the night I saw it.On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-16242353769250613842007-10-16T16:44:00.000+10:002007-10-16T16:44:00.000+10:00My only quibble with Alison's review is that I did...My only quibble with Alison's review is that I didn't much like the lighting either. It was too muted for my taste. In fact I think I would've renamed the show Half Light. (Of course my eyes are going so maybe the subtlety of the lighting design was lost on me.)<BR/><BR/>This show has had rave reviews overseas and while I think the play has merit, the production left me scratching my head. <BR/><Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-6398584780507682252007-10-16T16:26:00.000+10:002007-10-16T16:26:00.000+10:00Funny, I thought it was supurb (thinking back to D...Funny, I thought it was supurb (thinking back to David Williamson's dreadful tratment of a similar theme in "After the Ball") even more I though it being imported for the festival made our theatre look like dreck in comparison. The performances were subtle, I thought, and the scenes between Donald and the Pastor have a Shavian feel in the way they aruee the existance or non-existance of God. On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.com