Stage and Theatre

[Brullnux]

I am a big fan of theatre and stage, and on a bit of a theatre high having just done a show. I'm partly making this thread so I can find out who else on this forum is, and so we can share good things we have watched and reccomend, or criticise shows. Unfortunately, theatre has become very expensive, especially the West End with its grandiose musicals, so it isn't something which I go to nearly as much as I'd like. When I do go, it tends to either be with my school (it costs like £8 this way) or to a preview.In a way this is also my attempt to make the most pretentious thread on the forum

But that's actually something that very much annoys me: how so many people view at is as so and how it has become an activity mostly for the rich. But that's for a later time

In 2016 the best show I watched was probably the Grinning Man. It was entertaining, wonderfully weird and had some impressive performances too, notably from Julian Bleach, and some great singing. It was, however, 3 hours long, and it could have been much less.

The best show I have seen in my lifetime is by far Complicite's The Encounter. It was absolutely outsanding, it completely immersed me through its incredible use of sound. It is going Down Under soon, and I very much reccomend anyone who lives in any cities it is going to (Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide) to watch it. It's going to Cali next year in LA and San Francisco too, so if you live there then I seriously suggest you spend those $25 or whatever (in Edinburgh it was closer to £10, but hey) and go watch. It's in MI too.

Now I leave it to anyone else who wants to add something they'd seen too.

[King Boonen]

I saw The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night at the Gielgud theatre earlier this year. That was very good.

I'm seeing Strì is Buaidh at Celtic Connections next year:

http://www.celticconnections.com/events/Pages/event.aspx?ev=5916ca07-2296-421a-8101-a6a6010b6a19

[Brullnux]

I'm going to watch that in March I think. I'm studying it for A-level so it wasn't really a choice

[Gigs_98]

I'm a fan of theatre too, but I guess telling you something about Austrian theatre won't be that interesting for most of you.

[King Boonen]

I'm going to watch that in March I think. I'm studying it for A-level so it wasn't really a choice

If it's the same production as I saw it's brilliant, you'll really enjoy it.

I didn't do A-level English/Drama etc. but it sounds like they have at least advanced the syllabus past Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Priestley etc.

[blackcat]

I saw an adaptation of George Eliot's Mill on the Floss last year, best thing I have seen on the stage. I see about 20 things a year in Melbourne. The mainstage, MTC(Melbourne Theatre Company) and Malthouse and Redstitch, MTC programming is for the petite bourgeois subscriber base, very ho-hum, I don't like what they put on. Redstitch is where I am a subscriber, but I like Theatreworks in St Kilda, which is a performance house that has companies and composites come in to perform. And it is old bohemian Melbourne, that gentrification slowly changed from two decades ago, but flickers remain. Malthouse is more avante garde than MTC. The smaller the theatre. the programming will generally be more challenging, it will be cheaper, and you get a seat much closer to the actors. In Australia, you will get preview discounts when the play is in its first full run-through.

http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/the-mill-on-the-floss-iid-153578

[blackcat]

I saw The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night at the Gielgud theatre earlier this year. That was very good.

I'm seeing Strì is Buaidh at Celtic Connections next year:

http://www.celticconnections.com/events/Pages/event.aspx?ev=5916ca07-2296-421a-8101-a6a6010b6a19

I have seen two of Simon Stephens plays in Melbourne, not TCIOTDITN. Sea Wall & Birdland. actually, I saw on NTL Threepenny Opera. (National Theatre Live, which is the play filmed in London). I was not impressed by Birdland, but I enjoyed the one-man Sea Wall.

Haddon adaptation is where he made his name I think, or brought him new profile. he has been prolific in the last decade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Stephens

[blackcat]

The best show I have seen in my lifetime is by far Complicite's The Encounter. It was absolutely outsanding, it completely immersed me through its incredible use of sound. It is going Down Under soon, and I very much reccomend anyone who lives in any cities it is going to (Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide) to watch it. It's going to Cali next year in LA and San Francisco too, so if you live there then I seriously suggest you spend those $25 or whatever (in Edinburgh it was closer to £10, but hey) and go watch. It's in MI too.

the current top critic in Melbourne reviewed Complicite and a friend who saw it also recommended it, but I hesitated and missed it, read the review because Woodhead was in thrall and he never is so forthcoming http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/stage/melbourne-stage/the-encounter-review-timebending-amazon-adventure-a-technical-and-theatrical-triumph-20170203-gu4tk6.html

[blackcat]

I am a bogan
Evelyn Waugh is a female
George Eliot is a man
Dave Eggers is a genius

[Echoes]

I cannot really afford watching a play. Last time I was tempted it was about cycling. "Porteur d'eau" ("Watercarrier") by Denis Laujol about the rider Florian Mathieu of Mons, 3rd in the 1947 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. When I realised it was €25 I chose not to go.

However I have great respect for theatre actors. I've always thought that the best cinema actors were those with stage background such as Louis Jouvet, Lord Lawrence Olivier or nowadays Kenneth Brannagh, David Suchet or Fabrice Lucchini (though you don't make many like that anymore). The French New Wave wanted rid of such actors (but Belmondo) because supposedly they did not speak like real speech, which is correct but at least they articulated and you could understand them. I really love emphatic way Louis Jouvet spoke (very theatrical indeed), you knew where he was heading to. The amateur actors of the New Wave, no thanks.

Also stage acting is so much more physical and demanding than cinema acting. An actor like Louis de Funès who multiplied both films and plays at a rather old age at an insane rhythm and with a very dynamic playing style ended up surviving two heart infarct at age 61. One year later he resumed cinema, with a cooler style but doctors strictly kept him from stage acting. His first heart attack at age 68 proved fatal to him. I'll always have respect for that man. He killed himself to make people laugh. How do you thank somebody for that?

[Brullnux]

Yeah it is true that it is expensive. My nearest theatre's main house costs no less than £20 usually, so I just usually go with my school which costs about 6 or 7 pounds. The same theatre though has a smaller black-box theatre which costs no more than £15, and the previews cost only £10 at most which is much more accessible. I agree with blackcat that it is probably more enjoyable going to smaller theatres, and usually much more stimulating. You can get some proper crap there too though, so you have to pick wisely.

[blackcat]

I saw Annie Baker's John tonight.

very impressive. great cast.
I saw it at MTC
http://www.mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/season-2017/john/
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/24/the-way-station
*MTC reviewed http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/helen-morse-stars-in-annie-bakers-brilliant-play-john-20170131-gu2gpx.html

am I too much of a bourgeois pig, or merely a petite bourgeois porcine?

I have seen three Annie Baker plays in the last 9 months.
The Flick
Uncle Vanya(modern adaptation)
John

am I not too much of a bourgeois porcine now?

respective corpulance is for debate

[ferryman]

I guess it's sort of in my blood. My cousin is a professional drama coach and actor. He is still heavily involved in producing/directing plays in the South of England. Black Watch is the stand out play I've seen. Also discovered Pitlochry Festival theatre last year so will be keeping an eye on what is coming there this year...

[Singer01]

I've seen far more musicals than stage shows as my younger sister is involved and i tend to treat her for her birthdays and christmas, though i concur that the curious incident is superb.
top 3 musicals
book of mormon
matilda
les mis

worst thing i've ever seen was wicked, so so boring.

[Brullnux]

Curious Incident was really good. Sometimes a bit too much unnecessary shouting but the set was excellent and the use of technology too.

[Tricycle Rider]

Tried auditioning for Kiss Me Kate back in high school, was reduced to the non-speaking photographer part.

Tried out for Mash next, was even further reduced to the extras who wave the copters in.

So then I tells myself - **** this, perhaps I just don't have the talent on the live stage. So that's what I've got to live with now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTykohWAPRg

[Robert5091]

"Ink" review - the story of the Murdoch empire (Sky, The Sun, The Times etc) in the UK
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/the-sun-rises-in-new-play-about-murdochs-tabloid-revolution/2017/09/23/83bf3eec-a062-11e7-b2a7-bc70b6f98089_story.html