5 replies to this topic

[Reich]

Reading the recent threads on Katie Mitchel ... I want to know why these people keep going back to her work or other productions you may have negative thoughts about?

I have directors I don't like e.g. Trevor Nunn. I occasionally see his work because I wanted to see Glen Close in Street Car or I wanted to see Porgy and Bess. However generally I give his work a wide berth. I may go back in ten years time and see a Lewd Rubber show out of curiosity or to re live the old days

Just wondering ....

[Matthew Winn]

I don't go to see people whose work I hate.

I have a small list of people (a dozen or so) whose association with a show will always get me to see it, and a larger list (a couple of hundred) who have interested me enough in the past that they'd tip the balance in favour of a show I might otherwise not bother with, but I also have a list of people whose names are pretty much a signal that I should keep well clear. I make allowances for one piece of bad work (and to be honest I don't know of a single person who's invariably good), but two poor showings looks like more than bad luck.

Interestingly, most of the people on the positive list are actors and actresses while most of the negatives are directors, perhaps because a bad actor can only ruin part of a show while a bad director has no limits on the devastation he or she can wreak.

Trevor Nunn is OK with plays but for musicals ... well, he doesn't quite give them the kiss of death but he certainly hands them the lollipop of mediocrity.* There are many worse directors of musicals, as the psychological scars I carry can testify.

* For the benefit of the few people who haven't heard this one: "Lick it once and you'll suck forever"

[M George]

* For the benefit of the few people who haven't heard this one: "Lick it once and you'll suck forever"

For real?

[Sparrow]

Notably bad productions can be interesting, in that they offer the opportunity to analyse the structure of their failure.

I don't have good and bad lists to put me off a production, because usually if I'm not keen on someone's work, then I live in hope that either they'll surprise me, or that the other performers and creatives involved will have worked to rescue the enterprise. I always feel that to hold a grudge for a poor past performance is rather churlish. There can be many reasons why someone doesn't pull off a success, and they may not apply to a future production.  And if I want to see a particular play or musical because of good writing, then I'll make do with whichever cast is involved.  

[Reich]

What disturbs me is people who go so can have some ammunition for the next month or so

I have friends who wont go to to ENO with because they just moan throughout the entire piece and spoil my enjoyment. To me it's  pure snobbery. My friends will state they go out of curiosity and at least from that they can then have an informed view point. This is great but whats the point in moaning all the time about the same thin?