18 replies to this topic

[scumdriver]

Yes. Check the Young Vic web site - all the exciting details are there .... sadly I think I have other plans that .... errr .... month.

Brock

get the **** out of theatre. please. before we all kill you.

[Jan Brock]

Brock

get the **** out of theatre. please. before we all kill you.

Always please to hear from a fan of e e cummings. Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

[Alexandra]

Always please to hear from a fan of e e cummings. Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

for the second time in this thread.

[Backdrifter]

Seeing as we're into double figures of posts in this thread without an actual comment on the production itself yet I thought I'd be the first, having seen it yesterday. It's very good, with a lovely performance from Anastasia Hille as the woman preparing to leave her home and husband in order to avoid being rounded up. The first 12 minutes are a wordless depiction of her frantically trying to decide what to pack and what valuables to take - I found it a very compelling sequence. As the piece progresses, an eerie and sinister background hum pulses louder and louder, like some approaching menace. The detailed bedroom set is terrific and very atmospheric, really beautifully lit. I had to chuckle to myself at the end when, having gone almost an entire production with none of the Mitchell "trademarks" we often joke about, there is a brief switch into her slow-motion thing. I welcomed it like an old friend, and overall came away happy.

By contrast, it's paired with Rory Bremner's translation of A Respectable Wedding, which is very funny and fast-paced, coming across like Ayckbourn on speed. It's staged in a tiny set perched up on scaffolding. The cast of 8 have to really squeeze themselves in. It reminded me a bit of the NT revival of An Inspector Calls. It works though. If you're yet to see it, due to the height of the set and depending on your seating preferences you might want to arrive early enough to grab a seat further back so you're level with the set.

Wedding is staged in the Maria space which you access from the street (leave the building and turn right), while Wife is in the Clare which you enter to the right of the bar area. I think the 'early' shows have Wife 1st.

[Job]

Thanks for this review, Backdrifter. I'm kicking myself for not having booked while there were still seats to be had.

Job

[armadillo]

Yes, depsite all the negative opinions of those who don't like the director, it sold out before press night and got excellent reviews. I'm not a fan of Katie Mitchell but clearly plenty of people are - it seems extraordinary to start a thread just to solicit negative reviews of a very popular show by an acclaimed director.

[Backdrifter]

No, I'm not exactly a fan of hers either. This is probably the 8th production of hers I've seen; I've enjoyed 3, found one okay, disliked 3 and absolutely hated one. But this doesn't make me want to avoid her work. If something sounds interesting, I'll see it. I hadn't realised this had sold out.

[Winona]

I am a KM fan for the record and I went to see the Jewish Wife which I thought was an excellent performace by Hillie, amazing. I actually think a lot of the things most people find irritating about KM's style of direction are not applicable in a small theatre space (the natural lighting, the lack of volume to make it seems real etc) so those who are not her fans may get on with this. Its a very poignant thing. And if youdont like it its only 30 mins!

Respectable wedding is good too, but very different and I would question the choice to pair them together. I saw it Jewish Wife first nad then Respectable Wedding which I think is the better wayto do it - dont think I would have liked it the other wayaround!
W+

[Backdrifter]

That's the way around I thought I was seeing them. I'm sure I made a point of selecting the Wife-Wedding sequence and am convinced they switched it! (rather than, of course, admit I got it wrong in the first place). Re the pairing itself, I can understand people questioning it but personally I'm not bothered if there's no apparent link.