New York in April
Douglas and I went to New York in April and saw 9 shows in 5 days. He and I did not agree about a lot of what we saw, and I will share my comments more than his. The theatre was good, but not as fantastic as I expected. I would love to discuss details of these plays with anyone, but I don't want to put any spoilers in my blog, so I won't be as precise as I'd like to be.
I liked History Boys very much (much more than Douglas), and I am surprised because I have never cut any slack for some of the behavior discussed. I thought it was very clever and had a lot to say, both about education and about human relationships. The acting was excellent, and there were many clever lines. I of course cared very much about at least one of the students, and I was moved by the ending in a way that really surprised me. I would definitely recommend this play, andI look forward to seeing more of Alan Bennett's work.
Tryst was an interresting, well-acted 2-hander that I liked better than Douglas did. The acting was excellent, and I sympathized with the female character. The story kept my interest and was suspensefully written. recommend.
Sweeney Todd with Patti Lupone and Michael Cerveris was a disappointment, and Douglas agrees with me. In this production, each actor plays at least one instrument, and there is no orchestra. It was a fine production and possibly supposed to be more the telling of the story than acting it out completely, but we thought it did not compare to the production of Sweeney Todd we saw at Porchlight Theatre in Chicago October of 2004.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh was another disappointment for both of us, but I have thought about the show a lot since we saw it. We were both so overwhelmed by his Pillowman last year, and this did not compare. However, Inishmore really was full of very dark humor and was supposed to show how ridiculous terrorism is. We all know that, but we did laugh a lot at seeing it. The actor whose timing was so perfect was Domnhall Gleeson, the man accused of killing the terrorist's cat. There's much gore in this play, but it hardly bothered me, as it was just so over the top. I also wonder how the Irish feel about this play, as their depiction is not positive. I would recommend this play, as long as your expectations aren't too high. There's no denying that it's clever.
I liked History Boys very much (much more than Douglas), and I am surprised because I have never cut any slack for some of the behavior discussed. I thought it was very clever and had a lot to say, both about education and about human relationships. The acting was excellent, and there were many clever lines. I of course cared very much about at least one of the students, and I was moved by the ending in a way that really surprised me. I would definitely recommend this play, andI look forward to seeing more of Alan Bennett's work.
Tryst was an interresting, well-acted 2-hander that I liked better than Douglas did. The acting was excellent, and I sympathized with the female character. The story kept my interest and was suspensefully written. recommend.
Sweeney Todd with Patti Lupone and Michael Cerveris was a disappointment, and Douglas agrees with me. In this production, each actor plays at least one instrument, and there is no orchestra. It was a fine production and possibly supposed to be more the telling of the story than acting it out completely, but we thought it did not compare to the production of Sweeney Todd we saw at Porchlight Theatre in Chicago October of 2004.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh was another disappointment for both of us, but I have thought about the show a lot since we saw it. We were both so overwhelmed by his Pillowman last year, and this did not compare. However, Inishmore really was full of very dark humor and was supposed to show how ridiculous terrorism is. We all know that, but we did laugh a lot at seeing it. The actor whose timing was so perfect was Domnhall Gleeson, the man accused of killing the terrorist's cat. There's much gore in this play, but it hardly bothered me, as it was just so over the top. I also wonder how the Irish feel about this play, as their depiction is not positive. I would recommend this play, as long as your expectations aren't too high. There's no denying that it's clever.
posted by Between Shows @ 12:46 PM
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