We really don't care about theatre do we?

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Well I saw "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" in summer 2001, so maybe i caught the peak's dying embers! It was way funnier than I remember Second City being around 1991.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

The whole "beyond realism" thing gives a very misleading idea of what theatre has been about historically. There were only about ten minutes when Realism was a big thing in theatre, basically around the time that Strindberg et al. were driving for naturalism and so on. Before that, theatre did not play the realist game, nor did it afterwards.

realism SuXoR.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

really? we're on a thread where people are talking about going to see both the new Mike Leigh play and "The History Boys". i can't see the point in either of them, to be frank. i agree that realism sucks though, certainly as far as the theatre is concerned.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Realism" is a problematic term in all the arts, ie I don't know what it means. Welles quoted someone (Picasso?) in F for Fake that art is a lie that reveals the truth. But didn't the Group Theater and those other cats in the '30s fancy themselves 'realists'?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

i can't see the point in either of them, to be frank

the point for me would be the same as that for going to London in the first place

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

also i guess that early Ibsen & Shaw and so on were fairly realistic (and influential) . i wasn't takling about realism/naturalism as a movement (i'm sure you know more about that than i do) but more that they were real situations presented realistically on stage without melodrama etc. i don't want to get bogged down in the semantics of it mainly because i don't know enough about it.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

i saw a show recently where certain bits of stage business were taken care of in proudly unrealistic ways i.e. a man drives a car into a lake and this is signified by a spotlit hand popping out of the wings that throws a cupful of water directly into his face

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

Jaymc, you should see a Plasticene show if you haven't already. Very intelligent and VERY physical. 500 Clown also highly recommended. Redmoon. Curious Theatre Branch. Theatre Oobleck. Walkabout. Steppenwolf Garage.

― ng-unit, Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

though apparently London tix are impossible?

it's at the national, right? they keep back a certain number of tickets for every performance and sell them for a tenner (i think) on the day. the seats could be anywhere. they start selling them at 10am iirc, the only time i did it i got there for about 8, was the third person in the queue, spent a pleasant couple of hours reading, chatting and peoplewatching and got a front row seat (not as great as it sounds as the stage is at head-height) for the philip pullman/archbish rowan 'platform' debate (that wasn't a tenner actually, it was £3 or something. anyway it was brilliant). so er, yeah, if you get up early you can get a ticket.

― emsk ( emsk), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

(xpost) Cool, thanks for the recommendations. Eazy (who posts mostly on the Chicago thread) has worked with the Curious Theatre, I know. Although I also know they were in dire straits recently -- something to do with having to vacate their space, maybe? I'd also like to see something directed by Sean Graney of the Hypocrites, since I hear his name tossed around a lot.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

oh yeah. the reason i don't go to more theatre in london is because i am poor like a church mouse and i can get into gigs for free or cheap.

― emsk ( emsk), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

xpost: Yeah, Sean Graney is a very clever director (and writer) -- I imagine that he spends a lot of time with the texts. I'm not sure if his Edward Gorey show got dusted off for this holiday season, but it's a winner.

― ng-unit, Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

Where are you now, ng-unit? When did you live in Chicago?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

Was that "The Gorey Details"? I remember it as highly fanciful, w/ hilarious song lyrics and good physical comedy.

― Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

I live in D.C. now, but I was in Chicago from 1993-June 2005.

I think the title of the Gorey show was "Dispirited Diversion for Christmas," but I get a little confused since the Hypocrites also adapted "The Curious Sofa" as a toy theatre piece. That also ruled.

― ng-unit, Wednesday, 4 January 2006 19:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

Oh! Nevermind, I should have realized it was a seasonal thing.

― Laurel (Laurel), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 19:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

After your review, I would like to see any show called "The Gorey Details." Fanciful is a big plus!

― ng-unit, Wednesday, 4 January 2006 19:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

i saw Goat island's "Last Night Was Only A Comedy" fairly recently, aren't they chicago based? anyway i didn't think much of it at all at the time but it's really stuck with me. i'd like to see more of their work.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:45 (7 years ago) Permalink

Hmmm, I've never heard of them, but it appears they are indeed from Chicago. One of the company members used to be in the Neo-Futurists.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yes, Goat Island is Chicago-based.

the point is that theatre fought back by going beyond realism, it's that kind of theatre (devised theatre especially) that i find so vital.

I am more interested in the other reaction, personally -- of saying, "wait, film might be able to throw in more realistic details but in theatre you, personally, are really there, as are the actors and everything else." Which is to say that it seems largely hard to justify a proscenium stage, since that comes off as a poor recreation of film. But, without going into boring and painful forms of "interactive" theatre, you can still engage an audience in a more literal way.

Which is to say, most of what I think could be interesting in theatre these days come closer to "installations" or even "performance art" if that weren't so loaded with unpleasant associations.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

xpost They are pretty great (and I don't just think that since one of their troupe was my teacher and advisor in grad school). I've seen several performances of theirs and always find them intriguing and funny and melancholically or confusingly delightful, though I feel I know (and understand) very little about performance art/theater.

― sgs (sgs), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

(does one say troupe? or group?)

― sgs (sgs), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

I think I'll go to this on Thursday, if I can get tickets:
http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/295589,0,1182030.event

I think I've heard of Justin Tanner, but I'm not really in the mood to watch a play about wifeswapping.

― youn, Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

it's strange - initially i thought that "Last night was only a comedy" was boring and rather pretentious (generally i don't have a problem with that aspect of it!) although, as it was a work in progress at the time, i gave it the benifit of the doubt. it was only after i saw it that it kept nagging away at me and a few weeks later i decided i had liked it after all - i'm not sure why.

where they really do fall down compared to other devised theatre groups i have seen and loved - Lepage's Ex-Machina, The Wooster Group, Theatre de Complicite - is that they don't move so well and it's not as tight, performance-wise. also they totally wear their research on their sleeve as a sort of badge of honour "hey aren't we clever?" - really really trying hard to make it clear to the audience that they've done alot of reading for this thing. whereas with those other groups the obvious heavy research they have done to get where thay are just falls away because the performances themselves and the mechanics of the staging are generally so stunning. as i said it WAS a work in progress but i have seen works in progress from those other groups too.

also i saw a devised piece from the belgian thatre company Wayne Traub about a month ago that had obviously had alot of money thrown at it, was technically very impressive: split screens displaying alternate narratives simultaneously; hoists for the props to dissappear and reappear mid scene; gorgeous sets and constumes... and it was one of the most empty and vapid and depressing theatrical experiences ever. the critics love them.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

initiallu i'm talking about Goat Island btw.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

initially*

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Troupe" and "group" can be used at your discretion.

Goat Island is fabu. DOG Theater in Chicago is heavily Goat Island-influenced and totally recommended.

― ng-unit, Wednesday, 4 January 2006 23:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

i'd like to go to the theatre in the next couple of weeks, and i want to see something hard-going and bleak, for about a tenner (don't care if i get a shitty seat). in london. any suggestions?

― emsk ( emsk), Saturday, 18 February 2006 12:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

West Ham v Everton?

― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 18 February 2006 12:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

hard-going and bleak, not mindbendingly tedious!

― emsk ( emsk), Saturday, 18 February 2006 12:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

It was mentioned above: Anyone in London see Alan Bennett's The History Boys? It just opened on Broadway to raves (and likely Tony Awards to come), but I foolishly neglected to see it in previews when tix could likely have been had cheaper.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 28 April 2006 16:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

I foolishly missed The Old County in London, which was like 2 blocks from my hotel, but I'm definitely going to try to see this.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 28 April 2006 16:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

I think Ed's seen History Boys.

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 28 April 2006 16:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

They've already shot the film version, apparently! Likely not to be seen in the US for at least a year.

Bennett, along with his other stage-TV-film stuff, wrote one of my favorite film comedies of the last few decades, A Private Function w/ Michael Palin and Maggie Smith.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 28 April 2006 16:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

I did see Night of the Iguana with Woody Harrelson, who wasn't special, but made a good effort and it was a treat to see him. Clare Higgins was excellent (and convincingly American). Also Two Thousand Years, which was merely charming (and thus might have had a greater impact when it was in the Cottesloe), but well done. I was told it would fill the how-the-English-are-different slot, but it seemed to be more how-the-Jews-(some-of-them-at-least)-are-the-same.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 28 April 2006 16:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

Londoners not only get to see Guys and Dolls on stage through the end of the year, they get to see it with Patrick Swayze as Nathan Detroit (assuming he shows up that night).

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 11 September 2006 02:59 (6 years ago) Permalink

if I were in LA right now, I'd want to see Betty Garrett in My One and Only

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 11 September 2006 03:03 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'm getting free tickets to High Fidelity: The Musical.

― disappointing goth fest line-up (orion), Monday, 11 September 2006 03:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

also apparently touring in Glasgow through early October

greatest American musical ever, people. or at least, the most fun.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 11 September 2006 03:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

more fun even than SPAM-A-LOT?!@ IMPOSSIBLE.

― disappointing goth fest line-up (orion), Monday, 11 September 2006 03:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

is anyone familiar with any touring plans for Black Watch?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 11 September 2006 15:45 (6 years ago) Permalink

only that there's a tour planned. if i hear more i shall post it.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 11 September 2006 16:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

thanks! do you know whether it will go to US?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 11 September 2006 16:50 (6 years ago) Permalink

hadn't heard that; assumed UK only.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 11 September 2006 17:45 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'm going to the Marin opening of 'Orson's Shadow' this evening.

― M. White (Miguelito), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 17:49 (6 years ago) Permalink

Claire Sweeney is listed as playing alongside Swayze in London in Guys and Dolls. She is also in Glasgow next week playing in, erm, Guys and Dolls (her gurning mug was scaring me on the escalator of an underground station the other day). No Swayze for us provincials though. Has she been cloned?

I like going to the theatre but somehow I never actually go unless someone else suggests it. Then often I read reviews of things and wish I'd gone. That's where cinema wins in terms of easily-digestible culture, because if you miss a film in a theatre, you can watch it some other time.

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 18:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

11 months pass...

Black Watch is finally happening

also, Claire Danes in, uh, Pygmalion - http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/aa.htm

― gabbneb, Saturday, 25 August 2007 17:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

Theater is basically where painting was 100 years ago at the advent of photography. It is no longer the most useful tool for documenting actual events (film does it better), but it's liberated from that responsibility as well.

― Eazy, Saturday, 25 August 2007 21:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

my dad reports that a britishes production of Awake and Sing (Bronx, 1930s) replaced seltzer bottles with bottles of sparkling water. does this bode ill for the Guys & Dolls transplant coming next year?

― gabbneb, Sunday, 16 September 2007 02:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

# We really don't care about theatre do we? [Started by N. (nickdastoor), last updated 22 minutes ago] 1 new answer
# My faggotry knows no bounds [Started by Jesse, last updated 24 minutes ago] 69 new answers

― get bent, Sunday, 16 September 2007 02:37 (5 years ago) Permalink

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