LA BETE Reviews

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

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Brantley's Review:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/theater/reviews/15bete.html

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why has there been a surprisingly low amount of interest in reviews lately?

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I find it APPALLING that such short shrift has been made of this show so far. I know, it's not a perfect play, but the acting/production values/audience enthusiasm merit more discussion than this work has received so far. And more kudos to Mark Rylance for giving a performance to remember for a lifetime -- it's not often that we get this caliber of performance which should serve as a manual for all aspiring actors -- no, ALL actors, period! And I speak as one who has seen Olivier, Guilgud, the Lunts, Hayes, Richardson, and many more when they were in their prime.

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Updated On: 10/15/10 at 05:51 PM

Thank you, Wicked Rocks, for putting this on the table. It's time someone did!

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Sleeper....Saw the play Friday night what a boring play!!! It took 1hr and 45 mins to convey a message that could've taken 5 minutes. The main actor just babbled on, and on, and on....that's it. Jokes were predictable and dull!! Literally, the whole play entailed three actors who stood there and one who talked the entire time for an eternity. oh, and 15 minutes at the end a few more actors came on stage. That was the whole play in a nutshell!! Had to keep myself awake. Begged husband to leave but he said it has to get better....NOT. Thank goodness we didn't pay for these tickets!! Save your money folks.

Just because some of us enjoyed the play doesn't mean that we are confusing the play with Rylance's performance...it just means we have different taste. I very, very often find that I enjoy things that others find boring and am completely bored by things that other people adore.

I was very excited when I heard of this revival, and was very excited to have good seats for this revival, and was very excited to see Rylance, Hyde Pierce, and Joanna Lumley live in a play I've heard about for years, and was pretty well thrilled to get to see this!

I've seldom been so disappointed in my theatergoing life. Mark Rylance's bag of tricks runs out more quickly than I'd have thought possible, and he soon became unbearable, and not in a good way. Hyde Pierce is more successful, getting great laughs out of thin air by just standing still. I liked Ms. Lumley a good deal, too: she came through it with flying colors.

But that damn play. It just isn't really very good, is it? Very very clever, no doubt, but it isn't remotely satisfying.

SPOILERS -- beware!!!

Folks have complained that it is impossible to judge the characters very fairly, as we never get an example of Elomire's more polished and accomplished works as opposed to Valere's idiotic stuff. I wasn't as bothered by that, I must admit, but I can see it as a valid point. I was more bothered by Elomire's temper tantrum at the Princess. Ultimately, it isn't a matter of Elomire's HIGH PRINCIPLES that cost him his job, but his inability to keep his mouth shut when it was really necessary.

And frankly, I can't believe he's in too bad a spot at the end of the play. Surely it will only take a single performance of Valere's DEATH BY CHEESE to make the Princess see what a dreadful mistake she's made and get Elomire back.

Now I freely admit that this may all be very much the point, but it doesn't feel like the point.

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I also agree Roscoe. I think Rylance is being overpraised for repeatedly acting like an idiot for 2 hours. Honestly, the novelty begins to fade after the first 5 minutes. Lumley was the best for me, actually forming a character that was funny when she needed to be funny and smart when it was appropriate. Rylance, as compared to Will Ferrell and other goofs in Brantley's review, is just that. Relying on nothing other than shock value and ridiculousness, his character is surprisingly devoid of underlying substance. If he wins a Tony for this, I will actually be angry.

Personally, I loved the play - not just the actors, the play. It was laugh out loud funny and yet, in the end, the confrontation between Elomire and the Princess genuinely moved me. It was treated with much more respect in London - where I saw it - by critics and audiences alike and I wonder why that is.

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Why so defensive, Roscoe? No one implied London audiences and critics are smarter. Clearly there are different tastes, which is interesting, at least to me.

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Eye of the beholder and all that.

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