THE INHERITANCE - Reviews — Page 4

Updated On: 11/23/19 at 10:58 AM

Brock75 said: "I saw the show the first time they did Part I and II back to back in October. It has taken me this long to get my head around it. So, sorry in advance for the rambling. I have never posted on this board before so I’m praying I won’t get roasted. LOL.
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I'm not going to roast you; I very much enjoyed reading your post (and not just because I agree with so much of it).

Welcome to the board.

clever2 said: "Lot666 said: "clever2 said: "Stop talking to me."

I'm confused; why are you talking to me?

"

Really go **** yourself."



This seems to be a familiar pattern with you, "clever2". Perhaps discussion of this particular show is too triggering for you and you should refrain??

I’m hoping to see both parts in January. It seems like familiarity with Howard’s End might add another level to my experience. I know myself well enough to know I won’t get around to reading the book before then. I see the miniseries is available to me via my Amazon Prime subscription and the movie is on Netflix. I am pretty sure I would have seen the movie when it was released on VHS as I usually tried to see most of the Merchant and Ivory films, but don’t have much recollection of it. If I were to only watch the movie or miniseries, which would you recommend as a primer for the play?

Brock75 said: "As a gay man living in a small town, the show was very elitist. Lopez seemed to be talking only to a certain demographic of gay men: "NYC gays are so cool and upwardly mobile!" We get it! Therein lies one of my biggest problems, I didn't really bond with any of the characters. Maybe Eric? When they are all together taking about how much the city has changed: Splash bar, etc. I would be in misery if I was at a party with these men and their pretentious conversations: Ravel?? Come on! Ugh! It was almost as if Lopez was saying, "I am part of this elite clique and look how cool I am!" This creates a distance between the characters and the audience. A very big gap.

As good as the actors are, the biggest slap in the face is that out of the company, the majority of the actorsare straight. Especially the leads. Only Hickey is a gay man out of the 5 main characters: Soller, Burnap, Levine and Hilton are all straight. If Lopez is "preaching to/teaching" the audience about the history of gay men what kind of reference do these actors have? Ryan Murphy's revival of "Boys in the Band" was publicized heavily that each of the actors were gay. There is a knowledge there. An understanding. An actual history. I can't believe this hasn't been more of a talking point. I understand that all actors can play any number of characters, blah, blah, blah and shouldn't be typecast, BUT! Don't get me wrong, the acting was terrific, I am taking away nothing from their work. It is just an ethical point to me. Lopez constantly reminds us about our history and understanding, but how can these actors even imagine what it is like to walk in our shoes? Shouldn't the casting process be about authenticity with a play like this? The "gay play of the decade" and the majority of the actors are straight? I might in the minority here, but it was insulting to me."

We were typing our replies around the same time so I just read your post now. First off, welcome to the board! Secondly, I've lived in NYC for 18 years (went to undergrad here) and am the same age as Eric Glass --- yet I, too, couldn't really relate to him. I've never been invited to a party at the Hamptons so I guess that tells you I'm not in the NYC elitist crew. lol. I did appreciate the gay club/bar references (though I was surprised they didn't mention HEAVEN or POP ROCKS or ROXY or The BIG CUP.) lol

I'm also surprised that the review rougeduck shared with us was the only review that brings up your point about casting. If there were barely any gay actors in NYC, then I understand why they ended up with having a mostly straight cast in the lead roles. Representation matters.

ColorTheHours048 said: "I’m not sure what bugcrawled up this thread’s collective a$$ that clever2 has somehow become some target, but y’all gotta chill. I’m in the exact same boat as them. I wanted so badly for this play to be the play it was touting itself as and yeah maybe I *was* setting myself up for disappointment, but my husband had absolutely zero expectations going in and he hated it even more than I did.

It’s clear people feel passionately about this play, on both ends of the spectrum. But this while resorting to attacks on character all over dislike of ONE play is just absurd."

You obviously missed some of the deleted (by moderators) posts. If you’d seen them, your perception of wrongdoing on this thread would most likely be altered.

Wick3 said: "Miles2Go2 said: "I’m hoping to see both parts in January. It seems like familiarity with Howard’s End might add another level to my experience. I know myself well enough to know I won’t get around to reading the book before then. I see the miniseries is available to me via my Amazon Prime subscription and the movie is on Netflix. I am pretty sure I would have seen the movie when it was released on VHS as I usually tried to see most of the Merchant and Ivory films, but don’t have much recollection of it. If I were to only watch the movie or miniseries, which would you recommend as a primer for the play?"

I've read the novel and have watched both the film and miniseries. If you only have time for one, I recommend watching the miniseries. It's on Amazon Prime and is only 4 episodes. The film was well donebut I felt the miniseries was more true to EM Forster's novel."

Thanks!

I personally am very happy to see a gay themed serious drama on BWAY- and hope this is successful- for its own sake- and in the hopes that many more dramas reflecting the gay experience will be produced. If this flops- commercially and artistically, that is not a good omen for production of another gay-themed drama. No show can be all things to all people- and to rip it apart based on our expectations or personal agendas- is not, to me, valid criticism. I think it should be evaluated on its own terms- and if it does not get much support from our community- where will the support for this type of theater come from?

I like The Inheritance but I'm going to take issue with a recent point. Plays about gay people are still being produced. A look at the Tony Award nominees for Best Play in the last few years gives us

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike - 2013 - tragi-comedy
Casa Valentina - 2014 - tragi-comedy
Mothers and Sons - 2014 - drama
Indecent - 2017 - drama
Choir Boy - 2019 - drama

We've also seen recent revivals of Torch Song, Angels in America, The Boys in the Band and soon Take Me Out. Many were critically successful. I can't tell you which were commercially successful as gay stories (and for that matter non-musical plays) remain niche programming for a target demographic.

Prediction: If The Inheritance is not a financial success we'll get as many think pieces as we did about the cancellation of HBO's Looking.

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Yes, casting and producers probably could have got out of their way to ONLY seek actors whose sexuality is publicly known, but that's also kind of ridiculous.

I completely agree. It shouldn't matter, and doesn't matter in most cases. It's who sells and/or who is the best for the part.

I did not mean to say or imply that the future of gay theater depends- in any way- on one production- but I do think that if it is successful financially and critically, that is certainly a good thing- I do not, in any way, advocate stifling criticisms or disappointments with the production- I enjoy reading critical posts- and if people do not like the play, that is fine. I love good gay-themed plays- I enjoyed Inheritance- Love, Valor, Compassion- Torch Song Trilogy, Normal Heart,Angels....so many more- and I will continue to attend as many as I can.

Updated On: 11/20/19 at 08:42 PM

My memory is failing me at the moment and I don’t have it in me to go through both threads on this show:

Did anyone on this board see it in London? Has anyone seen both productions? It’s wild to me that the show seemed universally loved across the pond and here it’s the opposite.

As I said in the other thread, I bought the script at the old Drama Book Shop when it was first published and really enjoyed it. It seems to be a piece that is more enjoyable on paper than on it’s feet - but neither is really worthy of this “important” label it is getting. It’s important in the sense that it’s a play about gay men and brings up various topics that are either not brought up often or just not all together. That’s about all I got for important.

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