The Official I-Have-to-Admit-I-Didn't-Enjoy-Oleanna-Very-Much Thread!

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 12:25am

Oh well, I guess this is the season of dissenting opinions, but man, I was disappointed in this. A half-hour in I could see where it was going and couldn't get past the stylized Mamet dialogue and extreme dysfunction on the stage to bring myself to care about these two characters, although I'm sure it wasn't the fault of Stiles or Pullman. Maybe my expectations were too high going in, having heard people rave about it, but I found myself very glad I hadn't paid more for my seat and I wasn't interested enough in what had transpired on the stage to stay for the talkback! Am I alone here?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 1:45am

April Saul, I am right there with you. I was so excited for this production and could not be more let down after seeing it. It might be the one play (other than Next Fall, which I have already seen) I was the most excited for. After the positive reviews on here I really expected something special. Alas, I did not get what I wanted.

I thought that the weakest part of the play was the text itself. It felt so unnatural. Mamet's experimental writing was taken to a whole new level, but I think it went too far. Doug Hughes' direction did nothing to cover this up at all. Everything felt very stilted. I will disagree on one point, and that is Pullman's performance. I thought he was awful. I found him stiff, misguided, and not believable. On the other hand, I found Julia to be magnificent. She definitely made the most of the terrible text. I wish I could see her sink her teeth into something that is better to begin with. Oh well, another X on this season's list of plays.

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 9:06am

Hi bjh--
Yes, I was just so sure I was going to like this! I started a thread on the other board and we are definitely not alone...As far as Pullman, the last role I'd seen him in was Peter and Jerry, the Second Stage production of the expanded Zoo Story a couple of years ago, where he also played a character who tried desperately to keep it together and maintain civility until he finally explodes. I think he does it well, but it seemed familiar to me probably for that reason. In that one, of course, the dialogue is Albee, which is also pretty stylized. I wonder why they decided to do Oleanna right now...but yes, Julia did the transformation of her character VERY well, just wish there was more to the play. We couldn't stay for the talkback, but I'm curious as to whether it debated the merits of the play at all or was mostly about issues...

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 9:17am

We didn't stay for the talk back either. The other thing that I forgot to mention in my previous post was my disdain for the lighting shifts at random times throughout the scenes. One in particular stands out. All of a sudden, the background light being cast on the window shades changed from white light to blue light. It wasn't a dramatic moment in the text, and it wasn't a fade in. There was a random bump to the next cue right in the middle of one of Julia's lines. I liked the set design for the most part, but the lighting had me twitching. I was shocked. Donald Holder's lighting of South Pacific is gorgeous, and his lighting for both Les Liaisons at Roundabout and Cyrano two seasons ago was stunning. Hopefully he can redeem himself from this hot mess with Ragtime and Spider-Man.

[musicalman2]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 9:48am

I just saw it in previews and I thought it was very fine. Pullman and Stiles were great. I think that Pullman has the harder role of the two, and his choice to play understated/suppressed rage at the end, coupled with his mastery of the Mamet dialogue was great. Stiles was revelatory I thought. The audience members who stayed through the talkback had wildly divergent opinions on the characters' motivations, who was right/wrong, etc. Very passionate reactions. A great way of debriefing. I also thought that the direction, which was so sharp, made the show almost into a true tragedy, not merely a commentary on sexual harassment, correctness, etc. The power shifted back and forth so much, it was a roller coaster.

I highly recommend it.

[trombonist]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 10:07am

I'm with musicalman2. I found it powerful and moving.

Is this the kind of play you "enjoy"? I'm not sure that's the word I would use...

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 10:24am

"Enjoy" might not be the right word, I see your point! I just didn't find it as powerful and moving as you did, and I'd expected it to really grab me by the throat. Sienna Miller got to me more in the last ten minutes of Miss Julie than Pullman and Stiles did with this material...but, different strokes! I actually started the thread to see if I was the ONLY one who didn't like it so much, since all I'd read here were raves.

[musicalman2]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 10:45am

April, I think there will be more than a few who don't like it. I also think some of it may come from the fact that it is hard to watch a train wreck in the making. These two seemed destined to clash from the get go. I think one of the things I liked though is that it just keeps moving forward and little steps and finally siezes you. Personally, I was riveted by watching the train wreck evolve. Such very nice performances as well.