Posted: 3/3/23 at 4:45pm
Great point, Pethian. I dont remember if i read Green before or not, i probably did and forgot. The production's use of the family tree though isnt helpful in this regard...
Posted: 3/3/23 at 5:12pm
PipingHotPiccolo said: "Great point, Pethian. I dont remember if i read Green before or not, i probably did and forgot. The production's use of the family tree though isnt helpful in this regard..."
I was thinking the same thing! I was trying to study up on the family tree and everything because I thought I'd need to know all the relationships. I suppose it's nice for the people that do want to know all the details, but maybe a note there about not needing to know the specifics would've helped.
Posted: 3/30/23 at 3:15am
Weeks later, I'm chiming in to say that this thread - which was mostly critical of Leopoldstadt - made me more inclined to see it, and I liked the candid but polite exchange of views. Moreover, I took the advice about not getting caught up on who everyone is and how they're related. It didn't totally help, because I did try to study the family tree and glance at the Playbill to see who was in later scenes, and it's just my nature. I understood why the play didn't have any sort of break, but I was wishing for one just so I could sort all the characters out in later scenes.
But I found, especially because I was very close to the stage in the orchestra, that some of my confusion about the characters both didn't matter and seemed to serve a larger point. The initial confusion about which characters are Jewish is part of the story. It doesn't matter too much at family gatherings, but little exchanges give away the fact that the family - despite its outward prosperity and Christmas tree - isn't really accepted in Vienna. That becomes more dramatically clear in the second scene, the clash between Hermann and Fritz (two actors, Josh Malina and the chilling Dave Register, playing their roles for only the second time when I saw the play).
For me, and I'm not Jewish (but my wife is), the play worked as interconnected vignettes that told stories both specific and universal to the Jewish experience in Europe. The Merz and Jakobovicz families may be comfortable (at first), educated, and cosmopolitan - but those small and large humiliations are signs that the horrors of the Holocaust didn't emerge from nowhere. Ironically, the Stoppard stand-in character in the final scene was the only one who rang a bit false to me.
But I thought the play was a very powerful work, one I'm still considering since returning from my New York City trip.
Posted: 3/30/23 at 9:21am
I saw Leopoldstadt over the weekend and agree with the comments that a Jewish person would likely appreciate it more (I'm Catholic). I thought the play got better as it went on- definitely felt the "arm's length" aspect for the first three parts but found the last two scenes incredibly moving.
Posted: 4/1/23 at 12:45pm
I caught this a few weeks ago.
As a Jew and a theatre goer it made me angry at this badly written manipulative play.
I heard the word "jew' about 3000 times in the course of the play from on onslaught of well to do characters I never got to known nor care about or who were well developed.
Did Stoppard or the director think for one second that if they didn't mention the word jew incessantly we wouldn't remember that Jews were the main victims of the holocaust?
Updated On: 4/2/23 at 12:45 PM
Posted: 4/1/23 at 11:47pm
ELP said: "Oy!!"
You can say that again, ELP. Aside from the obscenity of the final statement, the OP spoils the climax of this magnificent play.
Updated On: 4/2/23 at 11:47 PM
Posted: 4/2/23 at 7:36am
I caught this last night and thought it was tremendous in every way - Stoppard's writing is magnificent, the ensemble cast gives wonderful performances, and the direction and design are beautiful. I was a tad worried during the first 15 minutes about keeping up with who was who and how everyone was related, but a thorough knowledge of the family tree is not necessary to appreciate this wonderful piece of theatre. I highly recommend this.
Posted: 4/2/23 at 12:12pm
pethian said: "ELP said: "Oy!!"
You can say that again, ELP. Aside from the obscenity of the final statement, the OP spoils the climax of this magnificent play.
Yes, how totally inconsiderate to those who have yet to see this play!!
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, good, bad or indifferent. But to reveal certain pivotal events, etc especially ENDINGS of a show without warning is just plain unforgivable!!!
Updated On: 4/2/23 at 12:12 PM
Posted: 4/2/23 at 12:47pm
If you want to be moved by the holocaust, take a trip to Auschwitz or Bergen Belsen… You will be moved
If I saved one person from seeing this manipulative embarrasing unmoving over rated holocaust. Drama i ve done my hjob
Posted: 4/2/23 at 3:56pm
What a sick, twisted view this guy has of himself. Is there a way for Mods to remove/hide the spoilers proudly shared by this nut?
Posted: 4/9/23 at 7:44am
I have enjoyed this thread and it actually did get me to put Leopoldstadt on my list even though I swore off Stoppard after I escaped from the 2011 Arcadia at intermission. Talk about arms length.
It was gratifying to hear others share that they felt that they arrived late and missed key pieces of info at his plays. Exactly. I attended Leopoldstadt last week and my opinion hasn’t changed all these years later. I know it’s an an important work but what a struggle and not in a good way. I kept thinking about Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic and how much I learned and cared about that family. I thought Cromer painted some haunting pictures for me and the staging was so effective. I was so moved and did not really feel this at Leopoldstadt.
By the way Dollypop, I left the mezuzah on my door frame too because I liked what it stood for and I am not Jewish.
Updated On: 4/9/23 at 07:44 AM
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