#26
Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:07am
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Updated On: 5/17/10 at 09:07 AM
Yet another Hamlet, this time Michael Sheen! — Page 2
#27
Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:09am
Ooh, nice. Hope they take R&J there, my family all want to see that after listening to me going on about how great it was. Sam Troughton = Rory Kinnear, but good. Agree?
Kinnear's fans often compare him with SRB, but I can't see that at all - as you say he just doesn't seem to have that ability to make it look natural. Whereas SRB does, almost distractingly so at times - when it's not a play I'm familiar with, I sometimes get the impression that he's just making up his own lines. Kinnear doesn't (or can't) do that. In the same way that Mariah Gale in the current RSC R&J doesn't. And I don't buy the argument that it's just because the speeches and characters are famous - I studied R&J at school and I know lots of the speeches very well, but Jonjo O'Neill (in one of the craziest performances I've seen in years, by the way) still convinced me that I was hearing the Queen Mab speech for the first time, whereas in Juliet's speeches I could pretty much picture where the page-turns were.
Weez, you seem to know stuff, are there any rumours about what the RSC are doing next year? Apart from going to NY briefly. It's still the same ensemble then, right?
Kinnear's fans often compare him with SRB, but I can't see that at all - as you say he just doesn't seem to have that ability to make it look natural. Whereas SRB does, almost distractingly so at times - when it's not a play I'm familiar with, I sometimes get the impression that he's just making up his own lines. Kinnear doesn't (or can't) do that. In the same way that Mariah Gale in the current RSC R&J doesn't. And I don't buy the argument that it's just because the speeches and characters are famous - I studied R&J at school and I know lots of the speeches very well, but Jonjo O'Neill (in one of the craziest performances I've seen in years, by the way) still convinced me that I was hearing the Queen Mab speech for the first time, whereas in Juliet's speeches I could pretty much picture where the page-turns were.
Weez, you seem to know stuff, are there any rumours about what the RSC are doing next year? Apart from going to NY briefly. It's still the same ensemble then, right?
#28
Posted: 5/17/10 at 5:10pm
I think the Simon Russell Beale is who Rory Kinnear is pretending to be. And I agree whole-heartedly on how disturbingly organic *he* is! In The Cherry Orchard, it was almost like he wasn't part of the play at all, he was just asked to come on and be appropriate (and awesome, of course) whenever there was a suitable gap. XD It sounds silly, but I think his most balanced performance I've seen yet is Sir Harcourt Hartley (London Assurance); because he's a broad (but beautifully realised) caricature rather than anything like a real person, it's IMPOSSIBLE for SRB to be too natural playing him, and so he blends beautifully with the rest of the ensemble, rather than standing out simply by being as brilliant as every other actor on the stage wishes they could be. :)
I have very little idea what's going on next year. The current ensemble (don't know why I'm still calling them "new"...) are contracted until 2011 and will be opening the new theatre (is that strictly "new" either? XD), and I heard a rumour that the RSC would be reviving classic productions, but it was all very vague and I wouldn't listen to a word I say until I can back it up with links. XD Apart from the "until 2011" and "opening the new theatre" bits, I'm pretty confident of those.
I have very little idea what's going on next year. The current ensemble (don't know why I'm still calling them "new"...) are contracted until 2011 and will be opening the new theatre (is that strictly "new" either? XD), and I heard a rumour that the RSC would be reviving classic productions, but it was all very vague and I wouldn't listen to a word I say until I can back it up with links. XD Apart from the "until 2011" and "opening the new theatre" bits, I'm pretty confident of those.
#29
Posted: 5/18/10 at 6:00am
You'll still be calling them the new ensemble after they've finished, I reckon. 
I'm seeing London Assurance at the weekend, looking forward to it even more now! I think the key is to be "believable" rather than "natural" or "realistic", neither of which is necessarily a good thing - in fact I've seen some shows where I thought the cast played it too naturally when the material demanded something a bit sillier.
I heard the classic productions rumour as well, but to be honest most of their big hits from the past have been down to the stars rather than the productions - not that the productions weren't good, but I think people think of the late 1970s Macbeth as the McKellen/Dench Macbeth rather than the Trevor Nunn Macbeth. Maybe they could bring back Nicholas Nickleby (you know, something nice and unambitious to get started with).
I'm seeing London Assurance at the weekend, looking forward to it even more now! I think the key is to be "believable" rather than "natural" or "realistic", neither of which is necessarily a good thing - in fact I've seen some shows where I thought the cast played it too naturally when the material demanded something a bit sillier.
I heard the classic productions rumour as well, but to be honest most of their big hits from the past have been down to the stars rather than the productions - not that the productions weren't good, but I think people think of the late 1970s Macbeth as the McKellen/Dench Macbeth rather than the Trevor Nunn Macbeth. Maybe they could bring back Nicholas Nickleby (you know, something nice and unambitious to get started with
).
#30
Posted: 6/16/10 at 6:18pm
HOW have I not heard of this until JUST NOW?! I really need to spend more time on the West End boards!
Damn, I'm going to London this summer, but maybe I can swing another trip especially for this. Michael Sheen is one of my favorite screen actors, by far. And I'm thrilled of the idea of him playing Hamlet. So sexy.
Damn, I'm going to London this summer, but maybe I can swing another trip especially for this. Michael Sheen is one of my favorite screen actors, by far. And I'm thrilled of the idea of him playing Hamlet. So sexy.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
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