Comments on Encore Theatre Magazine: Encore Review of the Year 2006

Though I tend to agree with you on Drunk Enough......

2007-01-15T13:55:00.000Z

Though I tend to agree with you on Drunk Enough... I thought Faust was utterly magnificent and deserves more of a mention as a perfectly pitched piece of site-sympathetic work. Again, as with the waves, the fact that the national are backing it says a lot of good things about Hytner and co.

Also a nod for Roam - Gridiron are a super company and though the show didn't totally come off for me, just the effect that it had on the bemused travellers passing by was enough to get in my top five. That and the double-decker bus full of feathers that took us to the airport.

What's wrong with the Royal Court? Well, there is ...

2007-01-08T17:13:00.000Z

What's wrong with the Royal Court? Well, there is an aspect of the Royal Court's output (which I freely admit is more varied than it is often given credit for) which is very much founded on the grounds that you should present something about contemporary working-class life and by the mere act of representation, you somehow address or even solve the social issues on which you are focusing in the eyes of the overwhelmingly middle-class audience. These plays tend not to go beyond representation and avoid metaphor entirely.

re: Catch - I found the depictions of the "hoody m...

2007-01-08T14:26:00.000Z

re: Catch - I found the depictions of the "hoody menace yoof" rather accurate- perhaps you should hang around in carparks more often :P However, I do think the final plea for identity would be lost on an audience of happy slappers, probably wondering why she didn't just take the money and buy herself some new bling (street cred!) - only to watch the issue swallowed up by Claire's maternal angst. Tut, I would have loved to have been present at the educational matinee...

I'll be fascinated to hear more about what's "wrong with the Court" but in the meantime,

Happy New Year everyone!

And a lot to look forward to: Katie Mitchell's pro...

2007-01-08T12:40:00.000Z

And a lot to look forward to: Katie Mitchell's production of Attempts on Her Life at the National; The Wonderful World of Dissocia at the Royal Court; Debbie Tucker Green's Generations and the Brecht double bills at the Young Vic; a revival of David Greig's Europe, Dodin's Platonov and the astonishing Ronnie Burkett at the Barbican; Rupert Goold's revival of Angels in America. But, for all that, we can only hope that by the end of 2007, we'll all be talking about directors, writers, actors and companies that we haven't heard of yet!

American Pilot is still my Best New Play of the pa...

2007-01-08T03:21:00.000Z

American Pilot is still my Best New Play of the past Two years.

We haven’t criticised critics for lacking attentio...

2007-01-08T00:37:00.000Z

We haven’t criticised critics for lacking attention to process. It’s their lack of attention to what’s happening on stage and in the world that is the problem. Who cares if critics know what happens backstage or not? Second, we haven’t reduced the plays, we’ve described them. We don’t think theatre criticism is an impossible thing to do. We think it’s difficult and a few of our more longstanding critics aren’t very good at it, that’s all. But we agree with your final sentiment. A new year’s, new plays, new shows, new writers and actors, new experiences and new disappointments, these are always exciting prospects for the theatre (even if it doesn’t get going for a couple of months!).

This is pithy stuff but seems a little hypocrytica...

2007-01-07T17:21:00.000Z

This is pithy stuff but seems a little hypocrytical. If you criticise the critics for lacking attention to process, then reducing plays to such subjective one line whimsy seems a bit much. Like christmas turkey, there's so much of this stuff around at the moment. Bring on the new!

Agree on 'Drunk Enough...' Not as enthusiastic as ...

2007-01-04T11:09:00.000Z

Agree on 'Drunk Enough...' Not as enthusiastic as Encore about The Cut, which struck me as a very old-fashioned sort of play dressed up as urgent and contemporary. Motortown though was both of those things in content and in style. It told the story of a man finding his place in the world and in the process spoke about modern Britain, about the war on terror, about the war on the war on terror more concisely and eloquently than anything this year. Blackbird (like David Grieg's brilliant The American Pilot) was a 2005 play.

I think sometimes Encore is seduced by the idea of...

2007-01-03T18:34:00.000Z

I think sometimes Encore is seduced by the idea of a play, rather than by the play itself. "Drunk enough to say I love you' was an intriguing, disconcerting sketch that ran out of new ideas after fifteen minutes. 'The Cut' might have been a stylistically bold play centred around a striking metaphor, but it was terribly theatrically inert - the dialogue was lifeless, the scenes lacked tension, and the narrative didn't make very much sense, literally or metaphorically. 'Motortown' was full of anger and vitality, but the play's scattergun approach and unfinished quality made the anger lose focus, and left both the violence and the caricatures looking irresponsible rather than pointed. 'Love and Money' had a sharply written central narrative that managed to be both waspishly satirical and strangely touching, but the odd touches of lehrstuck were just embarrassing. I agree about 'Blackbird', though. The play of the year, even through the rolling on the floor.

Thankyou, and great that you lot think so highly o...

2007-01-02T22:39:00.000Z

Thankyou, and great that you lot think so highly of Drunk Enough - in my own little review of the year I tag it as about the special wotsit, which is a bit like saying Godot is about a pair of tramps, which of course it is, but... Oh you know what I mean. Have good years, won't you.

Agree with a lot of that, though I think you're ve...

2007-01-02T11:15:00.000Z

Agree with a lot of that, though I think you're very kind to Catch, which had some of the most ridiculous depictions of "hoody menace yoof" that I think I've seen for some time. It represented everything that is wrong with the Court. At the post-show discussion, a member of the audience asked: "Have you had any happy-slappers in to see this?" to which a member of the company replied "Well, we've got an educational matinee next week." Priceless.

Also, no mention of Howard Barker's 'The Seduction of Almighty God' (a far better title than 'Drunk Enough...') which, despite the French actors who had no chance of getting their heads around the language, was one of Barker's most interesting plays for some time and featured an astonishing central performance from Leander Deeny.