Crew.Steve Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 (Apologies if this has been covered already and I missed it)I have just returned from the NT live transmission of 'As You Like It' where, in Act 1, a complete (and I mean complete) suit of office furniture is suddenly hoisted loosely into the air where it remains for the rest of the performance, representing the Forest of Arden. I have to say my jaw just dropped. The tables are hoisted by one corner and the chairs likewise from the opposite corner, and they all float and twirl gently until they settle. Everything on the tables is fixed to them (angle-poise lamps, computer screens, etc). It was like an explosion in a furniture factory but in slow motion. The cast carry on beneath this agglomeration, and I'm sitting there thinking, "Would I even walk beneath that lot???". I would love to have been a fly on the wall of the production meeting when that idea was mooted! Since it was the National Theatre I am sure it has all been very carefully planned and executed, but - good grief - it certainly got my attention! Any other examples to offer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Gordon Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Notwithstanding the careful execution, there have a number of performances (including the one I attended) where the flying out resulted in a tangle. The performance had to be stopped, the flown actors returned to the ground for safety whilst a crew of ASMs in hard hats sorted it out. Ten minutes or so later the flying out could be completed and the performance resumed. A cast member told us that resetting for the next show, particularly on a matinee day, was always a nightmare, with each piece of furniture having to be lowered back into its correct position and the linking cables laid out to avoid said tangles. They were evidently lucky on the Live transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 For those that haven't seen it, 23s into this video shows the result pretty clearly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tz5YvTqSb0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Thanks, Bryson. Suspension of disbelief? ;) Not seen anything exactly the same though dream qualities created through odd shaped and oddly positioned set/furniture are not new. IIRC Memory of Water has playwriting directions suggesting similar.The nearest I have seen was Yoshi Oida who suspended gongs, bells, prayer bowls and cymbals at various heights over a small stage using black nylon fishing line and moved through the forest, sometimes in blackout, not moving or bumping any until he started playing them. A masterclass in discipline and control. Lovely stuff this from National. The backlighting carves the images onto the retina nicely and seems to be a thing with Jon Clarke, the LD. Lizzie Clachan, set design, is a member of "Shunt Collective" so oddities are normal. Check out their websites. No mention can I find of the PM though, which is a shame. One can imagine anything as long as someone else comes along and builds it. There is a lack of appreciation in the UK for those like Gormley's "assistants", Hirst's "elves" and the umpteen companies gone bust realising Zaha Hadid's non-functional architecture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agermich Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 There's a great video here of the turnaround from Wonder.Land into As you like it: http://bit.ly/1Q7bI2y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 While I appreciate the cleverness and skill put into these things, they leave me totally cold. I'm extremely narrow in my own theatrical 'appreciation', and have far more hates, dislikes and can't stands, than likes. I hate Shakespeare with a passion, and there are perhaps two that I could, if arm locked sit through. I've done two Shakespeare tours, plus loads of static productions and have hated them all. Being Stage Manager brought nothing at all in job satisfaction. Now I'm old, I can pick and choose. Looking at the videos, I just don't get it at all. I don't get the translations in era and circumstance and I don't get the idea of the office being suspended. If I'd been at the meeting g where it was presented, I'd have laughed and been asked to leave. I realise it's me. I just don't get it. I can just about do Shakespeare in it's traditional form - period style, if it's Midsummer Nights Dream or maybe Much Ado - but they are about it. This looks clever, and complicated, and very labour intensive. Dreadful singing and just weird. That said, I'm sure people will love it and want to see it. Just not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T*ny Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 There was a tangle the night I saw it too. From the production photos I had already worked out what was going to happen so it was more fun watching my wife's reaction to it. It was a little disappointing to see that the cast were wearing radio mic's - surely if you are on stage at the National Theatre the least you can do is project... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 You need something to distract from the longeurs of this strangely unsatisfying play which always seems to promise more than it delivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 There is a production of Dream out there now that is touring and picking up "the mechanicals" from local non-professional companies wherever they alight. Has anyone seen that, is it any good and does it fulfil the remit of diversity? AYLI tends to be treated as a serious play when it is really just taking the mick out of our betters with partner swapping gone wild in a bush. IIRC the focus we used was the dim sex-object Audrey whom everybody lusted after and nobody got, accepting second best all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crew.Steve Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 While I appreciate the cleverness and skill put into these things, they leave me totally cold.... This looks clever, and complicated, and very labour intensive. Dreadful singing and just weird. That said, I'm sure people will love it and want to see it. Just not me. My own view is that 'clever' productions like this can help us to appreciate the traditional ones better. I have seen Romeo & Juliet performed by Bronx amateurs in Central Park, in local dialect - not because it was 'clever' but because that's what they spoke. It was an enthusiastic production by people who loved the play - and it was exciting, and stimulating, and I loved it for its simple honesty. Were it to be repeated in Hyde Park, for example, it is unlikely that I would bother to see it. Guess I am getting old, too. It's allowed. So although I appreciated this NT production I do not rate it a success. And why change the music of a good traditional folk song??? Sorry, NT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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