Tart thoughts on the nature of fiction - and some sweet ones, too
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Dressed-Up Theatre
What do you conclude when everyone comes out of a play and says, 'Weren't the costumes fantastic?' (as so many people said to me on Monday night after the Royal Exchange production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband)?
That it's a quality play as many can't be bothered with such triviata as 'costumes', or even scenery these days.
I saw the most appalling version of Measure for Measure at the RSC a few years ago. In their flippin' jeans, with just lights and the odd chair by way of scenery! And yet the tickets were extortionate, despite the money they'd saved.
You sure get a quality sight to look at at the Royal Exchange, but what does it say about the quality of everything else if that is all that the audience notices or is interested in?
And as someone else said to me, the Royal Exchange could put on several more new plays a year for all the money they spend on those fabulous costumes and sets.
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STORIES
What if you made a different choice, or had a different life?
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Short stories 'Quite swept me off my feet... Nothing would have induced me to interrupt Balancing on the Edge of the World by Elizabeth Baines until I'd read them all' - Dovegreyreader
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VIDEO CLIP: reading of extract from The Birth Machine
4 comments:
That Wardrobe was on a roll but the actors were still mentally Christmas Shopping?
Hah!
That it's a quality play as many can't be bothered with such triviata as 'costumes', or even scenery these days.
I saw the most appalling version of Measure for Measure at the RSC a few years ago. In their flippin' jeans, with just lights and the odd chair by way of scenery! And yet the tickets were extortionate, despite the money they'd saved.
Hmm. Quality...
You sure get a quality sight to look at at the Royal Exchange, but what does it say about the quality of everything else if that is all that the audience notices or is interested in?
And as someone else said to me, the Royal Exchange could put on several more new plays a year for all the money they spend on those fabulous costumes and sets.
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