![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Seriously people if you can beg, borrow or steal go and see this play. If you can't get to see it live I can highly recommend the live cinema link ups which are being shown nationally and internationally. Go here for more details and to find a cinema near you which is participating.
I attended the first preview yesterday evening and I have to say that is one of the bravest pieces of theatre I have seen for a while. Andrew and I were hoping we would get La Batch as The Creature and Johnny Lee Miller as Victor and we did.
I would like to say I spent all that time gawping at La Batch but honestly I was so caught up in The Creature's story it largely became irrelevant. Benedict's acting is superb. His Creature was in turns astonishing poignant, child like, graceful and truly horrific. He made me cry.
The story is predominantly told from the Creature's point of view and stays very true to the original book so be warned some scenes are really not pleasant, expect a lot of nudity both male and female and some fairly graphic violence. I would not say this was an easy production to watch at all and definitely not for the faint hearted. Andrew and I were non verbal for about 10 minutes after the play ended. A real serious WTF experience.
Miller was also fantastic and when he and Benedict were on stage together they absolutely lit the place up. His Victor was gloriously understated and thoughtful which contrasted beautifully with Benedict's Creature. Together they have a great synchronicity and I am really eager now to see the play again with the roles swapped to see how that works and how it changes. Victor spends less time on stage then the Creature but his role is pivotal to the play as is their relationship. They really are the stars and all the rest of the characters are pale shadows compared to them.
This was a preview so the production is likely to change between now and March. It definitely needs to be tightened up in places and some of the scenes after the initial birth of the Creature are slow and this is not helped by some of the supporting cast having some very trite lines. I kind of feel for all the rest of the cast as their characters are so very much only ever adjuncts to the two main roles and this is never more clear then in the role of Victor's fiance Elizabeth, played by the gorgeous and incredibly talented Naomie Harris who nevertheless manages to make you love her utterly in a very short time.
I have never been in the Olivier theatre before and it is stupendous and the stage set and the music and lighting are quite unique and magnificent. Andrew and I had some great seats in Row F of the stalls and I would strongly recommend that you get there on time and get seated early because the play is really starting as you are taking your seats. I would also highly recommend the Frankenstein cocktails particularly The Experiment which comes with a dry ice so you look like you are drinking a smoking green potion. Awesome!
I could wax lyrical and in more detail about the play and the production but I am not sure how much people want to be spoiled. If you want me to do a more detailed report please leave a comment and I will do a separate post with more details which I will put completely behind a cut.
Andrew and I stage doored for a bit but it was very cold and I guessed that the cast would probably be a long time coming out as they would be dissecting how the play went. I actually left my programme behind in the theatre so had to go back to try and get it and walked in on Danny Boyle and the lighting crew having a discussion about how things had gone. Needless to say I scuttled out quickly unseen. I did had a good chat with various people who were also stage dooring though and got to meet![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hairy_maclary which was lovely.
All in all an amazing night and I am so much looking forward to seeing how the play develops and changes over its run. I am very definitely getting more tickets for the extended run when they go on sale.
I attended the first preview yesterday evening and I have to say that is one of the bravest pieces of theatre I have seen for a while. Andrew and I were hoping we would get La Batch as The Creature and Johnny Lee Miller as Victor and we did.
I would like to say I spent all that time gawping at La Batch but honestly I was so caught up in The Creature's story it largely became irrelevant. Benedict's acting is superb. His Creature was in turns astonishing poignant, child like, graceful and truly horrific. He made me cry.
The story is predominantly told from the Creature's point of view and stays very true to the original book so be warned some scenes are really not pleasant, expect a lot of nudity both male and female and some fairly graphic violence. I would not say this was an easy production to watch at all and definitely not for the faint hearted. Andrew and I were non verbal for about 10 minutes after the play ended. A real serious WTF experience.
Miller was also fantastic and when he and Benedict were on stage together they absolutely lit the place up. His Victor was gloriously understated and thoughtful which contrasted beautifully with Benedict's Creature. Together they have a great synchronicity and I am really eager now to see the play again with the roles swapped to see how that works and how it changes. Victor spends less time on stage then the Creature but his role is pivotal to the play as is their relationship. They really are the stars and all the rest of the characters are pale shadows compared to them.
This was a preview so the production is likely to change between now and March. It definitely needs to be tightened up in places and some of the scenes after the initial birth of the Creature are slow and this is not helped by some of the supporting cast having some very trite lines. I kind of feel for all the rest of the cast as their characters are so very much only ever adjuncts to the two main roles and this is never more clear then in the role of Victor's fiance Elizabeth, played by the gorgeous and incredibly talented Naomie Harris who nevertheless manages to make you love her utterly in a very short time.
I have never been in the Olivier theatre before and it is stupendous and the stage set and the music and lighting are quite unique and magnificent. Andrew and I had some great seats in Row F of the stalls and I would strongly recommend that you get there on time and get seated early because the play is really starting as you are taking your seats. I would also highly recommend the Frankenstein cocktails particularly The Experiment which comes with a dry ice so you look like you are drinking a smoking green potion. Awesome!
I could wax lyrical and in more detail about the play and the production but I am not sure how much people want to be spoiled. If you want me to do a more detailed report please leave a comment and I will do a separate post with more details which I will put completely behind a cut.
Andrew and I stage doored for a bit but it was very cold and I guessed that the cast would probably be a long time coming out as they would be dissecting how the play went. I actually left my programme behind in the theatre so had to go back to try and get it and walked in on Danny Boyle and the lighting crew having a discussion about how things had gone. Needless to say I scuttled out quickly unseen. I did had a good chat with various people who were also stage dooring though and got to meet
hairy_maclary which was lovely.All in all an amazing night and I am so much looking forward to seeing how the play develops and changes over its run. I am very definitely getting more tickets for the extended run when they go on sale.
