Comments on: Getting it all wrong http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:33:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Michael Coveney http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-93946 Michael Coveney Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:20:59 +0000 http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-93946 William, very good point about design as seen from the circle and gods. As for stars, publicists and theatre managers may love them, but they did'nt ask for them and didn't invent them -- it was newspapers themselves who started the rot, so we've only got ourselves to blame. Like you, I'm fed up with being asked, not, what did you think of it, but how many stars? It's all part of a dumbing down in the discourse! William, very good point about design as seen from the circle and gods. As for stars, publicists and theatre managers may love them, but they did’nt ask for them and didn’t invent them — it was newspapers themselves who started the rot, so we’ve only got ourselves to blame. Like you, I’m fed up with being asked, not, what did you think of it, but how many stars? It’s all part of a dumbing down in the discourse!

]]> By: William Russell http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-93936 William Russell Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:51:53 +0000 http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-93936 I would not dare come between two big cheeses like you and Mark, but what really struck me about Phedre was the gorgeous sculpted gowns that Helen Mirren got to wear. They were perfect evening wear for a lady of a certain age and so lovely that they overwhelmed her acting. I couldn't take my eyes off the dresses but somehow couldn't quite see the Dame. As for the set, I think that big rock mid set supported a roof if you sat in the stalls, but from the circle it supported nothing and also concealed arguably the worst exit ever designed, one which patently lead nowhere judging by the way the terrace wall on the right went. None of this has nothing to do with Racine or the acting, but it has everything to do with what gets put on stage. I really do get tired of reading reviews by critics who never sit in the upper circle or the gods watching plays staged by directors who do their work from the middle of the stalls. And while I am on about things, why did nobody wonder why Jude Law walked about Elsinore barefoot in the snow and then sit down in it and ruminate? As for those stars, well I do occasionally dish them out myself, but they are a marketing ploy beloved of publicists and theatre managers which should be ignored by theatre goers. Read the review and then go and see and make up your mind, but don't go just on the strength of stars. I would not dare come between two big cheeses like you and Mark, but what really struck me about Phedre was the gorgeous sculpted gowns that Helen Mirren got to wear. They were perfect evening wear for a lady of a certain age and so lovely that they overwhelmed her acting. I couldn’t take my eyes off the dresses but somehow couldn’t quite see the Dame. As for the set, I think that big rock mid set supported a roof if you sat in the stalls, but from the circle it supported nothing and also concealed arguably the worst exit ever designed, one which patently lead nowhere judging by the way the terrace wall on the right went. None of this has nothing to do with Racine or the acting, but it has everything to do with what gets put on stage. I really do get tired of reading reviews by critics who never sit in the upper circle or the gods watching plays staged by directors who do their work from the middle of the stalls. And while I am on about things, why did nobody wonder why Jude Law walked about Elsinore barefoot in the snow and then sit down in it and ruminate? As for those stars, well I do occasionally dish them out myself, but they are a marketing ploy beloved of publicists and theatre managers which should be ignored by theatre goers. Read the review and then go and see and make up your mind, but don’t go just on the strength of stars.

]]> By: Stephen Wilkinson http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-89283 Stephen Wilkinson Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:25:07 +0000 http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-89283 Christina, you are wrong. You may not have enjoyed the show and you may agree with Michael but don't you see? You are wrong. Only Shenton is right. Only his opinion counts for anything so, unless you agree with Shenton, your are wrong. Incidentally Front Row (on Radio 4) had the show reviewed by a Racine expert who also didn't like it and agreed with you and Michael. She is clearly wrong too. Christina, you are wrong. You may not have enjoyed the show and you may agree with Michael but don’t you see? You are wrong. Only Shenton is right. Only his opinion counts for anything so, unless you agree with Shenton, your are wrong. Incidentally Front Row (on Radio 4) had the show reviewed by a Racine expert who also didn’t like it and agreed with you and Michael. She is clearly wrong too.

]]> By: Christina V. http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-88950 Christina V. Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:40:04 +0000 http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-88950 I saw Phedre in the 9th June preview and thought it so overly melodramatic as to be farcical. Worse, I found it utterly lacking in believable passion - not only in the case of Phedre/Mirren's desire for her stepson, but also in the case of Hippolytus and Aricia. I enjoyed your review (in the Independent) of the play far more than the play itself! How could it get a plethora of 4 stars in the press? I now assume they're rewarded for effort expended, rather than results. I saw Phedre in the 9th June preview and thought it so overly melodramatic as to be farcical. Worse, I found it utterly lacking in believable passion - not only in the case of Phedre/Mirren’s desire for her stepson, but also in the case of Hippolytus and Aricia. I enjoyed your review (in the Independent) of the play far more than the play itself! How could it get a plethora of 4 stars in the press?

I now assume they’re rewarded for effort expended, rather than results.

]]> By: Michael Coveney http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-87873 Michael Coveney Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:06:36 +0000 http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-87873 No comment, Stephen, beyond saying I've had a wonderful career, still continuing at Whatsonstage, temporarily at the Independent and in many other fields, and I have nothing to prove to, or learn from, Mark Shenton. No comment, Stephen, beyond saying I’ve had a wonderful career, still continuing at Whatsonstage, temporarily at the Independent and in many other fields, and I have nothing to prove to, or learn from, Mark Shenton.

]]> By: Stephen Wilkinson http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-87810 Stephen Wilkinson Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:02:53 +0000 http://blogs.whatsonstage.com/2009/06/12/getting-it-all-wrong/#comment-87810 Isn't Mark Shenton some big cheese in the Critics Circle? Surely he should be standing up for, not slagging off, fellow critics. Could it be that he is jealous of your role at the Independent and thinks, if he casts enough doubt that maybe he could destabilise your presumably lucrative and, lets face it, more prestigious gig. He does seem to have a considerable interest in your career. Isn’t Mark Shenton some big cheese in the Critics Circle? Surely he should be standing up for, not slagging off, fellow critics. Could it be that he is jealous of your role at the Independent and thinks, if he casts enough doubt that maybe he could destabilise your presumably lucrative and, lets face it, more prestigious gig. He does seem to have a considerable interest in your career.

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