Rendering №7

The editorail published on March, 21 is headlined “Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man: 'their playfulness and need to bewitch has not dimmed'”. The article discusses the situation that immersive theatre company Punchdrunk have announced a new show, The Drowned Man, by staging a secret production in east London. Daisy Bowie-Sell went along.

It carries a lot of comment on that immersive theatre company Punchdrunk never do things in halves. As a proof of it, the author of the articke writes that Their particular brand of epic, elaborate theatre has been confusing and beguiling audiences from when they began staging shows all over Devon in 2000. After setting up in London they had successes with two huge works – Faust, where they transformed a derelict warehouse in Wapping, and The Masque of the Red Death which took over the entirety ofBattersea Arts Centre for a year. Then, the correspondent reasonably point out that  they’re back in London with their biggest show yet. Emphasizing this fact, the writes mentions that For their legions of dedicated, obsessive fans, this will be extremely exciting news. And as if to stir them up even more, Punchdrunk have decided to celebrate the announcement.

Analyzing this announcement, it’s worth saying that The ten minute experience is a tantalising taster of Punchdrunk’s new show - The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable - and it’s on for the next two weeks, available – and free – to anyone who is daring enough to walk into the unknown.

I’d like to cite the author thus showing his attitude: “That’s what I did and I was ushered through a dark doorway and down the back stairs of the shop. I quickly began to feel I had made a mistake and that Andrez might actually live there and I’d feel very stupid once I found him and looked at him expecting a performance.”

Giving appraisal to the situation, it’s necessary to point out that the Drowned Man is an adaptation of Woyzeck. They have teamed up with the National Theatre on what is the “next large scale show after The Masque of the Red Death,” according to Artistic Director Felix Barrett. The correspondent quotes Buchner : “It has a strange, splintered shape. It’s so compact and sparse. He died before it was finished but never said what order its scenes should come in. It defines the whole Punchdrunk form because it doesn’t matter which order you digest them in, an inevitable, terrible conclusion is perching on your shoulder.”

In conclusion, the author of the editorial says that it’s impossible to rate this live trailer as a show in its own right - it’s just a snippet of what’s to come. But it does prove that despite their global success Punchdrunk’s inventiveness, their playfulness and their need to bewitch have not dimmed. If anything, they are burning brighter.
As for be, I consider this editorial very interesting and worth reading. The style of Daisy Bowie-Sell’s writing awakes my interest in this play and I am going to find more information about this performance. Immersive theatre company Punchdrunk never do things in halves and as a result and tha play “The drown man” is going to be a proof of it.

Rendering № 6

The editorial published on February, 13 is headlined “Jerry Herman interview: Are we finally ready for this mad, mad world?” It  carries a lot of comments on a rare flop from the great Broadway composer Jerry Herman gets its British premiere tonight – 44 years after it first opened.
It begins with a discourse that it’s not uncommon, towards the end of a monumental career, for the giants of musical theatre to want to put their house in order. The editorial reports at length that Andrew Lloyd Webber has been busy filming his shows for posterity. Stephen Sondheim has seen Merrily We Roll Along come good and even the unloved Road Show revived if not resuscitated.
Giving appraisal to the situation, it’s necessary to point out that Dear World was first performed in New York way back in 1969, but when it resurfaces at the Charing Cross Theatre this month, it will be the show’s British premiere. Forty-four years seems like a long wait for a musical from the witty composer-lyricist who, in Hello Dolly (1964) and Mame (1966), had given Broadway two wonderfully frothy entertainments. Indeed, in Dear World Herman completed a trilogy of shows featuring eccentric, rule-breaking heroines. The reporter also discusses the fact that the show was adapted from Jean Giraudoux’s play The Madwoman of Chaillot, which tells of a countess who, driven mad by the loss of her lover, dwells in the basement of a Parisian bistro and embarks on a plot to stop a powerful corporation drilling for oil. Herman had acted in the play (in the role of a deaf mute) as a university student in Florida.
There is every reason to believe that the score was also part of the issue. Where Louis Armstrong made Hello, Dolly his own and Bobby Darin covered Mame, the songs from Herman’s more integrated score for Dear World are less detachable from their context, although I Don’t Want to Know for a while enjoyed a second life in Liza Minnelli’s cabaret set. It’s interesting to emphasize that It didn’t look like a show about big oil featuring sewers. Nor did it help that Cohen insisted on Dear World at least looking like a Jerry Herman show with high-kicking chorus lines.  The correspondent quotes Cohen as a proof these words : “It was overblown in every way. We had a producer who wanted to be a Barnum where it should have been an intimate production.”
It’s worth mentioning that The death of Dear World did not remotely discourage Herman from experimentation. In Mack and Mabel (1974) he told of unromantic hero who, as the song warned, “won’t send roses”, and he stole from operatic convention to kill off his luckless heroine.
Besides, there is every likelihood that if we have more of a palate for wackiness nowadays, Lynne is also confident that she’s located the right Countess Aurora. Betty Buckley was the original actress singing Memory in Cats on Broadway.
The correspondent concludes the article with Herman’s statement : “I’m so open to experiment with my work. I love it when people have new ideas. It always leads to learning. I don’t learn anything by going to see an exact copy of what I’ve done before. But I do learn when somebody does something a little daring, a little offbeat with it. And I welcome change.” He also express his willingness that And this time, perhaps an audience will also welcome an improving musical which gives a bloody nose to bankers.
As for me, this article has awaked my interest in theatre and in this play in particular. I think that this play and so called premiere is very symbolic and may prove its author to be the real genius in this field of art.

Rendering № 5

The editorial published on March, 7 is headlined “Bruce Norris: 'I think we are doomed’”. It carries a lot of comment about uncompromising American playwright Bruce Norris who has the super-rich in his sights as his latest work prepares to open at London’s Royal Court.
The article discusses the situation on people who are changing the guard at the Royal Court Theatre. For his final act after six years in charge, Dominic Cooke has returned to the American playwright whose work he introduced to these shores upon becoming artistic director. A new play by Bruce Norris can mean only one thing. Theatre-goers should start quaking in their Louboutins as he prepares to give them another bloody nose.
It’s interesting to point out that Norris’s speciality is pointing a finger at his well-heeled, self-satisfied audience. The reporter quotes him : “I like to disrupt is what I like to do. I just like to disrupt situations. I don’t like when people seem to think they know the answers or their mind is made up about something”. Analyzing all this, it is necessary to emphasize that the Pain and the Itch scratched raucously beneath the veneer of smug East Coast liberalism to reveal ugly, unpeaceable instincts, although that was an exercise in throat-clearing compared to Clybourne Park, which shone an interrogative arc light intoracial attitudes among both black and white. Moreover, it  won the Olivier and Tony Awards for best new play, and then in 2011 the Pulitzer Prize.
This fact is followed by Norris’s quotation : “I must have had some kind of aneurism,” Norris muses. “I thought, Dominic’s leaving so he can destroy the budget and it won’t matter. The one good thing about having a play be successful like Clybourne Park is that you know that whatever you do next will be judged inferior to your previous work. That way I could say, 'Well then I can do anything I want.”
Besides, there is every likelihood that not that Norris has any faith in mankind’s ability to evolve.  And in plays that sucker audiences as laughs make way for gasps, Norris has taken it upon himself to point this out. Moreover, Norris looks like one of those springy bantamweights who lands jabs and cuts rather than haymakers. His sharp, alert features are framed by a geekier brand of spectacles, and his mordant drawl suggests perpetual bafflement. Giving appraisal to the situation, it’s necessary to point out brief Norris’ biography: Born in 1960, he grew up in Houston, the middle in a brood of three. In 1992 he wrote a play called The Actor Retires. His plays began to be performed in earnest in the early 2000s. Purple Heart (2002) is currently enjoying its UK premiere at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill. Playwriting mostly in the not-for-profit sector — the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago has put on seven of his plays – has not made him wealthy, he insists. He rents in Chelsea, New York, and should he so wish, he has enough to down tools for a couple of years. Not that he has. Later this year a new play for the Lincoln Center called Domesticated will feature a philandering US politician. Meanwhile, The Low Road emanates partly from his visceral shock at quite how much money other people have stashed away.
The article concludes with the author quotes another Noriss’ statement: “ I try to walk out of the theatre when the conversation unfolds because the mundane nature of it is sometimes too much to take. It’s too great a distance from your optimistic expectation of the conversation that you would provoke. I mean generally it’s like, 'Huh, I didn’t like that as much as the play we saw last night, so where are we going for dinner?”
I like the article as it gives very useful and interesting information about the world of art, theatre on the example of such a playwright as Bruce Norris. While reading and analyzing the editorial, I have come to the conclusion about his fairness to his own principles and devotion to what he does in spite of his field of works in not very profitable.

Review №2

Finding Neverland

Directed by        Marc Forster

Produced by       Richard N. Gladstein

                            Nellie Bellflower

Written by          David Magee

Based on            The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee

Starring               Johnny Depp

                             Kate Winslet

                             Radha Mitchell

                             Julie Christie

                            Dustin Hoffman

Music by             Jan A. P. Kaczmarek

Cinematography     Roberto Schaefer

Editing by           Matt Chesse

Studio                   FilmColony

Distributed by      Miramax Films

Running time       106 minutes

Country               United States

Language            English

Budget                 $25 million

Box office           $118,676,606

Plot

A Scottish playwright J. M. Barrie lacks for inspiration after his play “Little Mary” got negative reviews. He is bored with trite themes for plays and is looking for something extraordinary and new. At the same time, his relationship with his wife is getting worse and worse though they try to keep it from anyone else. One day, while walking in the park, Barrie becomes acquainted with Sylvia and her four young sons. He is attached to this family and becomes a father figure for them, especially to Peter, who wants to grow up as he believes it is easier to bear all troubles when you are an adult. Barrie finally finds new source of inspiration in the person of this boy and begins to write a new play “Peter Pan”. In spite of Producer Charles Frohman’ belief that it will be doomed to failure, the playwright decides to put it on the stage. Meanwhile it is found out that Sylvia suffers from indentified disease and it turns to be incurable. As a result she is not able to see the play which proves to be successful. However, Barrie wants to show it for her and presents an abridged production of it at home. Soon Sylvia dies, but now it seems that she just goes to Neverland which she saw in Barrie’s play. Later, Barrie finds that her will is to have him and her mother to be the guardians and conservators for her sons; an arrangement agreeable to both.

Direction

The film is directed be very successful German Swiss filmmaker  Marc Foster known as a director of 23 James Bond film for many of us. He proves to be the professional and expert in the field of movie making. I think that “Finding Neverland” is the brilliant example of versatility of his talent. I think we may feel Foster’s own unique manner of film directing while watching this movie. This direction is a striking example when both direction and actors’ performance are equally great.

Actors’ performance

As for the performance, I think that the cast is superb. I believe that the choice of actors can’t be more suitable as it is. It makes the movie worth watching and really entertaining and suspenseful. Johnny Depp again proves to be an actor of great and very diverse talent. Through his impressive filmorgrophy we may see him sometimes as a naïve man; sometimes as an example of black humor…Nevertheless the most outstanding feature is his charisma. In “Finding Neverland”, he has wonderful talent to show his character as a very serious man on the one hand but with very childish soul on the other hand. As for Kate Winslet, she is my favorite actress. She has both outstanding acting skills and aristocratic appearance…In this film she is associated with a rose in its blooming – she is so beautiful, dignified and pure. Although I always will remember her primarily as Rose from “Titanik”, we can’t call her “an actress of one role” because of her ability to “re-embody”.

Costume Design

It must be mentioned about costumes, they are gorgeous! They are perfectly suitable for this or that scene in the movie and make us  feel more deeply characters’ feelings and form our own opinion towards it. It is the first time for me when I pay so much attention to the costumes and finally realize their importance and reasons for the choice of them. Great choice of music which is added to great actors’ performance, brilliant direction and well fitted costumes make the film very suspenseful.

My impression

 There is no doubt that everything I have mentioned above is really impressive and creates the feeling of contemporary film masterpiece. I believe it is really so. It is great, inexpressible fairy tail which you want never end. It totally “swallows you up” for 106 minutes, creating the new, unknown but so pleasant world around you and all your family (this film is very suitable for family watching.) Although the movie is a graphic example of drama, it represents a specific sort of it – a drama of our life without flattery or unnecessary pomposity. We see people from high levels of the society as ordinary people with their own sorrows…the theme which is raised here also perfectly describes the idea which we often discuss on our classes (on our Pleasure reading class “First Night” in particular) – we see a masterpiece, but we have no idea how much it is cost for the author. Though I suppose that "Finding Neverland" is probably not to everyone's taste, but I personally like it.

My Pleasure Reading. Pride and Prejudice. Chapters XII - end

Mrs. Bennet invites Mr. Bingley to dinner, hoping for the development of the relationships between him and her daughter. Mr. Bingley visits them with Mr. Darcy many times; to Elizabeth’s grief as now she realizes that all her hopes for their prospective marriage is hopeless as he knows about her sister (Lydia) and her marriage with Wickham which relates them in kinship.  Darcy goes to London and Bingley continues to visit the Bennets and finally he makes a proposal to Jane. Being happy for her sister, Elizabeth feels disappointment in herself and her incorrect opinion towards Mr. Darcy, however, she believe if he returns from London, she has some chances for their reconciliation. Lady Catherine De Bourgh unexpectedly drops by Longbourn one day to talk to Elizabeth. Her visit is caused by that fact that she has heard some rumors about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s engagement. She considers Elizabeth is not a good match for her nephew because of the tarnished reputation of her family as well as their social and financial inequality. However, Elizabeth, suitably resists Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s psychological pressure and refuses to promise that she will never accepr Mr. Darcy’s proposal, saying that it is their private affair and they don’t need her advice. The next day, Mr. Bingley visits the Bennet with Mr. Darcy who recently returns from London, and while walking in the garden, Elizabeth thatnks him for his help with Lydia’s problem. Mr. Darcy declares that he still loves her and tells her about his conversation with his aunt, which has yielded to the opposite results – it gives hope to him that his feelings are mutual ones. Darcy confesses that when Elizabeth refused his proposal for the first time it was so unexpected for him as it made him to revise his old norms and get rid of his pride and prejudice. Now Elizabeth gives her consent.

The story ends with little description of two sisters’ new life – a year after the marriage, the Bingleys settle in Pemberly, thus Elizabeth and Jane have wonderful possibilities for frequent visit of each other. Their parents and the Gardiners visit them often. Elizabeth and Jane take Kitty under their patronage, trying to make her more calm, cultured and educated. They also keep in touch with Lydia whose marriage falls apart of the seams as neither the husband, nor the wife can’t reasonably spend money. Elizabeth renders them a little financial support, but don’t allow living them on her expense. After a few attempts, Mr. Darcy and his wife successfully regulate relationships with his aunt. 

My Pleasure Reading. Pride and Prejudice. Chapters VI - XII (Volume III)

On their way home, Mr. Gardiner tries to calm Elizabeth, convincing her that Wickham will certainly marries his sister if he doesn’t want to ruin his future career as well as her honour. However, Elizabeth knows Wickham’s past and his failed attempt to elope with Miss Darcy, and can’t believe in purity of his intention. When Elizabeth returns home, she learns that her father has gone in search of his daughter. Next day, Mr. Gardiner joins him but, unfortunately, all his attempts fail and Mr. Bennet decides to return home while Mr. Gardiner continues search. It is finally crowned by success. Mr. Bennet receives a letter in which Mr. Gardiner writes that he has found Elizabeth and Wickham. Wickham agrees to marry Elizabeth only in case Mr. Bennet solves his financial problems (debts) and gives him a small income. Elizabeth’s father agrees, considering that it is better than the daughter’s ruined reputation. As a result, the Bennet believe that Mr. Gardiner pays a large amount of money for them and now they are in debts. Soon, the family is invited to visit Wickham and Elizabeth, who doesn’t feel guilty, considering all latest events as interesting adventures. While visiting the newlyweds, Elizabeth learns about Mr. Darcy’s participation in solving of Wickham’s problem and later she gets know from Mrs. Gardiner that in fact Mr. Darcy is the person who has found Elizabeth’s sister and has saved her family from disgrace. Elizabeth begins to understand her own feelings and emotion towards this person, realizing that now she feels love for him instead of aversion. The Bennet return home and news arrives that Mr. Bingley returns to Netherfield Park . The latter visits them a few days after his arrival with Mr. Darcy and his love for Jane breaks out again, as well as Darcy’s love for Elizabeth.

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