A new play by David Hare, Ralph Fiennes gives a career defining performance as Sir Henry Irving, the first actor ever to be knighted and the greatest star of the Victorian stage. Miranda Raison plays Ellen Terry, the most loved and highest paid actress in England and recruited by Irving to join his renowned company at the Lyceum Theatre.
Pre-Theatre F&B will be at the Silver Cross, 33 WhiteHall, at 17:45pm.
There will be a Whatsapp group set up for this event. If you wish to be on it, please send your mobile number to swcsocialATgmailDOTcom.
Note: you need to set your Whatsapp privacy setting to give me the permission to add you to the group. I had a couple of incidences that I was unable to add people to the group. My invitation did not reach the recipient either.
3 comments:
Several have booked, some in Royal Circle.
I booked a table for 12 at Silver Cross for 17:45, 10 seats have been taken. The remaining two seats are up for grab, first come first served. Please email with your mobile number if you wish to take one
11 walkers gathered in the pub for pre-theatre F&B and were joined by another later. n=12. Think everyone enjoyed it, so without further ado, here are our reviews:
“very enjoyable play. Loved the acting and costumes were gorgeous - the West end has more money to splash out on them. I thought the 2nd half was more engaging- as the actors grow old and the limitation of roles for Ellen as opposed to Irving's. The depiction of the lives of Ellen's children was really interesting- I didn't know anything about that. Small aside: Bram Stoker (author of Dracula) was Irving's business's manager for the Lyceum theatre!”
“Fine acting, ingenious sets, historical interest, a perfectly enjoyable evening. …… but I confess I was left wondering what this play was ABOUT. I mean, it was about the relationship between Henry Irving and Ellen Terry: each in a way made the other great. Terry seemed to have somewhat subordinated herself to his vision, doing fairly small Shakespearean female parts when she might have done more substantive modern roles. Irving comes across as a bit stunted and hidebound, unable to express his emotions (a common Ralph Fiennes role….) and too stuck in traditional roles and unwilling to embrace more modern writers. He could have founded a National Theatre but preferred to stay in his comfort zone. But (according to him) he made theatre respectable again.”
“But what is the big message here? What inspired David Hare to write this play? It eluded me rather. I wrote this without having read any reviews or anyone else’s comments, so maybe they will enlighten me?”
“Also why did Terry’s children feature so prominently? The son thought himself a visionary but just pontificated unsuccessfully about avant garde concepts (eg “theatre without actors”). The daughter and her female lovers and friends creates a small theatre at Smallhythe, Terry’s home near Tenterden to stage plays about women’s emancipation. But so what? WHY was all this included in the play?”
“The play's themes are not always linked together, the most interesting part of it was maybe about the history of acting, how Ellen Terry brought in a more naturalistic style and then her son did away with all the cumbersome realistic decor and eventually inspired Peter Brook ... It was also interesting about the emotional cost of being an actor ...
The title is obscure, I guess it refers to Grace, the friend of Ellen's daughter who wrote the more modern kind of plays and wins out in the end”
“Good costumes. Good acting and interesting historical context but i think it is a bit disjointed and agree with another what was it about? Terry played lots of roles besides Shakspeare. And I am not sure why her children were so prominent in the play and some more background on their lives as actors could help bring the play together. I liked that they used a similar costume here that features in Singer Seargant's famous portrait of her portraying Lady Macbeth. Enjoyed and lovely to see everyone.”
“The portrayal of the children was intriguing: two from Terry and one from Irving (barely mentioned). All experimented with some form of theatre, yet none truly managed to surpass their parents, who were themselves too absorbed in their own careers. Terry seemed to compensate by giving her son whatever money he needed, while Irving appeared to partly blame his wife for the attempted tragic suicide of his only son, but the SHOW MUST GO ON. Food for thought for all parents?....
“I don’t have much experience in watching a play. I found this very interesting and entertaining. Looking forward to next one”
Until next time .....
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