Back to the theatre
Currently listening to: Sarah McLachlan, "Surfacing"
Currently reading: "Pinter in the Theatre" by Ian Smith
To a scaffold-and-fabric clad Sheffield Theatres last night, to see "Top Dog/Underdog" by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed in The Studio by Allison Troup-Jensen with Gary Beadle as Lincoln and Shaun Parkes as Booth, two brothers trapped in a hopeless situation but longing for a way out. It was fantastically well acted, but rather long, IMO - could be a lot tighter, and the ending is telegraphed right from the beginning - names, anyone? - plus the Chekhov rule - if a gun appears in the first act, it must be used by the third act. But knowing the ending doesn't matter if the getting there is interesting, and in this case, it is very interesting. Though overlong this is well worth seeing - it runs in Sheffield til Saturday, don't know if it goes anywhere else after that but as it was produced in association with Birkbeck University one would rather hope so. Go see it if you can.
Currently reading: "Pinter in the Theatre" by Ian Smith
To a scaffold-and-fabric clad Sheffield Theatres last night, to see "Top Dog/Underdog" by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed in The Studio by Allison Troup-Jensen with Gary Beadle as Lincoln and Shaun Parkes as Booth, two brothers trapped in a hopeless situation but longing for a way out. It was fantastically well acted, but rather long, IMO - could be a lot tighter, and the ending is telegraphed right from the beginning - names, anyone? - plus the Chekhov rule - if a gun appears in the first act, it must be used by the third act. But knowing the ending doesn't matter if the getting there is interesting, and in this case, it is very interesting. Though overlong this is well worth seeing - it runs in Sheffield til Saturday, don't know if it goes anywhere else after that but as it was produced in association with Birkbeck University one would rather hope so. Go see it if you can.
posted by Sal at
10:50 pm
1 Comments:
I saw an interview with the writer, director and original cast of Top Dog/Underdog. Actually, it was more like a documentary--very interesting getting all the perpectives on the process of bringing the work to the stage and the commentary on contemporary African American life/issues/culture represented and/or infused into the production.
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