PLAYS : Festen
This is a west end production of the Dogme film of the same name. Blurb from the bck cover; a family is gathering for their father's birthday, but when speeches are made a dark secret is revealed. Like Milo's Wake, only not as good...
The acting was fine, nothing outstanding. There is a nice scene where everyone eats dinner, and not a word is spoken, but overall it shows that the run has been going for a while. The lead character must use a lot of energy each night, and I think he's been doing it for some 7 odd weeks. The dad in this was the dad from adrain mole (the tv series) and did a good job, maybe missing a few emotional bits, while the mother was a bit boring, reacting a little too late and so on.
But overall the largest problem was the script. There were no subtelties, no greys. From the first scene with the whole family, the one were the secret is revealed, we know who the badies and the goodies are. From there it is just a case of getting to the end of the play and the final retribution.
At no point are we given any reason to not hate the bady. At no point is there any ambiguity about the secret; was it imagined or real - it was real. At no point are we given any reason to not like the goody.
While I suppose the characters develop, it came across more as one set of characters winning against the other - with no actual change to the inner condition (not quite true, but that was the feeling)
After reading that you must think that I didn't like the production, but I save my vitriol for those things I _do_ like, because I want them to be better. If the script introduced some ambiguities, and had some of the characters come around spiritually rather than only when the 'secret' is proven, I think this would be a fantastic production.
The acting was fine, nothing outstanding. There is a nice scene where everyone eats dinner, and not a word is spoken, but overall it shows that the run has been going for a while. The lead character must use a lot of energy each night, and I think he's been doing it for some 7 odd weeks. The dad in this was the dad from adrain mole (the tv series) and did a good job, maybe missing a few emotional bits, while the mother was a bit boring, reacting a little too late and so on.
But overall the largest problem was the script. There were no subtelties, no greys. From the first scene with the whole family, the one were the secret is revealed, we know who the badies and the goodies are. From there it is just a case of getting to the end of the play and the final retribution.
At no point are we given any reason to not hate the bady. At no point is there any ambiguity about the secret; was it imagined or real - it was real. At no point are we given any reason to not like the goody.
While I suppose the characters develop, it came across more as one set of characters winning against the other - with no actual change to the inner condition (not quite true, but that was the feeling)
After reading that you must think that I didn't like the production, but I save my vitriol for those things I _do_ like, because I want them to be better. If the script introduced some ambiguities, and had some of the characters come around spiritually rather than only when the 'secret' is proven, I think this would be a fantastic production.
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