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Monthly culture: January 2021
Friday, February 12th, 2021 08:40 am02JAN21: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (from the novel by Joan Aiken, adapted by Russ Tunney) -- Greenwich Theatre
This was fun and nicely staged, but felt very imbalanced, with a slow first half and a rushed second half. Also, it seemed to veer between meta and melodrama: quite mannered, too, and lots of doubled roles. And the eponymous wolves were really not essential to this rendition.
High points included a song about cheese. Like so many streaming theatre experiences, I'd probably have enjoyed this more if I'd seen it live (as was the original plan, given that it's my local theatre).
07JAN21: The Handmaiden (Park Chan-Wook) -- Netflix
Set in Korea in the 1930s, this is based on Sarah Waters' Fingersmith. It's a beautiful film with a very Gothic feel and some disturbing violence. Also an octopus for whom I felt very sorry.
09JAN21: Swinging the Dream -- RSC Online
A preview of a work in progress, based on a lost jazz musical version of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream'. I am not what you would call a jazz fan but some of the music was quite nice. This was more of a presentation about the original work (the archaeology of drama?) than a recreation of it, though there were performances throughout -- of songs that were included, and of the surviving scenes. Theseus, in this version, was recast as a plantation owner: different times ... Some bits were great, but there was a plethora of narrators.
14JAN21: Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke) -- Netflix
Splendid cast, more or less historically accurate except that the two queens meet. I wasn't convinced by Margot Robbie's Elizabeth to start with, but she won me over by the end.
16JAN21: Night of the Living Dead - REMIX (Imitating the Dog)
A shot-by-shot recreation of Romero's classic horror movie, with a small cast doing a great deal -- on-stage filming with handheld cameras, switching roles, lipsynching with the original soundtrack, et cetera. I really enjoyed this despite not being familiar with the source text (I've seen it once, not sober). Some relevant nuances, too: BLM-resonant. A splendid and inspirational production, because it did so much with the original material in such creative and playful ways.
21JAN21: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman) -- Netflix
This was about an hour too long, and I was never entirely sure of either what was happening or of what I was supposed to think was happening. Splendid performances as young couple visit his creepy parents who are Not What They Seem. But then neither is the female of the couple. Probably. Or not.
23JAN21: Uncle Vanya (Chekhov) -- BBC
Oh, let's have something really cheerful for lockdown! Oh, wait ... Chekhov's rural masterpiece, featuring a stellar cast (Toby Jones, Richard Armitage, Roger Allam, Anna Calder-Marshall) and a good modern translation. Beautifully-lit production, filmed during lockdown in the Harold Pinter Theatre. Not cheering but compelling.
28JAN21: Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley) -- Netflix
Enjoyable SF comedy (the SF elements were possibly the weakest aspect of this) critiquing late-stage capitalism and reality TV, and featuring Armie Hammer, which gave added nuance. Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson were great. Good soundtrack. Very urban.
30JAN21: Noises Off (Peter Bogdanovich) -- Amazon Video
Film version of Michael Frayn's play set during three different performances of a typical English farce, 'Nothing On'. Michael Caine was awesome as the director, Lloyd, and there were excellent performances from Christopher Reeve (a brilliant comic actor, which I had not previously noticed), Denholm Elliot (his last role), Julie Hagerty and others. The play had been padded out a bit with Lloyd's monologue, and had also been relocated from England to the US. And I suspect it was rather easier to achieve the 'human clockwork' effect of the second act on film rather than live on stage. But this made us all laugh, which was rather the point.
TV: WandaVision -- Marvel / Disney+
I am enjoying this immensely, from the loving sit-com pastiches to the doomy hints of what's really going on. Also, Darcy! Jimmy Woo! and several awesome women driving the plot! and a recasting! and, and ...
TV: Bridgerton -- Netflix
Great fun, recognisable locations (some of it was filmed just up the road), and a diverse cast -- not true to the original novels -- which is acknowledged and framed in the show: Queen Charlotte is played by black actress Golda Rosheuvel, and another black character indicates that King George's marriage to a black woman has opened the way for more people of colour to thrive in high society. (Which does not wholly make sense as that character's parents, a Duke and Duchess who must have predated Charlotte, were also black. But still, a nice nod.)
Absolutely uninterested in historical accuracy, but good on ambience and mood: my assessment is that it's less of a historical drama than a depiction of the experience of reading historical romance.
This was fun and nicely staged, but felt very imbalanced, with a slow first half and a rushed second half. Also, it seemed to veer between meta and melodrama: quite mannered, too, and lots of doubled roles. And the eponymous wolves were really not essential to this rendition.
High points included a song about cheese. Like so many streaming theatre experiences, I'd probably have enjoyed this more if I'd seen it live (as was the original plan, given that it's my local theatre).
07JAN21: The Handmaiden (Park Chan-Wook) -- Netflix
Set in Korea in the 1930s, this is based on Sarah Waters' Fingersmith. It's a beautiful film with a very Gothic feel and some disturbing violence. Also an octopus for whom I felt very sorry.
09JAN21: Swinging the Dream -- RSC Online
A preview of a work in progress, based on a lost jazz musical version of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream'. I am not what you would call a jazz fan but some of the music was quite nice. This was more of a presentation about the original work (the archaeology of drama?) than a recreation of it, though there were performances throughout -- of songs that were included, and of the surviving scenes. Theseus, in this version, was recast as a plantation owner: different times ... Some bits were great, but there was a plethora of narrators.
14JAN21: Mary Queen of Scots (Josie Rourke) -- Netflix
Splendid cast, more or less historically accurate except that the two queens meet. I wasn't convinced by Margot Robbie's Elizabeth to start with, but she won me over by the end.
16JAN21: Night of the Living Dead - REMIX (Imitating the Dog)
A shot-by-shot recreation of Romero's classic horror movie, with a small cast doing a great deal -- on-stage filming with handheld cameras, switching roles, lipsynching with the original soundtrack, et cetera. I really enjoyed this despite not being familiar with the source text (I've seen it once, not sober). Some relevant nuances, too: BLM-resonant. A splendid and inspirational production, because it did so much with the original material in such creative and playful ways.
21JAN21: I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman) -- Netflix
This was about an hour too long, and I was never entirely sure of either what was happening or of what I was supposed to think was happening. Splendid performances as young couple visit his creepy parents who are Not What They Seem. But then neither is the female of the couple. Probably. Or not.
23JAN21: Uncle Vanya (Chekhov) -- BBC
Oh, let's have something really cheerful for lockdown! Oh, wait ... Chekhov's rural masterpiece, featuring a stellar cast (Toby Jones, Richard Armitage, Roger Allam, Anna Calder-Marshall) and a good modern translation. Beautifully-lit production, filmed during lockdown in the Harold Pinter Theatre. Not cheering but compelling.
28JAN21: Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley) -- Netflix
Enjoyable SF comedy (the SF elements were possibly the weakest aspect of this) critiquing late-stage capitalism and reality TV, and featuring Armie Hammer, which gave added nuance. Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson were great. Good soundtrack. Very urban.
30JAN21: Noises Off (Peter Bogdanovich) -- Amazon Video
Film version of Michael Frayn's play set during three different performances of a typical English farce, 'Nothing On'. Michael Caine was awesome as the director, Lloyd, and there were excellent performances from Christopher Reeve (a brilliant comic actor, which I had not previously noticed), Denholm Elliot (his last role), Julie Hagerty and others. The play had been padded out a bit with Lloyd's monologue, and had also been relocated from England to the US. And I suspect it was rather easier to achieve the 'human clockwork' effect of the second act on film rather than live on stage. But this made us all laugh, which was rather the point.
TV: WandaVision -- Marvel / Disney+
I am enjoying this immensely, from the loving sit-com pastiches to the doomy hints of what's really going on. Also, Darcy! Jimmy Woo! and several awesome women driving the plot! and a recasting! and, and ...
TV: Bridgerton -- Netflix
Great fun, recognisable locations (some of it was filmed just up the road), and a diverse cast -- not true to the original novels -- which is acknowledged and framed in the show: Queen Charlotte is played by black actress Golda Rosheuvel, and another black character indicates that King George's marriage to a black woman has opened the way for more people of colour to thrive in high society. (Which does not wholly make sense as that character's parents, a Duke and Duchess who must have predated Charlotte, were also black. But still, a nice nod.)
Absolutely uninterested in historical accuracy, but good on ambience and mood: my assessment is that it's less of a historical drama than a depiction of the experience of reading historical romance.
