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Post by jo on Nov 5, 2014 22:37:04 GMT -5
Not a reaction to, but an observation on what happened in the show -- It looks like he is wearing a bandage on his forefinger when this photo from a performance ( or rehearsal - because the Healy interview was partly done after rehearsals) was taken --  Jo |
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Post by mamaleh on Nov 5, 2014 23:09:20 GMT -5
That was some slice tonight! Also had a second-row seat. Happened when he was slicing the lemons. He kept applying band-aids and towels, all while soldiering on, undistracted by all that blood covering his palm and trickling down his arm. I felt so bad for him, I could hardly look anywhere other than his hands from then on.
Post show: Friend and I saw an ambulance stop near the theater and joked they were there to save Hugh. To our astonishment paramedics entered the theater! But a nearby woman said an elderly woman had been in distress. The paramedics left a few minutes later, so she must have been OK.
Hugh emerged, his left thumb swathed in a big bandage, I joked with him about how maybe it wasn't such a good idea to joke about that SNL Julia Child sketch at the Times Talk. He laughed heartily so I knew he was OK. But I hope he chops more slowly from now on.
Ellen
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Post by jo on Nov 5, 2014 23:33:43 GMT -5
Maybe they should find a way to limit the chopping ( like on TV food shows, the ingredients are pre-cut  ) and the use of the knife. There are still over-90 performances to go! How was the audience at curtain call, Ellen ? Someone on BWW posted that the applause was tepid. Jo |
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Post by jo on Nov 5, 2014 23:38:34 GMT -5
What a way to describe one's reaction to the show -- Seeseveryshow posts his review on ATC( or account of the accident) --
Seeseveryshow adds --
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Post by JH4HJ on Nov 6, 2014 10:53:02 GMT -5
On one viewing with little contemplation . . .
Hugh- wonderful as always. Whole cast excellent. Can't say I liked the play.
"Pretentiously pedestrian" and unnecessarily convoluted, redundant and ambiguous with no clear style or point to it. Do you really want to see a man gut a fish on stage? Love the actor, no fan of the author.
Some scenes would be good exercises for acting class or nice audition pieces, as a play the script needs work.
A Steady Rain was much better written.
More when I get home and can type properly.
GREAT to see YOU - my fellow OZalots last night! Fantastic ladies!
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Post by JH4HJ on Nov 6, 2014 15:27:14 GMT -5
How was the audience at curtain call, Ellen ? Someone on BWW posted that the applause was tepid. I'd say that is an accurate description. People applauded "politely" for the entire cast, and then again when Hugh came back out on his own. A few people stood but only a handful - most of them looked like they were headed to the doors. Definitely no shouts of "Bravo!" much less "Author, Author!" A far cry from the ovations for Back on Broadway or even Steady Rain. Hugh did a great job - even though he was wounded. It's the vehicle that is lackluster, not the performers. |
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Post by mamaleh on Nov 6, 2014 23:09:03 GMT -5
I'd say most people, at least in my area, applauded nicely, even if standing ovations were few, if any. At any performance you'll see reactions that run the gamut, including those whose priority is to hightail it out of there as bows are taken. I felt Hugh deserved extra plaudits for carrying on despite his messy and likely painful injury.
I did once again get the impression from random comments overheard as I walked up the aisle that numerous people liked the performers but were.confused by what they had seen. I would prescribe multiple viewings if feasible.
Heard that director Rickson called the cast in early today to give them notes. Maybe more changes afoot? That's what the preview period is for.
Ellen (who spent this evening at City Center seeing THE BANDWAGON)
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Post by jo on Nov 7, 2014 18:33:10 GMT -5
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Post by jo on Nov 7, 2014 22:16:17 GMT -5
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Post by jo on Nov 8, 2014 20:08:26 GMT -5
Mid-preview review from a BWW poster --
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Post by JH4HJ on Nov 9, 2014 11:43:20 GMT -5
Mid-preview review from a BWW poster -- Though I was not over the moon for ASR, it is far more coherent. I understand this author's intent, I do not think the execution was successful. I'm glad I saw it. Wish I could come back again toward the end of the run. I was never bored - not for a second. Let's say I felt "unfulfilled" when it was over - something Hugh has never done to me before. What was the last line? What is it now? Yes, not a single buzz or ding the night I was there. |
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Post by jo on Nov 10, 2014 2:54:54 GMT -5
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Post by jo on Nov 11, 2014 18:25:06 GMT -5
It was mentioned in an earlier article/review that Hugh Jackman does not use his charisma or a flash of his famous smile to win over the audience --  Does he not ever smile in the show Jo |
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Post by jo on Nov 12, 2014 18:44:11 GMT -5
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Post by jo on Nov 12, 2014 19:26:33 GMT -5
Lucky high school students who came to see THE RIVER, as part of a mentorship program --
The play and the performances will likely be discussed extensively at Maspeth ( maybe in their drama club)? As an aside, this photo gives you a very clear view of the seating in a section of Circle in the Square. |
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Post by jo on Nov 17, 2014 18:15:01 GMT -5
From responses to Ben Brantley's review ( NYTimes) --
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Post by jo on Dec 7, 2014 11:46:38 GMT -5
SPOILERS******SPOILERS******SPOILERS******SPOILERS*******SPOILERS******SPOILERS
THE RIVER is a play that involves the audience deeply, if one is prepared to seek its message and its relevance to the understanding of the nature of relationships!
Having read the play a number of times, I was quite surprised how it took many turns compared to my first impressions.
Having now seen the play also a number of times, I was still quite surprised that it pointed me into different directions, until I finally thought that my mind has resolved its understanding and appreciation of the work.
The play does not have the conventional structure of a plot, with a beginning, a middle part, and a climax which suggests finality.
Rather, it takes us into a deceptively simple and seemingly ambiguous storytelling, with characters who are initially difficult to fathom.
As it turned out, this atmospheric play ( the sets, the sounds, the feeling of eerieness occasionally) was not so much about a sinister plot or a mysterious moment, but an unraveling of a man's character!
In his life, he kept searching for the elusive prey that he has missed, wanting to feel akin to when he first discovered the wonder of catching one ( in this case, like the fish he held in his 7-year old hand)! If there had been a procession of women in his life, it was not so much like his uncle's ways ( who called his affairs, as encounters with "fillies") but his devotedness in finding what is real and what is love!
The three women signified his many attempts to find his true love, interestingly, with very different personalities embodied in each of these women. He haunts the place by the river, in an isolated cabin, to reconnect with the feeling of triumph and fulfillment that he thought he felt when he was a boy. But his search continued to elude him. He was a lonely man, who enjoyed solitude, and not more clearly spoken than when he carefully, almost lovingly, prepared the fish for a great meal. To me, that lengthy process with the fish suggested that he has done what he could to find true happiness, but it seemed he is destined to a life of solitude.
The words, spoken together with one of these women " I'm not entirely sure what love is " is the heart of the play. And his cathartic realization ( the tears, the looking at his image reflected in the water in the bowl, the cleansing with water over his head and body) spoke to me that he has not really found it and was the sad acceptance that love has still eluded him.
He was never the lovesick man pining for a lost love, a serial womanizer, nor a potential serial killer! He was just someone with an idealized version of his woman and he tried to find her in each of his different encounters with the women he brought to the cabin! He will probably to continue to search for her even in his late years, when all he could do is to refresh his memory of his past loves, if you can call them that! It is a sad story, but one that is not unrealistic!
To me, this is the message spoken by Jez Butterworth!
Maybe I am just a romantic at heart...but I have always thought that before one finds one's true love, one has to find oneself first!
The actors - I don't think we could find a better acting cast than the trio we were privileged to see display their craft!
Hugh was of course such a revelation! In this role, he seemed to have merged all his acting skills and qualities as both a stage and a film actor! Somehow, his acting and presence made it indistinguishable to me as to whether he was acting live or on a big screen! The intimacy and the connection with the audience was always there! In all the six times I have seen the play, his portrayal of The Man always brought such an empathetic appeal, even if his character is probably viewed by some as self-centered. He was romantic, irritable as a man can be, jealous when his prey seems to attract other suitors, ecstatic when he talks about his boyhood love of fishing, strangely honest when confronted with the truth, incredibly sad when he realized that his quest continued to elude him. Hugh's presence was of course electrifying on stage and in a drama which is more involved with delving into a man's character, he was such a fine actor-- gifted with an emotional range and physical appeal, to engage an audience that might find this story-telling too ambiguous to unravel. His monologue about the first fish in his life -- I was so entrapped with the almost-conversational way he delivered the soliloquy of a first encounter! And when he recited the third century poem, it sounded like he was delivering lines from a classical play ( I am still waiting for the stage encounter with Shakespeare)... But all is well worth the effort to try to understand the man and his motivations! And in the end, when he uttered " The trout...the sea trout are running!" with such a glint in his eyes and an adorable half smile on his face, he gives us an optimistic ending to the play ( it connoted a new optimism, a new beginning to me) and the Jackman secret to his appeal! Excellent work, Mr. Jackman!
His two main lady loves were both portrayed with equal skills and charm by Cush Jumbo and Laura Donnelly. They were such a contrast in personalities although I found Laura's portrayal as more layered. Cush was cute as a button and appealing with her British accent... and somehow seemed to have given the role a more comedic bent. Laura, with her lilting Irish accent and Celtic beauty gave us two different portrayals of her character ( hyperactive and provocative at first...and a more reflective one towards the end).
The third woman ( Jessica Love) only had a brief encounter on stage but she showed another facet of the kind of woman the Man was looking for.
Now, there is much hilarity about the hidden character ( actually two) in this play ...We call her ( a grilse) The Fish and her understudy fish ( the cooked one) but she is as much part of the play and the character-searching efforts of The Man! Some have asked if she can be nominated for best featured actress - LOL!
The staging of the play was perfect! The theatre and the set design was intimate and allowed the audience much more so into the arena in which the three characters played off each other, compared to other dramas in other theatres. The sounds and lighting contributed to the unique atmosphere! Ian Rickson's direction was such a fine display of a theatre master, especially with coping with an in-the-round theatre staging!
So, there it is -- biases and all!
My impressions of THE RIVER! I never call what I write a review, because I am not qualified to do that and because what I write were the mental images and emotional responses to what I have seen. I do enjoy straight plays, especially when it puts me in a reflective mood! Unlike musicals, I do feel that some plays, certainly this one, puts me right in there with the actors
Great choice for Hugh for his return on stage!
Jo |
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Post by JH4HJ on Dec 7, 2014 13:22:20 GMT -5
Interesting "take" Jo. Try this one -
There's only one woman in his life. The last (third) one - who is also his first - the local girl he met as a child. (The one who laughs in the woods.) The other women may be aspects of her, or memories (as he continues to fish - for fish) of the ones that got away. He has been with her, in one way or another, for most of his life. Is his way better and more fulfilling, or did he miss something (which he muses about now) by not going his uncle's more "prolific" route?
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Post by jo on Dec 7, 2014 13:30:41 GMT -5
I've thought about that, too, Valerie I even thought she could have been a ghostly image...and that he was reliving his past through his recollection of those early memories But in the end, I did not get that feeling that she was the lost love. Her persona did not seem deep or interesting enough - The Woman and The Other Woman had more complex and engaging personalities. Of course, it is all a matter of perception But what is interesting about the play is how it makes us reflect on what we have seen even much later. Jo |
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Post by JH4HJ on Dec 7, 2014 13:57:45 GMT -5
But in the end, I did not get that feeling that she was the lost love. I'm not saying she's "lost" Jo. She is THE real one. She is there - and always has been - ever since he was a boy. |
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Post by jo on Dec 7, 2014 14:05:08 GMT -5
I don't know -- she didn't strike me as the forever love. Maybe if she had been portrayed by the likes of Laura Donnelly, I might have looked at that possibility with more serious consideration. Laura's Other Woman was a character which was portrayed in such a joyful, almost fey, way... and at other times, more serious and reflective -- I thought that could have been the more interesting possibility. The third woman's portrayal, was a bit colorless in my view -- just another woman he met and is now trying to find out if she is the one. That fitted very well with the new ending, when he stood and uttered " The trout...the sea trout are running" which conveyed a new beginning. But, I guess we all have different responses to the work Jo |
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Post by JH4HJ on Dec 7, 2014 16:34:45 GMT -5
-- she didn't strike me as the forever love. I'm not saying that either. It's just that she is the one who is there - in reality. The one he "caught" as opposed to the ones who "got away" - and about whom he muses. She's the one served up on the platter (caught, gutted, absorbed, assimilated, and therefore rather mundane) - not the one struggling on the hook, or still free/happy living in the sea. She's the one who IS; not part of his longing for "what might have been." |
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Post by jo on Dec 7, 2014 17:34:10 GMT -5
Then she is also another one of the procession of women...not the idealized one he is looking for. She seemed inconsequential. That is my appreciation of what she represented and portrayed. Sorry, if my appreciation differs from yours. LOL- I am thinking about what you said and what my understanding of the play's heart between jet lags! Too inconvenient jet lags  Jo |
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Post by jo on Dec 8, 2014 9:24:11 GMT -5
SPOILERS******SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****SPOILERS
I also thought that the words which followed --
"I'm not really sure what love is..."
where he adds : "Those were the first true words we have said to each other. The only true words we have ever spoken." -- also gave us a true insight on the character of THE MAN. He was very honest and made me think that the love he sought was elusive.
When THE OTHER WOMAN tells him :
"But in five, ten, twenty years, you will find this picture in a cupboard, perhaps here, perhaps somewhere else, somewhere you've not yet been, in the corner of an attic under the boxes of old hammers and chisels, you'll dust it off and think, what is that? I know that face. Whose face is that? Perhaps you'll come to this place, an old man, seventy, eighty years old, you will come here to catch sea trout, and one night, alone, as you're going to bed, you'll see this picture. And you'll carry it to the window. The sun will be setting. And you will think when did this happen? Who is this woman. So many years, you can't recall. And you'll put the picture back in the box, and that night, you lie down, and stare into the dark, and you will try to remember. How you felt. You'll try to get back there. To live it again. But you can't get back there. You can never go back..."
More conversation follows...and then she says:
"Next door. Under the bed, in the box there's a framed drawing. A drawing of a woman. She's sitting here in this chair. She's wearing a scarlet dress. Her face has been scratched out,"
More pauses. He pleads for her not to go. In the end, she says :
"I hope you find her. Whoever she is."
This was followed by the exit of THE WOMAN, after she and THE MAN utter together "I'm not entirely sure what love is" and he replies : " Those are the first true words we have said to each other. The only true words we have ever spoken".
I thought those overlapping scenes and conversations brought out the true insight on the character of The Man and what he was seeking.
They made the most impression to me.
Jo
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Post by jean on Dec 8, 2014 12:29:22 GMT -5
Spoilers.........Spoilers........Spoilers........Spoilers............Spoilers..............Spoilers.......
I agree with Jo. He is looking for a woman who will be as exciting to him as his experience when he caught his first fish. He has never found it in any woman and so love, so far, has no face. That is why the face is scratched out in the picture. The new ending about (tonight the fish are running) is a metaphor, like Scarlet saying ( Tomorrow I will figure out some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day). Thank you for this wonderful site. I check it most every day. |
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) and the use of the knife. There are still over-90 performances to go!
