Day 102: War Horse (National Theatre simulcast)

I saw the film version of War Horse over the Christmas holidays, and have been looking forward to the opportunity to see the stage show since. It's a slightly different retelling of the story - some elements and characters are changed or combined... I may need to read the original book just to see which bits came from where.

This is an extremely emotional play, the puppetry is utterly fantastic. I was half-expecting something along the lines of the shadow-style puppets from The Lion King, but these were so much more dynamic and lifelike. The program mentions two years of workshop time that went into designing the look, movement and handling of the horses and the result is about as close to living horses as it's possible to have on stage. There was almost no set at all, just a few props where absolutely required - making the barbed wire scene all the more striking for being the only part of the play where the set actually took up the full extent of the stage. The score was fantastic as well, combining cinematic mood music and live singing of war songs (mostly by a "narrator" type character, but occasionally taken up by the rest of the cast). The minimalist set complemented by a constant soundtrack is similar to the staging of Coriolanus, the last NT simulcast I saw. Obviously this show has been running rather longer so I can't entirely put it down to being a current fashion or anything, but it's an interesting parallel. Partly I suspect less set and more sound translates better to screen than a busy stage with no music, so it may be that productions in this style lend themselves to simulcast screenings better.

Day 75: Coriolanus (NT/Donmar Warehouse Live Simulcast)

Where to start? I'll leave aside the obvious (slightly fan-related) comments on the casting, and focus on the staging and delivery and how it was different to my initial reading. I'm certainly glad for having read it first and formed my own opinion and viewpoint for the play before seeing it done live, as it certainly would have coloured the reading of it had I gone about this the other way round. Adding a female Tribune rather than them both be male was an interesting twist which worked very well. I'm not entirely convinced that making them a couple was necessary, but it did lend an explanation as to why the characters are left somewhat indistinct from one another in the script. (I wonder how a similar change in say, the characters of Rozencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet might affect their dynamic.)

The minimal set and neutral, mostly-modern costumes allow the focus to be firmly on the actors and lines, and allow the audience's "imaginary forces" to join in. The intimate setting of the Donmar Warehouse seemed to lend itself to the cameras, and certain timely closeups certainly blurred the usually clear difference between stage and screen performances. It helps that at least half the cast are well-established screen actors, but I came to the realisation that simulcasts have really become a regular occurrance now, and that where last time I was a hopeful drama school applicant I made it clear I had no aspirations for film whatsoever, in five years that has become an almost obsolete ambition since landing a role with the National Theatre, RSC and several other companies comes with an understanding that you almost certainly will appear on the big screen at least once as part of a broadcast performance. I have also come to understand that smaller, more intimate theatres like the Donmar or the Traverse place actors close enough to their audience that those minute gestures and expressions which I'd previously considered only really useful to screen acting can still come across, and indeed are necessary elements when the stage show is being filmed.

The entire action was set at a much higher emotional pitch than I initially read into the script. That sense of manipulation that I mentioned in my previous post was still there, but Coriolanus sparking the fire that eventually killed him was played up much more, and the breakdown that comes with his family's pleading for mercy is a much faster effect than I originally saw. The finale was also a lot more gruesome, and fantastically well done. I will close with full encouragement to anyone who hasn't seen this production who has the opportunity (for the re-screening in a few weeks time, or if at all possible live) to go and enjoy. It's an allstar cast with excellent acting (and yet another check for the northern accent sounding SO much more native to Shakespeare) lots of blood, sweat and tears and unexpected dubstep music for the scene changes which worked far better than it sounds like it should.