Copenhagen
Fri, 23 Aug 2002, 04:52 pmNath8 posts in thread
Copenhagen
Fri, 23 Aug 2002, 04:52 pmSaw Copenhagen last night, at the Octagon Theatre at UWA.
What an excellent show!
Such a pleasure to be in the presence of actors who perform so 'easily'. The show is quite 'wordy' and there is a lot of talk of the physics of Bohr and Heisenberg, but even if you don't understand the physics the actors still get the message across. The play isn't about the physics anyway, more about ethics and what drives people, how people 'create' and why they 'create'. It was also an interesting investigation into the attitude of a German person during WWII. Little has been told (to me) of how the people of Germany felt about the war while it was on and it was interesting to hear dialogue between people during this time.
I can't recall the three actors names, is it Geoff Kelso? And two others, but they just had incredible grace and presence. Remarkable stuff.
Cheers
Nath
What an excellent show!
Such a pleasure to be in the presence of actors who perform so 'easily'. The show is quite 'wordy' and there is a lot of talk of the physics of Bohr and Heisenberg, but even if you don't understand the physics the actors still get the message across. The play isn't about the physics anyway, more about ethics and what drives people, how people 'create' and why they 'create'. It was also an interesting investigation into the attitude of a German person during WWII. Little has been told (to me) of how the people of Germany felt about the war while it was on and it was interesting to hear dialogue between people during this time.
I can't recall the three actors names, is it Geoff Kelso? And two others, but they just had incredible grace and presence. Remarkable stuff.
Cheers
Nath
Re: Copenhagen
Mon, 9 Sept 2002, 02:22 amWalter Plinge
I'm rather late adding my 2 cents worth (have been in a show which only ended Sat. night) but I'd like to add my congrats to all involved in Copenhagen. Wonderful intelligent theatre !! Give us more, lots more!
I went with a friend who'd seen it in London, and she said that this production was much better all round. Apparently the London version was very static and oddly flat because it was played for the ideas at the expense of the characters, so lacked the emotional grip of the Octagon production. Nor did the London version enjoy the wonderful 'mirror' set which made such tremendous use of the thrust stage.
All the performances were excellent, I thought, and beautifully balanced between the 3 characters, creating & sustaining a shifting 3-way tension throughout the complex development of the play. It's not only the subject matter that is concentrated and demanding - the play's structure circles around and around the central issues, revealing new and deeper layers at each turn. The actors seemed to have total mastery of this though it must be difficult to keep the focus and drive clear through the repetitions as the past is revisited over and over. I imagine it would be all too easy to get confused, even without mobile phones etc in the audience...
None of this occurred the night I went, fortunately. The theatre was also pretty full and I'd say from the way some of the patrons were (over)dressed they are not the sort who go to the theatre very often, but you could have heard a pin drop as the play gripped their attention. Which was wonderful for me as I have a hearing loss and had lost one of my hearing aids. I never had to struggle to hear, even when the actors had their back to me as inevitably occurs from time to time when working on a thrust stage. So special plaudits for the cast for excellent diction and projection, esp. Geoff.
All in all, then, a splendid production, one to remind us of the great talent here in the West. Reports of the death of good professional theatre in Perth are still premature, thank God, though it has been ailing and losing vital life-blood for some time.
I went with a friend who'd seen it in London, and she said that this production was much better all round. Apparently the London version was very static and oddly flat because it was played for the ideas at the expense of the characters, so lacked the emotional grip of the Octagon production. Nor did the London version enjoy the wonderful 'mirror' set which made such tremendous use of the thrust stage.
All the performances were excellent, I thought, and beautifully balanced between the 3 characters, creating & sustaining a shifting 3-way tension throughout the complex development of the play. It's not only the subject matter that is concentrated and demanding - the play's structure circles around and around the central issues, revealing new and deeper layers at each turn. The actors seemed to have total mastery of this though it must be difficult to keep the focus and drive clear through the repetitions as the past is revisited over and over. I imagine it would be all too easy to get confused, even without mobile phones etc in the audience...
None of this occurred the night I went, fortunately. The theatre was also pretty full and I'd say from the way some of the patrons were (over)dressed they are not the sort who go to the theatre very often, but you could have heard a pin drop as the play gripped their attention. Which was wonderful for me as I have a hearing loss and had lost one of my hearing aids. I never had to struggle to hear, even when the actors had their back to me as inevitably occurs from time to time when working on a thrust stage. So special plaudits for the cast for excellent diction and projection, esp. Geoff.
All in all, then, a splendid production, one to remind us of the great talent here in the West. Reports of the death of good professional theatre in Perth are still premature, thank God, though it has been ailing and losing vital life-blood for some time.