first preview reports (unfairly?) trash "Festen"

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 11:47am

I was startled to read three intelligently written reports at That Other Board that basically trash "Festen." The London reviews are to a reviewer, raves, full of lavish praise for the script and its theatrical execution. And the tone of those reviews in the UK suggest a legitimately high toned, artistic evening. Yet these early reports indicate the evening is borderline camp (and not just because of Ms. Mc G.) The same director, same play, same designers -- is this a quirk that bespeaks acid tongues over at the other board, or do we see early glimmers of a misguided show in trouble at the starting gate? I can't wait to see it now, having read altogether polar opposite responses.

Updated On: 3/24/06 at 11:47 AM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 11:55am

I think it's quite premature to sound the alarm bells yet. They've only had one preview. It takes time for casts to gel and coalesce and for directors to find the right tone -- something that can't be done until you're actually in front of an audience. Give it another week, before writing it off.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:05pm

I'm going this weekend, and certainly hope the crepehanging is more than premature. Sisto and Hayden (and certainly the much respected Brygman) are actors with taste -- and career options --and it's hard to fathom them jumping on board a piece that didn't read well.

But, revisiting a classic board theme/debate ... perhaps this thread has another benefit: we should all beware very early verdicts that portray evenings in black/white terms. I appreciated Margo's tone in the THREE PENNY report. I'm hoping other FESTEN viewers report here as the show does gel and becomes a (more?) persuasive reprentation of the text. To pan a show based on a first preview is unfairly brutal, indeed needlessly cruel.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:30pm

You're right. Shows DO change and improve -- especially from a first preview. And sometimes dramatically. That's why we should all try and temper our criticism until a production has a few weeks to find its bearings.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 12:35pm

I'm seeing it soon, after previews I believe, and I will report back. I have faith that the show will be good.

[QMAN03]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 2:43pm

I'm seeing it next Wednesday.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 4:50pm

Is anyone here old enough to remember the brouhaha that columnist Dorothy Kilgallen created when she put negative items about the musical SKYSCAPER in her column while it was still in previews? She "mysteriously" died shortly afterwards.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 4:54pm

I wasn't around for it, but I just read the account of it in "Second Act Trouble." I've been a big fan of the What's My Line reruns on the Game Show Network and the whole Killgallen-Jack Ruby-murder-overdose scandal is very fascinating.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 6:49pm

Seeing it next Saturday night. We shall see.....

[veryownplanetz]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 11:43pm

I saw it tonight and absolutely LOVED it. Margulies, Larry Brygman and Michael Hayden deserve all the best. They were INCREDIBLE!

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 11:55pm

I saw it tonight, too. I was certainly interested, but there *are* some problems. No complaints with the actor's performances, but the "American-ness" of the cast definitely sits a little uncomfortably, to the point of getting in the way, I think.

It was very difficult to hear much of the time, too. I was in the second row, and still had trouble at times. There was quite a bit of grumbling about the sound that I overheard during intermission, and at one point late in act two, an audience member actually called out "we can't hear you" in frustration during Larry Bryggman's climactic speech.

This is one that I would be inclined to see again after previews.

Updated On: 3/24/06 at 11:55 PM

[veryownplanetz]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 12:05am

omg yeah i was appauled at the audeince member. and the techincal diffuculty was handled beautifully i thought

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 6:38am

I saw it last night, too. When the guy yelled out "we can't hear you," I wanted to turn around and say "you're not missing anything." Veryown, you're appalled at the audience member who couldn't hear? I'm appalled at this crap they put on the stage. It is an atrocious production. It is one of the 5 worst things I have ever seen on the New York stage. Ali McGraw is particularly awful; she exhibits junior high school caliber acting at best.

Iflit, we were in the row C, so maybe we were sitting right behind you (!!) and I agree that it was difficult to hear even from there. I can't imagine what people in the balcony heard. I don't blame the guy for shouting out -- at least it woke some people up.

The technical difficulties with the set notwithstanding, the problems of miscasting and the overall tone of the production are beyond saving. I'm glad so many of you are optimistic (without having had to shell out $96 per seat for this) but I'm afraid this mess should close before it opens. It's simply dreadful.

[parker russel]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 9:05am

No he was RUDE...I had the pleasure of sitting directly in front of the man. DIRECTLY in front of him. He commented loudly on EVERY THING. My favorite was when the fairly skinny, but curvey, girl asked "Am I too skinny?" and he loudly and sarcastically said, "Ha...too skinny?" Then proceeded to loudly crumple his program through the rest of the show (maybe thats why he couldn't hear...he was doing it very loudly). He then commented on everything "the computer generated set" got a slight chuckle from me.

I have to say, I was in the balcony, one row in front of him and I could hear okay...not great, but fine. They need to project more, but I only found myself straining to what was being said once. But, hey 2nd preview...

I also enjoyed at the top of act two when the man came into the empty room and said "Hello?" and half the audience replied in unison. Weird audience.

The play needs a lot of tightening, and I think it could get there. Hard to judge from this preview. I was hoping it would be a bit more "shocking" and the secret would be more interested...but, hey what can you do? :)

[parker russel]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 9:05am

No he was RUDE...I had the pleasure of sitting directly in front of the man. DIRECTLY in front of him. He commented loudly on EVERY THING. My favorite was when the fairly skinny, but curvey, girl asked "Am I too skinny?" and he loudly and sarcastically said, "Ha...too skinny?" Then proceeded to loudly crumple his program through the rest of the show (maybe thats why he couldn't hear...he was doing it very loudly). He then commented on everything "the computer generated set" got a slight chuckle from me.

I have to say, I was in the balcony, one row in front of him and I could hear okay...not great, but fine. They need to project more, but I only found myself straining to what was being said once. But, hey 2nd preview...

I also enjoyed at the top of act two when the man came into the empty room and said "Hello?" and half the audience replied in unison. Weird audience.

The play needs a lot of tightening, and I think it could get there. Hard to judge from this preview. I was hoping it would be a bit more "shocking" and the secret would be more interested...but, hey what can you do? :)

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 11:10am

Parker, I'm going to take a quess that you were listening with a pair of fairly young ears. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I happened to run into an older couple I know, very savvy and avid theatergoer who were in the center orchestra row N. Neither have ever had trouble hearing no matter where they were seated in any show...and they had great difficulty. Then again, with all the feedback, I'm sure that is one of the things that will be fixed sooner rather than later.

I'm not ready to write Festen off just yet. It needs work, but it held my interest all the way through and at no time did I have an In My Life-ish WTF reaction. The actors ('cept one) and the material (if reports of the London production are accurate) are too good to be written off at this point. It is a quirky piece, to be sure, and I suspect that it plays differently when one doesn't have a close seat. (In fact, my husband and I talked last night about how this would feel more well-suited to a smaller, off-Bway house...) I also think that there is a lot of repetitive "action" (running around, scuffling, physical fighting) that got in the way and could be trimmed. It's not unthinkable for this to work better with no intermission.

For me, the jury is still out (as well it should be this early in previews) and I think there should be no rush to judgement.

And off on a tangent here, I have a question, fully realizing this might just be my own issue. Does anyone else who has seen Festen find the idea of a small child appearing in this play four to eight times a week just a tad unsettling? I, one of the more liberal parents I know, would never had put my child in this position at all given the subject matter, violence, and language. I realize that the child is essential to the story...and the little girl on stage was fine in the role...but I couldn't turn off that little parental voice in my head that kept saying "Who would place their child in this situation?"

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 11:22am

SOME SPOILERS HERE>>>>>>

LOL. I didn't know the shouter was an ass throughout. It was weird when the second act opened and people responded. A couple across the aisle from me not only said "hello" back but the guy continued "yes, we're still here." I think it speaks to the overall antsiness of the audience. The play just didn't engage me for the reason Parker gave: the "secret" just isn't that interesting. When Christian reveals it, I believed it immediately. I just couldn't suspend disbelief enough to think that this family would deny the obvious. So, when that letter was read and Elsa kinda breaks down (well, in that Ali MacGraw kinda way), I was yawning, and questioned "what was written in that letter from the dead girl to convince the family of something they rejected when her twin brother said it hours before??" To be honest, I thought maybe it was about the fact that they condemn father-daughter molestation but overlooked father-son...

Perhaps in the hands of a better cast, it would have been more "dramatic."

MacGraw's speech at the table -- with that wooden face -- was HORRIBLY delivered. Maybe she's spent too long on her yoga videos and not enough time keeping her up her acting chops.

And, Jeremy Sisto's abusive underwear-clad behavior came right from Six Feet Under. Why was he denied entry to the party at the top of the play, and then the issue of him not being welcome never raised again? Just plain stupid and not very interesting. And, all that running around was insane staging.

I definitely agree with Flit about the child actor. Frankly, I think it verges on abuse to subject any kid to this play.

In the Times theater listing, the producers elected to include a phrase from Time Out regarding the play: "Hilarious & Heartbreaking." Hilarious????! Really???

For me, there is just too much wrong with this production to be corrected by opening night. It needs to do a Farrah Fawcett and close before opening.






Updated On: 3/25/06 at 11:22 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 1:20pm

I was sitting in the first six rows Center Orchestra at Friday night's performance, which so many people seem to have attended. I could hear fine, but I did find myself wondering what the folks in the balcony were hearing, if the voices were carrying. It's a shame that Larry Brygman's voice, which was fine throughout, suddenly dropped to near-inaudibility during his big speech at the end.

As for the play, well, I didn't quite see what the big deal is. With a few weeks of work it might amount to something, but I can't say I disagree with the folks who find it uninteresting. I felt like I'd seen it before. And the reviews posted all over the place, the blurbs that call it "SHOCKING" and "ASTONISHING" only make me wonder where the critics who wrote them have been hiding for the last fifty years. I'd guess that FESTEN might be shocking and astonishing mostly if the only play you've ever seen is Beauty And The Beast. I get much more shocking and astonishing stuff every week on The Sopranos.

The marketing is very weird too. Check out that website. It looks like the show is Silence Of The Lambs on Broadway, with some X-Files type stuff tossed in.

I liked David Patrick Kelly a lot, but then I always do. And I didn't have a problem with Ali McGraw.

Bottom Line: I was unmoved and uninterested in the play. I've seen enough early previews to recognize a good play in a rough production that will improve in time. I don't think Festen is a particularly good play, and all the elaborate sound effects and big acting and directorial flourishes can't hide that, at least not right now.

Updated On: 3/25/06 at 01:20 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 4:09pm

My appetite is even more whetted. I'm going tomorrow afternoon.

I find the sound issues very odd for the relatively cozy confines of the Music Box. But don't pity the folks upstairs; theater seats in the mezz are accoustically the best, as the sound travels in that arc. And today, everything is miked. I noticed it at RABBIT HOLE and MR. SLOANE. The unamplified voice sounds naked and thin now, no?

Hearing about the man who shouted at Brygman, I'm reminded of seeing AND MISS REARSON DRINKS A LITTLE 30 years ago, when a women yelled at Estelle Parsons to speak up. "Miss Parsons! We can't hear HALF of what you're saying!" I was dumbfounded, but Estelle said "thank you very much!" and continued.

[QMAN03]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 7:03pm

Oh god dangit. Not I'm bummed,. I'm seeing this on Wed.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 8:32pm

No. Go and see what YOU think of it. I didn't hate it.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 8:36pm

I didnt "Hate" it persay, I just didn't like it very much. And Ali needs to go - NOW! That is such a small important character and an actor of her calibar is never gonna get it. It's just not a GREAT play.

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 9:01pm

I saw todays matinee and was pleasantly suprised. The entire show has to be understood carefully in order to understad it. I thought that the entire cast was brilliant in their own way. THIS IS SOMETHING I WOULD SAY IS DEFINITLEY WORTH WHILE.

[TheDuffySquare]

Posted: 3/26/06 at 9:27am

I was accused of being a shill for Festen. I'm not. I'm disappointed and angered by the accusation. I wrote here what I thought was a well considered, critical response to the play having gone to see it here in preview and abroad. I was "sluethed" by a poster who joined the site the very day of the accusation and who went back to the history of my other posts and declared that since in my 6 previous posts since joining in January, 5 made positive and "insider" references to "Festen" that I must be a shill. Anything I write is now tainted with that accusation no matter what kind of explanation I give. I've decide to remove all my posts about the play so as not to "bias" anyone with my "insider" support. Thank you to those who came to my defense.
Updated On: 3/27/06 at 09:27 AM

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 3/26/06 at 10:17am

Okaaaaaay. We either saw different plays, or there's some serious shilling going on... Just because some of us didn't like the show, and I for one resented spending nearly $100 per seat for it, doesn't mean our opinions are "trash." And thanks for the condescending explanation of the differences between musicals and plays. I always wondered about that.

Auggie, what did you think? (Good point about overamplification making unmiked voices sound thin. Maybe that was the issue here.)
Updated On: 3/26/06 at 10:17 AM