BERNHARDT/HAMLET Previews- Page 2

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 9/2/18 at 1:15pm

dramamama611 said: "I'm going to disagree that the main conflict is simply about whether a woman should/can play Hamlet. It's an inward and outward struggle with the female identity and particularly that of a strong, intelligent woman.

I'm also going to disagree with worrying about too much prior knowledge. My teen son knows only the basics of Hamlet, nothing of Cyrano...and he had no problems understanding, staying involved. (My son is, of course, of above average brilliance.[Which I say as his totally biased and sarcastic mum.])"

For sure, I think it was the intent of Theresa Rebeck that the play be about the inward/outward struggle around female identity, but other than the Cyrano section where Bernhardt had a living playwright around to interrogate about the question of "is that how you view me and women in general" I thought there were large sections where it seemed just about the question of if Bernhardt could pull off Hamlet.    

Regarding the internal sense of femininity, through the privilege of celebrity, Bernhardt slept with who she wanted, took only the parts she was interested in (possibly not entirely true but the choice to play Hamlet and the fixation on playing characters with death scenes seemed to be her own), and did things like own a pet tiger or panther. Unlike her subject Hamlet, it did not appear that Bernhardt had any type of existential crisis: she had a very clear sense of who she was, and other than figuring out how to play Hamlet wasn't struggling internally about identity.   

In terms of an external sense of femininity, other than telling which productions sold well and didn't; the play was set in 1897 Paris and aside from the specifics of Bernhardt who's presented as an outlier, I got very little sense of what the life of a woman in 1897 Paris actually looked like other I guess that they were expected to be "flowers". The actress playing Ophelia had nothing to do other than being intimidated by Bernhardt's greatness in one scene, and Rosamond was given one scene to argue with Bernhardt about a man they're both romantically involved with.  

In terms of the question of needing prior knowledge, for sure you don't about Cyrano de Bergerac. The characters are experience the text for the first time too. With Hamlet or Bernhardt's relationship with the play Camille, I don't think anyone is going to be completely lost, but there are jokes or references that without prior knowledge won't initially make sense or will only be explained in the play 20 minutes after the fact. And of course, Hamlet is probably the most famous play ever, so either way most people probably have a general understanding of that plot.    

[jbird5]

Posted: 9/2/18 at 1:50pm

JBroadway said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "It struck me as one great scene, with two hours of additional material (I thought the confrontation about the Cyrano de Bergerac script was the highlight).



Funny: I agree with that description (to an extent) but I disagree about which scene is the one really good one. For me, it was the scene where she and Dylan Baker’s character discuss and rework the ghost scene, particularly the moment where...

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Bernhardt casuallymentionsthat her father was like a ghost, then a beat of silence, and she flippantly brushes it off and changes the subject.

For me, that was the moment of the play, and of McTeer’s performance, that I can’t get out of my head. A part of mewishes that more of the play had been like that moment, but on the other hand, there was something so beautiful about how brief the moment was, and how she never chooses to broach the topic again."

 

I agree that the Ghost scene was the highlight of both the play and the play(s) within a play.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 9/2/18 at 11:39pm

Caught this Friday night August 31.

In spite of great performances across the board from Matthew Saldivar, Paxton Whitehead, Jason Butler Hamer. Janet McTeer and  a beautiful set, the play just didn't ignite. The play  seemed unfocused  and in need of  rewrites and was floundering to find out what it was trying to say. It seemed like a bunch of ideas about Hamlet and Bernhardt and Rostand and Cyrano that never  gelled together.  I found myself asking why am I watching this? 

Was it to introduce me to the legend of Sarah Berhardt? She was written and portrayed an unlikeable unfeeling  self indulgent diva who slept with whomever she wanted and had playwrights and directors at her beck and call. In short she held court.  I found her loving herself in the art and not the art in herself,The fact that she was a diva was one dimensional and told me nothing about her. I learned more about her  in the program notes than in the play I was seeing. 

. Was the point that Sarah Bernhardt inspired Edmund Rostand to write Cyrano D'Bergerac because he loved her? Cause that's an interesting point but only a footnote in the evening.

Was  the point that Sarah Bernhardt had the ambition of a man which was said several times by several  different characters?

 

Was the point that should a woman even play Hamlet?

Was the point that Bernhardt was such a great actress she was born to play Hamlet?This did not come through because she was a self indulgent self absorbed actress. 

 Was the point that Sarah distracted Rostand to rewrite Hamlet for her without the poetry? Which doesn't make sense because she is rehearsing in front of us the Hamlet that is written with the poetry; not a Rostand redo. Yet they keep talking about a Rosand redo of Hamlet without the poetry. The plays' words; not mine

 

It's amazing that when a playwright has a hit play, he/ she is  immediately given the green light on plays that simply are not ready for public consumption. This is one of them.

It is a series of undeveloped ideas yearning to be a good play. Great production yes... but an underdeveloped unfocused play. 

[macnyc]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 12:45am

Every once in a while, a play leaves me dissatisfied, and I can't put my finger on why it didn't work for me. So I have to thank goldenboy for expressing most of what was bothering me. 

I was also having trouble with the sound. I saw the show Friday night.  I was seated in the rear mezzanine Row E in the dead center. The voices sounded overmiked to me and very muddy. I had particular problems understanding McTeer. She spoke very quickly, and with the muddy sound, I lost about 10 percent of her lines. That certainly didn't help my appreciation of the proceedings. 

I didn't get why Bernhardt wanted to play Hamlet in the first place. It seemed to me that she didn't want to do Shakespeare's play as written. She asked her playwright beau to take the poetry out of it, and she also seemed irked by Hamlet's indecisiveness and wanted to make him more dynamic. Why bother to do it at all, then? Find a play you like!

 

 

Updated On: 9/3/18 at 12:45 AM

[goldenboy]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 1:39am

There indeed were sound problems in the mezzanine. We sat in the first row mezzanine and  I had trouble hearing everyone except Paxton Whitehead. We moved to the orchestra at intermission and the sound problem was solved. 

[jbird5]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 7:55am

macnyc said: "Every once in a while, a play leaves me dissatisfied, and I can't put my finger on why it didn't work for me. So I have to thank goldenboy for expressing most of what was bothering me.

I was also having trouble with the sound. I saw the show Friday night.I was seated in the rear mezzanine Row E in the dead center. The voices sounded overmiked to me and very muddy. I had particular problems understanding McTeer. She spoke very quickly, and with the muddy sound, I lost about 10 percent of her lines. That certainly didn't help myappreciation of the proceedings.

I didn't get why Bernhardt wanted to play Hamlet in the first place. It seemed to me that she didn't want to do Shakespeare's play as written. She askedher playwright beau to take the poetry out of it, and she also seemed irked by Hamlet's indecisiveness and wanted to make him more dynamic. Why bother to do it at all, then? Find a play you like!



"

It may very well have been a commercial decision being that she was heavily in debt and was opening a new theater.  Her last new play was a flop.  She had acted in britches before.  That line had already been crossed.  But that would (theoretically) been a less interesting play.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 11:52am

Alas since the playwright couldn't decide what the play was about and Roundabout gave her the go ahead without a fully developed play, it was an uninteresting play. 

[JBC3]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 11:58am

goldenboy said: "Alas since the playwright couldn't decide what the play was about and Roundabout gave her the go ahead without a fully developed play, it was an uninteresting play."

well, there you have it.

[wonkit]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 3:15pm

I seem to have this problem with all of Rebeck's work: she has ideas but is not good at dramatizing them. There should be a competition to see if anyone can come up with a good log line for any of her work, because I have been lost and confused through most of it. But I will go see this for McTeer, with a good discount.

 

[LxGstv]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 3:52pm

ilysespieces said: "Pulled the trigger and grabbed a digital rush ticket for tonight's show (after skipping it through HipTix). I'm looking forward to it after reading the posts in this thread. "

Where were the rush seats?! Just wondering if I should do rush or try for HipTix later in the run...

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 4:34pm

wonkit said: "I seem to have this problem with all of Rebeck's work: she has ideas but is not good at dramatizing them. There should be a competition to see if anyone can come up with a good log line for any of her work, because I have been lost and confused through most of it. But I will go see this for McTeer, with a good discount.

Seminar: "Snape as an English teacher"

The Understudy: "Jeremy Piven does Kafka" (though the mercury poisoning didn't get any laughs in a recent production I saw)

 

[ilysespieces]

Posted: 9/3/18 at 4:37pm

LxGstv said: "ilysespieces said: "Pulled the trigger and grabbed a digital rush ticket for tonight's show (after skipping it through HipTix). I'm looking forward to it after reading the posts in this thread. "

Where were the rush seats?! Just wondering if I should do rush or try for HipTix later in the run..."

I was row D of the Mezz, almost center. I've posted a picture on aviewfrommyseat.com if you want to see the actual view. 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 10:57pm

Saw this tonight and enjoyed it. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s well done and I think Theresa really gets at some fascinating discussion. She manages to talk about women in a way that feels both modern and timeless, sensitive but firm, and without pretension.

The final 40 minutes of the show are phenomenal, but the build up of getting there is too long. This could easily be 100 minutes with no intermission, and we’d much faster get to dive into Sarah and her wild mind. A lot of the first act felt like a student typing away trying to reach a word count. I think the play would feel much more modern and accessible (like Indecent) if it were more concise with better pacing.

Janet is wonderful and it is worth going to see for her alone. The set, lighting, and sound design are also great. I’m hoping they’ll make some cuts in previews - the second act finale comes to a screeching halt with two half-serious/half-farcical scenes from Cyrano that made me want to scream. But go for Janet. She’s a star of the stage if I’ve seen one.

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 11:44pm

wonkit said: "I seem to have this problem with all of Rebeck's work: she has ideas but is not good at dramatizing them. There should be a competition to see if anyone can come up with a good log line for any of her work.

Rebeck provides her own log line. "So many words for such a small idea."

When I heard that line, tonight, I kept coming back to it, as the play meandered on with no point and a perpetual reminder why Shakespeare is produced 400 years later and Theresa Rebeck's work is forgotten in 4 seconds.

The upside is that Janet McTeer is a theatrical force of nature who tries desperately to make this watchable. She fails but you long for her to return to the stage when she is not in a scene. Not that the cast is bad. They are all actually ,quite good, especially Dylan Baker who does some funny stuff. It's the material they're given that's lacking.

As I watched Ms. McTeer, I kept wondering why I was watching this drivel and not watching her actually do Hamlet.

I'll try to mention some positives, since I've not had a good week with plays. The sets are incredible and made me look in my Playbill to see who was responsible. Great work by Beowolf Borrit. Costumes and lighting are quite good and occasionally amusing. The sound seemed off at times, but I always assume it's my hearing and not the sound design.

I love new plays and sometimes I think I get so excited and my expectations are so high that I am inevitably disappointed. But, as I left the theatre, tonight, I promised I would give Theresa Rebeck no more of my time or my money. Halfway home I realized I bought a ticket for Downstairs at Cherry Lane for November. Oy. 

 

 

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 9/4/18 at 11:55pm

Perfectly said, wolfwriter. Even before reading your post, I had used the word "meanders" in describing the play to a friend in an email after I got home tonight. (I was at the same performance as you.)

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 12:01am

This thread is making me feel OK about not seeing this on Saturday (saw Trainspotting and Cole Escola instead).

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 12:28am

Planning my next quarterly trip back to New York for friends and theatre, and I was going to include this on my list of must-sees, but not now. I love McTeer, but this sounds like a bore and a chore to sit through. 

Thanks to all the posters for helping me make up my mind.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 12:29am

Did I miss Whizzers review?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 7:38am

I was there last night as well. McTeer is a sensational and often thrilling actress. When given the right role she is unstoppable. Unfortunately this isn’t it.

Rebeck’s writing is not up to par. She has ideas that are both undercooked used to bludgeon her audience like a club over and over and over again. Mac, you bring up Bernhardt’s critiques of Shakespeare’s poetry, but that’s just Rebeck getting in her own personal potshots of the Bard’s works.

Rebeck writes as if she’s finally illuminating us with the reasons why a woman can better interpret a Shakespearean hero’s words, but modern audiences have come to these same conclusions long ago. Everyone in New York will be lined up to shell out big bucks to see Glenda Jackson’s Lear later this season, so I don’t think we need much convincing that Bernhardt should play Hamlet.

The set is very nice, as are the costumes. The scene was Cyrano was lifeless and a waste of time. McTeer big act two scene where displayed her (Rebeck’s) contempt for Cyrano was the only scene that truly worked.

Since McTeer is forced to work doubletime to make any of this work, I truly hope Roundabout is doubling her salary too.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 8:29am

haterobics said: "This thread is making me feel OK about not seeing this on Saturday (saw Trainspotting and Cole Escola instead)."

Which performance of Trainspotting were you at on Saturday?  I was at the second show.  I was going to see this or Straight White Men but got a free ticket so that sealed the deal.  I thought I would be bored with this and this thread sounds like I was right.  I wasn't too interested in the plot of Straight White Men.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 8:29am

double post

Updated On: 9/5/18 at 08:29 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 8:46am

Wolfwriter, I said the exact same thing to my friend upon leaving the theater last night: I wish we had just seen a production of Hamlet with McTeer. 

[DAME]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 10:39am

Whizzer , when are you seeing The True?

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 12:20pm

ArtMan said: "Which performance of Trainspotting were you at on Saturday? I was at the second show."

First show. Did that at 7:30 and just made it down to Joe's Pub for Cole at 9:30p.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/5/18 at 12:45pm

Can't blame you for choosing Cole Escola over this. His show is hysterical.