Donogoo at the Mint
Donogoo at the Mint
AntV
Broadway Star Joined: 12/23/12
PeterMcSwee
Swing Joined: 6/13/14
#2Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/13/14 at 10:23am
on All That Chat, Alan Scott gave it a rave review as did some other posters. Only started previewing recently I think. The upshot of it was, great cast and very interesting and different play from what the Mint usually does
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#2Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/13/14 at 12:26pm
Heavy handed and lumbering.
Clever use of projections.
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#3Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/13/14 at 12:39pmThis was a fantastic show. The cast is very talented in all of their roles, and it's incredibly funny. I guess this isn't performed much in the United States, but it's definitely worth checking out. My ticket was $27.
#4Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/13/14 at 11:17pm
I have to agree with After Eight. I just got back from seeing it tonight. The projections are just amazing.
The show is tooooooo long. It plods on and on and isn't terribly interesting. The translation is often stilted. The acting is all over the place. I LOVE the Mint and I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from buying a ticket to a show there. But... DONOGOO becomes tedious. I couldn't wait for it to be over.
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#5Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/14/14 at 12:48amIt didn't run too long when they did it way back when in the 60s? 70s? Age taking its toll (on me, not the play, although both may apply).
BroadwayEd
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#6Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/14/14 at 9:13am
^
The play had an off-Broadway production in 1961 that ran 35 performances.
The play has dated somewhat, and certainly seems overlong. Yet there is some wry, ironic humor there, and it has things to say that are still pertinent today. The major problem with this production is that it lacks the essential Gallic style, sensibility, and panache to make the play work. The projections alone were able to capture these qualities.
PeterMcSwee
Swing Joined: 6/13/14
#7Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/14/14 at 9:42am
Also saw it last night [Friday] and we had a completely different reaction. Loved it from start to finish. It is very different than what one might expect from the Mint but I believe it is a risk that paid off. Donogoo is kind of a pastiche of Ionesco, Beckett and the Producers and in that sense it is " all over the place" I took a look at the translation online yesterday afternoon [if you google Donooo+translation+Mint] and skimming it, I wasn't sure how anyone could pull it off. It is surprising, in places messy but the actors are great and so is the design. The ending is very surprising.
As much as my partner and I liked it. I can see how it wouldn't speak to everyone. I respectfully disagree with After Eight that the production missed the "essential Gallic style" but that is a matter of opinion on which gentlemen and women can just disagree. There are many different styles of humor in the play and the way it is performed you really have to pay attention to get it because it ranges from dry acerbic humor to very basic broad humor. I think this falls into the "love it or hate it" category. We loved it.
#8Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/14/14 at 10:17am
I have a great sense of humor and I don't remember laughing once. If the humor is dry, it's so dry it blew away before it got to my ear. It reminded me most of A Man's a Man at CSC.
Again, I have never seen an actor on stage at The Mint who wasn't amazing. There were lots of actors seemingly wandering around. Many of them looked like they were out of a college production.
I get all the intended social issues going on, but if you aren't being entertained at the theatre then what is the point. Like I said,I couldn't wait for it to end.
This is all just my opinion. If someone had a different experience then that is great! I don't mean to sound snarky. Like I said, I think The Mint is great. Let's see what the majority of critics say.
PeterMcSwee
Swing Joined: 6/13/14
#9Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/14/14 at 10:43amCutrainsupat8, I certainly didn't mean to imply anyone who doesn't like Donogoo lacks a sense of humor, I apologize if I gave that impression. I just meant that some people might be put off by the wildly divergent styles of humor in this play. I can see how that could be disconcerting to some. Look, it all comes down the subjectivity of individual tastes. None of us see the "same" show. The things that one person might love a production for another might hate it for. But definitely not implying that anyone who disagrees with me lacks a sense of humor.
#10Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/14/14 at 12:37pmHey Peter... I didn't take it personally. No explanation needed but thank you for extending it. I agree... it's a matter of personal taste with this show. Ah well.. on to "Ethel Sings" today!
#11Donogoo at the Mint
Posted: 6/16/14 at 1:35pmCurtainsUp, how was ETHEL SINGS?
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
