A Clockwork Orange (Off Broadway)- Page 3

[raddersons]

Posted: 9/8/17 at 10:05am

Went to see this earlier this week. I am unfamiliar with the novel and the movie, so I went in pretty blind. I enjoyed it, a scary, sexy ensemble piece. Some especially brutal imagery at the beginning (the bottle scene, oof) but considering the show is about violence, it serves a purpose. Hard to understand at first (it's in verse at times, and prose others), but once it gets moving, most of it falls into place. Still a few things that went over my head. Raises really interesting ideas of agency and autonomy, and how when you have none, you will be taken advantage of. 

Guy playing Alex was great. Like I said, it's an ensemble piece, so if you're expecting a featured part for Matt Doyle... don't get your hopes up. Not to say he doesn't do anything, but he's not featured. 

That last monologue really needs to go, it basically nullifies the feel and purpose of the entire play.

DeepVSexyWitch2 said: "It just felt like a big "meh" and "why now? why tell this story now?" kept ringing in my ears. Mind you, I enjoy theatre off the beaten path with more experimental elements involved, so it wasn't a distaste for the style, I just thought this was poorly poorly done."

I actually found it current - in today's "resist" political climate, it really demonstrates that the ability to fight back is necessary, or you'll lose your rights. 

[DAME]

Posted: 9/8/17 at 11:58am

Has this been at tkts at all?

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 9/13/17 at 5:04pm

I am going to see this tonight and I am excited to see this! I don't know if I just haven't searched enough, is there any pre-existing thread for people who have already seen A Clockwork Orange? Would love to compare / discuss thoughts about it. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/13/17 at 5:07pm

BwayGeek2 said: "is there any pre-existing thread for people who have already seen A Clockwork Orange?"

You're soaking in it right now!

[EthelMae]

Posted: 9/13/17 at 10:19pm

Dame: Yes, it has been up on TKTS. Check the TKTS Live site. They post daily offerings and update constantly.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 9/13/17 at 10:43pm

Surprised that nobody has pointed out that this show is participating in the 20at20 promotion that runs through Sep 24. Got in line around 7pm, had no problem getting $20 tickets (which go on sale 20 minutes before performance time), had stage seats in the first of the two rows on the stage. And yes, I liked the show!

[chuckydisc]

Posted: 9/13/17 at 11:09pm

TimesSquareRegular said: "Surprised that nobody has pointed out that this show is participating in the 20at20 promotion that runs through Sep 24. Got in line around 7pm, had no problem getting $20 tickets (which go on sale 20 minutes before performance time), had stage seats in the first of the two rows on the stage. And yes, I liked the show!"

I got the $20 with no problems as well though preferred my "real" Orchestra Center row A seat, and viewing angle, better than the folding-chair" side-stage seating." 

 

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 9/13/17 at 11:49pm

Batting zero with my theater choices, lately, and, A Clockwork Orange, did nothing to change that.

90 minutes of stylized homo-eroticism and yelling and the repeated use of blaring, loud music, may keep you awake, but it does not make for interesting or challenging theater. It just made me wonder, why?

This is a bit of a missed opportunity, in today's political climate, on both the right and the left, but the superficiality of the work would require a massive overhaul to mine such depths. The writing and direction, here, leave no chance for that to occur.

I can't say much positive about the acting. I agree with previous comments that yelling is not acting and the whole enterprise seems amateurish. There is not a character to root for or care about.

I'm perplexed why the characters all seem to be, I don't know the word, but stereotypically campy or even offensively, flamingly gay or effeminate. I'm not being PC. I honestly don't know what to call it and I don't know what they were going for, but it was noticeable and was a bit bothersome because it seemed to have no point or purpose.

Some of the stylized movement was fine and at one point, I thought the guys all looked like the backup dancers from a Janet Jackson concert.

I can see how folks would have trouble seeing the floor. I was in row G (TDF tix) and missed a little bit

In all, this is not the must-see that I had hoped it was. I overheard 5 different people on the way out, say they did not like it. The gentleman behind me on the restroom line said "that felt a lot longer than 90 minutes." He's right.

I'm sure the 20 at 20 promotion would not be difficult. It looked like a third of the theater was empty.

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 9:59am

Overall I think this play is worth seeing. I still am like constructing my review, but the more I think about it, it was unique. I don't think the screaming was too much and even though it wasn't always completely clear what they were saying, I am glad I had full context from the book and movie. However, Jonno Davies was an incredible actor and his performance alone was worth it. 

Updated On: 9/14/17 at 09:59 AM

[NotTheComfyChair]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 5:36pm

Saw this show the other day.

Pros: I thought the lead, Jonno Davis, was good. He, Matt Doyle, and Ashley Robinson all gave strong performances. The three of them were clear at all times and their dialects were pretty accurate and consistent..

The physical work was inventive, for the most part, though it lost it's impact for me as the show went on.

While the first half of the piece was muddled in terms of story, it got clearer and easier to follow in the second half.

Cons: The voice use and the dialects were awful. For example, I could not understand one of the droogs throughout the whole show, a result of combination of shouting almost every word and also bad dialect. If you can't understand 25% to 50% of the words, it's a problem. Some of the other actors I could barely hear. Their dialects were at best inconsistent and for the most part were self-conscious. There was a priest whose Irish accent went all over the island of Ireland, from Ulster, to Dublin, to Galway.

The acting by the company - apart from the three I mention above in the "pros" - was weak. They either shouted their moments or underplayed them. There was little subtlety.

This is a weak show which did well in Britain and I wish I'd seen it there as I suspect it was a better production. I guess the difference may partly be because the dialect was more familiar to the British actors and so didn't get in the way as it seemed to do to most (but not all) of the actors at New World Stages.

Updated On: 9/16/17 at 05:36 PM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/15/17 at 9:41am

I'm confused by the ad campaign. I don't recall anything homoerotic about this story... or anything particularly sexy. It was a story about violence and how society tries to justify it. Ugly and depressing all around.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 9/15/17 at 11:55am

It's homoerotic because it's pumped up boys dancing together in tight tank tops or shirtless.

They also portray all the female characters, sometimes as clearly women (in heels and pearls) and sometimes it's unclear the gender of the character they're playing. During a seduction scenes one of them men strips and there's a kiss at the end. It's not in the original text at all, just how they've cast and directed it.

[persephone88]

Posted: 9/16/17 at 8:10pm

We went last night. We sat in Row J - many thanks to Uncageg for his seat selection advice earlier in the thread. We had a perfect view of the entire show, and it was intense enough that I would not have wanted to be in the first row, honestly, with the actors about a foot away. Overall liked the show though we felt the director went over the top in places. The stylized choreography, particularly the fight scenes, was well done, The cast was strong for the most part, and we thought that Jonno Davies, Sean Patrick Higgins, Jimmy Brooks and Timothy Sekk were quite good. A lot of thought provoking conversation afterwards, for sure.

I agree that the second half was stronger than the first half. The show seemed to really find its stride around the Ludovico technique and beyond. I went in having read the novel years ago and having seen the film, so the Nadsat dialogue was no problem for me, but for someone unfamiliar with the book or movie, the slang combined with some of the accents I could see being an issue for some. 

The choreography surrounding the break in at the old woman's house was a little muddled towards the end. Some near us in the audience did not realize what Alex had done, and why he was holding his eyes. The volume of the actors did not bother me so much regarding the "shouting" but a number of the ancillary characters were really more caricatures, which I assume was a directorial choice, but it didn't work as well in some cases, particularly some of the males playing females.

As far as the last monologue - it could be trimmed a bit, but for those who have only seen the film or read the American edition of the novel, the monologue is true to the original ending of the book as initially published in Britain. Alex does indeed "grow up" which is a 360 from the ending of the Kubrick film with Malcolm McDowell. I felt like the director was trying to create more of a hybrid of the two, and it may have thrown some people.

[theater_tech]

Posted: 9/18/17 at 2:31pm

Is there some sort of rush policy for the show? And should I watch the movie beforehand? 

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 2:55pm

Going this weekend and I have followed Uncaged's seating advice.  Looking forward to it. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/19/17 at 3:17pm

theater_tech said: "Is there some sort of rush policy for the show? And should I watch the movie beforehand?"

 

Student Rush all day and then 2 hours before curtain there is general rush.  $29.00. They are also participating in 20@20.

I saw the movie years ago. Don't remember much. I just read a synopsis on Wikipedia and was fine.

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 9/22/17 at 2:55pm

Saw this last night. 

Ugh.

Really bad interpretation of this story. Pretty worthless evening. I wanted to like it.

It was also really a strange choice to have cast a bunch of muscle twinks. They weren't given much to work with. They just pose and scream. It doesn't serve the story in the slightest and made things a bit more confusing.

[JBC3]

Posted: 9/22/17 at 3:39pm

I have a single ticket I can no longer use.

Sunday, 11/12/17 at 7:30 PM
ORCHESTRA RIGHT, Row F, Seat 2

Paid $65 with fees.
Will accept a reasonable offer.

PDF ticket/ Paypal payment.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/26/17 at 9:36am

Some vicious reviews.

https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/a-clockwork-orange-new-world-stages

"this 'Orange' is rancid and confused, another sad example of an adaptation missing the point of its source material" ~ Time Out

"The production is like a dad bod. Stylish, sure. Intimidating, not so much." ~ New York Daily News

"Stanley Kubrick redone as British panto." ~ The Wrap

"After about eighty-five of the not-so-brisk minutes, Mr. Davies yells out 'I’ve had enough!' So have we all." ~ Huffington Post

"incomprehensible" ~ The Hollywood Reporter

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 9/26/17 at 10:01am

If you haven't already noticed, all of the adverts and hype articles are strictly about the cast members' bodies, not the material, artistry, etc. This was a hollow and soulless interpretation of great source material. I don't know how this transferred and I feel bad reading all of these comments from folks who have never seen the movie or read the book. They're missing out on a great story.

 

Sorry - I know this is my second post about how much I disliked this production. I'm like bitter about it.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/26/17 at 10:17am

MrsSallyAdams said: "Some vicious reviews.

https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/a-clockwork-orange-new-world-stages

"this 'Orange' is rancid and confused, another sad example of an adaptation missing the point of its source material" ~ Time Out

"The production is like a dad bod. Stylish, sure. Intimidating, not so much." ~ New York Daily News

"Stanley Kubrick redone as British panto." ~ The Wrap

"After about eighty-five of the not-so-brisk minutes, Mr. Davies yells out 'I’ve had enough!' So have we all." ~ Huffington Post

"incomprehensible" ~ The Hollywood Reporter"

 

To be fair, not all of the reviews are completely negative and it looks like a lot of members liked it.

 

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/29/17 at 11:56am

I pretty much hated this from start to finish. The shouting coupled with the inconsistent dialects and the slang made most of it incomprehensible. The acting is uneven and the whole thing is a dull slog. As someone else asked, why this now? I think there is a good stage show to be had with this material. But this rushes through the novel, and nothing stuck for me dramatically, emotionally, or viscerally. I did enjoy the physical work though, and didn't mind the noise level.

And yes, it's inexplicably homoerotic.

Last night's audience was only about half full.