Sitting in the Royal Circle directly in the middle was a perfect view. I could see everything! I had read the synopsis before as I like to know what I'm going to see. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story line, here is a short description to give you an idea of the basis of the plot.
The Cripple of Inishmaan is a dark comedy by Martin McDonagh who links the story to the real life filming of the documentary Man of Aran.The story revolves around a group of Irish inhabitants living on the small Aran Islands community of Inishmaan off the Western Coast of Ireland in 1934. News of a Hollywood film crew's arrival in the neighbouring town of Inishmore excites the people of Inishmaan, especially "Cripple Billy" Claven, a young boy keen to escape the gossip and mundane life he's used to, he vies for a role in the film and to the surprise of his family and aqquaintances, gets his chance.
As is probably obvious with me being a 21 year old and growing up with the world of Harry Potter and being quite a big fan of it, the main attraction for me was Daniel Radcliffe. As much as I love him as Harry, I also don't think his acting is overly brilliant in the films so I was intrigued to see how he's adjusted his acting talent into the world of theatre, having not seen him in previous shows such as Equus and How To Succeed...
I'm really happy to report that he was brilliant, it was a heartfelt performance and I feel that he put so much into it that I really believed him. Had no one told me Radcliffe was starring, I wouldn't have been any wiser. His accent was pretty much spot on, although I'm no dialect coach. If I'm being really critical his voice came through maybe twice and only slightly. I didn't relate him to HP in any way, there was so resemblance which I think is really impressive as he has been able to branch out of that franchise.
The play itself was funny and aimed at being light-hearted most of the time whilst teetering on the edge of offensive. A lot of 'fecking eejit' and 'ugly crip' were thrown around a lot but it was done in a way where you laughed rather than reacted with offense. Even though the play relied on humour, the story was actually quite sad, very heartbreaking and something that one couldn't laugh at in real life.
The rest of the cast were really great, they really bought their character to life. They brought in a lot of laughs and were just as good as Radcliffe who has primarily been featured on every advertising poster seen in London. I understand that he is a big selling point and people like me will want to go and see him in it, but that's not to put down the other actors. Pat Shortt was great as the comical Johnnypateenmike and I suitably wanted to box Sarah Keene as Helen McCormick around the head for playing such a believably spiteful character.
I would give this play 4/5, I wasn't bored once. Kudos Michael Grandage.
Oh and of course, speaking as a Scenic Artist, I found the set really great. It consists of (and turn away if you don't want spoilers) a revolve featuring 3 different rooms - the shop front, a bedroom and an outside area which changes from what I guessed to be a harbour into an outside seating area. I think getting into the career of being a Scenic Artist has taken away the magic of sets, I now know or have some semblance of an idea of how it's made so I spend the time guessing rather than just going "Wow, that looks cool!" But yeah, it was a great set, well made and nice to see some set rather than just projections and special effects.
I'm really happy to report that he was brilliant, it was a heartfelt performance and I feel that he put so much into it that I really believed him. Had no one told me Radcliffe was starring, I wouldn't have been any wiser. His accent was pretty much spot on, although I'm no dialect coach. If I'm being really critical his voice came through maybe twice and only slightly. I didn't relate him to HP in any way, there was so resemblance which I think is really impressive as he has been able to branch out of that franchise.
The play itself was funny and aimed at being light-hearted most of the time whilst teetering on the edge of offensive. A lot of 'fecking eejit' and 'ugly crip' were thrown around a lot but it was done in a way where you laughed rather than reacted with offense. Even though the play relied on humour, the story was actually quite sad, very heartbreaking and something that one couldn't laugh at in real life.
The rest of the cast were really great, they really bought their character to life. They brought in a lot of laughs and were just as good as Radcliffe who has primarily been featured on every advertising poster seen in London. I understand that he is a big selling point and people like me will want to go and see him in it, but that's not to put down the other actors. Pat Shortt was great as the comical Johnnypateenmike and I suitably wanted to box Sarah Keene as Helen McCormick around the head for playing such a believably spiteful character.
I would give this play 4/5, I wasn't bored once. Kudos Michael Grandage.
Oh and of course, speaking as a Scenic Artist, I found the set really great. It consists of (and turn away if you don't want spoilers) a revolve featuring 3 different rooms - the shop front, a bedroom and an outside area which changes from what I guessed to be a harbour into an outside seating area. I think getting into the career of being a Scenic Artist has taken away the magic of sets, I now know or have some semblance of an idea of how it's made so I spend the time guessing rather than just going "Wow, that looks cool!" But yeah, it was a great set, well made and nice to see some set rather than just projections and special effects.
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