I took Builder Bloke to the theatre last night as part of his birthday present to see “Moonlight” by Harold Pinter. This was a relatively high risk strategy given that he is not a theatre goer by nature and if there is a even a whiff of a song or any suggestion that it is even vaguely connected to a musical then he has been known to leave the building.
There were a number of positives I considered before choosing this particular play with him in mind:-
a) It is a very short play (70 mins)
b) It is written by somebody we had both heard of
c) It was being performed at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden
d) It was near a pub
So. All good then. Until it started and made virtually no sense whatsoever. I had a WTF is going on feeling all the way through.
It’s all about a dying man. He sits in his bed whilst various members of his family perform around him. He reflects throughout the play on his life – his affairs, his wife’s affairs, his estranged sons, his job as a civil servant and it is all, in the end, sad and hollow.
Quite funny in parts, but the script could have been so much better. We are left bereft of answers. Why does the ghost of his daughter keep appearing and being vague? What happened to her? How did she die? Did her death cause the family breakdown? Why are his sons such arseholes? OK, damaged hugely emotionally (and the actors portray this beautifully) but all they seem to do is list off a great stream of public school names in various different guises. Odd. I wanted to shout “STOP BEING SO VAGUE” all of you and just tell me what happened. Why do you all hate each other so much?
Nevertheless, owing to the spectacular performances, brilliant set, intimacy of the Donmar Warehouse (which I love because you can literally see right up the actors nostrils) we enjoyed it hugely. Had a rubbish post theatre discussion indicating how clueless we both were, but that didn’t matter in the least. It was the being there that counted.
If there is anybody out there who has a clue what this play is about then please let me know.
Chris
April 27, 2011Have often had that feeling watching Pinter plays, saw one a couple of years ago with David Walliams, Dumbledore, Fitch and Anne Boleyn father from The Tudors. It had great reviews Only time at the theatre I have been looking at my watch after 15 min!! Other half kept telling me how great the acting was… perhaps so but I didnt have a bloody clue what was supposed to be happening…. paint dried quicker you have my sympathy. I read a review of this play at the weekend and the reviewer seemed to think that Pinter would not age well in fact his views were not far off yours!!!
Chris
May 13, 2011Wow. All I can say is: in the theatre we ‘show’ don’t ‘tell’. If you feel you have to work too hard watching a play why don’t you just go to see ‘We Will Rock You’ or just get to that pub ’round the corner…?
Family Affairs
May 13, 2011I hate musicals remember – we will rock you wouldn’t work Lx
Family Affairs
May 13, 2011ps – sorry, I don’t know who you are but assume you are an actor given you say “we” show don’t tell – and having thought about your comment, it’s really annoyed me because you are doing a total “luvvie” thing and assuming that because I struggled to understand the script (having not criticised the actors in the slightest) and therefore had some issues you suggest that instead of enjoying the theatre and acting, even if I don’t love every minute I should just go to the pub “round the corner”. Well. How rude – I love watching real life acting. Even if I don’t get every minute. What is the problem with that and anyway, what I was saying in this instance was that it was a problem with Harold Pinter’s script.
Tom
May 25, 2011I took a friend along to this last night and I think this review completely sums up how we felt about the play too! Acting was top notch but thought the play itself was totally impenetrable. My overall impression was of an overblown, pompous script, written by an author quite pleased with himself. I suppose maybe it is a fine line to tread – I loved the abstraction and mystery at the heart of Waiting for Godot and would go so far as to say it’s one of the best plays I’ve ever seen – but it simply didn’t work AT ALL in Moonlight.
Very surprised team Donmar, as respected and brilliant as they, thought it would be a good idea to put this on – I just can’t imagine any production of it could ever be any good!
Family Affairs
May 25, 2011Hear hear Lx
Jon Bond
May 28, 2011Overblown, pompous and baffling, I quite agree. Dying to get out and go for a drink round the corner just like Andy. Felt sorry for all the cast receiving the lame applause at the end. I think they were as relieved as I was it was over. Thought the sons acted like a pair of meaningless twits and delivered their lines so fast I couldn’t hear what they were saying. They were keen to get out too and ended up sounding like (and looking like) The Marks Brothers. It was very difficult to feel any empathy with them and there was no explanation as to why they were apparently dying on stage in every sense of the word. Who did the grandchildren belong to? How did the daughter die – was she bored to death? I felt as though some of the pages of the play must have gone missing. I’m all in favour of the audience filling in the gaps but in the end, try as I might, I couldn’t make any sense of it. Enjoyed the pint afterwards though.
Family Affairs
May 31, 2011Glad you felt the same and yes, didn’t the pub beckon – wasn’t it good it was only a short play? Although perhaps it was the second half that was missing? Maybe I should ask Antonia if she could look for it amongst his papers Lx