smudge
New Member=Sam
Posts: 7
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Post by smudge on Sept 19, 2011 17:37:31 GMT -5
Great review!
I'm off to see this at the begining of October, very excited ;D
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Post by cbjfan61 on Oct 17, 2011 10:42:54 GMT -5
OK My review of Di Viv and Rose which I had the pleasure of seeing two times. I'll break it down in sections like I've done in the past. I had read some reviews previous to going to see the play so I was able to to expect a few things which I tried to block out and watch with fresh eyes. Di Viv and Rose is a fantastic look into friendship of three women who are coming of age as they begin at University and we see them grow up together. The characters are wonderfully written as it seems one can identify them self on some level with each or all three. I know there were moments that personally either I could identify with a similar experience or had a flatmate or two combine that reminded me of Di Viv and Rose. More of a personal play in which it feels like yes this could happen in real life. Or I know someone like Di or one of the other characters with by personality, mannerisms and such. This is what makes the play enjoyable and believable. Sitting and watching saying to yourself oh my lamb that reminded me of the time when..... I really liked at the very beginning of the play the quick black fade out which made for the quick changes. It was the set up to keep things moving to give a touch of introduction to the characters and not dragging out to the transition of the ladies living together. As the first act progresses what is great is you do see some of those little bits of tension between each of the ladies Rose and Di talking about Viv as the 'Father is home' figure, or the announce of Viv when you see Di and Rose give each other a look. These little subtle moments gives real feeling of yes these ladies are indeed flatmates and brings in the realism. Let's face it when haven't any of us given the eye roll to another flatmate as the one who just annoyed us walked out of the room. The first act has a great balance of laughter fun times (dance party, having Rose and Di stuck in a chair) and going into the serious life changing moment which is dramatic of Di being raped. With the shift in tone/mood towards the end of the first act it really sets up the second act. In the second act of the play with the way the ending is in the first it makes the characters grow up. Rose has children at an early age, Di is now with her partner and Viv is living in NYC doing exactly what she wanted to do from the start. What I really enjoyed between both acts of the play is that you have the comedy and the dramatic. Very well balanced throughout for the appropriate time of what is going. The second act is more dramatic with light hearten moments to give the tension some release. I thought the characters were a great balance between each other. Di being the lesbian was a bit stereo typed with being sporty. Don't get me wrong it doesn't matter but when there are loads of women who are straight play sports. I just think it was interesting the character was put in the stereo typed. I still enjoyed the character for who she was as a person which is what really matters. Di is very much what Rose needs to help balance her out. Tamzin did a brilliant job bringing Di to life some strong moments accepting that Di was rapped by saying it, her tender side when giving the speech at Rose's funeral, and the scenes between Viv and Di in act two. Rose what a character she truly loves life and men. Claudie brings forth the energy and lack of thinking about the consequences when it comes to men. She does make Rose daft in that sense and nails the character. Rose brings in the energy with bright eyes that lacks between Di and Viv she is the pick me up on a bad day. Fantastic moments Rose turning on the fan to cool her self off, trying to kiss Di and the over all daftness. Viv the serious one who only let's her hair down for a dance party. Viv really is a bit of a dark horse you only know so much about her personally, and yet you know who she is on the outside. Nicola brilliant as ever with this character as Viv is someone who is more serious with life and trying to bring in reality to what the real world is like. Great moments scenes in the second act with Di the acting alone between the two was incredible, dance party, and trying to get Rose to see the consequences of her actions. Over all the acting between all three ladies I just sat there and said 'Damn' because 'Brilliant' or any other word to describe isn't enough. Di Viv and Rose if cast by other actresses would not be as bloody brilliant. All three were incredible and what I really like is that it really stretched them. Between having to deal with quick changes the other all demanding of the roles they raised to the challenge and pulled it off. I read that someone complained about the lighting not changing very much but being the same throughout. Well by the time I saw the play this was not true. I thought the lighting was well done and did show changes. Costumes for the characters were perfect. More so with Viv because we get to see her change and grow as a person. Viv goes from 'war time' to 'black' and then to 'color' by the end. This showing the character changes through out. For Di and Rose costumes really kept with their personality throughout and of course giving us a time line of the story. Music fantastic selection of songs throughout hands down. I will forever have in my mind the dancing scene to Prince's song. EXTRAS: Nicola I have to say this was my favorite performance I have seen of her on stage. I thought she was brilliant in Mrs Klein and Seasons Greetings. Her role as Viv just went to a higher level and being incredible. Noticed some ad-libbing during the 13/10 where Claudie accidentally tripped over the fan cord. Which was a great recovery by the way. Also when Claudie and Tamzin during the same performance almost flipped the chair backwards yet were able to recover while also feeding off the audience laughter made the moment even better. There was a few moments of ad-libbing on the second to last performance as well which I have to say did not take away from the over all performance or play. Enjoyed talking to Nicola after each performance and have a good giggle with her. Glad I did get to talk to Claudie at the 13/10 performance after while she waited for her taxi. Also wanted to make sure while she waited she was safe and not out there alone waiting. Didn't get the chance to say anything to Tamzin in person but yay for twitter so I can
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Post by richliga on Oct 17, 2011 12:24:33 GMT -5
I have not seen Nicola on stage before but THIS was amazing play and I enjoyed all of the actresses! Now I want to see more of Tamzin and Claudie as well... ) I have no idea who has complained about the lightings because that was actually one of the things i payed attention to and I thought it only added to the play! No complains about that at all.
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