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80 Minutes of Nothing (The River)

Posted by: Singapore/Fling 04:58 pm EST 01/21/15

I'd heard the play was simple, elegiac, and fairly plotless. I'd hoped that the negative response was from people who expect constant excitement from their theater, and that this was a subtle gem.

Not for me, nor my husband. The play is one long not-quite-a-trick, with long passages of uninteresting activity that have nothing to do with character, situation, or story. Hugh Jackman chops veggies and oils a fish before popping it in the oven.

Cush Jumbo brings depth and humanity to her part, but the other performers can't find much in the way of detail and specificity in their blank-slate characters.

I like much of Butterworth's writing, and I can appreciate non-traditional theater. But aside from lacking characters or story, this also lacks tension, mystery, or anything really happening. For a play about a man broken by his past relationships, we see little in the way of either pain or passion.

There is potential in the play, but this feels like a first draft, a skeleton to fill in with dramatics, or at least dynamics.

Even in this small space, details are lost - we had to look at the script afterward to know what the object in the box is. Once we knew, it made no difference on our (me and the hubs) experience.

(Spoiler: it's not Gwyneth's head, or anything remotely so interesting.)

What drew Hugh to this? He doesn't do much in the part. Is it purely the chance to look manly and have a series of women inexplicably throw themselves at him?

It's not bad. Everyone working on this are skilled. But goodness, is it dull. And at the end, we're left with...


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can you imagine how bad it would be without Hugh Jackman?

Posted by: dramedy 07:36 pm EST 01/21/15
In reply to: 80 Minutes of Nothing (The River) - Singapore/Fling 04:58 pm EST 01/21/15

I think he does bring as much as possible to the part. In the hands of a mediocre actor, this would have closed after opening night.

I see they changed the previews for chappie. Where Hugh was barely in the first preview and it was the humanity of the robot, the new preview is all about high trying to destroy chappie to save humanity. They are banking on his stardom to sell the movie just like he sold the river.


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And yet...

Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 07:40 pm EST 01/21/15
In reply to: can you imagine how bad it would be without Hugh Jackman? - dramedy 07:36 pm EST 01/21/15

... it got pretty great reviews with Dominic West.


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re: And yet...

Posted by: lonlad 08:02 pm EST 01/21/15
In reply to: And yet... - MockingbirdGirl 07:40 pm EST 01/21/15

it was EXTRAORDINARY at the Court Upstairs with Dominic West in a theatre seating either side of 90. The NY production doesn't begin to approximate the London experience, try though Hugh does (and he really does, I have to say)


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