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re: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic

Posted by: ukpaul 04:34 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic - UWS_JIM 12:42 pm EDT 10/29/15

The Off Broadway 'Our Town' used the cast's own British accent in its transfer over here. It worked really well, bringing a layer of artificiality that fits the play.

I didn't even think about accents for the immigrants in this when I saw this in London, I just thought they were deliberately the same to show that the accent/nationality is an artificial difference picked up on by bigots (again fitting the theme of the play).


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re: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic

Posted by: davei2000 05:02 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to: re: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic - ukpaul 04:34 pm EDT 10/29/15

Yes - I don't think there was any use of regional accents in David Cromer's Our Town in NY, either. But I wouldn't say that added a layer of artificiality. I think the point was to strip one away.


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re: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic

Posted by: ukpaul 09:22 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to: re: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic - davei2000 05:02 pm EDT 10/29/15

Actually, yes, it worked both ways by removing the accent barrier.


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although in this case the accent is artificial

Posted by: UWS_JIM 05:21 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to: re: A View from the Bridge - On stage seating is fantastic - davei2000 05:02 pm EDT 10/29/15

Russell Tovey is British so that's why I mentioned his change to an American accent here. The more I think about it I think its a really hard thing to get right because if he had used his original accent people would have said why is the Italian sounding British but if he had an Italian accent and was eloquently speaking perfect English it would have seemed strange too. I guess the best solution is to have everyone sound the same.


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It's a director's decision

Posted by: stevemr 06:26 pm EDT 10/29/15
In reply to: although in this case the accent is artificial - UWS_JIM 05:21 pm EDT 10/29/15

In the original British production shown on NTLIve, both of the Italian immigrants spoke with American (midwestern?) accents. I found it quite jarring, but it was clearly a directorial choice. It has nothing to do with Tovey.


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