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| re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night | |
| Posted by: JayBee 04:33 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - Singapore/Fling 04:04 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| A View From the Bridge was originally paired with A Memory of two Mondays, another Miller one act. Black Comedy, which as of late has been done as a full evening, was paired with the author's White Lies. Every one-act off broadway play at one time was always paired with a second. Why is it so uncomfortable to sit in a theater for longer than 90 minutes? Does everyone suffer from ADD today? Is the remote control and two hundred tv channels, which we scan through every ten minutes, to blame? I know if a show runs over three hours there is overtime to pay, but if it is less than two hours do producers pay everyone 75% of a paycheck??? I doubt it. I honestly don't get this latest craze of brevity. | |
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| re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:53 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - JayBee 04:33 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| "Does everyone suffer from ADD today?" I think it's generally a good idea to avoid generalizations :-) I think there are as many plays and musicals today that are overlong as there are those that perhaps seem too short. |
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| re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night | |
| Posted by: AC126748 01:57 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - Michael_Portantiere 11:53 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Right--like this year's Tony winner for Best Play. :-) | |
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| re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 05:02 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - AC126748 01:57 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
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| I quite liked what happened to "Oslo" when it went from three acts to two. That Broadway second act goes on and on and on, seemingly past the point of being bearable, which is a nice mirror to the endless peace talks; it really made me feel like I knew what they were going through (in a good way). |
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| re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night | |
| Last Edit: AC126748 05:54 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
| Posted by: AC126748 05:53 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - Singapore/Fling 05:02 pm EDT 07/04/17 | |
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| I didn't return to Oslo when it came to Broadway. Once was enough. The LCT production (at least at the Newhouse) was solidly acted and well-directed, but the material itself gave off too much of a Very Important Play vibe for me. Not how I prefer to spend 3+ hours, though others (like yourself!) clearly feel differently. | |
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| re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 05:11 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - JayBee 04:33 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| For me, I'd rather have a strong one-act than a full evening padded out by a lesser work. "A Memory of Two Mondays" has not stood the test of time, and "White Lies" seems to have been equally forgotten. And I find that most 20th Century three-act plays are full of filler that could easily be pared down into a leaner evening. Meanwhile, the 90 minute, intermission-less form dates back (at least) to the Greeks. There's something satisfying and powerful about a short, sharp, focused and sustained trajectory through a crisis. Of course, you'd be right in pointing out that one got three tragedies and a comedy for the price of admission back in the day, but we're also talking about a theater-going landscape in which the performances took up an entire day. We do sometimes see companies putting on longer performances that emulate the epic nature of the Dionysian Festival. I share your frustration that a lot of dramas are short without much purpose, due to a lack of compelling dramatic action. But that goes back to my initial complaint with this play, which is that it's anemic, rather than simply brief. |
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| One place where we do agree 100%... | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 08:24 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 08:22 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: FULFILLMENT CENTER Last Night - Singapore/Fling 05:11 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Short plays are very in vogue from a production standpoint, and one reason for that is because they're a better investment in terms of rehearsal. Something under 90 minutes can either be rehearsed in a shorter time period (2 - 3 weeks, rather than 4 - 6), or it can spend longer in rehearsal getting sharper and deeper (one reason that I think "A Doll's House Part 2" arrived so polished). Particularly with young theaters, where the need to impress is high and the cash in hand is low, that 90 minute play is very appealing; though the same is true with Broadway, where good runs are short and margins are tight. I also think that longer commuting times have had an impact. As more local theater goers live 45 - 60 minutes away due to rising rents, there's more incentive to get people out of the theater by 9:45. I have to be at work the next morning, and if I don't get a good 8 hours I'm useless, so it's nice to be home before 11:00. (which was another reason I loved "A Doll's House Part 2"). |
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| re: One place where we do agree 100%... | |
| Posted by: summertheater 08:55 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: One place where we do agree 100%... - Singapore/Fling 08:22 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| The play was a huge bore. It felt like a writing exercise. Great actors wasted on a horrible play. After 95 minutes of that, I doubt anyone wanted a 15 minute intermission followed by another 95 minute bore (to make for a 3.5 hour evening!) There'd have been a mass exodus out of the theater if there was an intermission in that 95 minute bore. | |
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| A Doll's House 2 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 09:12 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: re: One place where we do agree 100%... - summertheater 08:55 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I appreciate the enthusiasm of your review, but I have to disagree that it was a bore. I found it a jolly good romp through these characters and their marriage, albeit one with a disappointing ending (if you can't get characters off well, get them off quickly, as a writing professor used to say). I wouldn't have needed another 95 minutes of that play, but I would gladly have stuck around to see what it was like, which isn't always the case. 90 minutes of "The Flick" was just about as much of "The Flick" as I could stand, though I had a good time hanging out in the experience.... I made it through less of "John", but then I thoroughly got wrapped up in the strange incantation that was "The Antipodes". |
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| Fulfillment Center | |
| Posted by: summertheater 09:31 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: A Doll's House 2 - Singapore/Fling 09:12 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Oh I totally loved A Doll's House Part 2 (that was 88 minutes running time). I thought Fulfillment Center was a bore at Manhattan Theater Club Stage II. | |
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| re: Fulfillment Center | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 10:15 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
| In reply to: Fulfillment Center - summertheater 09:31 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| Oh, yeah. For once we agree. :-) | |
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| re: Fulfillment Center | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 08:23 am EDT 07/05/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Fulfillment Center - Singapore/Fling 10:15 pm EDT 07/03/17 | |
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| I wasn't bored. I did think the play ended abruptly and that the playwright should go back and dig deeper. | |
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