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| Leopoldstadt This Weekend | |
| Posted by: stan 10:16 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| Saw this Masterpiece by Stoppard Sat matinee. Wow. Stuffed with a dozen actors and many children. Takes place in Vienna 1899, 1900, 1924, 1933, 1938, 1955. Big bourgeois Jewish family -- not observant -- but enjoying traditional Jewish traditions in the home of an Industrialist -- some have converted for business and social improvement -- one is a goy converted to Judaism -- all believe that they are Austrian -- Herzl is name dropped; so is Freud and Mahler -- there's a seder, there's a bris, there are Austrian soldiers, Nazi's -- there's a Klimt of the matriarch hanging in the living room -- it evolves to discuss Stoppard's discovering as a 55 year old that he's Jewish -- his immediate family got out of Czechoslovakia and he grew up in Singapore then India then England -- his parents abandoned their religion and he grew up Church of England, Cambridge, cricket -- and now he has invented a personal history. Of course, it's heartbreaking and brilliant -- his coup de theatre is the children who grow up through the generations -- and are listed among the victims. The entire audience was in tears. and here we go again. | |
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| re: any January discount codes available? | |
| Posted by: Audreydoll 03:49 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - stan 10:16 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| The one I know of expires this month. Anyone know of a discount code that’s good in January? I’ve checked the usual places. I know they can’t be posted here but if you know of one, please tell me where to look. Thanks. Admin: If post is not allowed, I apologize. Feel free to delete it. |
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| Massive spoilers in the above post. | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 12:50 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - stan 10:16 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| OP synopsizes the entire plot. Seth, who saw it last week |
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| Is it? | |
| Posted by: dramedy 03:47 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Massive spoilers in the above post. - Seth Christenfeld 12:50 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
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| The playbill has the time periods and genealogy tree. Jews in Austria during 1930s would have to have nazis. It’s more about the people than the plot. | |
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| re: Is it? | |
| Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 06:11 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Is it? - dramedy 03:47 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
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| I think the "coup de theatre" description is a spoiler, yes. But then again, the whole post reads as if the OP trying to assure everyone that he/she was able to follow the plot. |
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| Of all the Stoppard plays it is the most straight forward. | |
| Posted by: dramedy 07:33 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Is it? - MockingbirdGirl 06:11 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
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| I get lost in many of his plays because I don’t always know the context. He uses latin and Greek in plays and expects the audience to know literature references. This play is very easy to follow. | |
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| “Jews in Austria during 1930s would have to have nazis.” | |
| Posted by: ShowGoer 05:38 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Is it? - dramedy 03:47 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
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| I don’t even know what this means. | |
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| A Jewish story in 1930s | |
| Posted by: dramedy 07:30 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: “Jews in Austria during 1930s would have to have nazis.” - ShowGoer 05:38 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
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| In Austria or Germany would have to acknowledge the rise of nazi power and how it affects the Jewish characters. There is really no way to avoid it. So just seeing the playbill dates being covered one would assume where the story is headed before the curtain goes up. | |
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| re: A Jewish story in 1930s | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 11:24 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: A Jewish story in 1930s - dramedy 07:30 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
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| Just seeing the poster art… | |
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| re: Leopoldstadt This Weekend | |
| Posted by: Ncassidine 11:25 am EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - stan 10:16 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| It was -- fine? I guess. I have a lot of family members who are Survivors and some who perished on the Holocaust. I found the play a little boring, at least the first half. I didn't really need to hear that much philosophy. SHOW me the drama don't tell me. | |
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| re: "Show me the drama, don't tell me" | |
| Posted by: Showtunegal 05:57 am EST 12/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - Ncassidine 11:25 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| That's an interesting observation, because usually I would agree with you! And let me be clear, I respect your opinion, of course, and I'm glad you shared it. I have dear friends who didn't like this play at all, and one of them, when I was RAVING years ago about the original production of Arcadia in London (still one of the greatest plays I ever saw), lay down on the carpet and covered her face and yelled, "Stop talking bout that fucking play!" So, I get it that a lot of people don't like Stoppard. The first time I saw one of his plays was in college, when The Real Thing was trying out in Boston. I thought, "All the characters, even the daughter who's a teenager, are speaking exactly the same way." He is definitely a writer where a LOT is spoken, rather than dramatized. But then I grew to (mostly) love his work. I think he does something that is all his own. I like the excitement for ideas (in the case of Leopoldstadt, mathematical ones) that permeate his plays. | |
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| re: "Show me the drama, don't tell me" | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 12:28 pm EST 12/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "Show me the drama, don't tell me" - Showtunegal 05:57 am EST 12/27/22 | |
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| Not for an instant did I feel as if the drama wasn’t being shown to me in “Leopoldstadt.” There have been times when Stoppard’s love of his own verbal wizardry has alienated me, but this is not one of them. The argument that his characters all speak in his voice is a worthy one, though I believe that to a great (and understandable) extent this is true of most dramatists. |
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| re: "Show me the drama, don't tell me" | |
| Posted by: Ncassidine 02:00 pm EST 12/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "Show me the drama, don't tell me" - TheOtherOne 12:28 pm EST 12/27/22 | |
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| I mean, there's like a 30 minute discussion on the state of the Middle East. | |
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| A summing up? | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 09:28 pm EST 12/27/22 | |
| In reply to: re: "Show me the drama, don't tell me" - Ncassidine 02:00 pm EST 12/27/22 | |
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| Stoppard works in themes from earlier plays into Leopoldstadt. Assuming this is his last play (not a sure thing, I imagine), it provides audiences with a stirring, dramatic, capstone. I’ve seen most, if not all of his plays, and this one stunned me thoroughly. Bill, in San Diego, commenting on a performance from early November |
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| re: Leopoldstadt This Weekend | |
| Posted by: FinalPerformance 10:54 am EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - stan 10:16 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| It was the best play I saw this year too. Watching it for two hours without an intermission just drew you into the story in a powerful way. It was like a good novel you read through in one sitting. A wonderful moving play with a perfect cast. Thinking about the treatment of these people still brings tears to my eyes. | |
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| Agree, a highlight of this year | |
| Posted by: Ann 01:40 pm EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - FinalPerformance 10:54 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| Not bored for a second. Fascinating. | |
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| re: Leopoldstadt This Weekend | |
| Posted by: Kerick 10:34 am EST 12/26/22 | |
| In reply to: Leopoldstadt This Weekend - stan 10:16 am EST 12/26/22 | |
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| All hail to the terrific Tom Stoppard. Leopoldstadt is brilliant! | |
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