Finally here. I saw the play on Novermber 15, but haven't had too much time to concentrate on this before today.
I had not read the reviews much beforehand, had a fairly vague idea what it was all about and did not know what to expect. The last time I was in a theatre for a play was in the late 1980s - not my cup of tea at all.
I think I expected it to be deadly serious, but as has been said, it was quite funny at times. The structure was brilliant, added to the tension between the characters and certainly made a lasting impression! I might even go and see some other Pinter play after this! The sets were good, but I kept wondering what the scene with Robert and Jerry in an Italian restaurant was supposed to be - Venice?, Bay of Naples?
The guys were very good in their roles. Rafe Spall I have seen so little that I really did not know what to expect, but he was very good as this nervous kind of guy. I thought he was convincing. Robert and Emma are much more subdued characters despite the occasional outburst of anger, sadness or other emotions. Daniel knows how to do his job, there's no doubt about it...
Rachel was really the weakest link, she felt untrue and pretentious to me most of the time. This was really not a surprise, I guess, as I have not really liked her acting in movies very much.
I wish I would have had the time to see it a second time to get over the "OMG that is Daniel Craig really alive there onstage" feeling and had the mental capacity to appreaciate the whole theatre experience more.
All in all, I though it was quite good and well worth the $311 ticket
There was some additional excitement for that particular evening, though. I had received an email declaring an absolute no-late-admissions policy for the play. That struck me funny especially as at the previous evening's performance of "Kinky Boots" people seemed to come and go as they pleased. Well, I thought, maybe just a difference between theatres or some such thing. When I went to the Barrymore, I was wondering why there were a half a dozen policemen and two police cars in front of the theatre. I had not seen such things on the photographs at all...
Then when everyone else had entered, the vicepresident of the USA and his wife entered and they sat at the end of the same row where I was seated. There were quite a few security men standing along the back wall and I was not sure if I felt really safe or totally afraid of what could happen. Afterwards, the Bidens probably went backstage and whilst waiting I saw the motorcade in front of the theatre which basically filled the entire street. Seeing DC for the first time live and whole this shebang was almost too much for my psyche.