'National Theatre Live: Julie' (2018)
Opening thoughts: The National Theatre Live productions from 2018 varied in quality, but mostly had more hits than misses. There were gems that year, namely 'King Lear' and 'The Madness of George III'. A couple did miss, with the weakest of the 2018 National Theatre Live productions being the pretty poor 'Macbeth' (a production where even the acting wasn't that great). Am not familiar hugely with this play, which is not usually the case for this series, so can't compare that much.
While 'Macbeth' was the weakest of the 2018 National Theatre Live performances, 'Julie' was a very close second. It does have the significant advantage of being extremely well acted, which helps make it tolerable. It also is badly let down by how it is staged, which throughout came over as bland, confused and over-thought. Those unfamiliar with the play may find themselves at sea with trying to understand what the production is trying to say, and even those that are familiar with it are going to find comprehension a problem.
Good things: Beginning with the good, the best thing about 'Julie' by far is the acting, which is extremely good and even incredible at its best. Vanessa Kirby's powerful performance, mixing tortured vindictiveness and damaged helplessness, is shattering emotionally. Eric Kofi Abrefa and Thalissa Teixiera are also incredibly strong, Teixiera's vibrancy being like a radiant ray of energy.
Did think that the production looked quite slick and colourful. The camera work is not static or disorganised, not trying to do too much while opening it up enough.
Bad things: However, on the whole 'Julie' had an overblown look visually and the staging throughout is too over-thought (partying for example has never looked so un-spontaneous on stage) and does little to make the drama emotionally investable or coherent. Actually found the production very bland emotionally, especially at the end which lacks tension and the tragedy just doesn't move. Everything with the class divide, which is done little with, is done with little insight and is lost amidst all the interpolations intended to give the play relevance by today's standards that added nothing and merely confused the drama. Much of it jarred with the text as well.
When any class divide is shown, it is heavy handed and transitions are awkward. The omnipresent ominous hum is excessively used, overbears and tends to be out of place. Jean feels very under-developed here, he is in the play but he is even more so here with everything else going on. Any confrontations don't have enough tension and would have worked a lot better if taking place in a more intimate setting.
Closing thoughts: Summing up, disappointing.
4/10.
