Theatre

We dont have a section for theatre productions and plays ect so I thought Id start this one to put this story up.

Martin Freeman has not gone down well with a lot of critics in the production of Richard III he is starting in, which is set in the 1970's-

"Freeman doesn't radiate a sufficiently dangerous sense of unpredictability," wrote Paul Taylor in the Independent.

He "seems like a boy sent to do a man's work", agreed the Telegraph's reviewer.

"There is a gaping hole where the charisma ought to be," wrote Charles Spencer, "and his seduction of Lady Anne, which is normally so creepily erotic, has hardly a spark of sex about it.
Just as disappointingly, Freeman largely fails to capture the blackly comic humour of the character."

"I am not sure that this updating clarifies the politics of the play," said the Independent's Paul Taylor.

"The setting has its drawbacks," added Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times. "It's sticky to begin with: the early manoeuvring is hazy and the battle over hereditary succession sits awkwardly with political machinations."

The staging falls flat, agreed The Guardian's Michael Billington, despite its "undeniable ingenuity".

"Lloyd's production looks physically constricted, misses the sweep and grandeur of Shakespeare's chronicle and, in place of the demonic exuberance, offers us a peculiarly bloodthirsty display of office politics."

Not all bad though he did get one or two good notices-

Variety magazine disagreed, saying Freeman "nails the self-satisfied psychopathic side with tiny, well-placed bursts of self-satisfied humour.
Even when furious at his loss of control and power, he always keeps the audience with him because he never shouts or loses control."
The magazine's reviewer, David Benedict, also praised the production's "clarity", with a contemporary setting in which "characters and, crucially, their status becomes immediately clear".

And in a rare trip to the theatre Den of Geek said, ""It's a dynamic central performance inside a blackly comic approach to the play. Crucially, that approach is also an accessible, lively one for newcomers and those more used to getting their thrills from TV and cinema screens.
Freeman fans will be thrilled."

Still, overall, not great reviews sadly. I'd have liked to see him do well as I rate him highly as a character actor.

I remember Norc starting a Theatre post some time back. Perhaps it was deleted then?