The Royal Ballet: Frankenstein, May 2016

[Fonty]

I am getting quite overwhelmed by all these reviews!

 

Can someone tell me, is there any moment in the ballet where you genuinely feel sorry for the monster? 

[bangorballetboy]

I am getting quite overwhelmed by all these reviews!

 

Can someone tell me, is there any moment in the ballet where you genuinely feel sorry for the monster? 

 

No, and that's the biggest problem with the piece.

[capybara]

I am getting quite overwhelmed by all these reviews!

 

Can someone tell me, is there any moment in the ballet where you genuinely feel sorry for the monster? 

 

A NO from me as well - so far.  Liam Scarlett led us to expect that we would feel that way. Maybe Ryoichi Hirano will elicit our compassion tonight?

Edited May 6, 2016 by capybara

[Bruce Wall]

Maybe Ryoichi Hirano will elicit our compassion tonight?

 

Isn't it Kish tonight?  Thought Hirano wasn't on until 17th May. 

Edited May 6, 2016 by Bruce Wall

[Sim]

I am getting quite overwhelmed by all these reviews!

 

Can someone tell me, is there any moment in the ballet where you genuinely feel sorry for the monster?

No. As I said in my little review above, I get no feeling of sadness, tenderness, sorrow, despair, empathy or even anger at the creature. If it works properly, I should feel something, anything. I just didn't. I wonder whether this will change on the 17th when I see the other cast...

[zxDaveM]

I am getting quite overwhelmed by all these reviews!

 

Can someone tell me, is there any moment in the ballet where you genuinely feel sorry for the monster? 

 

Yes, when after playing blind-mans-bluff with William almost jollily, the reaction to his face when the blind comes off...

[J_New]

Yes, me too - first when the creature read Victor's journal, then as Dave said when he seemed to be enjoying dancing with William but was then rejected by the boy when he saw the creature's face. And again when the creature realised he'd killed William.... they worked for me. And the end ....

[zxDaveM]

oh yes - the journal of how he was created - and then seeing Victor tear that up as he watched in the background, with a sense of utter rejection, after the revulsions endured for his looks from humanity, even from the man who created him and he had hope for some sort of love, or at least not revulsion and fear.

Also the yearning of wanting a normal life, as he saw Victor and Elizabeth disappear into their home, something he never had.

[J_New]

Yes. I think the problem may be that in Act 3 he seems so bent on revenge that it is easy to forget those moments. But for me they're there.

[Sim]

It seems I missed a few moments as I was standing quite a way around to the side on the left, so I didn't see the creature watching Victor tear up his journal; I could only see Victor.

[James]

There was also a very brief scene in which the creature is beaten up, presumably intended to generate some sympathy.

 

I don't think the creature's over-hasty exit in Act 1 helped.  In the novel, it is Victor who flees from the creature, not the other way around.

 

I didn't mind the harlots in the tavern scene. In fact, I found the dancing parlour maids much more clichéd.  We had those as recently as "Alice in Wonderland".

[bridiem]

I did feel sorry for the creature, partly because he looked very like a large, lost baby who wanted to be looked after but was instead beaten and rejected.

[capybara]

Isn't it Kish tonight?  Thought Hirano wasn't on until 17th May. 

 

My mistake. Pity - I shan't see Hirano now. ENB Emerging Dancer is on on the 17th May.

[Duck]

There was also a very brief scene in which the creature is beaten up, presumably intended to generate some sympathy.

 

I don't think the creature's over-hasty exit in Act 1 helped.  In the novel, it is Victor who flees from the creature, not the other way around.

 

I didn't mind the harlots in the tavern scene. In fact, I found the dancing parlour maids much more clichéd.  We had those as recently as "Alice in Wonderland".

 

I think there is a brief moment in Act 1 when Victor recoils in horror when he first sees the Creature which has come back to live following the various pyrotechnics. I'll check when I see cast 2.

 

I agree about the tavern scene. For me, this scene amplifies the scary atmosphere of the operating theatre in the previous scene, and its impact on the medical students.

[Sim]

I think there is a brief moment in Act 1 when Victor recoils in horror when he first sees the Creature which has come back to live following the various pyrotechnics. I'll check when I see cast 2.

 

I agree about the tavern scene. For me, this scene amplifies the scary atmosphere of the operating theatre in the previous scene, and its impact on the medical students.

That is the problem, Duck.....it is a BRIEF moment! This is where the whole relationship should be established; that is the central theme of the book with all of its associated meanings. There is no time at all for anything to occur. Victor's reaction to the monster he has created should be much more than that of anyone else who encounters him....i.e. a quick recoil in horror. If the disgust at what Victor has created and his subsequent rejection of the creature, and the creature's despair at being rejected by the person who created him, were explored by a wonderful and emotional pdd, with each conveying their deepest feelings (as MacMillan would have), this would have made much more narrative sense for the rest of the ballet.

[Duck]

That is the problem, Duck.....it is a BRIEF moment! This is where the whole relationship should be established; that is the central theme of the book with all of its associated meanings. There is no time at all for anything to occur. Victor's reaction to the monster he has created should be much more than that of anyone else who encounters him....i.e. a quick recoil in horror. If the disgust at what Victor has created and his subsequent rejection of the creature, and the creature's despair at being rejected by the person who created him, were explored by a wonderful and emotional pdd, with each conveying their deepest feelings (as MacMillan would have), this would have made much more narrative sense for the rest of the ballet.

 

I agree a PDD would help. I haven't read the book and am thus unable to compare.

[J_New]

I do understand what you are saying, Sim, and I'm sure that you are right in that a ppd then would have established an emotional depth to the subsequent events. However, I haven't read the book for many years, so I am responding purely to the ballet  - I didn't even read the synopsis on the cast list  - and for me the narrative was very clear and I did feel sympathy for the creature.  Agreed it is not MacMillan, but it shouldn't  be - Scarlett is finding his own voice. I enjoyed it far more than I'd expected to, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other cast to see if I feel any differently!

Edited May 6, 2016 by J_New

[Sim]

Jacky, it shouldn't be MacMillan, nor could it be, but I am just comparing what makes a choreographer a genius, or great, compared to a good one. It is those small details. Of course, it is very clear on a surface level that Victor looks at the creature, is horrified and the creature runs off. But there is no chance for the creature to show us how deeply sad and rejected he feels, and how this reaction to him will affect the rest of his sad existence on this earth. Nor is there any chance for Victor to impart his deep disgust to the creature, and therefore his rejection of him. There is an 'aaarrrggghhh' moment and that's about it. I just think that if time were taken at this juncture, it would make the narrative and its deeper meanings make more sense...and perhaps we would feel sorry for the creature from the moment he comes alive, instead of having to wait until much later in the ballet, which for me dilutes the whole thing.

[J_New]

Yes, I do understand. Maybe if Act 1 were pruned a little (the harlots?) then there would be time for this, and it would certainly add the emotional depth that many people are missing. Am I right that more dancing was added for Jack in 'Alice' the second time around? In that case, who knows?  Wednesday was a thought-provoking evening for me, at least - I found myself mulling over a lot of things on the way home - not in the emotional way I often do after other ballets, but in an analytical way. I'm definitely looking forward to my next viewing!

[Lindsay]

If I were Liam Scarlett or Kevin O'Hare, I might actually be more troubled by Mr Crisp's review than Mr Monahan's.  If ever there was a case of damning with faint praise.

 

For the first time in my experience I find myself agreeing with the great man.  It is a mystery why this full-length commission was ever given to a choreographer whose shorter narrative work has been so consistently derivative, hackneyed, literal and downright dull.  Bizarre indeed....

[FLOSS]

I seem to recall that the critics to a man were very dismissive about MacMillan's Manon when it was premiered. The most famous put down came from Arlene Croce  who said that the ballet was merely a series of Sibley and Dowell pas de deux. Other critics were rarely more enthusiastic about it. However the public liked the ballet  and it improved as it was tightened up and various unnecessary characters were removed and the company as a whole wore it in. It became much more interesting after Seymour and Wall danced Manon and de Grieux and Dowell danced Lescaut. The whole work suddenly acquired new possibilities in performance. Remember Manon was not let loose upon an unsuspecting world before it had been given the once over by de Valois herself. She suggested the drunken pas de deux to lighten the ballet a bit.

 

I think that Mr Monahan said that Frankenstein is the worst new ballet he had ever seen. All I can say is lucky him. He is either very young or he  has led a remarkably sheltered life. It's far from being the worse one that I have seen. I wonder whether the work was given a run through before the AD because it should have been and there should have been some trusted people who know what Scarlett  was trying to achieve sent up into the Amphitheatre to see how the ballet actually reads in the theatre and report back on  what registers and what does not. But even with that you can't know how a ballet actually works until it is put in front of the paying public. The ballet is not the disaster that Mr Monahan declares it to be, but it is not a masterpiece either. Liam Scarlett should see what it looks like in the recesses of the amphitheatre and think about what he needs to change. If there are things that don't register it's because they happen too quickly. Rehearsal  room time and theatrical time in the auditorium are very different things. Actions and gestures take time to register the further away you are from the stage. This may seem blindingly obvious to you but it seems to be something about which choreographers, even experienced ones, seem blissfully unaware. 

 

I look forward to seeing it in a revised form where all the choreography which is not social dancing required by the narrative actually tells me something about the characters and their relationship with each other or furthers the narrative. At the moment  the ballet is trapped in a great deal of unnecessary detail a bit like the form in the marble which the sculptor sees and no one else can until the statue is completed. I think that it would help Scarlett and others if they could see some of Anthony Tudor's greatest works because of his ability to combine naturalistic body language with classical ballet in a way that no one has managed to the same degree. He should not be afraid of simple gestures and steps either. Now I am off to see what the second cast makes of the choreography and what I make of them.

Edited May 6, 2016 by FLOSS

[alison]

It seems I missed a few moments as I was standing quite a way around to the side on the left, so I didn't see the creature watching Victor tear up his journal; I could only see Victor.

I think a lot of people sitting on the left will have missed quite a few things - it seemed to me that the production had a distinct bias in that direction. In particular, Act II needs - reblocking, is that the word? - because a lot of the significant action appeared to be taking place behind the proscenium arch. It wasn't my impression that people on the right would have had the same problem.

[RuthE]

I was sitting on Amphitheatre Left with a minimally restricted view (end of row E) and I felt I missed quite a lot, considering that I usually find that seat to have an unrestricted view.  When the creature was watching Frankenstein from that side, I was aware of its presence because of moving shadows, but couldn't actually see it.  Which made it even creepier, in fact, but I'd rather have been able to see.  I also couldn't really see Victor in his bed, at the opening of Act 2.

[alison]

By the way, am I the only one to spot La Sylphide in among the mix of those ballets already mentioned?

[J_New]

On the seating issue, I was on the right and missed the murders of Elizabeth and Henry on the stairs . In fact, I missed the stairs .....

[alison]

Ah, yes, of course.

[LinMM]

I find it rather disturbing that important actions in a ballet can be completely missed unless you are practically sitting dead centre!!

 

But I do find it hard to believe that a major ballet company like the Royal wouldn't have given the choreographer of a brand new ballet time in the theatre to see how it was looking from the audience point of view.

 

Probably not every single angle can be accounted for true........and that is the price one pays( or does not pay as it were) for officially restricted view seats but I do think most things should be visible from most seats!!

[Fonty]

I think that Mr Monahan said that Frankenstein is the worst new ballet he had ever seen. All I can say is lucky him. He is either very young or he  has led a remarkably sheltered life.

 

He must be a huge fan of Wayne McGregor, that's all I can say!  And maybe Ashley Page was before his time. 

 

Reading this thread, I would say that most people seem enthusiastic about it.  It's obviously not perfect, but the majority seem to have enjoyed it.  What was the applause like at the end?

[Scheherezade]

I was on the front right of the amphitheatre and caught, I think, everything that went on or, certainly, everything that has been mentioned by previous posters. No doubt this informed my impressions of the work overall and the Creature in particular. And, Fonty, I felt extremely sorry for the Creature at almost every point, even allowing for his murdering sprees.

 

I share Floss' incomprehension that Mark Monahan has not seen a single new work worse than this one. I have lost count of the number that I have seen. They have, variously, been self-regarding, inane, aesthetically displeasing, mind-numbingly tedious and deeply unsatisfying. I would not apply any of these epithets to Frankenstein. Its faults can easily be rectified by judicious pruning here and fleshing out there.

 

I am not sure at what age or what stage in their choreographic careers Macmillan and Ashton delivered their best work. Scarlett has been criticised and, by some, written off as a narrative choreographer on the basis that since he has already choreographed a number of works for a variety of companies he has enough experience to deliver works of unfailing narrative genius and if Frankenstein falls short of this definition this must point to a lack of narrative flair on Scarlett's part.

 

Whatever. Despite his back catalogue, he is still very young and although he is not quite there yet, he has, for me, shown that he is more than capable of reaching that holy grail. Although still flawed, his work uses a dramatic arc to engage the emotions. As a result, I find it more empathetic and less distancing than the more academic approach of most of his contemporaries and I hope that Scarlett is given all the help and encouragement necessary to fully realise his very real potential.

[Jane S]

No, he said it was the least enjoyable full-evening work he has ever seen the Royal Ballet perform - a much less sweeping condemnation.

 

Surely by now the RB must have a plan of the Opera House stage showing which bits of it can be seen by everyone/most people/hardly anyone? You'd think it would be given to every choregrapher on day 1.

[Scheherezade]

 

Reading this thread, I would say that most people seem enthusiastic about it.  It's obviously not perfect, but the majority seem to have enjoyed it.  What was the applause like at the end?

 

From where I was sitting the applause was thunderous.

[Duck]

From where I was sitting the applause was thunderous.

 

The same from where I was sitting, and the applause increased further when Liam Scarlett came on stage.

[Scheherezade]

No, he said it was the least enjoyable full-evening work he has ever seen the Royal Ballet perform - a much less sweeping condemnation.

 

 

 

Apologies for the misquote, Jane, but my comments still stand. A slightly different emphasis perhaps but equally sweeping, I'd have said.