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Topic: 'THE HARD PROBLEM' REVIEWS - have you seen Damien's new play?

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Marvellous Molonian Moderator
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RE: 'THE HARD PROBLEM' REVIEWS - have you seen Damien's new play?
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Glad to see a review that doesn't mention Damien being half naked!

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You're right Rosie, distracting as it is to read the oodles of comments on Damien being ripped and getting half naked in the play, I want to hear more about his acting performance!

I am excited to read that not only is this play dealing head on with a subject that interests me, but also (excited as a pianist) that Bach's piano music intersperses the scenes. I read somewhere that if the body was used as a metaphor for the history of music, Mozart is the heart, Beethoven the hands, Wagner the mouth, John Cage the left foot plaaced far fprward and Bach the brain. (I'd argue Chopin the soul). Because this play was years in the making and is bringing well considered and complex ideas to the stage, I doubt Tom Stoppard used Bach by accident. I'd love to know if he stumbled across some research on neuroscience and Bach. Or if he is making comment on the non material transcendent effect of Bach music.

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Marvellous Molonian Moderator
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As much as I'm looking forward to seeing Damien in a state of undress, I don't want people to think he is just a pretty face and a hot body! We all know what an incredible talent he has, I'd like other people to see that too.

It certainly sounds like the play is going to be an immersive experience, not just the words but the visuals and the music too. Only 4 weeks until I get to experience it myself!

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Exactly Rosie, I feel the same way. how exciting not long now! I really cannot wait to hear back from forumers who see the play!

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Good review for the play from the British Theatre Guide: "From start to finish, the various elements that make up The Hard Problem are perfectly balanced ensuring a gripping and exhilarating night at the theatre"



The leading independent web site on British theatre

The Hard Problem

 

Tom Stoppard

 

National Theatre (Dorfman Theatre)

From 21 January 2015

Review by Philip Fisher

 

Olivia Vinall (Hilary), Johan PerssonDamien Molony (Spike) and Olivia Vinall (Hilary), Johan PerssonParth Thakerar (Amal) Vera Chok (Bo) Lucy Robinson (Ursula) Rosie Hilal (Julia) Olivia Vinall (Hilary) and Damien Molony (Spike), Johan Persson
1
Damien Molony (Spike) and Olivia Vinall (Hilary)
Credit: Johan Persson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This dazzling new play is a powerful reminder of the unique skills that the stage has missed during the nine year period since Sir Tom Stoppard's last new play, Rock 'n' Roll enjoyed its première at the Royal Court.

The Hard Problem proves that he has not lost his touch and also acts as a reminder that nobody else creates plays that are anything like this ever-ambitious playwright’s masterworks.

The knack that he possesses is to write about deep philosophical and scientific subjects in a manner so accessible that we mere mortals can not only understand them but enjoy the experience at the same time.

On this occasion, the subject matter is consciousness and its close cousins, egotism, altruism and hedge-funding with a dose of religion versus evolution chucked in to spice the mix.

There is so much to consider and enjoy that it will remain with viewers long after they leave the theatre and this critic would happily have returned the following night for a repeat performance had the invitation been there.

Leading the cast, under the expert direction of Sir Nicholas Hytner enjoying his swansong while Artistic Director, is Olivia Vinall enticingly demonstrating in a contemporary piece that she is more than just a marvellous Desdemona.

The actress proves extraordinarily personable and humane as Hilary, a scientist working at the Krohl Institute for Brain Science.

In a delicious irony, the two-faced benefactor who created the research centre, played by Anthony Calf, just happens to be a financial whizz on course to do as well out of the market crash of seven years ago as George Soros.

With these ingredients, there was every chance of a deep learning experience for the 100 minute playing time. The surprise is that the lessons are leavened with some really good human interest stories.

These involve more than their fair share of another of the evening's topics: coincidence. Hilary has a dark secret in the form of a teen pregnancy, long forgotten by all but herself, which shapes her thoughts and behaviour in ways that do not seem rational.

In particular, she enjoys a series of trysts and debates with her American erstwhile professor and colleague/rival Damien Maloney as Spike. While they are happy to exchange quips about game theory, the sparks only really start flying when religion becomes the central debating topic.

On another level, career progression in business and science are cleverly contrasted. At an early stage, Hilary and Parth Thakerar playing Amal compete for the same job and then diverge within the wide Krohl empire.

This presents a fine opportunity for viewers to consider and compare the worlds of pure research and high finance or, to use a word that may not find favour in some circles, greed.

With Dara and now this play, Sir Nicholas Hytner is retiring from the National in a blaze of glory and setting the bar for Rufus Norris at Olympian height.

From start to finish, the various elements that make up The Hard Problem are perfectly balanced ensuring a gripping and exhilarating night at the theatre, which is likely to prove one of the hottest tickets in town.

For those that do not have the good fortune to see this play on stage, it will be broadcast as part of the NT Live programme in over 550 UK cinemas and more worldwide on 16 April.



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Damiac
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This is not a very favourable review of the play...but at last! - some proper comment about Damien's performance and Spike.  I like....smile

"The best performance comes from Damien Molony as Spike, the intellectual snob who has no time for any idea that does not accord with his own way of thinking and who is the occasional lover of the central character, Hilary. Spike’s real name is Spencer and the fact that he calls himself Spike is telling indeed. He fancies himself as a ladies man (really, he thinks that any woman would be glad to have sex with him, even a lesbian in a happy relationship) and appears in various stages of unlikely undress. Molony is excellent at being the bad boy, and he also captures perfectly the cynical side of an academic/ thinker who despises those with whom he disagrees but with whom he is not above having sex. He embodies the notion of Egoism."

http://britishtheatre.com/review-the-hard-problem-dorfman-theatre-2stars/



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Marvellous Molonian Moderator
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"....he thinks that any woman would be glad to have sex with him..."

I'm saying nothing..! ;o)

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Saw this in my Google alerts fifi, thanks for posting!
The paragraph higlighting Damien's performance is heartening.

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Damiac
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Egoism is his another name... ;) Thanks Fifi for posting that, it always brings smile on my face when I read good review about Damien :)

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Marvellous Molonian Moderator
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It's great to have some more insights into the character of Spike. He sounds like the perfect foil for the character of Hilary.

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Thanks for finding that fifi!  Love that his real name is Spencer, and that Spike is HIS chosen nickname, which makes total sense.  I suspected Spike was a very deliberate choice of name, very egotistical alpha-male, reflective of his character.  Happy to see so much praise for Damien despite the unfair comparisons to Stoppard's previous works, the polarizing concepts that might lend bias, and him playing a character who could be completely unlikable.  But knowing Damien's talent, he's won everyone over.  Beyond the critic's reviews, fans on Twitter have described Spike as a drunk bastard, unlikeable, amoral... but they've all praised him for doing it really well, and saying they thoroughly enjoyed his performance. Sure there is many mention and appraising of his semi-nude physique, but I'm certain his talent shines in giving the character depth and nuance so that he isn't just a 2D cartoonization of egoism. 



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A couple of reviews on twitter - and a lovely fan photo!

thp-51.jpg

 

thp-50.jpg

 

thp-49.jpg

 

thp-48.jpg



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Marvellous Molonian Moderator
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Jonathan Coy giving Damien bunny ears is hilarious!

The more I read about Damien's performance the more excited I am about going to see the play. I'm getting new glasses next week all the better to see Damien with!

I haven't seen any reviews from forumers, unless I've missed them? Has anyone been yet? Isn't there a big group going soon?

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Damiac
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Rosie, we are going on 28th to see this play with big group! smile

Lovely tweets and photo! Hah! Those bunny ears!biggrin 



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Marvellous Molonian Moderator
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Exciting Jozie! Can't wait to hear what you think about it. I'm going the week after

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This is a fascinating piece by Professor Armand Leroi, who is giving a talk at the National Theatre tomorrow night on the themes surrounding The Hard Problem.

Well worth the read

Tom Stoppard's The Hard Problem | Armand Leroi



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Damiac
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That makes for some really interesting reading....thanks, domino.

The themes around this play are fascinating, as are the contradictions of the reactions to it.  I've got the impression from some reviews that Stoppard's position is evident in the play...although not everyone seems to agree what that is!  so I'm glad to see the comment - "Stoppard’s hands rest so lightly on the scales that to whom he gives the laurels I cannot say". 

I'm neither a philosopher or a scientist but I pretty much agree with the "you may as well as say it’s pixie dust that makes us free" attitude - and am fairly happy to do so.  I'm not so sure I want to actually find the answers (I'm also not convinced that all the answers can found in this reality!) but it's really interesting to mull it over...so I'm really looking foward to seeing how the ideas play out on stage.

Not long to wait now....only 11 days!! (not that I'm counting......)



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Damiac
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11 days!!! YAY!

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Damiac
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This time next week I'll be in London....

eek!!



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Damiac
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fifi wrote:

This time next week I'll be in London....

eek!!


 I know fifi I know!!! One week..... yay



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Review from The Lancet

The Hard Problem review | 'Conscious Craving' | The Lancet

thp-53.jpg



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Damiac
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"The performances are engaging and confident, particularly Vinall and Molony as the clever and abrasive Spike."

Can't wait to see this play next week, I think I will agree with this. So much there have been talk about Molony's performance that it can't be nothing but success and filled with molonymagic.

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I am looking forward to hearing back from all the forumers who are going to see Damien in the play on Saturday!
If only someone could take a #ninjasnap of The Hard Abdomen we've been hearing so much about..

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Review from I,SCIENCE magazine (The science magazine of Imperial College)

Well worth the read, and nice mention of comedy in the play.

THE HARD PROBLEM AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE | I,SCIENCE Magazine Review



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Fifi, Jozie, Laura, Su, Becca and any other forumers going to see DaMo tonight - I hope you have a fabulous time watching the play and hopefully at the stage door afterward!

Look forward to hearing all about it and your thoughts on the play



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