Totally unprofessional review of Smoletov vrt (SNG Drama, 2006)
Photo courtesy of SNG Drama.
I have very mixed feelings about Smoletov vrt. I think it's the worst (of all the good performances) one I've seen this year at Drama. It's not that it was totally unenjoyable - but rather that it's half way between everything. It's entitled a comedy, yet for the most part of the first and second act there is very little comedy, more bitterness and regret and some frustration.
The play begins with the daughter asking what is longing. This sets the mood of the first act. (Having seen The Brothers Karamazov, where the play begins with the most important words in the world of Dostoevsky - Does good exist or does it not? (a very crude translation, I admit) - I half-expected this question about the meaning of longing to be quintessential for this play.) The question, however, has very little bearing on the later events.
The second act has two high-points (lasting only a couple of minutes) where the script explodes with witty comments and these parts are what I enjoyed the most. Apart from the funny bits you get more insight into the family relationships and the story about a mother with two daughters is told in its entirety. The plot is very similar to The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov and several references to the play are made. Perhaps Meta Hočever meant to write a Slovenian based remake of the original play? (She failed, because her play fails to have the dramatic effect of Chekhov and is not funny enough to be a comedy.)
The last act seems to be there solely to say that the family lost their cherry orchard and that they now have nowhere to live. The mother suddenly (in one year) develops severe dementia and is unable to take care of herself, but she still knows how to dress and dance Argentinean tango (the actors aren't very good dancers, either.)
(Apart from the dancing) I can't blame the actors, because their performances were solid if not good, but the material they were given has little (if anything) to offer. Also, the abrupt changes in the behaviour of the characters are not explained. (One moment one of the daughters, the actress, hates her step-sister, the opera singer, and a year later they are seemingly good friends. They hated each other for ten years, but the one extra year seemed to have done all the difference. Or did it?)
Final verdict: see something else, if you have the time to go to the theatre. Even Fužinski bluz is better than this. If you want to see a comedy, try something else.
4 Comments:
What is a professional review? I don't know.
I have a similar opinion on Drama: Even its worst plays are decent. Why is that, I again don't know - what do I know? -, perhaps it's because of the rich set of good actors that play there.
But thank you on the review. No Smoletov vrt for me then.
The "unprofessional" part was added for my own amusement.
Well, I can't remember having seen a really bad play. That's probably because the theatres cannot afford it. One play costs much (money and time) and with the state giving less and less financial support to the theatres they really cannot afford to put a bad play on stage.
I guess you are right. One consequence of lowering the state support could also be in the higher production of plays, I think, - and thus a drop in quality?
Thinking about which was the most funny play I saw, I think it had been Klinika Tivoli - when I was 10 or so - at least till I reached a more mature age when I saw Sen Kresne Noči with Janez Škof. Now that was funny. Hillarious³.
Really really funny plays I see rarely.
But I agree, the plays can also be very very good, and not funny at the same time. However, at least in theater I prefer laughter (it's theater for crying out loud) above being too serious and dramatic. Again, it has to be smart funny for me, not cheap funny. So, no Špas Teater for me either. But perhaps I am doing them injustice, really, I was there twice, however I didn't like it.
The state-supported theatres have (as far as I know) kept the number of their premieres per year constant. Perhaps there's a play or two more on the smaller stages (mala Drama, mali MGL) but the main-stage performances have been kept at the same level for years.
There's a noticeable increase in the commercial (=non state-funded) theatres in the last years, but they are themselves responsible for their own survival and can affort to make an unsuccessful performance even less.
Theatre is not just another venue for a cabaret with "smart" jokes and minus the clowns. You should see a realy good tragedy, as well. Not a dry eye among the viewers, if the play and actors are good enough.
[ Post a Comment ]