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

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RE: 'THE HARD PROBLEM' REVIEWS - have you seen Damien's new play?
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Absolutely thrilled Damien is appearing in Australian cinemas !

A review from The Western Australian.

"Indeed, the younger generation which flocks to eye-popping films about A.I. such as Ex Machina could learn a thing or too from a man who wields the most devastating special effects of all: the punch and counterpunch of two clever, articulate people."

Stoppard returns in drama showcase

Mark Naglazas
May 13, 2015, 6:00 am
Stoppard returns in drama showcaseOlivia Vinall in Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem

 

The last thing I want to see at the movies is a play — not an artful cinematic adaptation such as A Streetcar Named Desire, Glengarry Glen Ross or Doubt but a camera planted in front of actors and filmed with a live audience, replete with coughs, chortles and applause.

 

 

When the smell of popcorn wafts through the theatre, all around me there’s the sound of soft drinks being slurped (and waistlines expanding) and the coming attractions roll, I’m psyched, indeed, cine-psyched. I’m ready to be whisked off to another world, pushed along by swooping cameras, heartbeat-quickening editing and soaring music.

 

 

However, my prejudice against recorded plays has been shaken up by the mouthwatering line-up for this season’s National Theatre Live, which boasts so many top-drawer British stars in classic works you’ll be tempted to forgo that credit card-straining, culture- vulture trip to London and winter at home.

 

 

On offer is Hamlet with Imitation Game Oscar-nominee Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of the suicidal philosopher-prince; another Academy Award nominee, 12 Years A Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor, stars in an update of the medieval masterpiece Everyman; Tom Hiddleston (aka Loki in Marvel’s Thor series) is taking on Coriolanus; and Ralph Fiennes lets rip as the firebrand free- thinker Jack Tanner in George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman.

 

 

And if that’s not enough to lure movie buffs from the latest bit of Marvel mayhem or wrench the remote from couch potatoes, there is an encore showing of The Audience, in which Helen Mirren once again impersonates Queen Elizabeth II in a history-skimming chat show about the monarch and her prime ministers written by Peter Morgan (The Queen) and directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliott, The Hours).

 

 

Esteemed actors in classic plays or, in the case of The Audience, a vehicle for a great star is one thing; a new work by a major playwright is quite another, as is the case with this year’s stand-out production, Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem.

 

 

It gives this new form of watching theatre great significance because we are unlikely to see a live performance of The Hard Problem because Stoppard is almost never staged here.

 

 

After a pair of historical-cum-political works, The Coast of Utopia trilogy (2002) and Rock’n’Roll (2006), Stoppard has returned to the playful philosophical comedies of his early and middle years, such Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974) and Arcadia (1993), his last major hit.

 

 

In this latest intellectual boxing match, Stoppard pits a vivacious psychologist and believer in a higher power against a battery of scientists who are convinced everything we believe to be unique in mankind — altruism, love, faith, sorrow, even consciousness — is the product of biology.

 

 

For the next two hours Hilary (beautifully played by Olivia Vinall) argues persuasively that consciousness does not simply spring from “a vast assembly of nerve cells” (to quote Francis Crick) while the materialists, among them her former teacher and boyfriend Spike (Damien Molony) mock her clinging to pre-Darwinian ideas. In the meantime, the hedge-fund billionaire who set up the lavish institute where Olivia does her research (“It has a gym!” as characters keep reminding us) reveals he is not the philanthropist he likes us to believe. Rather he is using the findings to exploit the stockmarket, predicting how people will behave when faced with turmoil and risk.

 

 

While the meat of the play is the scientific and philosophical debate about the nature of consciousness (“the hard problem” of the title) the heart is a sub-plot involving the young Olivia giving up her child for adoption so she could pursue her studies.

 

 

She talks about altruism but this act was as self-interested as the value-less materialists she criticises.

 

 

Reviews for The Hard Problem have been mixed, with some critics complaining Stoppard hasn’t created fully rounded characters but mouthpieces for scientific and philosophical positions, and others arguing that the debate is shallow.

 

 

And, certainly, on a single viewing The Hard Problem does not feel like top-drawer Stoppard. It lacks his signature wordplay and too much of the drama is carried by dialogue, with one strand, dealing with the financial crisis and the greed of the super-rich, undernourished.

 

 

However, I have a feeling that The Hard Problem will yield greater insights on a second viewing, with Stoppard, who is now 77 and more serious than the Wildean wit who exploded on to the stage with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, probing serious issues about the nature of man as we sit on the cusp of artificial intelligence.

 

 

Indeed, the younger generation which flocks to eye-popping films about A.I. such as Ex Machina could learn a thing or too from a man who wields the most devastating special effects of all: the punch and counterpunch of two clever, articulate people.

 

 

 



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domino wrote:

is there a purpose to such extreme states of undress (apart from distraction!) to the play? and is it making extra commentary on the themes of the play (subliminally) somehow (like how the audience experience things.. ) Not sure if that makes sense but Stoppard is transcendentally clever in his writing and the music, structure and more than the dialogue would be relevant... and not be coincidental...so I am wondering if there is something in that Spike is undressed so much, not just that it is part of the scene.


Teehee to all the responses to this, but I guess you could say that Spike is very open in all ways: with his beliefs, understanding, intellect and desires.  It'd be a pretty amusing and tenuous link, but I suppose you could argue that he is also physically open/this is in some way a physical representation of this aspect of Spike.  Although I thought several times the poor man was trying to wrap himself up in that little dressing gown, so...?!  Surely that counters it!?!  The fact that the play isn't the most concerned with fleshing out the personalities of the characters works against there being any subliminal message though!

I am afraid this question mostly made me imagine a situation when they first started to rehearse the play in which someone was trying to convince Damien there was a more profound reason for lack of attire!!  No, really - it fits in with the artistic aim of the play!  Nah, I mean it does fit the plot, but though you can argue anything if you wish, it's hard to really suggest there's more to it than that!!

I really enjoyed many insightful thoughts about the play in this thread.  I just wanted to thank you all for sharing.  I think by mistake I sort of did kind of my thoughts in the other thread with the questionnaire in it so I don't suppose I should repeat them here.  Overall though, I really liked (though didn't love) the play.  I found its ideas interesting and as I have said I absolutely LOVED the use of Bach and the light-dancer.  I mean, for me, a really great play has something more viscerally exciting about it - the emotion, the power of the characters, whatever.  This was ideas-based.  And another great thing about theatre can be incredible, or dangerous performances... but I didn't feel anyone had enough to work with to give an incredible performance (admittedly Olivia Vinall was impressive the way she carried the play, but it wasn't and wasn't able for me to be a wow performance, given the play itself.)  But I found the play thought provoking, witty and engaging.  And in terms of Damien, I thought it impressive that he had more impact upon the play than his stage-time would suggest.  Of course this is because his arguments with Hilary were pivotal, but not only that: I think because of a presence.  And he was for me the most likeable character, despite a number of unlikeable traits!  But the play wasn't an acting showcase for anyone (at least that's my feeling.)

When I say I loved the Bach so much, the reason was that this added a something more to the play for me.  Like - the arguments Spike and Hilary had didn't really get them anywhere in terms of understanding: they both knew what they believed and stuck with it.  Neither ever had a hope of convincing the other of their way.  The play doesn't really pick a side or make a statement either.  But in some way I felt that Bach's music made a (admittedly far more ambiguous!) statement for the play because these preludes were composed in a kind of "scientific" way, but are they merely that?  Of course not!  It's hard to put it into words, but while I actually agree with Spike's viewpoint - that we are explicable and you can reduce us down to base reasons, we all feel there's something more... and there it is, in the music, in a human's creation.  I dunno... I find it hard to explain.  But for me, the music added a depth.  I don't even know whether it was supposed to, as it was in scene changes rather than totally being a part of the play.  And the light structure which too... well it reminded me of DNA, but I suppose it was based on something else scientific I don't immediately recognise (it was probably something really obvious now and I am going to look like even more of an idiot than I do already!?!)  You see, was the music supposed to mean so much as I felt from it?  Someone else might not even recognise Bach in the same way the light structure was mostly just pretty lights dancing to the music for me.... so....???  And you can also strip music down to it's scientific reasons for why it sounds good, cultural reasons for why we feel from it and neurological responses to it (I went to a lecture by a neuroscientist and in brain scans, music causes activity in deep, unconscious areas of the brain - it was fascinating stuff!)... so you could go on and on and on.

I also met Damien after the play.  I don't know whether I meant to or not.  I actually went up to the high walkway after the play to look down at the making sets and stuff (A massive warehouse!  Hard to believe it is part of the theatre!  Did anyone else have a look?)  I'd just made a day trip to London and after the walkway I had some time so used the NT free wifi to see if there were any interesting films I could fit in before my train home... and Damien came out of the stage door.  Every fibre of my being was screaming to me "Stay where you are!" but then I thought you should always do things if there is a choice between doing and not doing, so I went over, but although I didn't think I was flustered, I guess I was taken off guard as all I seemed to say was something along the lines of that the play had interesting ideas and thank you around 50 times.  Oh dear.  What an idiot.  My mind apparently was a blank.  Oh well.  Damien was very polite, asked my name, wrote "thank you for coming" (while I was just silent) and did a photo which I had to take myself because I was on my own.  How embarrassing!  I thought I wasn't going to be able to take it for laughing at the ridiculousness of life...  If you want to see his face: http://tinypic.com/r/aws3n5/8  Not sure if I'll leave that there, or even whether I'm allowed?!  Anyway, he was extremely polite and lovely and even asked how to spell my name.  hahaha.  Life truly is embarrassing, eh!  But I'm glad I said hello.  I hope he didn't mind it, after the last performance too.  I'd hate to be irritating, but ho hum, it is done.  There's something not done in the name of altruism by me, eh.  no  Funny how sometimes it is at times like this when you don't really expect things that they happen, and other times when you're really expecting something, it doesn't... life, eh!



-- Edited by littleimpulse on Thursday 28th of May 2015 04:34:17 PM

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So nice to hear you met Damien after play littleimpulse! I went to see THP few months back and met him too and I agree with you 100% there's something about that man that even you have think about what would you say to him if you meet him, and the moment you do, your mind just goes blank biggrin And I really liked the pic thanks for sharing it!aww

"..they both knew what they believed and stuck with it.  Neither ever had a hope of convincing the other of their way.  The play doesn't really pick a side or make a statement either."

You're right, they are giving different kind of perspectives, theories and ideas in the play, but the play doesn't want to outrun anyone out completely so you can decide as watcher what to think. Or at least that how it felt to me, which is why I think Olivia was amazing when she carried on play like that and make it interesting. Damien balanced Olivia's character with his humour and wit, cause Hilary which was pretty heavy character.



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Would love to have met Damien too, but so chicken... Possibly come across confident but know I'd be a jibbering wreck unless sozzled... Maybe can team up with someone on a certain day for next play... I'm sure he would be so lovely but didn't want him to feel as uncomfortable as I would be...

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I was totally flustered when I met Damien too! That's the Molony Effect!

 

Cute pic, littleimpulse! Thanks for sharing it! 



-- Edited by RPLovesIpswich on Thursday 28th of May 2015 07:01:32 PM

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So true Rosiemolonyeffect

 

Oh Kallie, there's absolutely no reason to chicken when you got change to meet him! smile He's very lovely and he see if you are nervous and sort of takes control of the conversation if needed so you wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. My tactic is that I always say goodbyes and not him after I have said all I wanted to said (even it's mostly jibberjabber mixed with few relevant points) so there wouldn't be any awkward silence between us. I'm usually very confident person but somehow I know that even I would meet him many times I would be very flustered every time I see him and childishly excited about it, that is the feeling when you met your idol biggrin 



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Hi littleimpulse, welcome2

Thank you for joining us here at the forum and for such an epic first post - wow!

There is so much I want to say in reply but for me the thing that I must respond to is Bach - I've mentioned it several times on the forum in relation to the play and it's awesome to meet someone else who feels the music choice.. I think I said it somewhere else that if piano music could be represented in human terms, Bach could be the brain (whereas something like Chopin the soul.. maybe Rachmaninov the heart?) But i like what you are saying about the preludes.. for me they are always returning 'home'.. neuroscientific studies of Bach music effects would be interesting, there are studies of the effects of music on water, it would be fascinating to see the difference in 'structure' between Bach and other music.

Awesome to read that you met Damien afterwards and what a lovely, lovely photo! SO happy to see that, there has been a lack of fan stage door pics, so this brings a smile. We do have a THP photo thread, if you felt give to share it here, I feel it deserves a special mention all on its own! (and it would make a great avatar for your profile page!)

Thank you for sharing!



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I agree with your thoughts on the play JozieMozie... Although, while I'd usually prefer a play to leave you to think and draw your own conclusions, in this case I sort of felt I wanted to know what it felt.  Did anyone else?  I think it was because the play was so focussed on this debate, it seemed strange to get nowhere at all and not express some sort of conclusion or moral (even if not a solution of course.)

I mean I think I know what the play (as in Tom Stoppard) felt.  What a terrible thing to say!  You should never surmise that you know how someone feels.  But the play at least seemed to suggest it had Hilary's beliefs...  She's the main character and is supposed to be the most sympathetic in terms of character and viewpoint I think... Even though she wasn't really to me... but it didn't go so far as to say her beliefs were right.  Maybe it is a strength that it didn't.  Given the arguments in the play, I wonder whether it could be Directed to come across as leaning more strongly toward one side or the other...?

Kallie wrote:

Would love to have met Damien too, but so chicken... Possibly come across confident but know I'd be a jibbering wreck unless sozzled... Maybe can team up with someone on a certain day for next play... I'm sure he would be so lovely but didn't want him to feel as uncomfortable as I would be...


Aww, Kallie, hugI know I just joined, but I'd meet with you.  aww  I was at this play alone and this year have taken it upon myself to start going to plays on my own when I can if I really want to see them!  The result of which has been seeing a few fabulous plays and being left with no money whatsoever! biggrin  I empathise though: my favourite actor is Ben Whishaw and I have seen him in 3 plays, 2 of them for several performances, but have never attempted to meet him... and I don't think I ever could.  I can't get over the idea that I feel he must hate meeting people and the idea of inflicting my presence... upon anyone! 

I very nearly stayed rooted to the spot since I wasn't beside the stage door yesterday & I'm not a confident person at all, but I went over and Damien was very polite and lovely.  Even though I didn't say anything interesting or manage to articulate what I actually thought of the play and then went and giggled stupidly when it came to trying to take a photo, it was happy.  And it doesn't really matter if you have nothing to say or don't get out what you might've liked - only to your own pride!  I'm sure Mr Molony forgets anyone by the next day! biggrin  But you'll have a happy memory for always.  

On the flip side, it is only a brief meeting and far more important is experiencing the play.  Think how few people were at each performance.  Only in the hundreds of people ever got to see the particular performance you did live and indeed you alone got to see that particular performance from your seat and perspective, but you were there and have that unique experience will remain within you forever.  That's what it is all about. aww

Yeah, for me the play did need a bit more emotion...  I don't know how it could have gotten it but it is in the writing: I think it was a little too focussed on the science rather than on what that argument could make the audience feel.  I mean: What is consciousness?  I really enjoyed the play, but a play with that theme, on paper, really it ought to be able to be completely shattering, no?  Surely it ought to be a play that could make you look at the world, at people, at yourself in a new way?  Potentially..?

But did I say I loved the Bach and the light-dance!  And the ideas in the play were interesting.



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Aww, missed these comments! Very happy for you littleimpulse, FABULOUS picture. You look so cute and happy!  Great serendipitous moment. as domino said, not many stage doors this time...

I met Damien last year and I have to say I had an opposite effect in that I felt really comfortable talking with him. Which is scary in that I could have talked with him for an hour and I did ramble and gesticulate with my hands way too much!  I was with 10 other of his fans, all had met him multiple times/been at BH filming, and I was more nervous about them looking at me to see how I reacted than actually talking with Damien.  He really is gracious and lovely down-to-earth, he puts you at ease and really listens.  It's not true that he forgets you by the next day.  I'm sure next time he will recognize you and if he asked you how to spell your name then that almost guarantees he'll have an inkling about it next time.  So you, and Kallie, don't hesitate next play/stage door!  I will also mention that I saw him 3 times in that play (TBOAA), and the second time I saw him before the play (just said hi) and I was shaking like a leaf! Definitely molonyeffect  I was worried that time I would be a mess trying to talk to him again (but there was no way I wasn't going to try!) Fortunately he did the Q&A after the play, and I asked a few questions then, and felt more at ease when talking to him at the stage door.  He photobombed my picture with William Gaminara, so it was a totally relaxed stage door that time.  Probably helped he'd had a beer. LOL

I seem to have put all my review into the Spike Questionnaire thread as well! And I have more I wanted to add in light of the comments the last few days, but I'll mostly be repeating/agreeing with everyone else and I'm quite fuzzy-headedly full of allergies at the moment.  However, I wanted to share a couple recent online reviews. Since most of the discussion that they relate to is over there, I feel I should just continue there...

 



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domino wrote:


There is so much I want to say in reply but for me the thing that I must respond to is Bach - I've mentioned it several times on the forum in relation to the play and it's awesome to meet someone else who feels the music choice.. I think I said it somewhere else that if piano music could be represented in human terms, Bach could be the brain (whereas something like Chopin the soul.. maybe Rachmaninov the heart?) But i like what you are saying about the preludes.. for me they are always returning 'home'.. neuroscientific studies of Bach music effects would be interesting, there are studies of the effects of music on water, it would be fascinating to see the difference in 'structure' between Bach and other music.


 Hello domino!  Thank you for the lovely welcome!  I'm sorry, I must have missed your post.  Maybe you posted while I was writing my reply so I missed that there had been another post?  I don't know? oops Anyway, I have seen it now! glitter  I love your representation of different composers in different and fitting... I suppose sort of emotional/intellectual terms.  Aww, Rachmaninov was the first composer I ever fell in love with as a child so you have my heart placing him as the heart for sure aww.  And I agree that he would equate to this for me also.  I can imagine there would be big differences in the response of different music as represented by water-waves.  There, I imagine (though I don't know!?!) it would be most especially affected by the harmonies, with more dissonant music looking very different?  So I don't know for example whether Bach would look too different to Mozart... but I'd be interested to see!

The lecture I was at was by a neuroscientist and she had measured responses to music and... I'm paraphrasing as it was a year or so ago now... but without looking for my notes, she spoke about music eliciting responses in deep, primal parts of our brain which are usually only activated by deep emotion.  She had found that music prompted involuntary and unconscious physiological responses we can't control in a way that little other external stimuli do.  I found it fascinating. aww

Thanks for the link to the photo thread too.  I'll take the picture there and sorry I put it in the wrong place - oops again!! *blush*  But as whimsyfox suggests, I really was so happy!  In fact I was so happy that rather than getting the tube after this I veritably skipped the hour walk to my next destination!  Thank you Damien!  Sorry and thank you!

whimsyfox wrote:

Fortunately he did the Q&A after the play, and I asked a few questions then... 


 Was there interesting discussion in the Q&A?  Is it written about anywhere?  I'd be interested to hear about it!  What did you ask?  What did everyone have to say?  Who was there answering?  So many questions!!  aww



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littleimpulse, just to clarify I am talking about last year's play, The Body of an American.  hmmm, now I can't remember if I posted something here.  I did a writeup on my flight home on my iPad.  It's a bit rambly. I can share it if you are interested.



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whimsyfox wrote:

littleimpulse, just to clarify I am talking about last year's play, The Body of an American.  hmmm, now I can't remember if I posted something here.  I did a writeup on my flight home on my iPad.  It's a bit rambly. I can share it if you are interested.


Oh dear!  My apologies whimsyfox - that shows you how closely I had read your post. no  Oops.  I suppose my mind was on this play even though really it is clear you meant another!  I would still be interested in hearing about it (you had a flight to get home?!  Gosh, dedication!!)  Unfortunately, for anything regarding any details of the play I would essentially need a summary of the details of the play for it to make any sense though..  ghost  (<- Somehow, he seemed most apt!?!)  Sorry again!!



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whimsy and littleimpulse, Oh my heart skipped a tiny beat for a tiny moment - for just a brief, glorious second I thought I may have missed a Damien Q&A for THP! le sigh....

littleimpulse, the boundaries in the topics in this area of the forum have all got a little blurred so please don't worry ! I just realised it was in this toipc we talked about Bach, but posted that long article in the other... ! All discussion is good so that is what matters the most

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Thanks to Tony Dallas Theatre Review on Blogger for his 'The Hard Problem' review. 

This resonates with me:

Stoppard is in his element here. The play does what good plays do: it takes a complicated idea and puts it in the crucible of human conflict. What was abstract is transposed onto human behavior, and in this crucible of human conflict, rigid ideas we might have held before (on one side of the issue or the other), are put in flux, and we find ourselves reexamining what is possibly to us the most seminal of questions: What exactly does it mean to be human?

Read the full review here



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Yes, that's a great summary! I know people have said the characters were shallow mouthpieces for ideas, and I felt that too after the first viewing. It took a second time through to see the nuances of character under the stereotypes. After the first viewing my head was full of the debates and discussions, and of conflict within each character. The exposed vs. hidden persons made the play much more complex than it appeared to be at first.

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I have to admit I never felt the characters to be mouthpieces.. the debating never felt putely to be the exposition of an argument either..the density of the ideas ..and the undercurrent.. and the 'what is not said' flood on all levels for me.. we've talked on the forum before about the play's structure reflecting the themes but is it also this reception of the play individually that is no accident? All art creates a feeling I guess. This is not just intellectual brain play or an intellectual brain play!.

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