(no subject)
Feeling pretty pathetic looking at my to do list at the moment- can we have Christmas in January please to allow me time to get myself sorted out! I'm going for small gains today, those little things I've been meaning to do for ages but aren't important enough to push themselves to the top of any list. I've got through quite a lot of work related ones so I though I'd take a break while I wait for our backup's backup to run and tick off a non-work one. My last review (until Saturday...)
It was quite a while ago but when you think that this play was basically meant to put the internet, and specifically Anonymous & LulzSec, on stage you will probably realise that 1) it was VERY strange and 2) talking about it is hard because it's three media changes- internet memes to theatre to blogging!
Teh Internet is Serious Business @ Royal Court (Downstairs)
So the first thing I'm going to say is that any play with a ballpit on stage is bound to have at least some positivies ESPECIALLY when characters appear and disappear through it. I think they did a pretty good job of trying to depict the inherent weirdness of the internet and memes and lolcats- grumpy cat & advice dog & pedobear & the socially awkward penguin are all characters (the cast all play memes and actual people and anonymous as a whole). Of course I have a deep suspicion that if the words I just typed din't mean anything toy ou then the whole play would be a brightly coloured mass of confusion because all the memes and catchphrases and ridiculousness are scattered throughout the plot.
It's very fast paced and uses a lot of music as well as some rather wonderful speeches which are entirely code (I was particularly impressed with Mustafa's actor who had a lot of these passages to memorise!)
The "plot" centres around LulzSec and Jake aka Topiary in particular and we watch him as he is in real life with his Mum shouting at him and his life seemingly going nowhere and then we also see him as he appears online- much more sophisticated and confident and taking the lead in situations and I think they did a great job of showing just how much that ability to be ANYONE can be so seductive especially when paired with a mantra that everything is for the lols.
It didn't shy away from the negative sides though, it showed the hate and the abuse just as much as the other stuff and there was an awful section where they took over the facebook page of a dead girl and it was incredibly uncomfortable. Plus of course later as reality in the form of the police come crashing the whole thing feels like a party that's gone on slightly too long and now it's all going wrong.
I don't know that it said anything new- sadly I suspect that the people who are mostly mystified by things like Anonymous weren't the ones watching the play and if they were it was so very much like life online I don't know that it would have showed them anything? But I liked the way it humanised the people involved- there was a great moment at the end when Jake & Mustafa met in person which really highlighted the way these close relationships and fantastical personalities actually were real people too underneath everything.
Most of the reviews at the time said it was slightly too long which I think I'd agree with but generally I thought it was a very valiant attempt at putting the internet on stage and dramatising a very modern story.
Current Mood: very sad it isn't Friday :-P HOBBIT TOMORROW!
(ps. I know I'm behind on #SeasonsReadings but I need to be at home to work out what my last purchase was!)
It was quite a while ago but when you think that this play was basically meant to put the internet, and specifically Anonymous & LulzSec, on stage you will probably realise that 1) it was VERY strange and 2) talking about it is hard because it's three media changes- internet memes to theatre to blogging!
Teh Internet is Serious Business @ Royal Court (Downstairs)
So the first thing I'm going to say is that any play with a ballpit on stage is bound to have at least some positivies ESPECIALLY when characters appear and disappear through it. I think they did a pretty good job of trying to depict the inherent weirdness of the internet and memes and lolcats- grumpy cat & advice dog & pedobear & the socially awkward penguin are all characters (the cast all play memes and actual people and anonymous as a whole). Of course I have a deep suspicion that if the words I just typed din't mean anything toy ou then the whole play would be a brightly coloured mass of confusion because all the memes and catchphrases and ridiculousness are scattered throughout the plot.
It's very fast paced and uses a lot of music as well as some rather wonderful speeches which are entirely code (I was particularly impressed with Mustafa's actor who had a lot of these passages to memorise!)
The "plot" centres around LulzSec and Jake aka Topiary in particular and we watch him as he is in real life with his Mum shouting at him and his life seemingly going nowhere and then we also see him as he appears online- much more sophisticated and confident and taking the lead in situations and I think they did a great job of showing just how much that ability to be ANYONE can be so seductive especially when paired with a mantra that everything is for the lols.
It didn't shy away from the negative sides though, it showed the hate and the abuse just as much as the other stuff and there was an awful section where they took over the facebook page of a dead girl and it was incredibly uncomfortable. Plus of course later as reality in the form of the police come crashing the whole thing feels like a party that's gone on slightly too long and now it's all going wrong.
I don't know that it said anything new- sadly I suspect that the people who are mostly mystified by things like Anonymous weren't the ones watching the play and if they were it was so very much like life online I don't know that it would have showed them anything? But I liked the way it humanised the people involved- there was a great moment at the end when Jake & Mustafa met in person which really highlighted the way these close relationships and fantastical personalities actually were real people too underneath everything.
Most of the reviews at the time said it was slightly too long which I think I'd agree with but generally I thought it was a very valiant attempt at putting the internet on stage and dramatising a very modern story.
Current Mood: very sad it isn't Friday :-P HOBBIT TOMORROW!
(ps. I know I'm behind on #SeasonsReadings but I need to be at home to work out what my last purchase was!)