Anthony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre 1998

I have been an admirer ___ Alan Rickman's work since 1982, and have seen him ___ stage many times from 1983 onwards, so I have seen a great deal ___ his work.  It was ___ great shock, therefore, that I read the appalling reviews ___ the critics when the play first opened.  Alan usually receives excellent notices, so what had gone wrong this time?  It wasn't only Alan who came ___ ___ a critical roasting – the set design, the music, and many ___ the minor performances were also heavily criticized. 

Whatever problems there may have been backstage, (which I will probably never know about), it was clear that the set had caused some serious difficulties. Artistically, I have no arguments ___ the set – the play covers several years ___ time and numerous locations ___ different countries, so it has to be flexible enough to accommodate this, and I liked the ingenuity ___ which this difficulty had been addressed, however, the complexity ___ the set did cause headaches ___ the actors.  The music, consisting ___ percussion effects, was atmospheric, and not as obtrusive as had been suggested ___ the reviews, although it was a little ___ the loud side when I was seated ___ the third row!  ___ a mid-stalls seat, it was fine. 

The performances I saw shortly ___ the play opened were variable.  Helen Mirren and Finbar Lynch stood ___ as Cleopatra and Enobarbus, but Alan was not turning ___ the usual electrifying performance I have been used to seeing ___ him – something was missing, but I couldn't be sure what, at that time.  All the same, the reviews had not put ___ the theatre-goers as the Olivier was full.  (In fact, it was packed all three times I went. At the second viewing, mid-season, much had changed).

The set was behaving well, the actors were obviously used ___ it, and Alan seemed to have relaxed a great deal.  Now I began to see ___ his performance what had been lacking before – the touches ___ subtlety, the ironic inflections, and the little glances the audiences could react ___.  Not ___ his top capacity, yet, but much, much better.  The other roles had not really come alive, but even so, the whole was much better than the first time, and I could hear people commenting ___ how pleasantly surprised they were ___ the poor reviews.  At the last performance I saw, it had all – far too late, alas, – come together.  Alan was giving the performance I would have expected ___ him, vigorous, amusing, passionate, heartbroken, ironic.  The audience gave the performance tumultuous applause and there were several curtain calls. 

I have to add that ___ the three performances I saw, Helen Mirren and Finbar Lynch never swayed ___ excellent, but it was suddenly noticeable ___ the third one, that all the other players' performances were lifted, and had a liveliness and fullness of character I had not seen previously.  It seems a little simplistic to attribute all the difficulties ___ the set, but this may well have been a large factor, not so much the set itself, but the lack ___ time for the actors to feel comfortable ___ it.

Assignment 8. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English.

1. Кассир сказал, что все места в партере распроданы. Нам пришлось заказать места в бельэтаже. ________________________________________

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2. Спасибо за то, что Вы купили мне билет на этот спектакль. Мне очень понравилось, как поставлена эта пьеса. ________________________________

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3. Увы, все билеты на спектакль распроданы. _________________________

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4. Мы получили удовольствие от игры актеров, уж не говоря о декорациях, которые были великолепны. _________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________5. Мне не удалось заказать билеты на премьеру заранее, поэтому мне пришлось стоять в очереди в кассу. ___________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

6. Попробуй купить билеты на балкон. Оттуда лучше видна сцена. _________

__________________________________________________________________7. Прошу прощения, что так говорю, но я не жалею, что пропустил этот спектакль. Это был полный провал. ___________________________________

__________________________________________________________________8. Я была восхищена игрой ведущей актрисы, вызвавшей слезы у зрителей. __________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________9. Говорят, что он смотрел фильм "Титаник" пять раз, так как он большой поклонник главной актрисы. _________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________10. Состав исполнителей в этом спектакле великолепен. Он, несомненно, будет пользоваться большой популярностью у зрителей. _________________

__________________________________________________________________11. У меня нет никакого желания смотреть этот спектакль, так как пьеса поставлена очень плохо, а игра актеров оставляет желать лучшего. ________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________12. Я была очарована музыкой и декорациями, которые были великолепны.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________13. Сидя в третьем ряду бельэтажа, я хорошо видел сцену. ________________

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14. Известно, что эта пьеса была поставлена дважды. И каждый раз она сопровождалась провалом. ___________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________15. Я отказалась от надежды купить билеты на премьеру, так как все билеты были давно распроданы заранее. ______________________________________

__________________________________________________________________16. Посмотрев спектакль дважды, я могу сказать, что это лучшая постановка комедии Шекспира, которую я когда-либо видел. ________________________

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