I saw it yesterday!

[Crow-453]

So, as I mentioned in a thread earlier, I saw the play yesterday in the Royal Court Theatre in London.

Overall, I enjoyed it immensely and would highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the book and/or movie(s). It was a good blend of material from each of them, but also including it's own stuff.

That's my non-spoiler part of my review out of the way with. If you don't want spoilers, don't read any further.

In terms of specifics, I will say, I had a few problems with it. I'd like to make it clear, however, that none of these things affected my overall enjoyment of the play. They're more things that, if I were the one making it, I would have changed.

One is that it continues the trend of the "Let's make it so that it's possible to interpret Håkan as a previous Oskar" thing. I've never been a fan of that, as I think it paints Eli (and Abby, in "Let Me In") in a very negative light, perhaps even evil, and I don't like that, given that I've read the book and know Eli as well as someone can know a fictional character.

Another thing that threw me was the interpretive dance during certain parts. It was present during the pool scene, which makes sense given it's not a huge production, nor did it take place in a particularly big theatre, so they couldn't really do wires or whatever (which, I'll admit, a part of me had been wondering if that's how they would do it), but there were other places where I just didn't get it (although there's a good chance that's because I'm not a follower of interpretive dance, so for all I know, it made perfect sense to have it at those parts).

I also thought they went a bit too far during the part of the play after Eli leaves but before the pool, where Oskar goes back to the lovers kiosk. He straight-up tells Kurt that he looks like a monkey, and as I said, I think it was a bit too far. If he had instead simply tried to make jokes but realized that it wasn't fun without Eli, I think that would have been enough.

Finally, I was aware throughout the play that Oskar, Jonny and Micke were all played by adult actors. I understand that it would have been hard to get actual child actors for the parts, given the mature nature of the source material, but I would've liked it if the actors for the child roles looked younger than they did. It didn't affect anything too much, but, well, I'll talk a little bit more about it further down.

I also was a little disappointed that they cut out the scene at the end with Eli and Oskar mixing blood (editrice said they had it in the play in Uppsala, in their thread here). Again, it ties in with my dislike of the "Hakan could have been a previous Oskar" thing, and if they had included it, I would have been jumping for joy. I was also expecting Zombie!Håkan and the flashback scenes, which are also mentioned in editrice's thread. I'm not as sad to see they weren't there, but it still would've been nice.

Now, onto the good stuff! The set, the lighting, the music and the way things were handled were all fantastic. Particular highlights for me were the opening scene (with Håkan killing Torkel), Eli's bleeding, Eli killing Police Commissioner Halmberg (who replaces Lacke, much like how the American remake handled it), and the pool scene. The pool scene I especially liked. They turned the jungle gym around to reveal that the other side was built to look like the side of a pool, and it actually filled with water! Oh, and Eli killing Police Commissioner Halmberg has a huge jump scare where Eli's hand shoots up from within the trunk and grabs Halmberg's throat! I knew something was coming, but I had no idea it would be that sudden! Kudos to everyone involved for that; it takes a lot for a jump scare to actually get me.

And now, I really must dedicate an entire paragraph to the actress playing Eli (Rebecca Benson, according to the playbook I bought). She was absolutely fantastic. I mentioned how I was aware throughout the play that Oskar, Jonny and Mickey were all being played by adult actors. With Rebecca, I knew, but that dropped away pretty much after her first scene (and I wish it had for the other child roles). She did a really good job of playing Eli, and the fact that she does look a lot younger than the rest of the cast helped a lot. Personally, I would have directed her to be a little more withdrawn, only really coming out of her shell during the lovers kiosk scene and then in subsequent scenes with Oskar, but that just would have been my preference. She was brilliant in everything she did during the play. For me, her performance was the highlight of the entire thing. I do still prefer Lina as Eli, but Rebecca is a very close second (perhaps tying with Chloe, who I feel did a good job, but the script was weaker than it should have been).

So yes, brilliant play! Really glad I got to see it, and like I said, if any of you ever get the chance to see it (heck, I hope I get to see it again myself at some stage), you'll come away from it having enjoyed yourself!

[DavidZahir]

A couple I know--who run the Visceral Theatre Company in Hollywood--go to London each December. They saw LTROI yesterday and praised it. Even said they'd consider mounting a production one day!

[Nightrider]

So did the dance number seemed out of place or did it fit well within play's storyline?

[Crow-453]

So did the dance number seemed out of place or did it fit well within play's storyline?

The dance at the pool scene worked well, I think. The dance during Oskar stabbing the tree did not.

Again, just my opinion and I may just be a philistine who doesn't understand interpretive dance and it could have always been perfectly in place with everything .

[EEA]

Cool.

[JToede]

A couple I know--who run the Visceral Theatre Company in Hollywood--go to London each December. They saw LTROI yesterday and praised it. Even said they'd consider mounting a production one day!

If LTROI came to LA!! That would be great, it would still be on 3000 miles away for me.

[a_contemplative_life]

Thanks for sharing all of this with us!

[gkmoberg1]

Smashing review, Crow. THANK YOU so much for posting all of this.