Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest surprised me (not in a good way)

Saw the final performance on Saturday 1st Feb (we got to hear the bell ring!). I'd not read any reviews so was going in blind, but at the interval I turned to my wife and said, "the production is pretty cool but Weaver is flat and monotonous." Which is pretty much what the reviews all said. SG also seemed to have a "false teeth" lisp, which I'd not noticed in her previous work, and made some lines hard to comprehend. Then again, she is 75 years old. All in all, enjoyable but SG was out of her depth for the most part. Mason was absolutely the star of the show - astonishing presence and a singing voice that could melt steel.

I think it was designed to be viewed solely from centre stalls row g

SO YOUR VIDEO TITLE WAS CLICKBAIT , SEEING THAT YOU ENJOYED IT.

yeah, it was good but not great. she did just feel a touch upstaged.

I nearly worked there in December. Hopefuly in the future I still might. The Theatre Royal certainly is a very special theatre. It would have been great to meet Sigourney!

Mason’s performance in this was infectious. So much so that I’ll be keeping an eye on him for a long while. Sig wasn’t bad but I think she could have done better. Perhaps the role wasn’t a great fit for her. Production is astounding otherwise. Definitely a fresh take on The Tempest which you wont get from RSC.

It seems I'm in the minority, I absolutely loved the production and am going back for a second visit next week. I loved the juxtaposition of the modern costume and set design and the old world shakesperean dialog, some of the quips, insults and comedy are as fitting today as they were over 400 years ago. Im probably going to use phrases such as 'you cram these words into my ears' and 'hell is empty, all the devils are here' in the future. I haven't studied Shakespeare and wasnt familiar with the story so enjoyed following the wordy tale. I also thought Sigourney gave a great performance as did all the other cast members, it was fabulous being just a few feet away from such an icon of some of my favourite films.

Im also now very much looking forward to Jamie Lloyds production of Much Ado About Nothing having seen this.

I find it a bit odd that Helen Mirren’s portrayal is not mentioned.

To be honest, if felt to me that Sigourney was indeed having issues with the delivery of her lines, almost as if she was being fed the lines through an earpeice. It was the pauing to listen and then she spoke the lines which had a profound effect on her delivery. Parts that required an emotional build up came off as dull and flat because of her pauses. It was very awkward to say the least.

Jamie Lloyd will be even bigger in 2026 - so we will have to get use to him

Saw this last night. I'd heard it got bad reviews, but even with my low expectations, I was utterly disappointed. Sigourney sounds like she's reading from a book and it's very hard to make out what she's saying, unless you are extremely well versed in Shakespearean speech.
The only positives was Stephano and Trinculo who at times were pretty funny. 1* from me.

Sigourney ❤💥💘💔

I m really worried about how edited the script is, it’s a complicated story and Prospero and Aerial are the polar opposite views, doing Shakespeare is tough, I’m looking forward to seeing it in a few weeks time but v low expectations

I found Sigourney was just reading the script without any drama in the voice is was so flat as though she didn't have any passion in what she was saying. Agree with everything Kristina said - disappointed in Sigourney - the other players were brilliant

Who filmed this on their phone. This is not allowed is nothing sacred.

I thought about going to this but decided not to in the end. It felt like celebrity casting and not much more than that. I don't think she's had much stage experience over the last few years, and certainly not much experience with Shakespeare. It's a tough ask to take on something like that in your mid-seventies if you don't much background in it, so it's not really a surprise that you found it a disappointment.

I spent nearly four hours in the queue yesterday to buy tickets for the Broadway cast of Hadestown, who are coming to London early next year for a month of shows. Tickets went on sale at midday yesterday and they'd sold out by the evening.

Saw this last night: the winners for me were the staging, lighting and Mason. Unfortunately I felt Sigourney's energy was a bit flat and uneven and agree with the whole sitting thing. Friends who saw the show with me said it felt she was almost reciting the lines. Will post my thoughts on instagram soon!

Looking forward to watching Evita at the London Palladium next summer which is going to be directed by Jamie Lloyd. Having watched Sunset Boulevard it will be interesting to see his interpretation of the musical.