National Theatre Live: All About Eve

What should have been a thrilling theatrical event falls flat, mainly due to the one note performance of Gillian Anderson. There is no spark, no fire to her Margo Channing. I cannot imagine anyone standing in the rain nightly to see this Margo on stage. Adding a foolish song for Margo sing during Bill's party brings what little action there is to a standstill. Showing Margo resting her head against the rim of a toilet bowl filled with vomit is a huge mistake.

Birdie, Miss Caswell, Max, Bill, Lloyd, Karen and especially Addison are all miscast. The only person who comes off well here is Lily James as Eve.

Lastly, the humor doesn't play well. The script is funny, the humor subtle, but again it falls flat. The cast unable to put the humor across.

PJ Harvey's score, which plays under the entire production is intrusive. It works against the dialogue.

Never at anytime do you feel any empathy for Anderson's Margo. A better title for this mess would be "Who Cares About Margo?"

The National Theater Live film series gave us last night the opportunity to see 'All About Eve', the stage adaptation of the classic 1950 film that was awarded six Academy Awards that year and gave Bette Davis the chance to create one of the best roles of her career. The current version was very well directed by Ivo van Hove, who created a dynamic show and broke the limits of the scene by expanding its space with video projections of dialogues that take place in parallel in other rooms, played by actors behind the scenes.The solution probably worked better in the theater hall than in the movie, where it might have been better to use split screens. The story of the ascent of a young woman who aspires to take the place of the famous star who starts to feel the pressure of age, without saving any means or effort to reach her scopes has been very well played by most actors. The only disappointment was precisely Gillian Anderson in the lead role. She is an actress that I like very much (I was a big fan of the 'X-Files' series) but I think that she exaggerated or was directed to exaggerate the theatricality of the role of the celebrity who struggles with competition from the younger woman, age and problems of an in-accomplished personal life. In any case, the opportunity offered by the local cinematheque to see the London productions in a movie theater ten minutes away from home proved to be once again welcome.

There are a lot of great actors involved in this production, and they're doing the best they can, but the conception of this piece is horrible, and the experience excruciating.

When you really sit down and listen to Joseph Mankiewicz's original script, you realize how heavy and pretentious it is. Luckily, in his direction of the original movie, he managed a lightness that made the piece sparkle.

But this adaptation takes the heaviness and just adds to it with pretension. First, there is terrible, intrusive score. Whatever comedy might have been achieved is flattened by an eternal, ominous drone that kills the actors' rhythms.

Then there is the video screen which again looms larger (literally and in attention) than the actors. The idea works best with Gillian Anderson's mirror POV, but it is just awful in the party sequence. The actors caught on camera look uncomfortable and like they're stuck in a scullery closet, but we end up watching them more than the actors on stage, and that's just bad theatre.

Watching Gillian Anderson do Bette Davis almost makes this production worth it, but only almost.

Have always loved watching the live cinema screenings of plays, operas and ballets. Wonderful too to see productions of old favourites and seeing new discoveries. What is especially great, and this has been said before, about seeing these live cinema screenings is, even if more expensive than seeing a film (fair enough), is their accessibility. Much cheaper than seeing it in the theatre itself, though one does feel like they're in the theatre, so much the authenticity, and easier to get to.

Was very excited about 'All About Eve', with the 1950 film being one of my favourites. Namely down to from personal opinion one of the greatest scripts ever written and one of film's most iconic performances in Bette Davis as Margo Channing. Love George Sanders' performance as well, and his Oscar was richly deserved. The production also had a great cast, have always liked Gillian Anderson and Monica Dolan, and Lily James has always been watchable.

Seeing this production of 'All About Eve' when it was screened live, it was quite incredible. Not quite as great as the film from personal tastes and not quite as emotionally powerful as the production of 'All My Sons' from a few weeks ago (though that was screened after this, just reviewed that first), but still incredible. Almost everything that was so brilliant about the film translates in the production, and the best assets about the film really shine.

Production values are simple but never simplistic, made more interesting by the omnipresent use of the back screen, which didn't distract at all and enhanced the experience with some striking images. Did love the elegant costumes, while the score is neither intrusive or lukewarm.

The dialogue still crackles in its sharp bite and wit, while also being sophisticated. It's talk-heavy, but doesn't feel long-winded. The story is compelling, without ever being melodramatic or too stagy, the action opened up just the right amount. The direction keeps things at a lively enough pace while allowing breathing space.

Gillian Anderson is indeed mesmerising, it must be incredibly daunting following on from Davis but Anderson does it bringing the right amount of chills and pathos. Lily James has one of her more challenging roles and is charming yet cunning. The supporting cast standout was for me Monica Dolan who stole every scene she appeared in and was a show-stealer actually. Everybody else fared strongly too.

Will admit though in not finding Stanley Townsend's Addison DeWitt anywhere near as good as George Sanders', could have been a little more unsympathetic, though that would always have been a tough task.

Otherwise, an incredible production. 9/10

Since finding National Theatre Live: Obsession (2017-also reviewed) mesmerising,I've been keeping a look out for any future films by Ivo van Hove. Checking for the showing time at the oldest working cinema in the UK (The Electric in Birmingham) for Louis Malle's Black Moon (1975-also reviewed) (which was introduced by US singer Josephine Foster) I found out about a screening of Hove's latest production. Screening too late at The Electric,I found it was also soon being shown at The Midlands Art Centre in a few days,so I gathered money I had been given on my birthday,and got set to find out about Eve.

Note:Review has some spoilers.

View on the film:

Spending ages trying to get the rights, writer/director Ivo van Hove proves that it was worth the wait,with a remarkable blurring of the lines between cinema and theatre (all backed by PJ Harvey's simmering score.) Separating the stage layout into several sets,Hove attaches a large protector screen to the back of the set, and films (in real-time) private exchanges between characters in corridors,which are shown at the same time as with on-stage events (such as round a dining table) continue to unfold, creating a striking yin/yang between the sparkling glamour shown to the public, with the rotting obsessiveness to remain a "big name",that goes on behind closed doors.

Setting a make-up table in the centre of the stage, Hove peels into the psychological obsession Eve and Margo have over the other nabbing their spot, with the back screen being used for chilling practical special effects displaying the poisonous effect this obsession has on their very souls.Breaking the fourth wall with Addison DeWitt's opening introduction, Hove's adaptation of Mary Orr's short story and Joseph L. Mankiewicz screenplay brilliantly threads them into a shimmering stage version,via the bitter Margo's viper exchanges with up and coming Eve over keeping a grip of fame on the stage,taking place against a stage backdrop itself. Continuing the fourth wall breaks from Margo and Eve's entourage, Hove gradual sows Eve losing her Eden innocence and transforming into Margo, leading to an unsettling final note of this being a transferable venom.

Far from being a fading star, Gillian Anderson gives a mesmerising performance as Margo,whose sharp dialogue Anderson cuts through with a New York ice-pick, Anderson undresses Margo's psychological nuances in withering body language slumped against a piano singing out to stars falling out of her curled lip. Waiting fresh-faced at the stage door,Lily James gives a fantastic turn as Eve,whose growing manipulative edge on Margo, James subtly matches with a growing transformation into the reflection of her idol.