back to article For one night only – Ibsen classic gets the Dolby Atmos treatment

The last time I sat in Dolby’s private Atmos theatre in London, I was treated to the audiovisual feast that is X-Men: Days of Future Past. This time around, the production values are very different. Photo by Hugo Glendinning: Ibsen's Ghosts – Almeida Theatre Production Lesley Manville (Helene Alving) and Jack Lowden (Oswald …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Gene Cash Silver badge
    FAIL

    playing one night only == pompous waste of time

    Pardon me for having an actual job or social life that might preclude me seeing your wonderful event on its single randomly chosen night. (actually it's probably not random, it's carefully chosen to ensure the fewest people can attend)

    If they were actually proud of their production, they'd show it for a period where people could actually view it. The fact they're not means they're just interested in saying they did it, and fear that people might actually see it and criticize it.

    [flip][flap] did you see that? no? well it was awesome, really it was! sorry you missed it!

    1. frank ly

      Re: playing one night only == pompous waste of time

      Gene, it's a technical review of overall quality and experience, especially the audio. Don't worry:

      "The video recording included three 4K cameras although Ghosts is only a full HD release."

      You can buy or rent it soon. Your enjoyment may vary :)

    2. Nigel Whitfield.

      Re: playing one night only == pompous waste of time

      The actors and people involved very likely are proud of their production, and far from pompous about it.

      What's probably a lot more difficult is persuading cinemas that they should show things like this rather than Return of the MegaBlockbuster Part 17, which they know will reliably enable them to sell gallons of fizzy crap and several tons of nachos and mystery meat.

      Until venues are persuaded that they can lure people in to watch a bit of Ibsen, then they're not going to have long runs of anything like this, and there is very probably a limit to how many theatres Dolby can subsidise to do this sort of thing regularly.

      Of course, they could spend the same money doing a longer run of it in fewer cinemas, but then I'm pretty confident someone would come along to moan about how all the money was being spent in London/Manchester/Wherever, and how exclusionary that was.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: playing one night only == pompous waste of time

      Apologies for being blunt, but since you opened with such arrogance...

      > Pardon me for having an actual job or social life that might preclude me seeing your wonderful event on its single randomly chosen night.

      Get a better job and be more in command of whatever social life you have. Then you could actually make choices instead of being constrained by someone else's routine.

    4. Martin
      Happy

      Did you see that? no? well it was awesome, really it was! sorry you missed it!

      Well, I personally am very grateful to the Register for bringing it to my attention.

      I went with my sixteen-year-old daughter to see this last night. We both agreed it really was an exceptional performance - I have rarely, if ever, walked away from a film feeling like that.

      But yes - it's a bit of a minority interest, and that's a damn shame. The assumption is that as it's Ibsen, and theatre, it must be highbrow rubbish. Actually, it's a marvellous play, brilliantly acted, and very accessible.

      I am quite sure that the people who did it are exceptionally proud of it - and so they should be. Lesley Manville, Jack Lowden won Olivier Awards for their performances, and the director Richard Eyre won the Evening Standard award for Best Director.

      It was awesome, really it was. Sorry you missed it.

  2. thomas k.
    Meh

    overkill for stage plays?

    While I can see the benefit Atmos may provide action films, except for perhaps musicals, it seems like overkill for stage productions.

    1. IanG

      Re: overkill for stage plays?

      Tools like TiMax Tracker, which physically tracks actors as they move around the stage and localises the amplified sound via pan and delay, are similar in outcome to what Atmos is doing. Both enhance realism through authentic reproduction of sound - so I think there is a definite benefit.

  3. John 110
    Joke

    oo...err

    "A healthy dose of syphilis..."

    Ooo..err missus!!

  4. Getriebe

    Atmosphere in an Ibsen play - what?

    I though the point of Ibsen was there is no atmosphere - its a record of stultified time passing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Atmosphere in an Ibsen play - what?

      > I though the point of Ibsen was there is no atmosphere

      That made me laugh. :-)

      Well, there is an atmosphere, but it's that Swedish¹ sort of atmosphere which has the characteristic of giving the impression there is no atmosphere. It's pretty unidimensional, but I imagine that's what you need if you want to emphasise tenuous, delicate yet powerful emotions.

      ¹ At the time of Ibsen's birth and through most of his adult life, Norway and Sweden were a single country.

      1. Stevie

        Re: Atmosphere in an Ibsen play - what?

        "Well, there is an atmosphere, but it's that Swedish¹ sort of atmosphere "

        So, freezing cold with outbreaks of Kenneth Branagh then?

  5. Anonymous Coward 101

    "This is a romp of a very different sort: a Victorian era social commentary with various ingredients including secrets and lies, philandering and unrequited love, a bit of the old incestuous allusions and, of course, a healthy dose of syphilis."

    Is this the promised mash up between The Terminator and Fast and Furious?

This topic is closed for new posts.