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Was remarking with another 'Lither earlier tonight that we're both surprised there hasn't been a thread about this show already, and a strongly opinionated one at that.
Now that it's concluded, what did people who caught it think? I missed the middle one, which by all accounts was the one with all the sex in, but what I did see was actually quite a lot better than I expected. Let's deal with the flaws first: some of the imagery was a tad too obvious (prising open oysters, do you see?); Nan's accent wobbled into a very strange area now and again; several of the love scenes *did* stray into 'Channel 5' territory; you have to try very hard to make a 19th centru costume drama not look like 'Blackadder's Christmas Carol' and like so many other programmes TTV fell into this trap.
That aside, there was much to like. Lots of solid stuff about drag/gender/performance/identity - the whole idea of the circus/cabaret as almost a 'safe space' for a certain kind of experimentation/bohemian lifestyle, but also the possibility that this can be corrupted by a combination of spectacle and capital, as arguably happens to Kitty - interesting that when Nan returns to the stage, this is heavily tied in to her discovery of socialism and in fact her becoming another kind of stage performer (the scene in which she joins the 'honest East End socialist bloke' onstage and effectively lends him a little of her masculine animus was fab, IMHO). Love the idea of music hall as subversive but very populist entertainment (which I'm sure is historically accurate). Also liked a lot of the sea/water imagery throughout (the papers seemed to pick up on the "you smell like a mermaid" line as merely sexual innuendo, but I think it's part of a more evocative/romantic/mystical theme, if arguably a cliched one).
Can't remember the name of the actress who played Nan offhand and don't time to look it up, but thought she made a very impressive boy (that's where her voice proved a strength) - there's loads of stuff to be said about the Victorian boy-hero of novels, "what larks Pip", the whole boy identiy etc. I bet Peter Ackroyd would like it...
More to say probably but was wondering what anyone else thought. It did make me interested in reading the book, I'll say that much. |
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