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Product Description
Product Description
Schnitzler described Reigen, his loose series of sexual sketches, as 'completely unprintable'. The company that first presented them was prosecuted for obscenity in 1921. It was only when Max Ophuls made his famous film in 1950 that the work became better known as La Ronde. Now David Hare has re-set these circular scenes of love and betrayal in the present day. Using as much imaginative freedom in his turn as Ophuls did fifty years ago, and with just two actors playing all of the parts, Hare has created a fascinating landscape of dream and longing which seems both eternal and bang-up-to-date.
About the Author
David Hare was born in Sussex in 1947. He is the author of twenty-eight plays for the stage, sixteen of which have been seen at the National Theatre. These plays include Plenty, The Secret Rapture, Skylight, Amy's View, Via Dolorosa, Stuff Happens, Gethsemane and The Power of Yes. In 1993 three plays about the Church, the Law and the Labour Party - Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War - were presented in repertory in the Olivier Theatre. His many screenplays for cinema and television include Licking Hitler, Damage, The Hours and The Reader. He directed his most recent television film, Page Eight, for the BBC.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I think that this is a very nice play for amateur theater companies: 10 scenes - 10 "love stories", couple by couple...
just a modern adaptation of the famous "La Ronde" by Schnitzler, good reading, good acting and good viewing... Nothing more.
3 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Yet another pile of mysoginist c***p from this inexplicably, highly rated playwrite.
Although the cyclic form is intriguing, and lends itself to many exciting possibilities for staging, it is a poor depitction of sexual relationships and struggles. It favours men, in the most ridiculous sense. Infact it almost goes against the mysoginy it reflects; as it is a traditional and sexist notion that women are more sexually powerful and prevalent, the play fails to recognise this.
Back to the drawing board, Hare. Or do us all a favour and don't bother.
Although the cyclic form is intriguing, and lends itself to many exciting possibilities for staging, it is a poor depitction of sexual relationships and struggles. It favours men, in the most ridiculous sense. Infact it almost goes against the mysoginy it reflects; as it is a traditional and sexist notion that women are more sexually powerful and prevalent, the play fails to recognise this.
Back to the drawing board, Hare. Or do us all a favour and don't bother.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Quick, easy, witty, but not earth-shaking
7 Jun 1999
Format:Paperback
David Hare's dry humor underlies most lines in this play and, as a result, it is a funny enough read. Prior to reading Hare's adaptation of La Ronde, I saw the Broadway version. The audience at the theater failed to laugh at the underlying humor as it was not emphasized. The text, however, brings out this facet of the play very well. Overall, however, there is nothing special about the the play itself. It is a cursory analysis of sexuality and sexual politics. But it's not the Kinsey report.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Le Ronde Redux
16 Oct 2010
Format:Paperback
The play is structured like this - Character A hooks up with Character B in scene 1. In scene 2 Character B hooks up with Character C. In scene 3 Character C hooks up with... you get the idea.
Here's an example of what I mean by 'hook up':
Girl - Watch out, or we'll both be in the water ...
Cab Driver - Great ...
Girl - We'll both be in the water.
Music engulfs them. The lights go out. A projected slide reads: THREE MINUTES.
***
Light returns. The GIRL is lying on the ground. The CAB DRIVER is kneeling beside her, his hands on his knees.
The same thing, more or less, happens in each of the ten scenes. You get two scenes with each character. In the first a character will act one way and in the next they'll act a different way. For example, in one scene a politician is with his wife and he's serious and sincere, and then in the next he's with a coke snorting model and he's talking slick. That's about it. The Blue Room is random people talking just before and just after sex.
When I got this I thought it sounded cheeky and offbeat but actually reading it was a let down. Pretty much nothing happens. Yeah, you get to see people committing adultery, patronizing prostitutes, etc, but since you don't know anything about them, who cares what they do?... Actually, you learn a little about them: the actress was flippant, the cab driver was crass, the au pair naive, etc. There is some characterization, but it's pretty weak.
It moves along briskly and I give it points for being different, but overall it's dull and about as risque as the Saturday night movie on Cinemax.
Here's an example of what I mean by 'hook up':
Girl - Watch out, or we'll both be in the water ...
Cab Driver - Great ...
Girl - We'll both be in the water.
Music engulfs them. The lights go out. A projected slide reads: THREE MINUTES.
***
Light returns. The GIRL is lying on the ground. The CAB DRIVER is kneeling beside her, his hands on his knees.
The same thing, more or less, happens in each of the ten scenes. You get two scenes with each character. In the first a character will act one way and in the next they'll act a different way. For example, in one scene a politician is with his wife and he's serious and sincere, and then in the next he's with a coke snorting model and he's talking slick. That's about it. The Blue Room is random people talking just before and just after sex.
When I got this I thought it sounded cheeky and offbeat but actually reading it was a let down. Pretty much nothing happens. Yeah, you get to see people committing adultery, patronizing prostitutes, etc, but since you don't know anything about them, who cares what they do?... Actually, you learn a little about them: the actress was flippant, the cab driver was crass, the au pair naive, etc. There is some characterization, but it's pretty weak.
It moves along briskly and I give it points for being different, but overall it's dull and about as risque as the Saturday night movie on Cinemax.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Riviting and Exciting!
18 May 2001
Format:Paperback
David Hare's adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde" is nothing short of amazing. The twisting strand of relationships that course through the scenes is filled with mirror images of ourselves. Either in the lives we lead, what we invision in our mind, or in the world we see around us. There are so many difference's between the ten characters, but what makes it truly interesting is when you realize just what might be the same about them.
This play is a first rate pick!
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