How to describe the plot of Staged? Well you see, back a few years in the dark ages when the most boneheaded fucking move in health and safety where no one was supposed to be outside occured, tumulting the entertainment sector into a septic tank both in cinemas and theatrically, we follow one such particular case of Six Characters In Search Of An Author being crafted and rehearsed almost entirely through webcams. Starring Michael/David Tennant/Sheen! For as dirt simple as a premise like watching two great actors just lolligag about and converse on a Zoom call, barely even rehearsing for a play, it's fantastic entertainment! I was almost hacking up my lungs from laughing so damn hard throughout the shockingly short first series, only six episodes at 22 minutes a piece! It's about as experimental a show as I've ever seen in certainly the most unprecedented time I've encountered in my life, to the point where I desperately need to know exactly how much of this was scripted because aside from a few normal camera shots it's beyond candid and effortlessly real. Obviously the comedy is played up with David and Michael acting like the most bickering married couple you've ever seen in all your days, but it all just seems too real. Nary a drop of escapism found here and yet still is fun to watch. I can't say that about...any other show honestly. Though I'll be up front and say when I heard the premise and caught brief glimpses of clips, I thought the whole programme was going to be viewed through a computer screen just seeing the director and the actors on their video conference doing whatever and I'm almost disappointed it wasn't. They have very simple camera set ups where you see everybody, except for now that I think about it Michael, in their kitchen or dining room chitchatting. I don't at all hate it but I thought wow, what a fascinating television production and would almost be fourth wall breaking if you were streaming this on your laptop or home computer. So obviously most production details I cover are almost obsolete for lack of a better term, it's hard to get a Goodfellas type shot with a webcam, so all I can work with are the actors. I wholeheartedly adore Michael and David so I was pretty much sold on this series and it was just as grand as I thought it was going to be, and I love seeing Georgia and Anna in the fray as well, they really have a sweet relationship and I'll admit even I'm slightly jealous of them, even the less than effectual director Simon isn't a total wet blanket on the proceedings though I personally was almost entirely locked in on Lucy Eaton who plays his sister she was absolutely class! There's even some surprise guest stars which I shall not give away, cause where's the fun in that? Go watch it! It's no masterclass of TV but for me it was firmly in my wheelhouse and I loved every second of it. If regular televised productions are getting old for you this is different enough, if you want a good laugh sign up immediately, even if you just wanted almost this time capsule of a severely shit situation that humanity got shoved into without knowledge or consent (no idea why anyone would want that but hey history is history) then yeah sure go for it. 4 stars from me, 9/10, take from that what you will and I'm gonna have to see the further misadventures of this cast of characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment