Quote: Natalie Of Wicks @ October 13 2013, 12:49 PM BST

I almost can't watch any movie filmed before the late 70s, because the acting has moved on so far since.

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Really? I suppose it is often a little melodramatic, but for me some of the most moving moments in cinema are from older movies.

Quote: George Kaplan @ October 13 2013, 12:06 AM BST

Maybe the average level of stage acting has dropped off then? I never go to plays any more since I left London 15 years ago. You'd get good stuff at the National, Almeida, Bush, Hampstead, Lyric in Hammersmith, Riverside, Old Red Lion etc.

Or maybe better TV acting - imported US drama for instance - has made us more critical of theatre acting?

Maybe the production you just saw was badly directed? So it could be that the quality of directors has declined? I'd imagine that pay for theatre directors is fairly low, and the good ones are quickly tempted by TV/Film/Ads.

It's an interesting topic, and an important one.

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I went to a terrible play at the National Theatre the other week - some of the acting was superb, but there was definitely some pantomime acting going on. But what made the production particularly unbearable was the insistence on gimmicks like filming the actors inside a box on stage and projecting the badly lit result onto screens at awkward angles. I'm starting to think I'm incredibly picky, but then I'll see a brilliant play that gets it all right and I am just baffled by the crap.

No films before the late seventies! That's struck me dumb.

I don't watch many films pre Midnight Cowboy.

You are missing out on some of the most brilliant films ever made.

I mean there are some older films I like, but not many. The main thing that jars for me is that the acting doesn't have that naturalistic feel. Didn't Brando invent the modern style of acting or is that conventional wisdom?

You missed the part that said 'almost'. I'm not a total philistine but it would be a lie for me to say that non-naturalistic acting isn't a fairly big barrier for me.

Quote: Ben @ October 13 2013, 1:28 PM BST

I mean there are some older films I like, but not many. The main thing that jars for me is that the acting doesn't have that naturalistic feel. Didn't Brando invent the modern style of acting or is that conventional wisdom?

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This might be the first time I've ever emphatically agreed with you.

I've heard that about Brando but I think it's nonsense. There's plenty of realistic performances in older movies. I think it's not just an acting style that's changed, but the way that people actually speak in everyday life has altered, too. I do get why it would be jarring if you haven't really watched old films - most of my DVD collection is pre 1970.

Quote: Ben @ October 13 2013, 1:28 PM BST

I mean there are some older films I like, but not many. The main thing that jars for me is that the acting doesn't have that naturalistic feel. Didn't Brando invent the modern style of acting or is that conventional wisdom?

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Yes in on the waterfront

Which was made in 1954

I quoted the wrong bit of Ben's post above. You've got got Strasburg (sp?) to thank for Brando.

"you know what I'm sayin?'

I watched reservoir dogs again the other night, all the way through its one of those films

I think its charms lies in it being a stagey, theatrical style
Like a 1930s crime caper

Realism/naturalism has killed the theatre in this country.

We used to have plays that used the 'epic form' and grew out of techniques developed by expressionist theatre, Brecht, Edward Bond, Howard Brenton etc..

Now we have Edwardian style drama that exist in real time and consists of three characters in a room shouting at each other until a skeleton falls out of a cupboard.

When the National Theatre puts on costive post-war boulevardier shite like Terrence Rattigan, you know you're f**ked.

Quote: Harridan @ October 13 2013, 1:02 PM BST

I went to a terrible play at the National Theatre the other week - some of the acting was superb, but there was definitely some pantomime acting going on. But what made the production particularly unbearable was the insistence on gimmicks like filming the actors inside a box on stage and projecting the badly lit result onto screens at awkward angles. I'm starting to think I'm incredibly picky, but then I'll see a brilliant play that gets it all right and I am just baffled by the crap.

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I reckon it's hard to find excellence in any area of life and culture.

Another thing with theatre is the fact that the actors are performing the piece again and again. So, with some actors, they may lose their focus or bearings, or if some aspect of their performance gets a tangible response from the audience, they might milk it a bit further, making it less real. And the director might be tied up on another production, and not keeping an eye on the previous piece.

I think economics plays a part too - maybe the pool of actors willing to take smaller roles on basic Equity rates is a bit patchy now in terms of quality.

What was the last brilliant play/production you saw?

Quote: George Kaplan @ October 13 2013, 2:11 PM BST

I reckon it's hard to find excellence in any area of life and culture.

Another thing with theatre is the fact that the actors are performing the piece again and again. So, with some actors, they may lose their focus or bearings, or if some aspect of their performance gets a tangible response from the audience, they might milk it a bit further, making it less real. And the director might be tied up on another production, and not keeping an eye on the previous piece.

I think economics plays a part too - maybe the pool of actors willing to take smaller roles on basic Equity rates is a bit patchy now in terms of quality.

What was the last brilliant play/production you saw?

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The last brilliant performance was Sweet Bird of Youth at The Old Vic. Everything I've seen at The Old Vic has been brilliant actually (including a Terrence Rattigan play ) But I know they are doing grand scale productions so it's not always a fair comparison. I saw an excellent fringe play a year or so ago at The Blue Elephant which was a very sparse avant-garde production of The Women of Troy.

Quote: Harridan @ October 13 2013, 2:20 PM BST

The last brilliant performance was Sweet Bird of Youth at The Old Vic. Everything I've seen at The Old Vic has been brilliant actually (including a Terrence Rattigan play ) But I know they are doing grand scale productions so it's not always a fair comparison. I saw an excellent fringe play a year or so ago at The Blue Elephant which was a very sparse avant-garde production of The Women of Troy.

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Ah, Tennesee Williams. Genuine classics often lend themselves to great productions - I saw a nice pub theatre production of Sweet Bird of Youth by a jobbing fringe company ages ago.

btw have you seen Woody Allen's latest, Blue Jasmine? Some Tennessee Williams echoes there, and great performances.

Good to hear that Kevin Spacey has done a good job at the Old Vic. That theatre has lots of history and tradition.