Dimetos

So I've been bad again and I haven't been posting. So I'm going to just post some short posts to catch up on some shows.

I saw Dimetos a few weeks ago at the Donmar Warehouse. This was my first foray into the venue, and it's amazing. It's incredibly intimate, but with a sizable stage. Dimetos takes place on a faraway island, where the title character, played by Jonathan Pryce, has basically retired to after being a top engineer in "the city." He lives with his niece and his maid, and one day a former colleague of Dimetos's from the city comes to beg him to come back.

The play is quite interesting, and you think it will explore some pretty interesting questions about values, materialism, and the direction the world is going in. It kind of starts to, and the first act is pretty interesting, but then it takes an unexpected turn, and the second act is kind of just out of left field. It doesn't really feel like anything gets accomplished, and it's not terribly satisfying. The cast did a fine job, and the set is really remarkable, transforming from an island retreat in the first act to a sandy beach in the second. The play itself though, a little funky. Perhaps trying a bit too much to be preachy, and ultimately kind of losing itself. So Athol Fugard, loved "Master Harold...and the boys," but this one... started good, but really turned kind of meh.