So I went to the NT live of All About Eve since the ticket prices where very high and it was mostly sold out, so when I heard there was an NT screening then I was excited to see it. I’ve never been to a NT live and I think its really good to make theatre more accessible but my experience wasn’t the best. The reason for this is that the sound would cut out every few minutes for just a second but it would ruin experience a bit. So this maybe the reason I wasn’t a massive fan of All About Eve.
I had very high expectations for this piece as it has an A list cast with a brilliant director Ivo van Hove. However it really didn’t meet my expectations.
All About Eve is a study in the cyclical nature of showbiz and fame. And its structure is really interesting where we start at the end and then we flashback to how it happened.
So I think the start was very slow and I thought the camera work was clever but unnecessary. At times I really wanted to walk out because I was getting so bored of the repetitive nature of the piece and the mostly “same note” performance that Lilly James and Gillian Anderson gave. At the start I thought she was really good at portraying this super-fan but then I didn’t see a massive arc until the end. However she has some impressive scenes requiring a lot of emotion and strength. I quite liked Gillian Andersons performance but at the start she was so disinterested in the character of Eve. I think the show lacked tension and things were not at stake. Monica Dolan was a treat to see and her acting was superb!
The production was very visually aesthetic with a classy colour pallet of greys and maroons. The set was very bare and it was stripped back to there Noel Coward walls.
There were some bits I enjoyed like the camera inside the mirror which was projected above. The camera did a really interesting thing with the ageing of the characters when they were breaking down and looking right into the mirror. Another element I enjoyed was PJ Harveys atmospheric score that gave the piece more tension to a mostly tensionless piece.
Overall I think I would of enjoyed it more if I was there in person because I felt like I didn’t get the full effect of it.
Have you seen All About Eve? Feel free to comment below or message me on instagram and twitter @unofficialtheatre
Thanks for reading!
Eugene
Unofficial Theatre 