{"id":8723,"date":"2014-03-10T11:23:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T18:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=8723"},"modified":"2014-03-11T10:43:33","modified_gmt":"2014-03-11T17:43:33","slug":"langham-courts-the-graduate-too-frantic-for-important-subtleties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2014\/03\/10\/langham-courts-the-graduate-too-frantic-for-important-subtleties\/","title":{"rendered":"Langham Court\u2019s The Graduate<\/em> too frantic for important subtleties"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Graduate<\/i>, originally a novel written by Charles Webb in 1963, was made into a film in 1967. Now it\u2019s in Victoria as a play, but it just doesn\u2019t pack the same punch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Benjamin Braddock (played by Montgomery Bjornson) faces down Mrs. Robinson (played by Odile Nelson). (Photo by David Lowes.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The storyline follows the awkward and unsettled tendencies of post-graduate Benjamin Braddock, who finds his idle self lured into the web of Mrs. Robinson\u2014a seductive older woman. If that’s not enough, things get even sloppier when Benjamin starts to fall in love with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine.<\/p>\n

The prevalence of grey hair in the audience at this adaptation at Langham Court was a sure sign of nostalgia seekers. As one who had not read the book nor seen the movie, I came into the theatre without any expectations.<\/p>\n

From what I heard about the movie, I was convinced it would make for an amusing production. Unfortunately, I found the acting to be a bit frantic, particularly the part of Benjamin Braddock, played by Montgomery Bjornson. And although there were some comedic moments, the plot trudged along without much depth\u2014just one frenzied setting after another as Benjamin stumbled through the consequences of his erratic decisions.<\/p>\n

I did enjoy hearing parts of the infamous soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel being played during the scene changes. The crew did a great job in transforming the stage from Braddock’s room to the hotel lobby to the sleazy strip joint that Braddock took Elaine to on their first date.<\/p>\n

As the play finished, however, I was left feeling as though something were missing. I decided to watch the movie to see if it would fill this void. Right away, I liked it much better than the play adaptation. There were so many subtleties that the camera and editing were able to capture, and, sadly, these were lost in the loud projections of the actors on stage.<\/p>\n

Despite the noble efforts of the production team, some stories are just meant for the cinema; The Graduate<\/i> is one of them.<\/p>\n

The Graduate
\n<\/i>Until March 22,
\nLangham Court Theatre
\nlanghamtheatre.ca\/boxoffice\/plays\/the-graduate\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Graduate, originally a novel written by Charles Webb in 1963, was made into a film in 1967. Now it\u2019s in Victoria as a play, but it just doesn\u2019t pack the same punch. The storyline follows the awkward and unsettled tendencies of post-graduate Benjamin Braddock, who finds his idle self lured into the web of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t