So...yes....I went to see The Hard Problem on Saturday

The main theme of the play is alturism vs self interest, with Hilary and Spike representing opposite sides of the argument. Most of the other characters are there to play out a rather insubstantial plot and they are all - as has been mentioned in other reviews - rather 2 dimentional.  It is a play of ideas rather than story or characters.  The only character who shows any development is Amal....and the only really rounded character is, surpringly, Krohl.....as both doting father and hard nosed businessman - who terrorizes Amal so much that he (rather brilliantly) faints, but whose final act is the only truly alturistic gesture in the entire play.

After the first couple of scenes, the episodes with Hilary and Spike felt repetative, and, to be honest, they both started to rather annoy me - I cannot understand why Hilary would continue to sleep with him!  Sadly I felt unable to like either of them very much - he was almost relentlessly aggressive, and she was constantly on the defensive.....to me she came across more as a victim than a bright young academic.  Her pursuit of goodness is ultimately rewarded and everybody loves her...but she is unsuccessful in her career - whereas Spikes egoism leads him to be pretty universally loathed (and unable to get laid!) but successful.

It was entertaining...witty with some genuinely funny lines.  And each scene worked well as a stand alone senario...but the truth is that strung together I felt that they didn't really make a particularly engaging theatrical experience.  I completely understand why so many reviews have commented on Damien's state of undress....it was really the most engaging aspect of the play!  It's fair to say that I have thought about it a lot since...but mostly wondering exactly what point Tom Stoppard was trying to make, rather than thinking about the issues which he introduced.

Don't get me wrong....it wasn't bad  - I really did laugh quite a lot.  And all of the actors did a fine job...they just didn't really have much to work with.....

 

 

 

OK, domino...you poked me and I've got to repond!

The play doesn't really attempt to tackle the 'hard problem' in its broard sense.  Near the start of the play Hilary asks 'why do I feel sorrow?', but no attempt is really made to deal with these broarder questions.  It concentrates on the question of what is 'good'.  I haven't yet read the text....but I think it may well be a more engaging and thought provoking read than it was a theatrical experience!

Be warned - there are potentially some massive spoilers ahead!

Does Stoppard fall on one side of the fence?  At first glance....possibly - Hilary appears to be the sympathetic character.  But if you begin to closely analise the characters' motivations then I think it all becomes very blurred.  Hilary tells Spike that she 'has to' believe in god - but her belief is more in a kind of karma which will reward her acts of 'goodness' with divine protection for her child - which correlates entirely with Spike's egoist beliefs.  Almost every apparent act of alturism in the play comes with a condition....the hope of a return - mostly to get into bed with Hilary from what I can tell!....at least Spike is totally transparent about that!

The contradition to this is Krohl....the financier who operates hedge funds - traditionally a character who would be viewed as less than human!  There is a scene where he is having breakfast with his daughter, engaging with her as she prattles on about girl stuff, whilst also conducting buisness on the phone.....a geniunely loving father - although she is not his flesh and blood (and therefore - as an egoist would have it - there is nothing to be gained by caring for her) - and simultaneously a hard nosed buisnessman.  After his daughter leaves, Amal arrives....and Krohl begins to tear into his employee.  When Amal then faints, his concern for the man is apparent...and continues after he comes around, although he also continues to, simultaniously, be the unscrupulous employer.

This is the man who employs Amal (the egotist) and Spike (the egoist) to try and give him an edge in the financial markets, but uses his money to fund an institute which is headed by a dualist (Leo).  So many contradictions it makes my head hurt!  At the end of the play, when Hilary is leaving the insitute and it is known that she is his adopted daughter's real mother he asks if she's sure she wants to leave, offers her the chance to get to know her child and when she declines he says that if Cathy asks he will tell her about Hilary; he offers her money, but she declines again.   Then, right at the end, he leaves - once more talking business on the phone - and then comes back in, hands Hilary Cathy's security pass and leaves again still talking on the phone.  It is such a small gesture, it costs him nothing and is so casually done.  But it is - as they say - the thought that counts.  The fact that the thought has occured to him, in that very moment - whilst talking business on the phone - that Hilary does not have a photo of her child is slightly mindblowing.  It is - as I said before - the only truly alturistic gesture in the entire play.  Although I've gotta say I haven't yet drawn any conclusions as to what all of this means. lol!

But sadly, for me none of this really makes up for the lack of drama or any really engaging characters on the stage (and by engaging I don't necessarily mean likeable....) No - Spike is really not a multidimensional character and you will definately not see any of Damien's 'incredible range' - so you will have to console yourself with seeing much of his incredible physique.  And as my seat was downstairs at the side - almost on top of the stage - i saw it quite well.....

 

It was very comfortable to look at/contempl...ah! Yes! ....see what you mean....

Sorry about yesterday!  Too much thinking out loud...or online...something....

"Isn't Stoppard using the altruism debate as his catalyst tool for the larger debate on consciousness then?"  Yes indeed - I would presume so....

It is entertaining, and I'm not the only person in the audience who was laughing...so I'm not alone in that!  And no - it wasn't at all heavy...just rather static.   In all but one of Spike's scenes he is alone with Hilary and his primary function (apart form looking good, obvioulsy) is to present one half of the debate.  But it is very entertaining conversation....he is aggressive (I mean intelectually, not physically) and thoughtlessly dismissive - but he is also clever and witty. The majority of the funny lines come from Spike....and we know Damien can be funny! A very early reference to vampire bats inevitably bought Hal to mind.  But Spike ain't Hal - he lacks Hal's.....sophisication...and his charisma... Spike is an open book....there really are no hidden depths....there is no hidden agenda!

Just in case you're wondering, Damien's state of undress for much of his scenes isn't totally gratuitous.....there is a element of underlying seduction in the 'bedroom scenes'.  He's not actually there for intelectual debate - that's just a sideline.  He wants to have/has just had sex with her and would like to again sometime.  Somebody said that it's unrealistic to have these sort of debates in those circumstances....I've gotta say - been there.... (tho obviously on a less intellectual level!)

But when you remove that element - in the party scene - when he has nothing at all to gain from being 'nice'. He really does turn into a little shit!  He is slightly drunk and arrogant and offends everybody - in a room already full of tension......but he is still funny! He ends up sitting laughing stupidly at nothing in particular - which is pretty funny itself - until Ursula goes and smacks him.  The most dramatic moment in the play!

OK - I'm  going to step away from this topic now......

A few positive Twitter reviews, good to see!

 

Enjoyed #TheHardProblem at @NationalTheatre last night by Tom Stoppard. Evolution, the problem of consciousness and some good gags

— Ben Unwin (@tenbuckben) March 3, 2015

#TheHardProblem is classic Tom Stoppard: altruism, evolution, the problem of consciousness - witty and poignant. pic.twitter.com/jKMS97DOfD

— Stephanie Biden (@StephanieBiden) March 2, 2015

Really enjoyed "The Hard Problem" @NationalTheatre !! Intellectual and thought provoking yet funny and human. 1hr 40 run time a bonus too!!

— Mark John Manley (@MJManley1971) March 2, 2015

@NationalTheatre the new Tom Stoppard play The Hard Problem. Wonderful play amazingly acted.

— Gordy Marshall (@gordymarshall) March 2, 2015

Fifi & Jozie, thank you so much for your thorough and insightful writeups!  It's got my mind spinning with questions and answers to lots of the points you both brought up.  Too many at the moment to compose a decent reply.  And perhaps I'm not really qualified to have anything significant to add, since I have yet to see the play.

 

I did have one quick thing, about what fifi said, that Krohl's act of giving Hilary a picture of her daughter is the only truly altruistic gesture in the play.  One could argue that Hilary's sacrifice is the ultimate altruistic gesture.  First, she gave up her daughter.  Presumably as she was a teenager, to give her daughter the best possible future that she felt she couldn't give her.  Second, After over a decade of praying and hoping that her daughter indeed has everything she would wish for her, she learns that her employer is the adoptive father, has the opportunity to meet her, but refuses.  Not knowing all the details, or formulating my own interpretations yet, I would guess she feels that her daughter is indeed in good hands and does not wish to cause any upheaval in the father/daughter relationship and decides the best course for all of them is to not meet her.  That's a powerful sacrifice, an act of true altruism.  

 

 

I'm certain I'll be the open-mouthed woman tomorrow when I go to see this!

Meeting up with UJ for lunch first, then we'll meet up afterwards for some stage door hanging about, then dessert to mull over the day's events! Looking forward to meeting a fellow forumer for the first time!

I MUST NOT FORGET MY TICKET!!

Have an amazing time Rosie! x

Have a blast Rosie & UJ.  I'm more excited to hear about you two meeting up than anything else!

It was lovely to meet UJ today (and a certain somebody else, but more of that later)! We had a great lunch and a good natter about writing, theatre and Damien.

Not sure I can say anything intelligent and coherent about the themes of the play yet. I think I need longer to digest yet.

The play was very witty. I thought Damien might have been in it more but you do get to see a lot of him! Going to the gym is really paying off, he is very beautifully toned.

I loved the light installation. It was beautiful to look at and i liked the way it 'reacted' to the music. Olivia Vinall was great, very engaging and sympathetic. I didn't hate Spike. Don't get me wrong, he is an obnoxious arsehole but he is very passionate and stubborn about what he believes and won't accept anyone else's point of view. I thought Hilary was the same though - she is form in her beliefs but she is much more sympathetic character.

And in other news - UJ and I met Damien! I asked if I could have an autograph and a picture. He asked my name and I told him so he then said "Hi Rosie". I said that I enjoyed the play and he said thank you for coming. UJ spoke to him about another Stoppard play. I said we were from the forum and he said, great. UJ said that she hadn't been on the forum for a while because she didn't want any spoilers about the play. I then said, "domino said to say that she sends you her love". He said "that's very kind". He gave me my programme back and he had written Hi Rosie lots of love Damien! I asked if I could have a photo and UJ kindly took a photo. It was a bit blurry so Damien suggested we move so that the sun wouldn't bleach the colours. So we moved and UJ took another photo. I thanked him for saying hi and he went. I was really nervous and shaky and he was clearly on his way somewhere so we let him go.

YAY! How awesome you got to meet UJ and Rosie, love how the forum had brought peeps together in real life.

UJ, so good to read you here... and read your thoughts on the play, glad you enjoyed it too. Yes, to call it a rich ideas packed play seems to be a bit of an understatement - I can well imagine one viewing leaves a mind spinning impression but the fullness of all the concepts would be hard to take in immediately. Interesting... that's the first time that I've considered the actual structure of the play itself and the way it can be received may be demonstraring something about consciousness...

Rosie, first, woohoo!!! so happy you had your stage door moment, and had your photo taken with Damo, what a gent coming to the stage door after a 2 play day! thanks for sharing all the details (and for passing on my message).
Second, thanks for your insight into the play, captivating..The light installation must be amazing in real life and it sounds like it wasn't the only beautiful thing to look at I can imagine you have lots more thoughts to filter through.. look forward to hearing them when they *and you!) land.

Yaaaay! So awesome you get to meet Damien, I'm so happy for you! Oh he's such a gentleman!  I understand those shaky hands very well UJ, it's all about feeling the Molony effect 

So nice you get to meet each other UJ and Rosie, I hope one day I could meet you two too!

UJ, I went to see this play two times (got cheap ticket from the front) and I think it was good cause first time you go to see this play you have so much to ponder that it's hard to focus on the play and story itself. Second time was good move and if they show this on my cinema I'm going to see it in there again.

Rosie, those hard hours in gym have indeed changed him a bit, but I still wonder is this change something he have wanted or did he do it because some role (Tiger Raid?). Cause he's always been sporty, but there's a change if you look back BH pics. Very nice work from him!

I was wondering about that American accent too, in one review there where talk about his "accent which change from America to Irish" or something like that. I got that impression that he was trying to talk very English but that Irish accent pushed through when he was having an strong feelings and middle of the arguments (quite understandable, as Irish it might be a bit impossible to completely shut down your accent, especially if you are Irish and furious ).

I liked the light installation too, it was very clever set piece cause it took your attention while they changed the set on stage and it looked like brain nerve system which was suitable for the play. The music, yeah Bach was it? I just wish they have selected some other music, it was cheerful and jolly and for some reason I thought it doesn't fit in it. But the new years lighting on the light set was fantastic idea, whoever came up with that light set must congratulate him/herself, very brilliant!