The Custom of The Country

[beckettologist]

Just a reminder that on Sunday, January 3 we will have some new listening pleasure to partake of on BBC Radio 4. Anyone can listen for up to 7 days. Here is the link to the info:
The Custom of The Country

The Custom Of The Country Ep 1/3

Sunday 3 January
3.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Award-winning writer Jane Rogers dramatises The Custom Of The Country, Edith Wharton's compelling social satire about marriage and money in early 20th-century American society.

Set between 1900 and 1910, The Custom Of The Country tells the story of Undine Spragg, a beautiful but remorselessly selfish young woman, who moves from Apex to New York, marries Ralph Marvell from an old New York family, and rapidly wears out his income, love and health. She has a son, Paul, whom she neglects. She moves on to Paris, divorce and marriage to Raymond, a French aristocrat, but soon tires of him.

Elmer Moffatt, an old acquaintance from Apex, weaves through her life – he is there at every point of crisis. A self-made millionaire, he has a powerful hold on Undine – a shared past that she is desperate to conceal. Perhaps he is the only man who truly understands her.

Rebecca Night (Lark Rise To Candleford and Wuthering Heights) plays Undine, Dan Stevens (Sense And Sensibility, Dracula and The Line Of Beauty) plays Ralph, Lorelei King (After You've Gone, Cold Feet) plays Mrs Heeny and Tom Hollander (A Good Year, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Pride And Prejudice) plays Elmer Moffatt.

Producer/Nadia Molinari

[trickypixie]

Thanks for the superb info as always Deb. What a great way to start the new year!

Radio plays seem to be a dead art over here, I'm glad there's still demand across the pond.

[greeneyedgirl]

A very good listen, but I am a R4 fan anyway.

Tom at times sounds alarmingly like Geoge Dubya, which is quite disconcerting, but as always he brings a great deal of colour and variation. Maybe one of our American contributors can comment on the quality or otherwise of the accents used!!

repeated R4 Saturday 9th Jan at 9pm.

Episode 2 Sunday 10th Jan 3pm.

[beckettologist]

Jan 3, 2010 13:23:11 GMT -5 greeneyedgirl said:

A very good listen, but I am a R4 fan anyway.

Tom at times sounds alarmingly like Geoge Dubya, which is quite disconcerting, but as always he brings a great deal of colour and variation. Maybe one of our American contributors can comment on the quality or otherwise of the accents used!!

Next episode R4 Saturday 9th Jan at 9pm.

I know it is unbelievable that I have not yet listened but I shall shortly. I will report back, "me being an American and all".... Did I sound like Elizabeth in Freezing?

[greeneyedgirl]

I know it is unbelievable that I have not yet listened but I shall shortly. I will report back, "me being an American and all".... Did I sound like Elizabeth in Freezing?

At least she got to share a bed with him.

[beckettologist]

Jan 3, 2010 14:22:57 GMT -5 greeneyedgirl said:

I know it is unbelievable that I have not yet listened but I shall shortly. I will report back, "me being an American and all".... Did I sound like Elizabeth in Freezing?

At least she got to share a bed with him.

Hahaha. As I recall she liked that...being between them.

OK. So I just finished listening to Custom of the Country. Tom does sound a little bit Dubya-ish but in a much more intelligent way. If that is possible. At least he does not sound like the village idiot as W did.

I still find it amazing how Tom transforms. Anyway, the play is good. Undine sure is a spoiled rotten b**** though. Looking forward to more next week. Oh…and I love that little whistle *Elmer* does. Sigh.

[sasha]

Just finished to listen to it... well, I'm not good in accents (I mean that I can only recognize Russian accent very well 'cause I can make this accent... anyone wants to teach? LOL)
So - I can only say - Tom was great there. I like his voice with any accent. It's better to say "Any accent fixes to this unbelievable voice". Nice play... oh, and that whistle...

[greeneyedgirl]

OK. So I just finished listening to Custom of the Country. Tom does sound a little bit Dubya-ish but in a much more intelligent way. If that is possible. At least he does not sound like the village idiot as W did.

I still find it amazing how Tom transforms. Anyway, the play is good. Undine sure is a spoiled rotten b**** though. Looking forward to more next week. Oh…and I love that little whistle *Elmer* does. Sigh.

Deb

I don't think anyone could sound less intelligent than Dubya!

And the way Undine constantly manipulates by crying. Grrrrr.

He did a cute giggle too. Mmmmmm

[sobriquet]

Wow! Tom completely surprised me!! I listened to the show grimacing the whole way wondering how on earth he was going to do his southern/midwestern accent and when he came on the scene he just nailed it! Once again, Mr. Hollander has blown me away... as if I had reason to doubt that he wouldn't?! What's the matter with me? (tee-hee!)

[trickypixie]

Speaking as someone from the midwest by way of the south, he did a really good job. Could be a *bit* lazier with his drawl, I think, his character in particular would have a nice loose jaw. Jonathan Keeble was gangbusters with Abner, though, and Lorelei King had a pretty wicked NY accent (though I don't know that one as well). No comment on some of the others...

[Redwine]

All issues of Tom's performance aside, I'm interested in talking about this staging of Wharton's book and why I think the dramatization for radio works so poorly. I am nearly through the first episode, and I have quite a lot going through my mind about it. Is anyone else interested in discussing it?

*******from this point forward be SPOILERS********
(maybe)

In (sorta) related news, I just finished listening to a recent radio staging of Willy Russell's "Educating Rita", which worked wonderfully well. In it, working class student Rita is asked to write an essay on the inherent problems in staging "Peer Gynt" -- to which she replies curtly, after a busy day working as a hairstylist:

"Do it on the Radio."

This doesn't go over so well with her tutor, but I thought of it as I listened to "Custom of the Country". In this case, the inherent problems could be dealt with by NOT doing in on the radio.

I think the problem is that it might be basically unsuitable as a radio play – or else the dramatization is “off”, somehow. The problem, in part is the sound of their voices, I think -- HEARING them, particularly as done by non-native actors -- puts the emphasis on the wrong thing.

HEARING the words, in exaggerated accents seems to compromise the point -- they sound clownish, not ironic. Specific, not universal. It's broad classist comedy, this way, not incisive commentary on class.

The irony of the original book seems completely lost, and the people come across as self-obsessed, uniquely-American bumpkins “aping their betters”, instead of as examples of the same timeworn human flaws transplanted to a so-called new world. It needs subtlety – and, other than our guy – it’s anything but.

I think that the “Undine” is well-done, suitably spoiled and charmless – even teenage (a quality many actors never seem to get right) – and with a great accent. On the other hand, Lorelei King sounds like something from an amateur theatrical. Embarrassing.

Elmer Moffat of course is far more subtle – everything comes across in his few lines so far – his energy, his dangerous ambition, the barely-concealed rage, the impudence and lack of awe for Undine’s otherwise irresistible powers to “cloud men’s minds”. His is obviously the part to have – he was smart to take it. I had forgotten how powerful that character was, in the book.

I liked the book, and found it sharp and sly. The play seems tedious and hard to listen to: why should we care about these idiots? Except for that Elmer guy, of course.

Not to say I’m not intending to listen to it all and next week’s episode as well…

what do you think?

[trickypixie]

Redwine (Irene, right? Forgive me if I'm wrong!), I think your overall analysis of the piece is ridiculously insightful and on point. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, an acting teacher of mine gave me some exceptional advice about acting that I've never forgotten: if you can't find the universality in every moment of your performance, then you can forget about the audience ever coming with you on the journey.

This is difficult to achieve even when the audience can see every twitch of your face and pick up on the subtlety (or immense clarity) of your body language, let alone when all you've got to give is your voice. And I agree that universality seems to be a major weak point for this particular production.

I think a HUGE part of this is the accents. But I must disagree with you on your assessment of Undine's. Her accent is more slippery than a greased pig on slaughtering day, pardon the expression. One word every other sentence is some amalgamation of British and a standard American (not southern) pronunciation, and there was even a point early on in the episode when she sounds as though she's Irish. A main character floundering this much with the accent is more than a little distracting when trying to examine the nuances of a performance.

Speaking of, I think she's definitely got her spoiled attitude and youth down pat. Unfortunately, I think Rebecca Night may be focusing too much on the negatives in her character. An actor must always make positive choices when it comes to motivation. Iago doesn't want revenge, he wants justice. He will be perceived as revenge-hungry by the audience, the brilliant writing will take care of that. But if, in his mind, he is pursuing justice instead, we'll recognize the humanity in him and the spark of universality will suddenly alight (who hasn't felt deeply put down upon at least once? Even if it wasn't truly the case!), and suddenly we've got a complex interpretation of a person to whom we can relate, even while knowing he is in the wrong.

Undine is a difficult role to play, because she IS a spoiled brat and she makes foolhardy choices in her life for very wrong reasons. But why? Does she simply love fortune? Is she merely after the highest ranks in the class system? I hope not, because that's beyond boring, and I wouldn't give two you-know-whats about a person like that. Or is she incensed by the inherent injustice of the class system? Does she wonder why some people are born into wealth while others break their backs working just to make ends meet, and then work even harder to give their children a chance for a better life? Is she setting out to prove that she can have it too, even if she's wrong in assuming that will bring her even a semblance of happiness? I don't know, not having read the book but these questions are far more interesting.

Of course, this is only the first episode so who knows where she's ultimately going with her performance. Perhaps she's starting off broadly with the negatives of her character in order to have more impact when it all comes crashing down around her, as it must eventually do. But man is her accent is all over the place. I find I just have to pretend it's not happening.

Tom is definitely giving a complex interpretation, but I desperately wish this were televised because his accent isn't quite there either. It's so close to being spot on that it creates a wholly different kind of distraction. It's that same feeling you get when something is on the tip of your tongue but you can't manage to recall it. His vowel and consonant sounds are technically perfect, but the rhythm and inflection are wrong. If I could see him though, I know I'd have so many more indicators of his performance to analyze.

Jonathan Keeble as Abner, though, is great I think. His accent may not even be entirely perfect, but he's so consistent that I never get distracted by any slip-ups (my dialect teacher always stressed consistency as the most important facet of performing a new dialect), and so can really enjoy his performance. Here's a man who recognizes his daughter's motivations aren't entirely proper or even prudent, but is always overcome with a blindness to her flaws that comes from his love for her as a parent. I know so many of these guys. I might even be related to one or two.

Anyway, I know this was supposed to more about why it doesn't work well as a radio play (agreed 100%), but I think the lackluster performances are a symptom of this fatal flaw, so hopefully you don't mind that I went into actor dissection mode.

Love and Shenanigans,
trickypixie (Sara)

[beckettologist]

The first time I listened to this I was doing stuff in the kitchen and to be honest...just waiting for Elmer to show up. I am listening again. Scrutinizing it this time. All of the accents are strained to me.

As much as I adore everything that Tom does I have such a hard time with his interpretation of American accents. It is hard for me to put it into words. I think it is the cadence for one thing. It is always a bit off. I think it is partly due to the harsh contrast it has to his beautiful, cultured English. I can't help but wonder how he feels about doing an American accent. Maybe he takes it as a challenge. It's not awful by any means but I do prefer almost any other accent to that but maybe that is because I *am* American and I can pick up the foreign sound in it...or something. Sorry I am not very good at expressing this.

[greeneyedgirl]

I have only heard it once, so it's nice to hear from our contributors from accross the pond, on the merits, or otherwise of the accents. I suppose many Brits think we can do a passable American accent, but there are so many variations, many of them very subtle, just as we have here, and to a native speaker, we would sound laughable.

I presume with this play though, we are ment to focus predominantly on the story, and the accents just need to be good enough not to jar and distract. Even to me, most of them didn't sound right, but I suppose they have limited time with dialogue coaches, and other work to get to, and it wasn't quite a case of oh no, it's Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins all over again! lol

One of the best English accents I have heard was Jodie Foster in Anna and the King with the lovely Chow Yun-Fat. Her mannerisms and demeanour were very good too. Tom I'm sure, relishes the challenge of pushing himself, and given maybe more time, it would have been even better, though from the comments above, it would seem he aquitted himself pretty well.

I suppose even he can't puuuurfect.

[trickypixie]

Deb, you are totally right about Tom and his American accents. I feel the exact same way. You're probably also right that it's because we are American that we so readily pick up on the slightest inaccuracies. There are some Brits out there who can do great American accents though. Damian Lewis and Hugh Laurie are good examples.

Ange, the southern American accent is often super hard for even American actors to do, so the cast gets lots of points for the work they have done on it! However, I did find the accents distracting enough that I had to really try and focus on the story, which is obviously a shame. I've never seen Anna and the King, so I'll have to check it out. I think Jodie Foster is a really good actress in general.

And as far as I'm concerned, people's imperfections almost always make them more attractive.