(1) William Hurt is a willing, low-key accomplice, a good foil for Kosminsky's gracious manner and slightly stagy cheerfulness.

(2) For all their charms, Mamet's early films had a stagy , mannered quality that kept the viewer at arm's length.

(3) The prize was to be awarded by Betjeman, to the accompaniment of some pretty stagy effects, at Burton Constable.

(4) The final fifteen minutes in particular, which theoretically contain the showdown between Stray Cat and Hundred Eyes, is a banal barrage of stagy and pretentious imagery.

(5) Floyd, who writes his own texts, may not have handled the subject with any great subtlety, and the opera's broad theatrics can sometimes seem stagy , but its dramatic honesty registers powerfully every time.

(6) What could have easily been a stagy endeavour is kept fresh by capable direction and clever coverage by director Andrew Shea.

(7) Webster begins on such a stagy note that he loses the chance to move the audience, making it one of the less-compelling chunks of this mostly amusing evening of seldom-performed Chekhov.

(8) These songs prove him capable of focusing more on visceral appeal and less on stagy esotericism while maintaining his intellectual ambition, and one hopes this album is a steppingstone toward cementing this vision.

(9) The central narrative is filmed stagily , with tacky, ordinary sets; direction that would fit nicely in a nineteenth century melodrama; silly performances in most of the supporting roles.

(10) Although it is stunningly shot, the film has a stagey grandiose feel that begs the viewer to see it as more than it is.

(11) In restaurants, as in theater, patrons pay for a lush, contrived setting replete with stagey scenery and sophisticated lighting techniques.

(12) The programme, largely monologue, consisted of a woolly, stagey ramble through her life and times.

(13) Jack McKnight stagily mimed tiptoeing out with my sleeping infant son's baby basket in his arms.

(14) Burbage winked stagily , while Will limped to his abandoned stool.

(15) Paradoxically, the stagey lighting, shoddy sets, breaks between shots, all create a hyper reality.

(16) The dialogue, however, is quite stagey and unconvincing.

(17) A worthy attempt was made at historical accuracy; the script and acting were excellent, but some critics disliked the stagey sets and painted backdrops, and today this splendid series is largely forgotten.

(18) ÔÇÿGod,ÔÇÖ he says stagily , ÔÇÿif I could only have got a minute to myself, darling!ÔÇÖ

(19) The enforced gloom, a stagey attempt to copy the drama of Caravaggio's chiaroscuro, lessens the impact of the pictures themselves when seen in clear light.

(20) A courtroom drama at heart, Taking Sides manages to overcome its theatrical staginess to provide some beautiful music and images.