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Post by sph on Mar 6, 2024 1:35:03 GMT
Interesting! It has indeed had a bit of a rebrand! Lots more "drama" inferred in the new style.
I didn't think this play reinvented the wheel necessarily, but I did enjoy it thoroughly. It zipped along nicely with an interesting story and characters, some very funny lines, and pitch-perfect performances.
A shame if it's ticket sales are dropping off a bit - so many shows around lately seem to disappear from the public's minds after the initial buzz dies down.
Is it a location thing too? The Harold Pinter is tucked down a side street. Butterworth's previous plays stood prestigiously on Shaftesbury Avenue.
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Post by aspieandy on Mar 6, 2024 2:26:03 GMT
The voting above your post suggests people here rate it as a 4.4* play (or 9/10).
Finite demand, maybe. I wonder, if people are having to pay £100+ a pop elsewhere, eventually something has to give.
I do also think we are blessed with a bunch of 4* and even 5* shows atm, and some top names.
Fwiw, it may have been luck but I was a little surprised to get a lottery ticket on the first day of trying (Dorian Gray) - do we know the extent promoters are using secondary markets like TodayTix, it's clearly a very flexible (day-to-day), seat filling tool ..
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Post by kit66 on Mar 6, 2024 11:19:35 GMT
The seemingly diminishing interest may be three fold.No "names" in the cast,ticket prices and run time of performance.I don't think the postion of the theatre has anything to do with it as the Harold Pinter has had lots of sell out productions in the past eg Betrayal,Prima Facie and most recently Lyonesse Don't forget Jerusaleum (and The Ferryman) intially had sell out runs at the Royal Court before transferring to the WE.
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Post by capybara on Mar 7, 2024 22:29:09 GMT
I agree with what many others have said about this. Really enjoyable for two acts, then kind of loses its way in the third.
Leanne Best was fantastic in this. Laura Donnelly also a mesmerising watch.
Four stars.
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Post by iwanttix on Mar 8, 2024 8:29:32 GMT
I thought the last 20 minutes was the weakest of the play. I'd happily go see it again, but would tempted to leave in the pause 🙈
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Post by singingbird on Mar 8, 2024 8:50:54 GMT
Interesting isn’t it? I completely value other people’s opinions but I didn’t agree with much of the above. I didn’t feel like it was professing to do anything radical, new or clever; I didn’t think the ‘mystery’ was sold as a ‘mystery’; I think the nurse and the surrounding characters, particularly the men were pivotal to giving a sense of place and time and how they slotted in to make up a broader tapestry around the female characters; I felt the heat, the place, the period and I’m not sure how they could have introduced more of Blackpool on that set; I thought the 4 sisters were clearly delineated and I think the points in the spoiler couldn’t have been done much differently without giving the game away and it’s clear that cover ups are universal. I think it could be argued that The Ferryman and Jerusalem didn’t do a huge lot more in terms of daringness of structure, language or approach. Agreed - I love how differently people see things! It's what makes art so interesting. And people naturally get so passionate about it all, in a wonderful way. I agree that it wasn't trying to be radical, new or clever. I just wish it had tried! I've seen four or five of his other plays and each of those at least had an unusual, thought-provoking story to tell. This felt like it was re-treading ground that many, many other plays, films, tv shows etc had covered.
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Post by wburns on Mar 12, 2024 11:57:17 GMT
Do we think this will extend? Or is something else lined up for The Pinter?
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Post by nash16 on Mar 12, 2024 18:50:01 GMT
Do we think this will extend? Or is something else lined up for The Pinter? Sales haven't been great since the reviews, so very doubtful it will extend. It may even come off early.
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3,071 posts
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Post by Rory on Mar 12, 2024 19:27:37 GMT
I can't see it extending but I don't think it will close early either.
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Post by Dave B on Mar 12, 2024 19:53:09 GMT
I would assume nominations today let it do a bunch more press/advertising to get bums on seats.
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4,452 posts
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 12, 2024 20:00:58 GMT
Not nearly as many performance noms as I was expecting though - thought Ophelia was a shoe in.
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Post by jaggy on Mar 12, 2024 21:14:54 GMT
Really thought Leanne Best should have gotten a supporting nom. Shame. Both times I’ve seen her, Sweat and this, she was one of the standouts.
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Post by jackstage on Mar 12, 2024 22:05:11 GMT
Do we think this will extend? Or is something else lined up for The Pinter? I'm pretty sure it has been stated as a limited time run somewhere
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5,278 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 13, 2024 9:17:23 GMT
Do we think this will extend? Or is something else lined up for The Pinter? I'm pretty sure it has been stated as a limited time run somewhere It’s also not selling as well as expected, so I’d imagine it will close in June.
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Post by david on Mar 22, 2024 9:19:51 GMT
A few thoughts from last nights viewing. I really enjoyed this one with some great writing from the pen of JB brought to life by a fantastic cast. Despite its 3 hour run time, it certainly didn’t feel it and was a really engaging watch and plenty of humour chucked in. I’d agree with others the play is at its best in the first two Acts and had it finished there I’d be giving this one a 5⭐️ rating but it’s the final Act I think that lets it down slightly to a 4.5 ⭐️ rating. As a complete package in both writing and performances, I didn’t think it was as strong as Jerusalem or Ferryman which both had that wow factor when watching them.
For this one, Leanne Best as Gloria and Laura Donnelly as Veronica were the standouts for me. Two really great performances and characters that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Corrie. The revolving set worked well and a wonderful design from Rob Howell.
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Post by fossil on Apr 1, 2024 8:07:01 GMT
If you want a cheap ticket and don't mind the high stage, the Lovetheatre web site has a few Monday evening tickets in April for the front row stalls at £17.50 with no booking fee.
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Post by jaggedlittlepie on Apr 4, 2024 23:38:29 GMT
A long shot, but {Spoiler - click to view} Does anyone know the name of the song the jukebox plays in act 3?
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986 posts
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Post by nash16 on Apr 5, 2024 0:31:48 GMT
A long shot, but {Spoiler - click to view} Does anyone know the name of the song the jukebox plays in act 3? Stones. Gimme Shelter.
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Post by sophia on Apr 18, 2024 15:12:21 GMT
A podcast I sometimes listen to called Script Apart (usually about film writing) is doing a ‘Stage Apart’ mini-series at the moment. The latest episode is an interview with Jez Butterworth about The Hills of California.
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Post by edi on Apr 25, 2024 21:40:12 GMT
Wow, this was awesome.
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Post by edi on Apr 26, 2024 17:54:54 GMT
So I had some time to reflect and whilst I'm still thinking it was awesome, I had a little issue with something. First time spoilers - hope it works {Spoiler - click to view} I thought that there was no need for the first pregnancy - it was as if the writer didn't trust the audience to put 1 and 1 together, so he wrote this in just in case
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