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Post by viserys on Jun 20, 2017 5:12:29 GMT
Oh wow, thats the one! Ijust googled it and I remember the outside of it! I mean, don't get me wrong, it was probably a fantastic performance! I would never want to put anyone off going, but for me it was alot of focusing and struggle that, in school, you give up five minutes in! If I went back now I'd proabbly appreciate it more. I imagine it must take someone who is either very keen on classical drama or is pretty fluent in Ancient Greek, or both, to appreciate a 3 hour play in Greek! I took GCSE Latin but I still wouldn't go & see a play in Latin. Or be a daft tourist. I had once booked for a play at the famous ancient amphitheatre in Epidauros in Greece as I thought it would be cool to see something in that setting. Of course I realized too late that as the play was done by a theatre from Athens on tour, it would be in Greek. But I found the script in English online, printed it and had it on my knees throughout the performance and it being an open air theatre, there was enough daylight to read along with what they were saying on stage. Certainly one of my weirder theatre experiences.
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Post by Baemax on Jun 20, 2017 7:34:19 GMT
I'll see a play in any language. This is a thing I have learned about myself since the Globe decided to present the complete works in a whole array of languages. I mean, I would like to keep it to plays I already know so I have a basic knowledge to compensate for the fact I'm going to have to focus on the way they're saying things rather than what they're saying, but I'd be well up for a play in Ancient Greek or Latin.
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Post by emicardiff on Jun 20, 2017 7:42:26 GMT
Indeed, I've seen a few plays in French with my very basic school French and for work I saw a fair few Welsh language plays for which my grasp is probably even worse. Thing I learned: if it's a good play it'll still be interesting, and a bad play is a bad play in any language.
Related note, I went to see Rent in Welsh. So firstly it's a musical- most people can appreciate musical (and indeed opera) not in a native tongue. A wife of a friend was there and said in a condescending tone "Do you even speak Welsh?" I answered (in Welsh) "I speak some/I can understand a bit" she looked, actually snorted and said "Well good luck with THIS then" I paused, smiled and said "Well I wrote a PhD on this musical so I think I have a grasp of the plot" and walked off.
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Post by viserys on Jun 20, 2017 7:50:54 GMT
I did see two musicals in Russian last year when I went to Moscow and understood exactly one word - Empress Catherine the Great shouting "Njet!" across the stage at one point. I also once saw a musical in Czech in Prague, but that was "The Count of Monte Cristo", so at least I was familiar with the story. "Jesus Christ Superstar" in Budapest was sung in Hungarian but came with English surtitles (and of course I basically knew all the lyrics by heart anyway).
I dunno, while I prefer understanding what's said on stage, I just enjoy the experience of theatre-going in different countries, see what the local audiences are like and so on. It's also quite funny trying to figure out where you need to be when you can't read the words on your ticket such as "stalls left" or "dress circle right".
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Post by moelhywel on Jun 20, 2017 8:05:10 GMT
Going slightly off topic the worst experience of finding my seat in a foreign theatre was in Budapest. The stalls in the Opera house there has a central block and two side blocks. The numbering goes from 1 on EACH gangway seat, towards the middle in the centre block and towards the sides in the side blocks, so there are four number ones, four number twos, etc. Needless to say, with seats 6 and 7 we sat in the very centre of the stalls only to find that we were actually right at the side! It's the most weirdly numbered seating plan I've ever encountered. After that we really enjoyed the performance of Swan Lake, which being a ballet you can watch anywhere in the world without having to worry about the language.
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Post by profquatermass on Jun 20, 2017 10:21:10 GMT
I've seen lots of plays in Greek (did Classics at school) both comedy and tragedy. It helps if you know the plot already but it shouldn't be dull if the production is good. Like the foreign Shakespeares at the Globe, some of which were among the best theatrical experiences I've had (the Eastern European Henry VIs being a particular highlight along with the BSL Love's Labours Lost ) .
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Jun 20, 2017 10:30:55 GMT
Making good choices is the key. Before you even get to the theatre make the decision. Occasionally I've just exchanged tickets where possible or even taken the loss (most recently seeing Life of Galileo as opposed to Whisper House). That way you can add in another performance of something that appeals to you more rather than feeling as though you've wasted a slot.
So I've never had to leave a theatre on the grounds of taste or quality. A couple of times when I've been feeling unwell, though.
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Post by mosiemo on Jun 20, 2017 10:31:05 GMT
The Duck House - mainly cos we'd had a few cocktails before hand and fell asleep after about 15 minutes. Oh, and a play with Keira Knightley and Damian Lewis in rhyming couplets - can't remember for the life of me what it was called - but I do remember the Spanish lady in the seat next to me who answered her phone and proceeded to have a conversation, despite me and everyone round her trying to get her to shut up!
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Post by viserys on Jun 20, 2017 10:42:48 GMT
Oh, and a play with Keira Knightley and Damian Lewis in rhyming couplets - can't remember for the life of me what it was called That would have been Moliere's Misanthrope
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Post by emicardiff on Jun 20, 2017 10:47:23 GMT
Oh I have done the 'it's worth losing the money to save my sanity' a couple of times (usually TBH due to not being well or life making travel to London difficult) but once or twice I have simply done the 'Dear Lord I just can't be dealing with that today' and not gone though.
I did do a cheeky thing this weekend of waiting until so late in the day to book tickets that I *knew* a thing would be sold out in order to legitimately tell people "oh no I'd LOVE to have gone but look it's all sold out"
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Post by stefy69 on Jun 20, 2017 11:05:58 GMT
Oh I have done the 'it's worth losing the money to save my sanity' a couple of times (usually TBH due to not being well or life making travel to London difficult) but once or twice I have simply done the 'Dear Lord I just can't be dealing with that today' and not gone though. I did do a cheeky thing this weekend of waiting until so late in the day to book tickets that I *knew* a thing would be sold out in order to legitimately tell people "oh no I'd LOVE to have gone but look it's all sold out" Naughty naughty emi !
Seriously though I've done that too * face reddens * and felt guilty for er, well a few microseconds...
I blame the " younger generation " * nudge nudge wink wink *
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Post by emicardiff on Jun 20, 2017 11:18:14 GMT
Oh I have done the 'it's worth losing the money to save my sanity' a couple of times (usually TBH due to not being well or life making travel to London difficult) but once or twice I have simply done the 'Dear Lord I just can't be dealing with that today' and not gone though. I did do a cheeky thing this weekend of waiting until so late in the day to book tickets that I *knew* a thing would be sold out in order to legitimately tell people "oh no I'd LOVE to have gone but look it's all sold out" Naughty naughty emi !
Seriously though I've done that too * face reddens * and felt guilty for er, well a few microseconds...
I blame the " younger generation " * nudge nudge wink wink *
I felt less guilty when I was happily lying on my sofa drinking wine
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Post by stefy69 on Jun 20, 2017 11:24:05 GMT
Naughty naughty emi !
Seriously though I've done that too * face reddens * and felt guilty for er, well a few microseconds...
I blame the " younger generation " * nudge nudge wink wink *
I felt less guilty when I was happily lying on my sofa drinking wine That's my girl....
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Post by freckles on Jun 20, 2017 11:34:28 GMT
Only ever left at the interval twice, I try to be supportive.
Once was Too Close To The Sun, which I might have stuck out on my own, out of morbid curiosity, but my guests really weren't enjoying it. We had a great thread on this on the previous forum. It was worth going just to participate in that. The other was The 8th Fold, dreary and dull all round.
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Post by CG on the loose on Jun 20, 2017 12:24:36 GMT
I hung in there for Too Close To The Sun... honouring my side of the papering bargain, but also out of the aforesaid morbid curiousity! Stalls were about half full in the first half and less than a quarter in the second - extraordinary show.
Have left a couple of things at the interval - Mojo, which I was enjoying but for an excruciating headache - and something, I think at the Union, that I've successfully blanked from my mind.
Oh and The Life of the Party at the Menier because they started so late I had no hope of getting home if I stayed til the end.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Jun 20, 2017 12:41:32 GMT
Never left at the interval; would've at Wonderland if I didn't have 'connections' in the show and would've at Whisper House if they had one! Other than that, I'm a mixture of finding something positive in everything I see, but also going to see things that I know I have a very high chance of liking. Gotta spend those duckets wisely! The Whisper House did have an interval when I saw it (and I very nearly did leave then too!). Did they change it during the run, or did you see it elsewhere (i.e. not at The Other Palace)?
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Post by Baemax on Jun 20, 2017 12:45:25 GMT
I reckon you can tell which critics left at the interval of Too Close To The Sun, as the second half did take something of a turn for the "so bad it's enjoyable". They'll deny it until the cows come home, of course, but some of the reviews do have a distinct undertone of affection while others are notable for completely lacking one...
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Post by theatremadness on Jun 20, 2017 12:49:58 GMT
Never left at the interval; would've at Wonderland if I didn't have 'connections' in the show and would've at Whisper House if they had one! Other than that, I'm a mixture of finding something positive in everything I see, but also going to see things that I know I have a very high chance of liking. Gotta spend those duckets wisely! The Whisper House did have an interval when I saw it (and I very nearly did leave then too!). Did they change it during the run, or did you see it elsewhere (i.e. not at The Other Palace)? No you're right - it absolutely did have an interval and I've no idea why I completely made up that it didn't! I must be thinking of something else but I can't even remember what it was! But now that you've jogged my memory, what I do remember is that I *had* to stay for Act 2, not because I wanted to!
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Post by infofreako on Jun 20, 2017 13:17:21 GMT
Oh I have done the 'it's worth losing the money to save my sanity' a couple of times (usually TBH due to not being well or life making travel to London difficult) but once or twice I have simply done the 'Dear Lord I just can't be dealing with that today' and not gone though. I did do a cheeky thing this weekend of waiting until so late in the day to book tickets that I *knew* a thing would be sold out in order to legitimately tell people "oh no I'd LOVE to have gone but look it's all sold out" I attempted this once and it failed miserably. They replied its fine, we got you one
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Post by emicardiff on Jun 20, 2017 13:30:01 GMT
Oh I have done the 'it's worth losing the money to save my sanity' a couple of times (usually TBH due to not being well or life making travel to London difficult) but once or twice I have simply done the 'Dear Lord I just can't be dealing with that today' and not gone though. I did do a cheeky thing this weekend of waiting until so late in the day to book tickets that I *knew* a thing would be sold out in order to legitimately tell people "oh no I'd LOVE to have gone but look it's all sold out" I attempted this once and it failed miserably. They replied its fine, we got you one Utter failure.
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Post by danb on Jun 20, 2017 13:34:06 GMT
Several of my leavings have been planned...The second time I saw the Ghost tour I only really wanted to see 'I Had A Life' & 'Rain/Hold On' so purchased my ticket location accordingly so I could chip off, like wise Les Mis when Carrie was in it....sneaking out of the aisle seat next to the door once she was dead so as to cause minimal disruption, normally at a matinee.
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Post by d'James on Jun 20, 2017 13:35:52 GMT
Oh I have done the 'it's worth losing the money to save my sanity' a couple of times (usually TBH due to not being well or life making travel to London difficult) but once or twice I have simply done the 'Dear Lord I just can't be dealing with that today' and not gone though. I did do a cheeky thing this weekend of waiting until so late in the day to book tickets that I *knew* a thing would be sold out in order to legitimately tell people "oh no I'd LOVE to have gone but look it's all sold out" I attempted this once and it failed miserably. They replied its fine, we got you one WHOOPS! That would be brilliant in a sitcom or something.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 20, 2017 16:10:00 GMT
I left tons of things in the interval but how about mid performance?
Emma Rice's Dream @ Globe Birds @ NT
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Post by Tibidabo on Jun 20, 2017 16:49:07 GMT
I've definitely left something Russian before time. Also, my memory is telling me that I left Antony Sher shipwrecked on an island, possibly in Waterloo? (I may have totally made that up as I love Sher, so it must have been dire or I was drunk or, most likely, both.)
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Post by 49thand8th on Jun 20, 2017 17:03:00 GMT
Just once. Bad outdoor production of Man of La Mancha. Luckily they had inserted an intermission.
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Post by rockinrobin on Jun 20, 2017 19:21:41 GMT
I never left at the interval - I am one of these overly optimistic people who always hope that the 2nd half will be better (and are usually very wrong). I'll bravely sit through anything, even if I keep on yawning or rolling my eyes. I survived 4 hours 40 minutes on a wooden bench at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse once, so I'll survive everything. Having said that, I felt very tempted to leave mid-show once. Not because of the show itself, although I didn't like it (it was "The Trial" at the Young Vic, the one with the conveyor belt) but because the guy next to me fell asleep and started snoring. REALLY loud. I, meanwhile, felt more and more embarrassed because everyone in the half-empty house could hear it - including the actors, I'm afraid - but I couldn't find the courage to give the guy a nudge or whatever to wake him up, even though I thought I should have. I really, really wanted to sneak out then.
Oh, and I also wanted to leave immediately when, during an interval in a certain West End show a few years back, a nice stranger seated next to me told me that he'd been watching me during the first half and noticed that I kept my eyes fixed on one actor (a rather attractive person) all the time. He found it hilarious.
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Post by Baemax on Jun 20, 2017 19:29:01 GMT
You can always casually kick or elbow a seatmate under the guise of crossing your legs or arms. If they're *that* asleep, you could also consider reaching around the back and tapping the shoulder on the far side from you. Or there's coughing or sneezing, but they're a wee bit more disruptive...
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Post by poster J on Jun 20, 2017 23:36:56 GMT
Given how often I go to the theatre on my own, I seem to have an unfortunate habit of always being with people when I dislike something so much I want to leave at the interval. Shakespeare in Love and a version of The Nutcracker in Singapore spring to mind, and I recall a friend and I talking about leaving Bend it Like Beckham in the interval but deciding to stick it out in the hope it got better...it didn't.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 6:58:08 GMT
War Horse - I seriously considered leaving.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 21, 2017 7:19:08 GMT
War Horse - I seriously considered leaving. ^^^ oh god I thought I was the only person in the world who thought this. I only got through it by focussing on the bum of one of the puppeteers in his very tight breeches 😋. The rest of it left me cold.
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