The Tell-Tale Heart (Dorfman, NT)

Call me a bit weird. But if someone was sick!! I'm so glad I've already got a ticket.

Has anybody got any info on the running time please?

Oh how lovely. I'm going tomorrow.

I've seen many a show that's made me nauseous in the past so I think I'm well prepared.

I've just booked one, mainly because I forgot all about it and can't normally get stuff in the Dorfman because of how stuff usually sells before I know where I'm working, but also a little bit because if it is bad enough to make someone vomit...

It the performance made someone vomit, that is definitely not a review of the production you want to publicise. I’ve booked for the last Saturday night performance this month. These comments have definitely peaked my interest in the play.

I'd love to see it!

I wonder whether the NT will need to issue a trigger warning about the vomit-inducing effect and if so, how they would express it? Or maybe a graphic would be more effective?

Hey andrew, I'd be very grateful if you could keep an eye open for how the view might be affected for people on the pit level sides, particularly the seats nearest the stage, particularly on the left as you're looking towards the stage. If we're going into a John situation again, I'd like to know with enough warning that I've got time to try for a Friday rush...

The cast of Annie Baker's John spent a lot of time over on one side of the set, somewhat unnecessarily for the plot and very frustratingly for the audience who was sat on the side that couldn't see that part of the stage.

Well. That was interesting.

The director came on at the start and made a glib little speech about how the play had been created and therefore how unfinished it was, how different it is to the night before it and how our particular play will never be seen again. "It's a preview guys, you know 'pre' as in 'before' and 'view' as in 'being in any way ready yet'". The audience laughed, my alarm bells started going off. I think it would be unfair to properly review the show given its basically foetus-like state, but I'll say one or two things.

With regards to the gore, it's nowhere near as extreme as I was expecting. There's obviously an intentional 'let's gross the audience out' objective at play, which is fine, but it's not particularly outrageous. In spoilers I will describe for anyone the less tasteful elements should they be considering not attending on account of them. If you think you'll be fine either way, don't look and save the surprise.



As a comment on a work in progress, it feels like they've gone down some very strange paths in the rehearsal room, and the result is still a bit confused and struggles slightly towards the end. This is presumably all going to be fixed. It's quite a funny play, and only in one particular scene did it start to feel in any way scary. I don't know if the intention is for that tone, I would have preferred something a bit more intense and scary, that's at least what I thought I was going into. These spoilers are some more thoughts, again if you are going to see it then please don't look.



Obviously it was my own lack of research that caused me to do this, but I feel a bit miffed that I paid to see something which isn't even supposed to be finished yet. We talk a lot on here about the nonsense of previews in the West End being so expensive and the increasing occurrence of shows not actually being finished. This was a whole other level. This was never going to be finished, but I still paid out thinking I was seeing perhaps an under-rehearsed but essentially complete play. I get that that's the "artistic method" behind this director, but it doesn't make it acceptable for an audience member. If you want to do something like this, why not tell everyone they're "experimental previews" and charge £10-20, get students and other low-income groups in, and then charge full prices once you've finished the show. 

No star rating because it isn't done yet. Good luck to the next person seeing it.


I started off in the gallery on the house right side, and the view was pretty bad. A few key moments missed, and I suspect in the second act there were even more key moments missed. In general people should probably prioritise seeing the right side of the stage. I moved down to the stalls for the second act in one of the 3 or 4 empty seats and had a much better time of myself. I couldn't sit in your particular seats (I'm guessing you're talking about L high numbers) because the patrons sat there throughout the interval but it looked OK Baemax. I don't think you'll have a huge problem.

Yes, that should be made clear. Once people pointed out his "method" I remember discussions from the thing at the Royal Court, but I wasn't aware until the other day that this was "that guy". And the previews are only £6 cheaper than non-previews, I think?

In all honesty, I think I have rarely seen anything as crappy and pretentiously meta than this. I so want my money back... but even more than that, I want those two and a half hours of my life back!!

It’s not just the unmistakable lack of refinement and the fact that it’s not just a work in progress, but a random pile of often inconsistent and incoherent undeveloped deas thrown together... but also that - as someone else that has seen the play has brilliantly expressed in a tweet - all of that meta-referential stuff is quite busy disappearing up the director’s behind.

Oof. This is sounding more and more interesting. Slightly nervous that some of the comments make it sound like Very Very Dark Matter, but might give it a go anyway.

For those who have been, how high is the stage? Is the view from the from row likely to be okay?

Sat in front row (a 4)
Stage not to high. Miss a bit when a prop is at the front. But not bad considering sold as restricted view.