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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2019 16:41:09 GMT
I have seen a number of Chekov productions now - I’ve already sworn off seeing any more Cherry Orchards! I think the only one I’ve actually *really* enjoyed was the Donmar West End Ivanov. I think he just doesn’t work for me. Tangental, but I too have sworn off Cherry Orchards HOWEVER a friend of mine was in one recently and I spent a week having a moral dilemma over it before eventually wussing out. When I then saw him and confessed, he turned around and said 'Oh I wasn't in it on Saturday when you would have come anyway' Reader, had I sat through Cherry Orchard only for him to not be on, he would not have lived to tell the tale.
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Post by tmesis on Apr 27, 2019 17:51:55 GMT
I too was going to pass on this and Chekhov in general (definitely too many Orchards and Vanyas) but I've not seen quite so many Sisters and I really enjoyed this, slow pace and everything. The excellent cast kept me engrossed throughout.
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Post by kathryn on Apr 27, 2019 20:00:12 GMT
No, Row J behind a pillar, next to the guy who decided to come despite having the lurgy and had some form of sneezing/coughing fit, which you may have noticed. Bet I catch it too now, just in time for my trip to New York next week.
A desire to get away from his germs was definitely a factor in my scarpering at the interval!
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Post by peggs on Apr 27, 2019 21:24:29 GMT
I missed you again @theatremonkey?! And kathryn? Was out with @latecomers. Presumably neither of you were the person who removed their boots and held their row up whilst they struggled to put them back on?
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Post by kathryn on Apr 27, 2019 22:40:42 GMT
Damn it, if I’d known all you lot were there I’d have at least stuck around for a chat at the interval!
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Post by sweets7 on Apr 28, 2019 16:34:44 GMT
Saw the matinee yesterday. There was a couple beside me who made such a fuss with their coats before settling. They were self aware enough to apologise though. Thr then talked about how many versions they had seen of the play and left at the interval. So I negative from them then but great for me because I had space. I didn't think much of the Almedia to be honest.
Liked the play. First version I have seen but read the play. Olga is so unremittingly good but as Maggie Smith would say Masha is the better part. Thought it was brilliantly acted. Like it.
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 28, 2019 19:30:25 GMT
I remarked that peggs and theatremonkey are at too many performances together for sheer coincidence ....peggs suggested she may BE theatremonkey and is just pretending she isn’t.....I chuckled.... but maybe it is a double or triple bluff? I may have been watching too many spy thrillers! I quite liked this, without being wowed. I think if you update things you have to go modern on everything and the dialogue in this felt stilted and unnatural...plus there were moments where things like Chair-ography or scene changes were more interesting than the rest and that surely should not be the case. Wasn’t bored and quite liked all the women though. Followed up matinee by going to Shakespeare in The Abbey and had fun tracking Mark Ryalnce down and dancing to Happy by Pharrell Williams with peggs at the end....surreal.
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on May 2, 2019 10:42:47 GMT
Just returned a £20 stalls ticket for this Saturday's matinee if anyone's interested - up on the Almeida site!
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2,960 posts
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Post by crowblack on May 6, 2019 13:56:13 GMT
I've just returned a £10 stalls ticket , J11, restricted view but central on the evening with the post-show talk which is nearly sold out.
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Post by bordeaux on May 13, 2019 8:13:04 GMT
Had been wondering whether to return my £10 behind a pillar stalls seat but was very glad I didn't. I really enjoyed it, thought the acting superb and direction clear; I'd worried there might be too much intervention and was relieved there wasn't. I'd booked purely on strength of the Frecknall-Ferran combo, was disappointed to read the respectful but underwhelming reviews. It was ages since I'd seen it. I saw the Cheek by Jowl Russian one in 2007 and have no real memory of it at all, but still have good memories of the Jonathan Miller/Harriet Walter/Deborah Findley/Stella Gonet/Brian Cox one at the RSC in about 1989 and the Adrian Noble/Cusack sisters one at the Royal Court shortly after that (and less good memories of the Robert Sturua/Redgraves one at around the same time). It's good to see lots of young unfamiliar young actors one wants immediately to see again in something else.
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Post by david on May 14, 2019 22:52:25 GMT
Thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s performance. The combination of Pearl Chanda, Pasty Ferran and Ria Zmitrowicz as the 3 sisters worked really well, though personally I found the performances of Chanda and Zmitrowicz more entertaining simply because of the mix of humour, sarcasm as well as the more tragic elements of the characters compared to Ferran’s Olga.
Interestingly, we’ve moved on from a lot of on stage pianos in summer and smoke to plenty of chairs. I was half expecting a game of musical chairs during the performance during the musical interludes, but alas that was not to happen. Though the choreography of the chair moving during Act 1 was impressive enough I just wished we had a bit more of it. Pace wise, I had no issues with it and it kept me engaged for the entire play,
Tonally, I really thought that it was a bit strange. Act 1 seemingly played for laughs whilst Act 2 is more serious. I felt this was a bit reminiscent of the Roman play at the Gielgud a which had a similar style. I did notice a few empty seats at the start of Act 2 so maybe the Act 1 style put a few people off to see the end, though I did think that it paid off and was worth sticking around for. Though it wasn’t a full house tonight.
Comparing this to Frecknall’s other Almeida directorial offering of Summer and Smoke, I think of those 2 pieces, S and S was the better piece overall for me even though stylistically she took the same staging approach of having a bare bones set for both, I think it was Patsy Ferran who made that play, whereas in 3 sisters, it was the other 2 actresses that had the better roles for me.
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Post by mallardo on May 17, 2019 10:21:08 GMT
At the interval of The Three Sisters last night a man seated next to us who knew nothing of the play asked my wife and I to give him a clue as to what he had just seen. He was baffled. Why? I think because the resetting of the piece into an anonymous no-time with updated and heavily rearranged dialogue had robbed it of its context. All this strange talk of work as the way forward to a shining future makes little sense unless one sees the whole thing as a portrait of intense social change. 1850, when it's set, is only two years on from the Europe-wide upheavals of 1848. Things would never be the same. The sisters, landed gentry, understand that they can no longer be bystanders but must actively participate in the society to come - yet they still yearn nostalgically for an idle past in Moscow. They are not the future. That distinction belongs to the representative of the class below them, the odious Natasha.
The deep longing that suffuses the play is about the very real clash of values these people are trying to come to terms with. But Rebecca Frecknall's production - in the name of relevance, presumably - muddies the waters to the extent that, like the man next to us, those who do not already know the play are left behind.
Fortunately, The Three Sisters is strong enough to overcome the improvements imposed upon it. It maintains its power no matter what, especially with a cast as superb as this one is, right down the line. Still, as one sat there admiring the actors, it felt more like watching a master class in how to penetrate to the heart of ones character than a coherently realized take on the play.
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Post by lynette on May 18, 2019 21:38:47 GMT
Yes brilliant acting ( Oscar for the under blanket acting) but why remove the context so much in the beginning? With such good actors and updated script a solid set would I think have been better. But I actually enjoyed this. Slow at the end. Maybe a few cuts... bloomin’ geese.
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Post by bgarde on May 19, 2019 7:17:56 GMT
I love the play and I liked Summer and Smoke but couldn't fully appreciate this production. In terms of the acting, I felt that the choices made for Masha and especially Irina lessened the impact that the characters had. Patsy Ferran gave it the psychological depth that the others lacked but of course she is there much less. And I love Nico but didn't need the song or the photos on the wall.
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Post by foxa on May 29, 2019 19:04:53 GMT
I saw this last week - and rated it highly. I was a little hesitant about booking because, although I like the play, the last production I saw a few years back was a bit of a car crash deconstruction. However, I found Frecknall's stripping back of this elegant and beautiful and I liked Cordelia Lynn's version of the script. There were some lovely performances. Ferran, of course: there is one bit where she is turning around looking at two other characters, saying nothing and you can see all her thoughts playing across her face - curiosity, envy, embarrassment and eventually the determination to speak. Truthful and compelling in everything she does. But I also liked Elliot Levey's performance as Masha's husband, Lois Chimimba as Natasha and Freddie Meredith as Andrey. My friend was a little more critical of it than I was - but I was grateful that it reminded me what a beautiful play it is.
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Post by Jan on May 30, 2019 8:58:49 GMT
I saw this last week - and rated it highly. I was a little hesitant about booking because, although I like the play, the last production I saw a few years back was a bit of a car crash deconstruction. However, I found Frecknall's stripping back of this elegant and beautiful and I liked Cordelia Lynn's version of the script. There were some lovely performances. Ferran, of course: there is one bit where she is turning around looking at two other characters, saying nothing and you can see all her thoughts playing across her face - curiosity, envy, embarrassment and eventually the determination to speak. Truthful and compelling in everything she does. But I also liked Elliot Levey's performance as Masha's husband, Lois Chimimba as Natasha and Freddie Meredith as Andrey. My friend was a little more critical of it than I was - but I was grateful that it reminded me what a beautiful play it is. Agree. Elliot Levey the best thing in it for me.
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Post by crowblack on May 30, 2019 10:06:12 GMT
I saw this last week - and rated it highly. I wish I'd held off and seen this later in the run - I saw it in previews and found it excruciatingly slow.
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Post by crowblack on May 30, 2019 19:14:25 GMT
Btw, Whats On Stage has an Almeida backstage tour on its instagram stories right now. Tardis.
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on May 30, 2019 20:19:11 GMT
I don't follow Whatonstage on instagram - I'll check it out.
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Post by learfan on Jun 1, 2019 18:18:06 GMT
Saw the matinee today, uneven i thought. Surprised not to see a full house. Some good performances by Chanda and Chimimba. Not sure what the actress playing Irina was doing. Three stars. Paapa Esiudu was sat in front, sadly left his cap on throughout!
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