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Post by foxa on Jul 6, 2016 8:15:40 GMT
Is it any better? I'm meant to be going on Saturday. Husband is already refusing to go based on reports....is it worth my trying to rope in someone else?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2016 8:18:12 GMT
I thought shows sped up during previews not added another hour!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2016 8:41:17 GMT
Considering how the show has been - and, indeed, is being - written, I'm surprised they're willing to state any sort of estimated running time right now. I can't imagine they'll update the website until they've settled on the finished product!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2016 8:42:33 GMT
Well, rather like Julie Jordan in 'Carousel' this is a queer one. I must say I really did enjoy it for the most part and some parts are very funny but it's an odd one. On the one hand, Matt Smith is very good as the neurotic director, Richard Pyros is absolutely glorious as the DP (overall the best performance/character in the whole thing for me) and Jonjo O'Neill just completely steals the whole thing right in front of everyone's eyes and he knows it. On the other hand, Amanda Drew (as the producer) and Tamara Lawrance (as the lead actress in the film) were rather weak in my view and seem like they really need a lot more time to settle - lots of very flat delivery. Some great parts that really made me laugh (mainly from Pyros and O'Neill) and I didn't even mind them referring to the script at times (a very smiley Vicky Featherstone and Anthony Neilson came on at the beginning and told us that he had given them lots of new material to learn the day before) but they seemed to do it a lot more (particularly Smith, Drew and Lawrance) in the second act (Drew especially read from the script massively throughout the whole play). The ending is really rather lovely to look at and . . . {Spoiler - click to view} . . there's even a cute little fox! My main problem with the whole thing though is that for the majority of the play . . {Spoiler - click to view} . . I thought it was really funny and well played and then the characters turn on the DP and I ended up really disliking them (mainly because he was so likeably played by Pyros) and lost my interest in the remainder of the play and didn't care what happened to them. Shame really.
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578 posts
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Post by lou105 on Jul 6, 2016 8:43:40 GMT
It's still very much a work in progress, and they are still asking the audience to bear with the actors who are dealing with rewrites. The audience last night seemed to take all that in good part, enthusiastically shouting Good Luck on request, and Matt Smith was good at mugging to the crowd when it got messy. There were some ecstatic reactions, and also some empty seats after the interval, though not many. The big question, of course, is how the final version is received when you take away the fun element of being somehow in the "in crowd", watching something being developed..I agree with a lot of chameleon's comments above. Some of it was very funny, some of it made me cringe and whilst the end was visually memorable, I'm not at all sure what I brought away from it.
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Post by chameleon on Jul 6, 2016 9:13:02 GMT
Yes.. the end. It was pretty. Maybe,, though, they ended up spending a lot of money on something that didn't fit so well with the play they've come up with (so far, at least) - but given how much they've spent, they feel obliged to use it?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2016 9:16:58 GMT
I do wonder whether the set will change as the play develops or whether they'll keep the current "rehearsal room" vibe . . .
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578 posts
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Post by lou105 on Jul 6, 2016 9:21:46 GMT
Yes.. the end. It was pretty. Maybe,, though, they ended up spending a lot of money on something that didn't fit so well with the play they've come up with (so far, at least) - but given how much they've spent, they feel obliged to use it? Yes..the ending was what the trailer and the website images seemed to point to, but the rest of it was something else. And as you said, Jonjo was something else again!
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Post by nash16 on Jul 6, 2016 11:38:53 GMT
Whereas the ending in WILD at the Hampstead seemed to be added to save a bad play, the ending here seemed to be in place from the start, but I'm not sure the play they've devised has given sufficient justification for its appearance. It, of course, comes from Matt Smith's character's desire for perfect light, but as it stands at the moment seems to come from nowhere, do it's thing, but in a sort of vacuum belonging to another play, and then blackout. It's not really in keeping with the rest of the "rough theatre" aesthetic of the rest of the production either.
Jerusalem probably still wins for the subtle action of those trees suddenly waving and shaking as summoned by Rooster. Action from text.
Unreachable's ending is action from design, rather than naturally coming from what has gone before.
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Jul 6, 2016 13:21:57 GMT
I was going to go this Saturday but have changed my tickets (for a £2 fee) for 22nd July with the hope that it's more together by then. Means I sacrificed Row B stalls for Row A Circle in the swap, but there you go - we'll see. And it will give me more time to rope in some indulgent friend to accompany me, given SO's refusal.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jul 6, 2016 13:34:17 GMT
I was going to go this Saturday but have changed my tickets (for a £2 fee) for 22nd July with the hope that it's more together by then. Means I sacrificed Row B stalls for Row A Circle in the swap, but there you go - we'll see. And it will give me more time to rope in some indulgent friend to accompany me, given SO's refusal. And you can attend the press night of Pigs and Dogs beforehand!
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Jul 6, 2016 13:42:59 GMT
I was going to go this Saturday but have changed my tickets (for a £2 fee) for 22nd July with the hope that it's more together by then. Means I sacrificed Row B stalls for Row A Circle in the swap, but there you go - we'll see. And it will give me more time to rope in some indulgent friend to accompany me, given SO's refusal. And you can attend the press night of Pigs and Dogs beforehand! ;-) Seriously, do you think that would be a good idea (it is only 10 minutes long) or would this lose me even more friends if I dragged someone to that?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2016 13:44:14 GMT
You could do Pigs & Dogs alone, have a quick drink in the bar with your friend, then straight back in for Unreachable?
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jul 6, 2016 13:55:24 GMT
Could you arrange to meet your friends just before 7.00 in the bar? If you're travelling together, it might be more awkward for you to see it without them. Seating for Pigs and Dogs is unreserved, which will make it easier for friends to decide individually and not have to book at the same time. Although as it's the press performance, I expect that a large area of the seating will be reserved for critics and other guests at this particular performance. I'm really looking forward to it. As it's based on material in a non-fiction book and only has three actors and only runs for approx ten minutes, I'm expecting a short intense scene, or fragments of short intense scenes. Actually, if your friends are game for two to three hours of Anthony Neilson, they can't be too phased by Caryl Churchill.
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Post by foxa on Jul 6, 2016 14:11:43 GMT
Thank you both - that's a great thing about this forum as you all understand these dilemmas.
(I did think, at first, Baemax, that you were going to suggest we JUST see Pigs & Dogs, have a drink and then scrammed out of there. There is something to be said for very short theatre.)
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Post by littlesally on Jul 7, 2016 8:32:09 GMT
This is an odd one. Hasn't quite found its tone. Pace still little uneven. But the script and all the performances are superb. No sidelining for MS last night. He is at the heart of the show. Richard Pyros is amazing (although his is the best written role). Jonjo O steals every scene, leaving no scenery un-chewed! I actually enjoyed the experience of seeing something being created and some of the real belly laughs came from the actors coping with this. I'd love to see the finished article but would not have missed this preview/rehearsal for anything!
One sad note. The ending is visually beautiful but left a nasty taste in my mouth. Wish I knew how how to do spoilers!!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2016 8:53:31 GMT
This is an odd one. Hasn't quite found its tone. Pace still little uneven. But the script and all the performances are superb. No sidelining for MS last night. He is at the heart of the show. Richard Pyros is amazing (although his is the best written role). Jonjo O steals every scene, leaving no scenery un-chewed! I actually enjoyed the experience of seeing something being created and some of the real belly laughs came from the actors coping with this. I'd love to see the finished article but would not have missed this preview/rehearsal for anything! One sad note. The ending is visually beautiful but left a nasty taste in my mouth. Wish I knew how how to do spoilers!! What was last nights running time?
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270 posts
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Post by littlesally on Jul 7, 2016 9:49:04 GMT
Started 10 mins late. 20 minute interval. Finished at 10.05. It flew by (especially act 1)
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jul 7, 2016 9:52:27 GMT
And the Royal Court website says 2h 30m inc interval, so it seems to have settled, maybe?
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Post by DuchessConstance on Jul 7, 2016 10:57:05 GMT
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Jul 7, 2016 13:51:15 GMT
When I spoke to the box office yesterday they said two and a half with interval.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2016 15:40:49 GMT
To be fair, if you take out all of the bits that Amanda Drew couldn't remember and needed to refer to the script that looks about right.
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Post by DuchessConstance on Jul 7, 2016 16:42:13 GMT
I have no doubt 2 1/2 is correct, unless they're doing a special condensed version for press night! Like a highlights reel!
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Post by Steve on Jul 7, 2016 18:27:20 GMT
I saw the 4th preview last night too. This is a play that should never be locked.
Some spoilers follow. . .
If a play is about an obsessive artistic quest for perfection, which the title both suggests and threatens is "unreachable," then Anthony Neilson should abandon the idea of a press night, and just keep working on the show, rewriting it every day to the very last day, August 6th. Critics could come on any random day.
As others have implied, there is a specific ending already in place, which Neilson is working towards, and it makes sense that he should never quit working towards it, attempting a "perfect" play, just as Matt Smith's Maxim wants to film "perfect light."
The obvious cinematic inspiration for this show is the documentary, "Burden of Dreams," which depicts film director, Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Kinski, at war with nature and at war with each other as they try to make an insanely impossible film, "Fitzcarraldo." In the documentary, Herzog almost has a nervous breakdown as he attempts to manually push a three hundred ton ship over a hill, and deal with the maniacal egotist, Kinski, who took over from Jason Robards half way through the shoot, and who also will not compromise one inch on his own artistic vision.
The documentary is one of the best ever made about the borderline between art and madness.
Here, together with his actor collaborators, Neilson explores the burden, and meaning, of Matt Smith's Maxim's dream quest for "perfect light." Jonjo O'Neill's Ivan is a thinly veiled Klaus Kinski, while Matt Smith's Maxim is Herzog.
All the characters in the show have their own interpretation of what art means, and it is this consideration of the different meanings of art to different people, what it is, how it is created, that Neilson is exploring.
For the most part, Jonjo O'Neill's Kinski makes for such hilariously irrepressible broad comedy that he eats the subtler parts of the show, though Matt Smith does a great job at balancing comedy with a more introspective interpretation of what it means to be Maxim.
The first act is a broad comedy tour de force.
The second act is still scripts-in-hand, new scenes written overnight, edging closer to Neilson's end vision. But Neilson is still some way from bridging the gap to the end scene, with meandering story points that are pertinent, but insufficiently focused, and drastic jarring tonal changes, and it's a damn shame if he has to stop trying to get there on Friday. Maxim would not stop, he would keep reaching, as would Werner Herzog, and Neilson should obviously fall in line behind them, and fight to hone his own crazy vision to the very end of the run.
I liked every actor in this: Tamara Lawrance's depiction of the actor as sociopath, Richard Pyros' DP's opportunism, Amanda Drew's producer's machiavellian devotion to her director, Genevieve Barr's pragmatic financier, Matt Smith's self-destructive director and most of all, Jonjo O'Neill's unrestrained bonkers rendition of the artist that was Klaus Kinski!
This work is unfinished, and should not be finished, if it is true to itself. I'll be back. Fascinating.
4 stars 😊
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Post by mikey on Jul 7, 2016 19:51:39 GMT
I 100% agree with you, Steve, Neilson should keep going! Loved reading your review. I too was there yesterday, and you've articulated a lot of what I was feeling! Thanks
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Post by Marwood on Jul 11, 2016 12:14:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 18:11:04 GMT
I saw this Saturday night, and I loved it. Also it happened to be the 'thing I didn't know I needed' until I saw it.
I was doubled with laughter at times, wondering at the state of my mind, at the world at others and also had much to think about. I found it utterly fascinating and could happily watch it multiple times just to see what changes. Steve above nails it with the idea of the unfinished art and leaving it unfinished.
Matt Smith does a brilliant job giving weight to the centre of the play, but also shows his own comic ability which can go from witty and considered delivery of a line or reaction to outright slapstick in a beat, and it's brilliant to watch, but he's also got a clear handle on the intellectual and emotional weight of what he's doing as well. Jonjo O'Neill is just...well...I still struggle for words, but I'm still laughing to myself at some of his moments. He's a larger than life character who does (as I think Billington said) dominate a bit too much at times in the second act but, I don't think to the real detriment of the play. Amanda Drew also deserves a lot of credit for her machiavellian presence in it and again drawing some of the madness together.
It's messy, it pushes boundries, it's damn funny but also quite soul searchingly fascinating.
And as those have said, the visuals of the ending are just outstanding.
So very tempted to make a return trip to London just for this.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 21:40:33 GMT
Amazing Amazing Loved it Loved it 5 stars
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Post by showgirl on Jul 12, 2016 11:42:00 GMT
Oh dear - I booked on the strength of the mainly favourable reviews, but maybe Parsley's approval bodes ill for me?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2016 11:50:42 GMT
Oh dear - I booked on the strength of the mainly favourable reviews, but maybe Parsley's approval bodes ill for me? Isn't the general consensus that SpiceShack likes something he/she/they put their money into it?!
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