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Post by lynette on May 16, 2024 13:29:41 GMT
The view that it is somehow the fault of the audience when they don't like a show is common amongst those auteur directors who regard themselves as "edgy" - for that reason they will regard 2* reviews (from media outlets they disapprove of anyway) as affirmation that the production has succeeded. Likewise criticism from the likes of me - however in reality in theatrical terms I'm not a "conservative" - for example I thought the Michael Sheen Hamlet was the greatest production of the play I've ever seen and that was about as far from a traditional production as it was possible to be. Indeed, and you liked the Young Vic's "Three Sisters" as well, so definitely not someone who disapproves of Andrews' techniques per se. The post you quote was intended as a caution to conservative types, who disapprove of such techniques, to save their hard earned money on this one, as they definitely won't like it. Everyone else, open to the use of such techniques, will be free to judge whether they are well used. You think not, and that's fair. I had a rousing emotional reaction to this, so the techniques worked well for me, as did everything else, so I did in fact rate this highly, though I'm probably innately more conservative than you (I adore safe and cosy, traditional and period, large effects and pretty vistas lol). Am confused. Hated Sheen’s Hamlet so I’m gonna be in trouble for this, squirming until the interval when I will leave? Or will I love it? Or just shrug?
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Post by lynette on May 16, 2024 13:25:17 GMT
A no phone, no talking, no snacks, no alcohol performance for us more discerning theatre goers. Add ‘inside the auditorium space’ Ok in the foyers. I’m wondering if with these slightly shorter shows we might go for a longer interval so people can drink etc in the bars not when sitting inside. I have seen people go to sit with a bottle and two glasses , a sort of drinksie, private view experience but sitting next to strangers. Plays, shows could be become the add ons to the social experience; I’m thinking this was maybe what it was like in earlier times when you went to be seen and get the goss. Then the plays rather than the actresses became more interesting and so playdom came into being. So we need bigger and better foyer spaces, more drink, more food, more chat. I always think the real action takes place in the Soho theatre foyer for example, the theatre experience a bit of cool let down. And with this ‘working from home’ or rather ‘working where other people are paying for the heating’ we can now work, eat, socialise and culture grab all in the one space..the NT the obvious candidate for this. Theatre design will evolve again: tiny studios for the avant garde or perhaps for the nostalgic among us and open stages with easier ins and outs for everyone, lots of interaction with the audience, the Globe in fact.
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Post by lynette on May 11, 2024 16:36:42 GMT
I like the pamphlets too because i can compare dates and use them as reminders around my stuff.
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Post by lynette on May 6, 2024 18:30:02 GMT
So puzzled Colonel of the Home Counties here. I thought Dear Octopus was dull but I like a samovar. So I’ll let you know.
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Post by lynette on May 6, 2024 18:24:56 GMT
Did 'Good' sell out this quickly? Probably. It was just after the Covid lark i think.
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Post by lynette on May 6, 2024 18:23:22 GMT
I noticed the RSC has turned one set of gents loos near the Swan Theatre into gender neutral ones but left the ladies as it is. That seemed a bit unfair although the loos at the RSC Theatre end of the building are still male and female I think. Would the simple idea if there was space to have a gender neutral loo like how you have a disabled one along with male and female ones. There needs to be a loo provision for people who are not male or female but there does need to be women's only loos too IMO. This works quite well. In my carefully executed survey, that is sitting there waiting for the show to start, i would say that I have seen a women use the gender neutral but mainly fellas ( some of whom give it a looksee before committing to going in ) and the women’s loo is much more used by women before a show.
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Post by lynette on May 2, 2024 12:09:24 GMT
Beginning to take it personally with the Donmar: earphones with Macbeth and now audience participation with Cherry Orchard. Two pet hates Well in a sense it *is* personal, you and I are not the audience they want. But we pay, don’t we? And we have supported them for years, by going to stuff , more or less everything back in the day and with financial support. I will reserve judgment until I’ve seen this particular show.
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Post by lynette on May 1, 2024 18:27:12 GMT
‘Reimagined’ ? They make the two couples homeless drug addicts who speak with an Essex/Newcastle accent? What is wrong with people. If there is one play which is perfection, every word landed, it is this one.
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Post by lynette on May 1, 2024 18:22:20 GMT
Beginning to take it personally with the Donmar: earphones with Macbeth and now audience participation with Cherry Orchard. Two pet hates
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Post by lynette on May 1, 2024 18:16:58 GMT
In theatre? Nooooooooooo......... Well in the past in the industry and the movies, it wasn’t a good idea to be gay so one thing we have sorted out, I hope.
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Post by lynette on May 1, 2024 11:57:16 GMT
The term ‘diversity’ is a slippery one, no? These guys from Oxbridge might or might not have had some difficulties in their pasts. And plenty of non English heritage. They might be gay or something else. Names don’t always say a lot. As for the obviously varied heritage ones, they may have come from what we call a ‘privileged’ background, have wealthy in laws and be throroughly “british’ in their education and outlook. So what are we looking for? Talent, hard work, imagination, open mindedness ( and in my opinion, no sticks in Shakespeare - if you know , you know)
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Post by lynette on Apr 28, 2024 22:20:52 GMT
Cleese has always said he is short of money because of his ex wives but he has also said he spends £17.000 on Beaty therapies to look young. Hence the stage adaptations coming in thick and fast. Good luck to him, his original FT is a classic.
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Post by lynette on Apr 28, 2024 22:17:47 GMT
Hello from Australia! My name is Peter and I am a musician, musical lover and a semi-retired chef (health issues 😔) Australia has a reasonably threadbare musical theatre scene if you’re looking for something very new. As an example, it was roughly a decade or more before we got Phantom. So mostly, I look for well made shot videos on the usual channels, and try to collect OST’s when they become available. I would love to see Broadway and West End, but I have left it too late and cannot travel now. But at very least, I have a connection to the theatre world vicariously through this site and the people discussing here. Thanks for reading 🫠 Hi, nice to meet you. Can you get stuff on the internet from theatres in UK? So much more is available these day. I wonder of any of our members can direct you to sites that are out there for our ‘abroad’ members
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Post by lynette on Apr 26, 2024 21:49:35 GMT
Not sure to what exactly you are referring mkb but please stay civil. Thank you.
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Post by lynette on Apr 23, 2024 23:14:38 GMT
Gonna be with the earpieces ?
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Post by lynette on Apr 23, 2024 23:11:11 GMT
Does the board need some of these from the Ushers merch store? www.ushersmusical.com/-merch/p/unisex-t-shirttotally wonderful. I looked on the site and see that the large sizes are sold out 😂 the big fellas are coming for ya’all.
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Post by lynette on Apr 23, 2024 23:08:59 GMT
In two of the recent shows I've attended there has been behaviour which while not the worst has been very annoying. In a sense, when it is more borderline, it is harder to take action. One was at Guys and Dolls last night when the couple next to me kept making comments like "Where is the orchestra?" throughout the performance and despite insistent ssshing from me and other theatre goers pointedly looking at them, carried on oblivious.
Then at The Glass Menagerie, I wasn't sitting directly in front of the two men concerned, so fortunately only saw them in the corner of my eye line, but it was still very annoying and particularly so for the two women sitting directly in front of them. These two men who were clearly friends, just could not sit still for a moment, moving backwards, forwards, sideways in their seats and putting their arms up to scatch their heads. Yet strangely in the interval hardly seemed to move at all. I was so glad I wasn't sitting directly behind them and I did speak to the women directly behind them, who just said "but what can you do?"
I just don't understand why people find it so difficult to sit quietly for a couple of hours.
This made me chuckle. In the dark you behave differently and stretching, scratching wouldn’t seem intrusive. In full light, you would keep still cos people can see you. All this is instinctive and not deliberate. So, lack of theatrical experience maybe ?
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Post by lynette on Apr 14, 2024 22:25:52 GMT
Seen much less theatre than pre Covid, but happy to say I have seen most of the winners!
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Post by lynette on Apr 12, 2024 16:18:03 GMT
Have been listening to this on repeat, super excited for this one Do we think there'll be water on stage? Repress/dress really?
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Post by lynette on Apr 10, 2024 13:27:28 GMT
A disappointing evening seeing a comedy play that just was never really able to land any of its jokes. Even with Sarah Jessica Parker’s star power, Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite feels dated and, to be honest, I doubt it was even that hilarious for audiences when it debuted on Broadway in 1968. The piece consists of three individual stories played out in three seperate acts, all located in the same hotel room in the late 60s. There is one interval after the first sketch, with a short pause between the second and third. At an hour long, act one soon becomes tedious to watch. SJP teases moments of reflection as her character, Karen, contemplates how to resolve her unloving marriage. In fact, despite being at least 15 minutes too long, act one at least gives us moments of pathos among the old-fashioned comedy. However, Matthew Broderick offers little range or variation in his delivery and gives his real life wife little to work with in response to her moments of genuine humour. The second act probably works out the shortest and depicts Broderick as some sort of Austin Powers rip-off, with SJP as his ditzy love interest. It is probably the most amusing of the three stories, mainly because of the absurdity and SJP’s physical comedy masterclass. However, if it hadn’t already, Simon’s comedy completely runs out of steam by act three. It’s an extremely laboured (and irritatingly repetitive) scene of slapstick which, for me, just doesn’t come close to landing. Even SJP couldn’t do much with the material she was given by this point. The fact it’s old hat is no problem for me, I love a good Noel Coward caper. This is a weak effort and I don’t understand why it has been revived. Well, that’s a lie; I do. Because the run has pretty much sold out with the US husband and wife duo commanding astronomical ticket prices. I wasn’t going to bother but managed to grab a £25 restricted view (it wasn’t) ticket for the final week of its run. It was mildly disappointing at that price. If I’d have paid £100-£300 as many had, I’d have been livid. SJP does provide some decent moments though and I’m sure her fans will take solace from that, at least. Two stars. I sympathise. It is old fashioned. It was funny at the time. Sad really.
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Post by lynette on Apr 10, 2024 13:25:43 GMT
We have mentioned buses haven’t we? You wait etc and two Oedipuses come along at same time.
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Post by lynette on Apr 10, 2024 13:22:13 GMT
The latest thing I saw was about the casting of historical characters. People like or say they like, to see historical characters acted by their race so people in Elizabethan courts all white. Any black person would have been a servant or a musician. And there were some, we know. But not the aristocracy. ( mixed race people entered a little later I think, via slave/master relationships and are documented ) This feeds into the larger ‘thing’ about fictionalising history so that the fiction becomes what we all accept as the reality. This is probably ok if we accept the imagination of the writer as being probably true to the emotions etc of the history ( as in making what Queen Liz I might have said to her courtiers ) and also we accept that getting some history out there is a ‘good thing’. Remembering that poor RIII has been demonised because Willie was on the side of the winner, needfully in his case, we should try to seek a balance when we can but also be aware that children especially do need to see themselves out there. I went to kids’ dance show just the other day: one black dancer . One. And this a really good school that leads some kids into the profession. So we do need to get some work done here and perhaps blind casting will help. I too live for the day when colour/ethnicity/nationality/gender/faith will cease to be a talking point Me and John Lennon, eh?
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Post by lynette on Apr 5, 2024 16:06:28 GMT
I’m the only person who didn’t like the James plays. Am I?
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Post by lynette on Apr 4, 2024 21:17:14 GMT
Greg Hicks - I wondered where he had gone. I think he likes the smaller, more intimate venues. Brilliant actor. He was in Ghosts at the SWP immediately before this. For someone who has played King Lear for the RSC among many other leading roles at RSC and NT he seems to get overlooked for high-profile roles these days, or maybe he prefers smaller venues like you say. A few years ago he was electrifying as Richard III at the Arcola. Yes, I was trying to remember where that was. He was wonderful. Back in the days when you could park outside the Arcola! Maybe you still can.
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Post by lynette on Apr 4, 2024 12:42:04 GMT
Greg Hicks - I wondered where he had gone. I think he likes the smaller, more intimate venues. Brilliant actor.
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Post by lynette on Apr 2, 2024 17:24:45 GMT
Without being unkind to Lee Mengo whose work I do not know, would it not be fair to publish when he is doing it and when Sheen? Once I turned up to a play expecting Maggie Smith and she wasn’t on; I was given a refund because I didn’t want to see anyone else do the part at that time.Mean? Maybe but we do book to see performers not just the piece being offered. In fact the performer I guess drives the advance booking more than the play.
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Post by lynette on Apr 2, 2024 17:20:06 GMT
I'd like to see more general offers being made available to all theatre fans. It just seems to be the U25's who get the great offers to encourage new fans to shows. I'd like a certain amount of cheaper tickets for each show or venues like ATG do one cheaper show per West End run for their regulars. Reward loyalty as a lot of people who love shows and post on here are the backbone of theatre attendees and will give new shows a chance. Dynamic pricing I'm not opposed to as Saturday night should be more than midweek matinee and supply and demand will shift. You’ve gotta encourage the U25s. Or theatre will just dwindle away. But yes to more discounts for old ‘uns, say Monday/Tuesday nights and the matinees. Thank you
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Post by lynette on Apr 2, 2024 17:18:35 GMT
Thanks for posting this. Seems Covid responsible in the same way the Black Death was for end of feudal system 😂 scarcity of resources and people knowing their worth.
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Post by lynette on Mar 27, 2024 14:08:53 GMT
They need to employ one FOH who is a licensed door supervisor (bouncer as they once were known). They should be in a security uniform, not a velvet waistcoat and dickie bow. At the interval they should be a visible presence, patrolling the bars looking out for people who are over-imbibing. These people are trained in conflict management and have to have an additional license to work on premises selling booze. As soon as behaviour starts, FOH alert security and gets them to that part of the theatre. I bet a lot of it would just stop when this security person appeared at the end of the aisle and started watching the culprits. If it escalates they’re trained on removing people safely. “Oh we can’t afford an extra member of staff” squeals ATG or DMT or whoever owns the theatre, but they can and should be protecting their customers. The idea that this is being left in the hands of people primarily hired to check tickets and sell ice creams is beyond ridiculous in this day and age. Sounds like heaven to me but people like to be ‘on a night out’ and not observed; people will act up and challenge, drunk or not; theatres want to flog the booze for more profit; there is other stuff besides booze more difficult to police. The fact is that the unwritten rules of behaviour in public places are no longer accepted/known/adhered to.
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Post by lynette on Mar 23, 2024 0:25:58 GMT
Three mobiles at the Almeida tonight and one early doors right at the end but I think she was ill. But phones, come on people.
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