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Post by crowblack on Mar 10, 2020 12:57:53 GMT
There are a lot of people shouting “do better” on Twitter and little recognition of the fact that generally people ARE doing better and will continue to do better if they’re given the chance. Rather than shouting 'must do better' on Twitter, maybe these people should spend their time coming up with work of their own, things that people might actually want to watch and enjoy? God knows, London has enough venues, everyone has a fantastic quality movie camera in their pocket and a viewing platform with global reach that costs nothing to put their work up on! I do wonder what the cultural legacy of Millennials is going to be: "well, we played a lot of games and watched a lot of youtube make up tutorials and unboxing videos and got a lot of stuff Cancelled".
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Post by crowblack on Mar 10, 2020 11:10:29 GMT
I don't know the musical they are putting together. But if that's the story they want to do, an original musical about a gay man n NI would have been better then wouldn't it, rather than him playing a trans character? The novel itself was written by a heterosexual (I presume) male writer and has been around a long time. The character describes themselves in the film as a transvestite, is attracted sexually to men and wants to have a sex change. Using the term transgender is retrofitting with a term that I don't think was used then and is incredibly vague in its usage now - the 'trans umbrella' encompasses everyone from full surgical sex change people to drag queens, people born intersex, teenagers on Tumblr going through a phase, and fully male bodied, part-time male presenting people who are sexually attracted to women and like to be called by different pronouns on different days. When people say it should be played by a trans actor, what trans, how trans, at what stage of the journey? I saw Teddy Lamb tweeting about this on Twitter, but his type of trans isn't what this character's type of trans is. We are on constantly shifting ground here.
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Post by crowblack on Mar 10, 2020 10:27:19 GMT
If Brenner cannot make it look beautiful, inviting and exciting, I am usually not wrong to assume that the play might be alright, but it won't be great.) Agree on this: I think he's the best theatre photographer out there for capturing the essence of a show.
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Post by crowblack on Mar 10, 2020 10:10:18 GMT
I think they are getting better generally in the theatre for that sort of thing, and Donmar did well in their teenage dick casting. But I think the Pluto casting is a mistake. I think for trans characters like that and Hedwig now, you have to have a trans actor play it An actor will probably bring something extra to the role if they have "lived experience". Who would have better "lived experience" for this role, about a young person growing up sexually non-conforming in Troubles-era Northern Ireland, in an adaptation of a novel whose NI and Troubles setting is crucial, and something utterly alien to most English people today? A young man who grew up gay in Northern Ireland at the tail end of the Troubles, or a young person who grew up trans-identifying in rich, broad-minded and non-sectarian London?
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Post by crowblack on Mar 10, 2020 9:34:05 GMT
Tovey and whishaw are out! Yes, I know, hence the full stop and new sentence!
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Post by crowblack on Mar 10, 2020 0:09:12 GMT
I think the main issue with the idea that ‘everyone should be able to play anything’ line of thinking is that it is never used to help gay actors play straight roles, A 'take home' from all the actor biographies and Hollywood Babylons scattered around the house (and my Mum's brief time in Hollywood) is that many actors who spent their careers playing heterosexual heart-throb leading men were gay or bi. There are probably some young leading men now who aren't 'out'. Russell Tovey, Ben Whishaw etc. play gay and heterosexual roles.
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Post by crowblack on Mar 9, 2020 15:26:37 GMT
I do really hate the Dorfman I like the theatre space itself, but hang around in the main NT building or on the riverbank promenade thing before a show. It's in a shady, cold alley and I don't think there's much that can be done about that.
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Post by crowblack on Mar 9, 2020 14:10:04 GMT
It's in June Yes, I know, but we're not bringing in the sort of lockdown procedures that seem to be reducing the spread in China.
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Post by crowblack on Mar 9, 2020 13:33:12 GMT
So some theatres have 'no stage door during outbreak' policies to protect performers, while the Young Vic is going ahead with this?
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Post by crowblack on Mar 9, 2020 10:06:15 GMT
The Royal Court does seem to be having a poor run at the moment.
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Post by crowblack on Mar 3, 2020 13:52:44 GMT
David Dawson! One of my absolute must-book faves ( local boy!). I will brave the plague for this, then.
(One of my 'wish I had a time machine with teleporter' productions is the US one with Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif ).
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Post by crowblack on Feb 29, 2020 16:32:38 GMT
A narrow end-of aisle clamshell seat that folds away, a bit like the ones on the underground. I think they were around £25 last year.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 28, 2020 22:41:48 GMT
every comment about the actual production When we have seen it - which some of us are only able to do from the cheap seats because we're evidently not all as rich as you, or as tall, or as short, whatever - we'll come back here and discuss the production itself. That's a bit hard to do at the mo because they've only announced two of the cast and one of them isn't a stage actor, it doesn't open till the end of July, and some (me, for instance) haven't seen or read it before but are going on the strength of the writer's other work.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 28, 2020 16:30:16 GMT
They were on sale this morning. Yes, my email has 10.40am on it but it didn't come through till mid afternoon, along with a load of other things that seem to have been held up. I tried booking through Atg and the website this morning but it wouldn't let me in. It's ok, still very good availability for the dates I was after.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 28, 2020 15:45:06 GMT
Oh, the end of row cheap flip up seats don't seem to be a Thing for this - have they stopped doing them? I think I'll leave this for further cast announcements / reviews - I don't really think I'm the target audience for most of The Bridge's programming tbh.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 28, 2020 15:12:14 GMT
The first few rows of the stalls were £57.50 Yes, my email has finally come through (gremlin in my server?) and I've booked for first preview cos I've got a matinee booked for something else the next day. Btw, all dates seem to have a 'gap' in row c or b - wonder if it's a stage feature, hoping not involving audience participation because I'm near it!
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Post by crowblack on Feb 28, 2020 10:54:15 GMT
Are there any top tips for best value seats in this theatre? And is this a theatre that might have offers later on? I see from the website there will be day tickets but that's not much use for me. Given the coronovirus threat though I've only got two things booked for spring/summer and might leave this to see how events pan out...
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Post by crowblack on Feb 23, 2020 16:03:18 GMT
I think the average member would assume and expect that those in the top level of membership would have access to 100% of the tickets available to buy in advance (ie all but the Friday Rush allocation), yet comments on here led me to suspect otherwise so I asked. With the answer was the explanation that being a public theatre, it would be unacceptable not to have tix available when public booking opened. Fine, but be honest and upfront and tell members this so they can make an informed decision before buying/renewing membership. I agree they should be open about it, but given that it is publicly subsidised from people across the UK and a National theatre I think it's completely fair that some tickets are held back for public booking day. As someone who lives in the NW of England I can't take advantage of Friday Rush because of the ludicrous cost of anything other than advance date train fares, and wish they'd drip release those a bit too - say, 4 weeks, 2 weeks etc in advance.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 21, 2020 11:34:04 GMT
I hate it when they announce and you book instantly. I agree on that, though the 8am, 10am, noon booking "on your marks get set go" timings exclude many people too - in the online era maybe an evening kick-off would be fairer?
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Post by crowblack on Feb 19, 2020 11:00:51 GMT
always uninteresting and aimed at the same type of audience. Really? Mosquitoes, Tortured, John, The Welkin, A&C, Translations, Small Island, An Octoroon, Common, Ocean, Downstate, Network etc.... what's the generic type all these appeal to?
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Post by crowblack on Feb 19, 2020 10:01:06 GMT
Why do so many people on here hate him? I think the NT's programming is always interesting, with some really great shows, the building is well run and a nice, relaxing place to hang out in what can often feel like a very unfriendly city, it still respects women's safety in its toilet policy, and the man himself came across as genuinely friendly and engaging when we pounced on him after a play last year.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 18, 2020 15:36:55 GMT
And seriously on the costumes?! Yes, very hippy-Hobbit-wizardy with rainbow cloaks and everything, which was rather cheering given the slate-grey deluge London was enjoying that day.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 18, 2020 13:28:20 GMT
Would be great if they found a way around it, I agree crowblack. Ian McKellen, when incapacitated for King Lear, did a talk instead, so that's one option! I can't help feeling the rest of the cast would feel rather miffed though, if that became the norm to satisfy fans (when I saw King Lear, some audience members turned up in full Middle Earth costume!)
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Post by crowblack on Feb 18, 2020 12:34:29 GMT
It's the play, not the person, unlike Broadway I can't see this position continuing, with those shows that are clearly geared to pulling in a particular, named TV/film star's fanbase rather than fans of the play.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 15, 2020 21:37:03 GMT
Usual reason, you book for the play, not the actor. As a matter of interest, how does that work with things like the upcoming Emilia Clarke 'The Seagull' or other plays where the advertising is all centred around a star name and the ticket prices are, rather cynically I think, unusually high because they know some fans will pay silly money to see their TV or film favourites in the flesh?
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Post by crowblack on Feb 14, 2020 16:07:17 GMT
The Crucible also needs a big cast. Particularly if you want lots of girls to be possessed. Lots of plays at the National have big casts. And six years ago seems an age away given the huge changes in society, politics and social media since then.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 14, 2020 9:47:03 GMT
Why isn't anyone doing The Crucible? Of all the revivals they could be doing, this seems most pertinent to now (have a listen to Radio 4's 'The Purity Spiral' from Sunday), yet instead we get all the Arthur Millers but that, and constant Chekhovs and Ibsens.
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Post by crowblack on Feb 7, 2020 10:02:50 GMT
One is that it is a key point that Konstantin regards Trigorin as an old-fashioned worn-out establishment writer. Another is that with Nina - like in Romeo and Juliet - if the actor is too old the suspension of disbelief over the character's actions becomes difficult. I think one of the reasons why the recent West End 'Foxfinder' didn't work is the age of the cast - a clearly thirty-something actor as the teenaged zealot and an actress younger than him as the middle-aged farmer. I thought Tom Rhys Harries was very good in Pitchfork Disney a couple of years ago, but he was playing a glamorous teenager (I think).
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Post by crowblack on Feb 6, 2020 14:16:46 GMT
Tom Rhys Harries is a very young Trigorin! Younger than Nina here!
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Post by crowblack on Feb 6, 2020 11:10:04 GMT
Any news on an NT Live for this?
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