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Post by MrBunbury on Nov 21, 2017 9:25:25 GMT
Public booking went quite well this morning. I was initially dismayed by how far back in the queue I was (though at least this time I got through the queue quicker in Chrome than Internet Explorer, it's usually the other way round), and when I got to the list of dates for Absolute Hell and filtered it to shows with tickets in the £0-£20 range, there was only one date showing. However I unfiltered the list, opened the three dates I'd been looking at, and all three of them had £15/£18 front row stalls available! So my top tip for general life is to not believe the filter and always check the individual dates where possible, you may have a pleasant surprise. Which is nice, I'd briefly resigned myself to having to stalk the website for returns next spring, this will save a lot of effort. I completely agree. I was already giving up seeing the high prices available but then I checked a few dates and there were tickets for £15 for "Absolute hell" and "John". I have only left "Nine night" for Friday Rush because there are no cheap tickets.
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Post by MrBunbury on Nov 15, 2017 15:55:02 GMT
I am definitely on the side of those who loved this movie. Probably the best movie of the year so far for me. I really hope there will be lots of awards for everyone. I was a child in that same northern Italy in the '80s so the setting was very familiar (ah, those bike rides in the countryside! I still do them when I go back :-)) As for the sublime father's speech that Michael Stuhlbarg delivers, I believe that the central message is really of not being afraid of one's feeling and experiences and avoiding to shut out what is painful but meant something for us because there won't be endless chances to experience such intensity. Stuhlbarg admits of having had feelings towards other men but that is rather secondary to the speech: I actually think that the message can resonate for anyone independently from sexual orientation.
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Post by MrBunbury on Nov 15, 2017 14:07:47 GMT
Just a couple of things in the agenda...:
“The twilight zone” “The jungle” “My mum is a Tw*t” “Rita, Sue and Bob too” “Pinocchio” “Mischief Theatre movie night” “Lady Windermere’s fan” “The flying lovers of Vitebsk” “John” “Julius Caesar” “Girl from the north country” “The brothers size” “Gundog” “Long day’s journey into the night” “The divide” “Girls & boys” “Winter” “Fanny and Alexander” “The York realist” “Summer and smoke” “The great wave” “Macbeth” “The birthday party” “Caroline, or change” “The inheritance” “The way of the world” “Nine night” “Absolute hell” “The encounter” “Kiss me Kate” “Fun home” “Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret” “A monster calls” “Sylvia” “Company” “A very, very, very dark matter”
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Post by MrBunbury on Nov 10, 2017 12:37:48 GMT
Very happy to have booked when the show was originally announced.
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Post by MrBunbury on Nov 3, 2017 20:23:37 GMT
As someone who didnt see the first run of this show.. What is your take on the casting this time round ..newbies and orginals all things considered.. ? Most of the original cast remained and they are those who really sing (very beautifully). The main changes are in two non singing roles and one (Mr Burke) who has one short duet. I am sure it will remain a great show. I have seen it twice and I will see it again (probably twice).
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 26, 2017 11:59:44 GMT
Think they are in the process of posting it all because the website is intermittently not working at all for me. Managed to get through to see the on sale dates etc though. 7th November for Priority - my card is going to be feeling the pain this month with Macbeth, John and Absolute Hell on sale. By any chance, did you see when tickets are on sale for common mortals without priority?
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 20, 2017 8:15:53 GMT
Does anyone know when the next group of NT shows will go on sale?
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 17, 2017 13:48:48 GMT
Got all tickets easily. I actually got in the queue, went to a meeting, came back, and it was my turn...
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 17, 2017 13:47:59 GMT
I found this quite interesting & enjoyable, if strange, frustrating & opaque in parts. The references to Harold Pinter crossed with Four Lions that some reviewers have said sounds about right to me. And, like the recent The Caretaker and No Mans Land, while I found it amusing there were some audience members who seemed to find it absolutely side-splitting. The play is mostly about the different and changing motivations that revolutionaries/terrorists have; and my feeling was that while the play sympathises with some of the protagonists ideas, it also highlights the contradictions and hypocrisy involved. The funniest bit is a segment that echoes the 9/11 conspiracy skit by The Onion from a few years ago. For me the most interesting topic was the question of what happens to people who have spent a significant portion of their life growing up preparing for some big revolution that never actually happened, or has been lost. I wonder if the play might connect better in places where this sort of thing is a bigger part of the recent history. The performances seemed pretty good; even with the main actors in masks for much of the first half, and I thought the staging of the finale was surprisingly tense. 3 stars seems about right. It is very interesting that you say "I wonder if the play might connect better in places where this sort of thing is a bigger part of the recent history" because that was exactly the aspect that has struck me most after seeing the play and promoted some discussion with other audience members. Coming from left-wing Italy, the idea of revolution and fight against government is something I am familiar with because it is part of the inherited cultural milieu of the '70s. A romantic yet admittedly ambiguous view of revolution, even more when it comes to South America, is something that regularly comes up in conversation with my friends. So I could somehow empathize with the characters of the play because they sounded like several of my friends (within limits), and I found the play funny despite the obvious dark side. Yet, other members of the audience who were English found the characters unrelatable and could only see them under a negative light, which probably is the perfectly understandable consequence of the fact that here in England the recent history and political background is quite different from Italy. So I really think that the play might work better in other countries: to be honest, I am not sure that opening the play in London gave it the best chance as much as I enjoyed it.
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 8, 2017 11:22:10 GMT
I saw it Friday night (too?). The actors are very good and I completely agree with stevemar about the play. I had a restricted view seat so I could not see the heads (or the body) of the actors for at least one third of the play...
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 5, 2017 15:37:46 GMT
Thank you, MrBunbury - that's good enough for me, so I've booked while I can still get an aisle seat at a matinee. I notice that on the website the running time has been amended from 150 to 165 minutes, so sounds as though they expect it to reduce a little compared to when you saw it - unless they started late, which they often do. They were maybe 6-7 minutes late but I am sure they will tighten the production a bit as it goes along.
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 5, 2017 9:38:04 GMT
I saw it last night and I really liked it. For being the first preview, everything seems to be working fine. I was out by 10,15.
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 3, 2017 11:21:45 GMT
I cannot see Bruce Norris' play though.
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 3, 2017 11:07:36 GMT
There's some interesting main casting (some good diversity and solid performers in India Varma and Sophie Okonedo, for example) and some good choices (though do we need another Miss Julie adaptation) but I am not sure I can see people flocking to a play about paedophiles, look how well The Nether did... Where did you get this information? I must have gone blind.
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 30, 2017 8:58:22 GMT
Seeing My name is Rachel Corrie tonight
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 29, 2017 17:13:55 GMT
Where are the women writers and directors? One director, and that's it in the line up, and she's directing a musical based on a very misogynistic children's book? I thought (especially after Hytner's apology and recent comments) we were going to see more? Instead, dead white men getting revivals. It is not much in that sense, but they had announced that Indhu Rubasingham would direct The great wave at the Dorfman. And there will be Annie Barker's John there as well.
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 29, 2017 12:16:55 GMT
- a new play by Bruce Norris directed by Dominic Cooke in a co-production with Steppenwolf. 'Norris’s new piece (whose name I’ve yet to discover) might prove controversial. It is about a group of paedophiles who reside in a special unit.
When one victim demands an apology, his abuser refuses to accept he has done anything wrong. The play will be a joint production between the National and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. (Steppenwolf did not want to do it in Chicago until it had been performed elsewhere first.)
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4931734/Rhys-Ifans-nabs-lead-Exit-King-Christmas-Carol.html#ixzz4u417mvx8'
That could be interesting....
This sounds very interesting and incendiary.
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 29, 2017 6:42:54 GMT
Yeeeh, Italy is back on the NT stage. We were out for such a long time.
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 28, 2017 11:00:13 GMT
Definitely a great selection of plays. Damn Donmar, I will have to book everything...
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 27, 2017 11:26:31 GMT
I don't think I anticipate any production with baited breath and curiosity unless there's a 'star' turn - either within the cast or as one of the creatives - no matter where it is. In fact, I've managed to double-book myself for The Suppliant Woman at the Young Vic because I completely forgot I'd booked it at all! Same- I may be a shallow person, but unless it's a play I know well and LOVE I pretty much only get super excited to see a 'star' actor or director piece. Maybe that's a judgement on me, but I feel like a lot of us book/respond that way. Like, I'm not going to get over-excited about say a historical exploration of sewer construction in London in the Dorfman, but if someone then told me James McArdle was in it I'd suddenly be waiting with VERY vested interest. Just in case anyone wants to write/direct that play. I book plenty of stuff without cast/creative excitement, but it's more out of curiosity and a general interest than yes an actual excitement (don't worry I've forgotten stuff I've booked as well...oops!!) I agree that it must be a personal thing, because instead I get excited more about the theme of the play. I was very excited to see Us/Them at the NT and Anatomy of a Suicide at the Royal Court and I am equally excited to see The Jungle and The Suppliant Women at the Young Vic without having a clue about the casting. I guess I have been disappointed by some 'star turns' so I am weary about seeing a play just because there is someone I like (mainly because after five minutes I start thinking: "Mm, ok, I have seen you, now I need a good reason to stay and listen"). Said that, tonight I will see Against because I love Ben Whishaw: I am excited to see him but now about the play :-)
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 26, 2017 18:42:23 GMT
. Sorry, I could not see it.
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 26, 2017 17:39:43 GMT
Is anyone seeing this next week? I am going on the 13th and the few details that have emerged so far make it look quite fun.
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 7, 2017 17:20:17 GMT
Do the cast use their own accent for the characters? Also since it's transferring to the Pinter, what's the set like? I imagine they would have had to alter it from the NY productions which were done a thrust stage Toby Stephens sounded very English but I am a foreigner so my capacity to detect accents is appalling. The set is very simple and functional. I don't foresee any problem in adapting it to the Pinter. P.S. Lydia Leonard has a very nice dress or at least it really suits her. This point is the result of growing up in an Italian family working in fashion: you can't help noticing these things :-D
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 7, 2017 11:06:06 GMT
And Toby Stephens stepped on my feet at the end of the play which in my mind is as far as I will ever get to someone in Maggie Smith’s family. Did he apologise? No, he didn't. He was still acting. At least he did not utter any put-down as his mother would have done...
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Post by MrBunbury on Sept 7, 2017 10:26:22 GMT
I saw it last night. I really liked it and the three hours just flew by. And Toby Stephens stepped on my feet at the end of the play which in my mind is as far as I will ever get to someone in Maggie Smith’s family. Now I have to write a review of the play for work.
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Post by MrBunbury on Aug 4, 2017 8:30:50 GMT
Thanks Charliec, I have booked a ticket to see this again in September after a new rush of bliss listening to Sheila Atim singing.
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Post by MrBunbury on Jul 27, 2017 9:27:09 GMT
I actually really liked it. A 'strange beast', as it has been defined here before, but definitely up my street.
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Post by MrBunbury on Jul 27, 2017 9:17:08 GMT
So smooth and simple! I still have nightmares about booking Mary Stuart and Hamlet last year so it seems surreal to get the tickets so easily.
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Post by MrBunbury on Jul 21, 2017 13:48:10 GMT
What is the general experience with the Lucky Dip option? I have chosen that for The Brothers size, The Inheritance, and Fun Home. Maybe I should have asked the question before :-)
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Post by MrBunbury on Jul 21, 2017 9:26:56 GMT
Same for me. I managed to book everything, even for some friends. Now I hope I won't be run over by a bus tonight.
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