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Post by foxa on Feb 10, 2017 18:18:54 GMT
Yes - I like reading about (some) productions even if I'm not going to see them. The Pygmalion touring production by Headlong, for example, recently posted in Plays sounded interesting.
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Post by foxa on Feb 9, 2017 17:03:54 GMT
It's not in the V&A archives so probably not. It was awfully dull though, you're not missing much apart from some quite nice lighting. Jude Law was the whiniest Hamlet I've ever seen... I didn't think he was terrible, but he was oddly literal and extrovert in the way he played the role. Line about walking crab-like: mimes walking like a crab. That kind of thing.
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Post by foxa on Feb 4, 2017 20:20:46 GMT
Agree as well. The V&A rooms are a bit disappointing - last time I went some of it was taken up with a few tents with videos celebrating a rock festival (I think as a tie in with the big Revolution exhibition downstairs.) Otherwise it was the same old, tired model sets, pantomime costumes (actually, I take that back, those are quite nice); Kylie's dressing room, a mishmash of costumes and posters. They rarely seem to change or update their exhibitions and it's all just chucked in pretty much together (panto, first folio, rock stars, old video of a Wind in the Willows rehearsal, some dressing up outfits, there you go.) Some of it seems almost apologetic that it's there at all. Sometimes there's something interesting like when they had a temporary exhibition of Vivien Leigh artifacts, but generally I've seen more exciting posters/playbills/prints on the walls at Saddler's Wells.
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Post by foxa on Feb 2, 2017 14:36:44 GMT
Peggs, we were thinking alike. I wasn't sure booking so far in advance for it at £20, but the reviews on here, plus the possibility of £10 tickets swayed me. Sorry to miss you!
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Post by foxa on Feb 2, 2017 14:25:47 GMT
I booked a couple of shows during the Friends booking, but wasn't sure about How To Win Against History, especially as the tickets were £20 for the date I was looking at. However, had a change of heart so went on today (short queue about 5 - 10 minutes) and looked at booking again. Noticed that all tickets are only £10 for the first couple of performances, so that decided me and am going the first Friday. As may have been mentioned on here, both Nina and Yerma seem to be sold out, but looks like there are tickets for most other things.
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Post by foxa on Jan 31, 2017 18:51:18 GMT
Nelly is a hero!
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Post by foxa on Jan 28, 2017 17:02:02 GMT
Aim for something in a small space with good actors. The stage seats for People Places Things would have been a good bet. For upcoming things, maybe try something at the Almeida ('Ink'?) or 'Yerma' at the Young Vic (I can vouch for the latter being a special, intense experience.)
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Post by foxa on Jan 27, 2017 19:06:54 GMT
He's also brilliant in the film 'Nightcrawler' (worth catching.)
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Post by foxa on Jan 26, 2017 21:50:52 GMT
Must be 500, so now 35 more. Cant wait. Will there be confetti?
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Post by foxa on Jan 26, 2017 21:32:48 GMT
Apropos of, well, nothing, but what the heck do I have to do to be a Senior Member? The self-proclaimed annoying Mr Barnaby ;-) is a Senior Member and I'm not. Unfair! (Am hoping this pointless post has moved me one step closer....)
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Post by foxa on Jan 26, 2017 16:23:49 GMT
I forgot about priority booking, went on at about 1-ish, had a ten minute wait and got the price and date of tickets I wanted, if not the location (we're split on one date and further back than I would like on the other.) They do a weird numbering thing so when I logged in it said something like you are customer number 1443, there are 48 people in the queue before you, your wait will be about 10 minutes. It was about ten minutes but I'm not sure what the first huge number meant. I didn't think there would be the scrum for these tickets as for Hamlet, Richard III or even Mary Stuart and I don't think there will be. But I'm really interested in 'Ink.'
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Post by foxa on Jan 26, 2017 15:31:42 GMT
This may be a long shot but for a textbook I've been commissioned to write, I need to do a short interview with a lighting designer. The one I had lined up has gone awol, so am hoping to find someone else (they can be at any stage of their professional career) who is happy to answer 8 or 9 questions about lighting design aimed at GCSE drama students. I need it no later than next week. Wonder if any of you knew someone (or perhaps even one of you is a lighting designer- I know there are lots of talents on the board.) Thanks!
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Post by foxa on Jan 25, 2017 17:12:28 GMT
Thanks to all those here who helped me with research last week, I've put together a (I hope) comprehensive list of tips and advice for those booking on the 30th on my blog: wp.me/p1hBZ8-nwThat gave me palpitations just reading that. Monkey, you should be organising international affairs. No, I take that back, we need you here. But your services to the arts should be recognised. I'm going to send that link to a few of my friends (though I think they'll faint at the idea of having more than one browser open.) I'm so glad I've already booked.
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Post by foxa on Jan 24, 2017 23:28:30 GMT
Yeah. I also think there is the entertainment factor. They don't want to have a bunch of people being well-informed and reasonable on a show, they want a bust up.
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Post by foxa on Jan 24, 2017 22:57:14 GMT
The BBC has a rule of impartiality where they give weight to other points of view www.quora.com/Why-does-the-BBC-give-so-much-coverage-of-Nigel-Farage-and-his-UKIP-partyMany feel that UKIP, for example, has a disproportionate amount of time on Question Time because they only have 1 MP, but it is justified apparently by their share of the vote. (Considering Farage was only an MEP think about how much airtime he receives.) If you are interested you can trawl through the lists of Question Time shows and I think you'd find it would be really hard to argue that the panels were pro-EU. I don't watch Sky so can't really comment on it.
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Post by foxa on Jan 24, 2017 17:43:29 GMT
Thank for that wonderful counter-argument.
I live in hope that you will appear on Question Time as a guest and I will not only record it on my Virgin Box but watch it regularly to marvel at the 21st Century's Cicero.
Hi ldm2016 There are people on this board who I like and respect but who have very different political stances from me. But what makes it work is that when I read their views it's part of the fabric of my understanding of them that we share a love of theatre and an appreciation, when possible, of constructive disagreement. If someone has recommended a show you like or directed you to good seats or made you laugh with a funny review you can forgive each other a lot. I feel like the majority of your postings (but do correct me if I'm wrong) are in this topic - which is fine, obviously - but I just don't see what fun it can be for you and since I don't have an understanding of you in another context it is just feels like someone shouting 'snowflake' on a theatre forum for no particular reason. Perhaps you could point me towards your theatre postings? Maybe we share a great love of the Young Vic or musical revivals or Andrew Scott or something. If there's some common ground then maybe that would make the conversations less polarising?
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Post by foxa on Jan 24, 2017 13:08:03 GMT
Think I must have been in the row behind and quite a bit to the right of you. I was with my daughter chatting with the grandmother about her... ummm.... appreciation of Eric Underwood. Yes, sounds like your wife was in the right place. Alessandra Ferri is remarkable.
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Post by foxa on Jan 23, 2017 18:03:59 GMT
Oh definitely, CG! And even though those seats aren't the amazing £10 bargain, you are sat right next to someone who paid £55 so that gives a certain smug satisfaction (I saw Groundhog Day from those narrow pillar seats, once from Q and once from U both were fine,though Q obviously better.) I am a cheapskate, but I can't handle the Old Vic slips, so in this case, I'd rather pay a bit more anyway. Happy booking.
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Post by foxa on Jan 23, 2017 17:53:42 GMT
I forgot about it, then logged on, was 1990 in the queue and all the preview tickets were gone - which I actually felt okay about because I hope eager Radcliffe fans got them. I just went back on and there are a scattering of inexpensive stalls tickets on some dates. I got the famous Q aisle seat (the monkey special) for a Friday night in March for £21 and one a few rows behind that, also on the aisle for £16, so you can check this show out without breaking your bank balance if you can be a bit flexible.
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Post by foxa on Jan 23, 2017 10:02:44 GMT
Re Stapled Flowers: my friend's point of view about the play: 'It's a study of depresssion set in an art gallery. That's why there are so many bare walls, the odd use of flowers, the performance art at the end.' There - a potential PhD thesis.
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Post by foxa on Jan 21, 2017 20:52:41 GMT
I was there for the Friends rehearsal too (daughter and I were in the amphitheatre Row D.) I'd seen it before, but my daughter is both a Virginia Woolf and a ballet fan so thought she had to see it. The last piece was my favourite - I found it fascinating and moving. Loved the way Gillian Anderson read Woolf's final letter. The second piece (Orlando) has some amazing bits in it (and the lasers) but there were some longeurs. In terms of where to sit, Alessandra Ferri's performance, which is delicate and nuanced rewards a close viewing while the patterns in the second and third dances are probably best at a bit of distance/height. I would recommend it no matter where you sat.
Funny side note: We got chatting with the grandmother next to us who surprised us when, commenting on one of the dancers, said 'I'm surprised they kept him so covered up in this. He's got such a lovely body, it's a shame not to show it.' A good example of never assuming you know what someone else is thinking.
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Post by foxa on Jan 18, 2017 9:51:15 GMT
Okay, that made me hoot with laughter. And I'm alone in my office, so now seem like a crazy person.
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Post by foxa on Jan 16, 2017 12:34:05 GMT
Yeah, I didn't get the tickets I picked so went for a price band and think/hope what I got is okay - but it's nerve-wracking.
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Post by foxa on Jan 10, 2017 18:10:45 GMT
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Post by foxa on Jan 10, 2017 18:09:07 GMT
There is something absurd about Hiddleston - I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I actually think he was well-intentioned (and he did well to mention so many names in his early thank you and the accent on Medicin sans Frontieres (sp?) was impressive as well) but then it did seem to be sort of an odd humble/brag about these young people 'tottering' over to him. But I don't think he needed to apologise. You remember Gwyneth's weird (sob): Dad you'll never know what a wonderful family you had' (or something like that)? Or Sally Field's 'You like me, you really, really like me' ? (I think they were a bit loath to give her awards after that one. Or Shirley Maclaine's 'I deserve this. Thank you.' Or when Marlon Brando sent up Sacheen Littlefeather to get his award? My personal least favourite was Mike Leight's at the Baftas: 'It's about time.' (or that's my recollection, maybe I'm being unfair.)
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Post by foxa on Jan 9, 2017 9:39:23 GMT
Due to train strikes I've twice had to change my tickets for this, starting on the front row im now on row Z. Has anyone sat this far back? Is there any point going? My children sat in the next to last row and although they said they thought it would be better close up, they (particularly my son) enjoyed it. My daughter is v. short and since there was no one behind her, took advice from folks on here, and sat on three coats, which helped sightlines. The music is loud and the projections big so that's all fine from the back, but son confessed that when one character came on with a different hair colour (wig?) he thought it was a different person altogether so daughter reckons he wasn't taking enough care trying to follow the 'plot' - he was just enjoying the music and spectacle. I'm in first row at this Wednesday's matinee. I feel like I bought this ticket a lifetime ago.
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Post by foxa on Jan 7, 2017 22:55:28 GMT
I saw this Friday night and like loureviews I'm still formulating my thoughts.
I loved A View from the Bridge and I would say this didn't work nearly as well but - this is an admission - I've never read or seen Hedda before and that was partly why I wanted to go. Having now seen it, I love the play - isn't she an absolutely infuriating character? There is something about her angst and need for attention that felt very modern and relatable. Thought Marber's adaptation worked really well though you always wonder when something is updated why they don't have mobiles or laptops - they had a video entryphone but that was about it for technology. I had some of the same hesitations as Nash expressed here a couple of weeks ago: Rafe Spall's performance was stagey/awkward/annoying; the repetition of 'Blue' and then the ubiquitous 'Hallelujah' seemed lazy sound design. The staging was often ugly and, at times, perverse. A huge stage where the middle is rarely used. A lot of action took place on the extreme SL so from our slightly restricted view seats (we could see 7/8s of the stage from the slips) we actually missed quite a bit (had to strain to see anything on the sofa.) The entrances were odd - sometimes from the audience, sometimes, in the second half, emerging from behind furniture. Poor Sinead Matthews was cowering behind an ugly chair for a long time before she finally struggled out.
And yet, I was interested throughout and was glad to see it. Sinead Matthews and Ruth Wilson had a terrific scene together and some of the moment by moment work was so good - with the actors really mining the lines and, at times, finding a rich dark humour.
Husband's comment: 'It was a bit like the Pompidou Centre - everything's on the outside.' (This is him regretting the lack of sub-text and subtlety.) He consoled himself by watching an old film of Glenda playing the role and muttering, 'Now that's a Hedda.'
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Post by foxa on Jan 2, 2017 23:28:57 GMT
I'm reading this with interest because sometimes friends of friends ask for hotel recommendations and it is really hard to find anything affordable. I sometimes send people to the Premier Inn/Putney Bridge. It looks drab from the outside, but is really well connected for transportation. You can catch the 22 bus to Piccadilly circus and it's a three minute walk to the Putney Bridge tube (District Line.) Also tonnes of restaurants/pubs nearby. Rooms start at £55. I just checked availability for a Friday later this month and they had rooms for £65, so, for London, not too bad.
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Post by foxa on Jan 1, 2017 15:35:19 GMT
I missed the first half hour of the tv version and have never seen it live, but I quite liked it - particularly the guy in pink who also played the crocodile. Who is he?
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Post by foxa on Dec 31, 2016 18:02:38 GMT
My favourites: The Flick - NT Bug - Found 111 Faith Healer- Donmar Yerma - Young Vic Cuttin' It - Young Vic People Places Things - West End One Night in Miami - Donmar Uncle Vanya - Almeida
Most under-rated: Hotel Cerise - Stratford East and A Man of Good Hope at the Young Vic Most over-rated: The Master Builder (Old Vic) and Richard III (Almeida)
Least favourites: Once in a Lifetime and Nest, both at Young Vic
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