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Post by alece10 on Mar 28, 2019 17:53:18 GMT
The only thing I was remotely interested in seeing was Hansard just because of the cast until I looked at the prices £88?
These are top west end prices.
Looks like our tax payer subsidy went to pay for Brexit by the look of it.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 28, 2019 17:59:06 GMT
If you don't put on shows that people want to come and see, you don't generate the pay for the next round of shows.
Someone needs to step in and force a change at the top of the National - otherwise it will spiral into oblivion.
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Post by learfan on Mar 28, 2019 18:05:24 GMT
Im no fan of Norris but lets be honest the NT will not spiral into oblivion will it?!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 28, 2019 18:11:17 GMT
The NT doesn't have an automatic right to exist. It has to demonstrate that it can attract audiences otherwise why fund it?
If people stop going, it is just a series of odd concrete boxes
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2019 18:42:33 GMT
The only thing I was remotely interested in seeing was Hansard just because of the cast until I looked at the prices £88? These are top west end prices. Looks like our tax payer subsidy went to pay for Brexit by the look of it. There are plenty of tickets beneath that price and you won't need to spend half of that amount. If you can't afford the best tickets you are not being forced out of The National. Not pulling you up but are we really going to see this being used as another stick to beat Norris or The National with? I get that some don't like one or both but choose your battles better. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2019 18:58:21 GMT
Is a seating plan with prices available anywhere yet?
The difference is (for Friday & Saturday evenings, non £15 season productions)
Current season:
£68, £59, £49, £34, £18
Next season:
*£88, £68, £59, £49, £34, £18
They also say
So most prices are the same, but some of the top price seats are now premium. Also possibly some other price bands have shifted.
How much of an issue this is depends on how many seats are now premium, I guess!
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Post by alece10 on Mar 28, 2019 20:22:10 GMT
The only thing I was remotely interested in seeing was Hansard just because of the cast until I looked at the prices £88? These are top west end prices. Looks like our tax payer subsidy went to pay for Brexit by the look of it. There are plenty of tickets beneath that price and you won't need to spend half of that amount. If you can't afford the best tickets you are not being forced out of The National. Not pulling you up but are we really going to see this being used as another stick to beat Norris or The National with? I get that some don't like one or both but choose your battles better. No idea who Norris is and I wouldn't beat anyone. I am also not battling. I merely said the top prices are high which I could afford if I wanted to but for subsidised theatre are very high. I know there are cheaper seats but I don't want to sit in a seat with no back or legroom so I tend to go for good stalls seats. |
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Post by vickster51 on Mar 28, 2019 23:52:28 GMT
Not on that list but this was confirmed as well Annie Baker returns to the Dorfman Theatre in October with the European premiere of her play The Antipodes, directed by Lila Neugebauer, making her NT debut. A play about stories and the people who tell them, The Antipodes follows the acclaimed runs of The Flick and John at the NT. The Antipodes features set and costume design by Chloe Lamford. I saw this in NYC (it has Josh Charles in it, so I couldn’t say no!). It’s certainly weird! |
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Post by zahidf on Mar 29, 2019 8:56:28 GMT
Hasn't the national had 80/90% seats sell outs in the last year?
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Post by jadnoop on Mar 29, 2019 9:47:21 GMT
I'm not keen on price rises but, as @xanderl has said, this looks like a shift to some premium priced seats rather than a wholesale price increase across the board, which doesn't strike me as that terrible.
For what it's worth, while I feel that the National should be making theatre accessible to all by keeping prices down, the other side to that coin is that the cheaper the tickets are, the more that they will require taxpayers funding. This might be fine for many of us on the board, but I can imagine that scaling the issue up to how money should be distributed across the arts as a whole (as well as other sectors) is less straight forward.
In terms of the upcoming shows, I'm eagerly awaiting Annie Baker's return with Antipodes.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 10:13:30 GMT
Wonder how the results of the Donmar’s “Pay extra and we’ll give a free ticket to a young person” scheme compares to the National adding £20 to some tickets?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 11:20:18 GMT
Hasn't the national had 80/90% seats sell outs in the last year? And add to that the phenomenal success of NT Live and its a great time for them. |
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Post by n1david on Mar 29, 2019 11:45:55 GMT
Hasn't the national had 80/90% seats sell outs in the last year? Yes, although it’s not clear how many of those were discounted or free tickets. |
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Post by learfan on Mar 29, 2019 11:56:41 GMT
Hasn't the national had 80/90% seats sell outs in the last year? Across all 3 auditoria? Doubt that v much! |
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Post by smallperson on Mar 29, 2019 12:53:44 GMT
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Post by lynette on Mar 29, 2019 12:55:31 GMT
Also noted that premium price tickets are now £84 Monday to Thursday evenings and matinees and £88 Friday and Saturday evenings. Prices slowly making their way to the £100 figure. That's a massive jump from £64 top price at the moment!! They've never actually specified Premium tickets before, have they? So which are the premium tix? Seats from which you can actually hear? So about ten seats in the middle of the Lyttelton stalls ? Middle wedge of Olivier and Dorfman depends on the configuration but side seats def not premium. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 29, 2019 17:34:25 GMT
Is a seating plan with prices available anywhere yet? The difference is (for Friday & Saturday evenings, non £15 season productions) Current season: £68, £59, £49, £34, £18 Next season: *£88, £68, £59, £49, £34, £18 They also say So most prices are the same, but some of the top price seats are now premium. Also possibly some other price bands have shifted. How much of an issue this is depends on how many seats are now premium, I guess! Great charge em more, if people are silly enough to pay that much - subsidises all of us and me. Over a hundred times I have been to the National and twice I think I have paid full price and that was for the recent War Horse and Angels in America x4. Saying that many times I have paid £20 and suffered, Top Girls on Wednesday felt like interrogation. |
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Post by david on Mar 29, 2019 22:43:43 GMT
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Post by talkingheads on Mar 29, 2019 23:43:57 GMT
An open letter about the lack of diversity in the playwrights. It is disgusting to be honest that in 2019 they can't commission plays by equal measures male/female/non binary.
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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 29, 2019 23:51:01 GMT
This ballyhoo on lady writers blows up again, that article by the BBC makes it sound there is a conspiracy against the ladies. Sure if they want more lady writers then they need to write decent plays that get picked up, there has never been a limit/quota on male/female. Almeida to be ultra pc and jump on the bandwagon did a lady season recently and their commissioned play The Writer was simply atrocious.
Equality should come about by quality and that is how I it should be, the gold standard.
I have been on record on saying that Marianne Elliot would be my second choice as artistic director of the Nash, with only Stephen Daltry just slightly ahead, both have sighted personal commitments why they cannot do the role, that’s why I think it would be excellent if they both shared the role, when it comes available.
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Post by Jon on Mar 29, 2019 23:53:11 GMT
I do think disgusting is a bit strong. It's not like other theatres are doing much better with addressing the balance and it's a tricky balance.
I think the National has done well with diversity not just with male and female but race as well with the likes of Nine Night and Barbershop Chronicles.
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 29, 2019 23:55:24 GMT
And the last season it was 3:1 in favour of females, a fact probably not reactionary or sensational enough for today's instamedia.
I am slightly amazed at the inference the gender of a writer should be taken into account when considering a text.
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Post by Jon on Mar 29, 2019 23:58:34 GMT
And the last season it was 3:1 in favour of females, a fact probably not reactionary or sensational enough for today's instamedia. That's a very good point. I do think people are jumping on the bandwagon to attack the National. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 0:03:38 GMT
I do think disgusting is a bit strong. It's not like other theatres are doing much better with addressing the balance and it's a tricky balance. I think the National has done well with diversity not just with male and female but race as well with the likes of Nine Night and Barbershop Chronicles. In 6 plays we have: a play about indigenous communities in Australia. A play about the black community in Apartheid South Africa. A play about Downs sufferers staring Sarah Gordy. A play, albeit children's play if people want to nitpick, directed by a woman. That's brave programming from The National and its diverse as well. The problem with Identity Politics is sometimes people forget that others want/need their voices heard or opportunities given to them too. The National is on a tremendous run of giving female writers a platform - and long may it continue - but the next season is exploring other areas. The season afterwards will probably include more. There's nothing sinister or disgusting about it and some people just need to take a deep breath, chill and stop taking every thing so personal. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 0:06:03 GMT
And the last season it was 3:1 in favour of females, a fact probably not reactionary or sensational enough for today's instamedia.
I am slightly amazed at the inference the gender of a writer should be taken into account when considering a text.
The National does have a moral responsibility to give voices to those normally excluded from representation and they do a wonderful job ensuring that they do. However, they also have to make profits and most theatre attendees want classics and new plays from proven and successful playwrights. This limits the amount of new opportunities. |
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