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Post by londonpostie on Sept 13, 2019 20:24:46 GMT
The National seems to be all about the new play and has been for some time. Good - they are publicly funded .. Well, 17% is, or 1/6th. It's not the BBC ..
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Post by lynette on Sept 13, 2019 21:30:37 GMT
Good - they are publicly funded .. Well, 17% is, or 1/6th. It's not the BBC ..
Why new plays? Yes, they have three spaces and one could certainly have a new play in the season but the “National “ theatre should reflect/show off the very best of drama from these islands and from all periods. A showcase. Not a dead case, lots of room for interpretation and so on but the quality should be indisputable not the latest rant from the school of ‘relevant’ speechifying. |
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Post by crowblack on Sept 13, 2019 22:29:40 GMT
Well, 17% is, or 1/6th. It's not the BBC .. It's nearly 17 million pa. I wish the BBC would do more original work by new writers too. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Sept 13, 2019 22:42:37 GMT
Currently happier seeing new work at the National as they have a tendency/need to innovate so much in the name of freshness that the nuances and sometimes the genius of the classic is lost as per Miss Julie.
Having seen A Doll’s House at the Lyric Hammersmith tonight and Antic Disposition’s Macbeth a few weeks back, sometimes less is more, none of these were period but clear diction, great acting and an interpretation that supports rather than sensationalises the themes is more than enough.
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Post by crowblack on Sept 13, 2019 22:47:11 GMT
Because the 'old' ones are on everywhere else and dead writers don't need to eat and the most interesting things I've seen in the theatre recently have been new plays. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 13, 2019 23:10:36 GMT
Agreed they should do more new work, about time they grapple with a Martin Crimp play.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Sept 13, 2019 23:19:49 GMT
Agreed, more Crimp, his last one is my play of the year and cannot see anything beating it in the next few months, I am definitely not tortured enough and would have liked to have seen it more than the 2 times I managed, cannot remember the last time a play made such a strong impact.
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Post by londonpostie on Sept 14, 2019 5:33:35 GMT
Well, 17% is, or 1/6th. It's not the BBC .. It's nearly 17 million pa. I wish the BBC would do more original work by new writers too. But you're not disagreeing with me? |
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Post by crowblack on Sept 14, 2019 8:32:48 GMT
But you're not disagreeing with me? No, not disagreeing with you. I think it's doing a good job showcasing new work and its choices have been better than The Bridge. The Royal Court is tiny and tbh I've found a lot of the things I've seen there disappointing - the NT's new plays have been bold even if they don't always come off (btw, I actually liked the badly-reviewed Common and Tortured). If you want Shakespeare and co., there's the Barbican or Globe, and the 19th and 20thc dead writers are always on somewhere. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Sept 14, 2019 9:14:16 GMT
My view is that the National theatre should represent the totality of our theatrical offerings. That means past, present and future.
New work resonates most when viewed in the context of what has gone before. Old work finds new relevance when contrasted with contemporary reimaginings. And future projects draw on the heritage of what has happened in the past and present.
There is space and time for work of all eras. There is a discussion about balance. But it would be wrong for our National Theatre to focus on just one part.
New writing by existing authors should be part of the mix. But so should plays by dead writers. And there should be opportunities for new voices to emerge.
The only thing the NT must do is focus on quality. That also means acknowledging where things have failed to reach the required standards as well as celebrating successes.
We deserve to see great plays from all eras. A multiplicity of voices not an over reliance on favourites/mates of the current director.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2019 11:02:42 GMT
On The Visit, the English version that has been available by Valency is a complete mess, softening the hard edges and overt theatricality that Duerrenmatt used. Complicite managed to get a good version out of it with the wonderful Kathryn Hunter, though. Hopefully Kushner will put back the anti-realism in his new version. Manville is great casting, so this is a definite must see,
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Post by learfan on Sept 14, 2019 16:02:30 GMT
Well yet again, another NT season announcement, another meh from me, the upcoming stuff later next year doesnt excite either. Oh well, i get to save money. No regrets on cancelling my membership last year.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2019 20:24:45 GMT
Anyone who opts to sit for 7 hours on those NT seats is a brave soul. My bottom hurts just thinking about it.
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Post by addictedtotheatre on Sept 21, 2019 12:22:07 GMT
Anyone who opts to sit for 7 hours on those NT seats is a brave soul. My bottom hurts just thinking about it. Has anyone on the forum seen this Lepage (Seven Streams of River Ota)? Is it going to be worth my time and money? |
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Post by cirque on Sept 21, 2019 13:29:10 GMT
saw the lepage many years back in its first manifestation at edinburgh festival....an out of town venue. wonderful 7 hours plus ofbeautiful theatre. cant wait for new take on this.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2019 13:42:56 GMT
It was very much worth my time and money, can’t speak for anyone else. Maybe the closest parallel is Van Hove’s larger canvases, such as The Roman Plays. Multiple languages with surtitles, different stories with connections between them, building a picture rather than being heavily plotted. Quite ‘cool’ in its emotional temperature, despite its subject matter, it also had a section which was genuinely one of the most emotional things I’ve seen in a theatre, mostly because of its refusal to make itself too dramatic.
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Post by Jan on Sept 21, 2019 15:24:36 GMT
Because the 'old' ones are on everywhere else and dead writers don't need to eat and the most interesting things I've seen in the theatre recently have been new plays. Old ones aren’t on everywhere else. There isn’t a single subsidised theatre in London dedicated exclusively to old plays but there are many dedicated exclusively to new plays. The number of new plays that get produced in the London subsidised sector is far in advance of the number of old plays but you want even more ? |
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Post by theatremad on Sept 21, 2019 18:21:18 GMT
Quick question, during the member's period do they release a block of tickets as each set of priority booking opens? I'm on the second batch and want the £30 for Seven Streams. Just wanted to check as will be on first thing thursday hoping.
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 21, 2019 21:16:05 GMT
Putting on just new plays, you are open to claims of ‘mediocrity’ or ‘race to the bottom’, the National is all about presenting the gold standard and exists to raise the bar. This is the theatre that recently gave us the Olivier winning and exquisite Ma Rainey Black Bottoms.
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Post by andrew on Sept 22, 2019 10:58:37 GMT
Still trying to decide about Seven Streams, a lot of the reviews online when you google around seem quite negative from previous iterations?
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Post by crowblack on Sept 22, 2019 11:26:03 GMT
Old ones aren’t on everywhere else. There isn’t a single subsidised theatre in London dedicated exclusively to old plays Well, that's rather telling - by "everywhere else" what you actually mean is "everywhere else in central London". Most of us live outside London, and here in "the regions" subsidies are low and theatres rarely take the risk of staging new work, so what we get is a diet that mainly consists of old work - the plays on the school curriculum and the things your parents like. Sometimes, if we're lucky, we'll get a new play as a co-production with a London theatre: the Bruntwood plays in Manchester that go on to the Royal Court, Home, I'm Darling starting at Theatr Clwyd before travelling down to the NT, or something from London will do three or four days at the Lowry. |
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Post by fossil on Sept 22, 2019 12:58:16 GMT
Quick question, during the member's period do they release a block of tickets as each set of priority booking opens? I'm on the second batch and want the £30 for Seven Streams. Just wanted to check as will be on first thing thursday hoping. I don't know if there is a particular pattern to ticket availability releases but during one of the recent priority members booking I had a look at several performances for the same shows. Each performance had the same pattern of front £15 seats available and quite a few seats were unavailable. I don't know if these unavailable seats became available during the next level of booking or had been already taken at the higher booking level. It does suggest seats are held and released for priority level bookers. I have seen further £15 front seats (the same seats for each performance) become available for productions after general booking has opened, sometimes some time later. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 13:26:35 GMT
Regarding the National's remit, I've just been reading Nicholas Hytner's "Balancing Acts" which has this to say   By "recent plays" as opposed to "new plays" Hytner gives "Jumpers" as an example - ie he's talking about things from the last few decades. This approach is reflected in what Hytner put on, and also in what Norris has done over the past few years. |
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Post by jadnoop on Sept 22, 2019 18:18:30 GMT
What’s everyone’s thoughts on ticket availability for Seven Streams? I imagine that the 7 hour runtime will put a few people off, but there are so few performances that I’m considering upgrading from Advanced to Priority membership to improve my chances.
I know no one will know for certain, but anyone have an inkling on this? How was the ticketing for Anna (more performances, but it only had a limited proportion of the Dorfman seats)? Is there a decent proportion of tickets sold at the different levels to make it worth it, or are most tickets held back for the public sale?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 20:29:15 GMT
Putting on just new plays, you are open to claims of ‘mediocrity’ or ‘race to the bottom’, Tell that to the Royal Court  |
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