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Post by altamont on Apr 4, 2018 9:32:04 GMT
Similar for me - 30 minutes queuing but I got what I wanted - stalls front row for my chosen date. I really don't like the circle at the Donmar so was very pleased to be able to get stalls
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Post by lichtie on Apr 4, 2018 9:39:37 GMT
Got in easily at 10 (20th in the queue which only seemed to have about 6 real people in it judging from the speed the number went down). Lots of seats in the circle, and still quite a few in the stalls, for my only real possible choice of date, so happy.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2018 9:40:23 GMT
In and out in 15 minutes. I only had one date I could do, and I have one very particular seat I like to sit in, and I managed to get that seat for that date (though did have to go evening where I'd usually go matinee). Always nice when a production is easier to get a ticket for than rumour suggested!  |
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Post by jek on Apr 4, 2018 10:04:47 GMT
Lucky I saw this thread as I'd forgotten today was the day. Got in straight away and was able to get a good ticket for the matinee that I wanted. Makes up a bit for the fact that I couldn't get to the Muriel Spark exhibition in Edinburgh (though fortunately my partner had a trip there for work and so got me the poster). Now looking forward to June. Thanks to all here for the heads up.
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Post by Jan on Apr 4, 2018 10:09:22 GMT
In their advertising material for this they list a few of Angus Wright’s “recent stage credits” as including Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Almeida which I saw in 1997. Stretching the word “recent” for someone who appears quite regularly on stage - wonder why the selected that particular one.
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Post by lynette on Apr 4, 2018 10:35:29 GMT
'Recent' a relative term 😂depending on how old you are.
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Post by princeton on Apr 4, 2018 11:16:22 GMT
Looks like lazy subbing from his Hamlet bio to me. Replacing 'for the Almeida' with 'recent theatre'.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2018 0:29:34 GMT
Are we going to have our First Theatreboard Wedding Parsley and Andrew ? He is no longer attending on the same date as me 😰 Did a trick on me |
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Post by showgirl on Apr 6, 2018 3:43:06 GMT
Gutted to have missed out totally when public booking opened as I was in London all day (yes, going to the theatre, of all the ironies) and could see availability on my mobile but it's very fiddly on a small screen. So I left it until I got home, by which time there wasn't a single seat left. And it was the only production of the whole season for which I'd have booked ahead!
I know there's the Donmar version of weekly releases (I do hate this US habit of calling it "Rush") and the chance of returns, but both are a matter of timing and that's another lottery. Hence early reports eagerly awaited, so I can gauge whether to rope in OH to try to book on my behalf - which is always a last resort.
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Post by markmc on Jun 5, 2018 17:18:16 GMT
Saw this last night (first preview). 3 hours with one 15 minute interview. Having not read the novel or seen the film I went in with no particular expectations (save for the obvious talent involved). I enjoyed the play immensely. Lia Williams gives an excellent performances (comes across as far more sensuous than say Maggie Smith might have done in the film). I was skeptical of Rona Morison at first (her delivery is a bit flat in the beginning) but she certainly comes into her own by the end. The ever reliable Sylvestra Le Touzel offers wonderful support as the brisk Ms McKay. The other actors are equally impressive (even Angus Wright - plays the part of the dullard Mr Lowther to perfection). Staging is sparse and cold as is to be expected in a Presbyterian school in 1930s Edinburgh. The first two rows of the stalls are made up of hard wooden school chairs - be warned. You will feel very stiff after 3 hours. There were quite a few complaints from some of the audience members that there should be cushions on those seats particularly because "they are in the stalls and cost the most" - I had to laugh at that comment... It's only the first preview but the production seemed pretty seamless - could do with a bit of cutting here and there, particularly the ending which I'm not sure had the impact the playwright perhaps intended. The soundscape is effective - lots of bell tolling and choir singing. **** from me.
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Post by showgirl on Jun 5, 2018 18:30:06 GMT
Great news markmc - but in view of the running time, even if it were to come down, I'm SO glad I booked for a matinee! |
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Post by vegas on Jun 5, 2018 20:39:09 GMT
I appreciate the warning about the seats. I'm still packing for my London trip, so I will throw in a fleece or something else soft to sit on. (It might come in handy for the evening performance of Peter Pan as well.)
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Post by gazzaw13 on Jun 9, 2018 9:54:05 GMT
I saw this last night and the running time has been cut to 2 hours 30 minutes including a 20 minute interval. Fortunately we were not in the school chairs but this still seemed a bit of a slog. The pace seemed slow and the framing device irritating as it comprised frequent very short moments that broke up the main narrative. Ultimately the play has nothing new to say and given its familiarity owing to the film and numerous stage versions, it's all a little predictable. The man next to me in the stalls was asleep after 5 minutes and proceeded to doze for the next 2 hours except for a trip to the bar for another glass of wine at the interval. In truth it's not bad at all and Lia Williams, Sylvestra Le Touzel and Angus Wright give fine performances. 3* from me.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2018 10:10:29 GMT
The first two rows of the stalls are made up of hard wooden school chairs - be warned. You will feel very stiff after 3 hours. There were quite a few complaints from some of the audience members that there should be cushions on those seats particularly because "they are in the stalls and cost the most" - I had to laugh at that comment... Well that's 'My Night With Reg' for you. Your fellow is right though. I wouldn't want to pay top price to sit on a wooden chair for three hours. You wouldn't do it to the Duchess of Kent so I'm certainly not doing it. |
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Post by tmesis on Jun 9, 2018 22:03:07 GMT
I enjoyed this tonight, mainly because of Lia Williams' excellent performance. It's a very big part; she's never really off the stage all evening. She also wears two stunning dresses; red in act one and green in act two - they are the more striking because of the (inevitable) drabness of everyone else. She is also very moving at the end. Good support from all the other actors, particularly the 'girls.' I understand that the spartan set was probably meant to evoke the coldness of the school environment but by the end I found it a bit wearing. It certainly didn't work as elegantly as the simple design for 'The Inheritance.'
Oh and the constant tintinnabulation palls.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 12:37:33 GMT
Gosh, they cut it by 30 mins after an early preview! I am impressed. Sounds good. I’m looking forward to seeing it ina couple of weeks when the performances will have grown.
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Post by lichtie on Jun 11, 2018 11:37:47 GMT
I saw this one last Friday too, but was more impressed than Gazza or his sleeping neighbour. The only bit I felt fell completely flat was the coda. The whole point of the novel is that you never see into the internal head space of Jean Brodie, and the coda slid too far in that direction. It also means you lose the natural end with Sandy talking about MJB in her prime.
By the way, the framing is essentially from the novel, with the change that Sandy's multiple visitors at the nunnery are condensed down into the single unnamed young man who only appears once in reality in the book (but whose appearance is repeated at the end for emphasis to complete the frame).
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Post by Steve on Jun 14, 2018 22:26:44 GMT
Saw this tonight, and agree with Markmc's review. I loved Lia William's performance: Blanche DuBois, with added agency. Some spoilers follow. . . If like me, you missed Lia William's performance of Blanche DuBois, in Streetcar, at the Gate, this goes a long way to making up for that. Disgard your memories of Maggie Smith's unlikeable high-pitched nasal clippy pernickety Jean Brodie. Here, Williams is a warm and whispery, huskily seductive, albeit still destructive, Jean Brodie. She exudes all the poise and romantic delusion of a Blanche DuBois, although lacking the tragic backstory that Tennessee William's gave Blanche to explain her narcissistic romanticism, as well as a diabolical electric antagonist, like Stanley Kowalski, she is more a character to be analysed than to empathise with. Though I liked William's Jean Brodie far more than Maggie Smith's, the fact is that her rigid romanticism and fascistic leanings are not explained, merely asserted, so I was emotionally at arms ' length. All the ensemble are excellent, with Kit Young and Rona Morison confirming themselves as actors to look out for, but it is Harrower and Williams' vision of Jean Brodie as a Blanche DuBois type that makes this interesting. 3 and a half stars from me. |
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Post by jek on Jun 15, 2018 7:01:55 GMT
I enjoyed this too yesterday afternoon. Not much to add to what has already been written here except to say that I thought Angus Wright was particularly impressive as Gordon Lowther - much less a ridiculous figure than I remember him being portrayed as by Gordon Jackson in the film. Good also to see one of the 'Derry Girls' doing something different. And - as a fan of Spark and with an interest in her religious ideas - I enjoyed the framing device.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Jun 15, 2018 15:13:00 GMT
So... Nicola Coughlan is upset that her character was described as an "overweight little girl"... seems like a stupid hill to die on, particularly as she's not exactly a size 8.
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Post by n1david on Jun 15, 2018 15:24:16 GMT
BBC4 documentary on Muriel Spark next week may be of interest:
The Many Primes of Muriel Spark, BBC4 Weds 20 Jun 9-10pm
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Post by harrie on Jun 15, 2018 15:25:28 GMT
It doesn’t matter if she’s a size 4 or a size 22, a reviewer shouldn’t comment on an actor’s weight
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Post by asfound on Jun 15, 2018 16:01:38 GMT
It doesn’t matter if she’s a size 4 or a size 22, a reviewer shouldn’t comment on an actor’s weight What about the character's weight, if it's relevant to the description of said character? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2018 16:13:07 GMT
Unless it's something as unsubtle as Neil LaBute's Fat Pig, I find it difficult to imagine even a purposefully-written-as-overweight-character's physique being worth commenting on and/or pointing out in a review. The production and the performances are FAAAAAR more important than what any of the actors look like.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2018 16:42:42 GMT
The production and the performances are FAAAAAR more important than what any of the actors look like. What the what now? Have you been drinking @baemax? What kind of insanity is this? The performances are more important than what the actor looks like. I ask you... |
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