Wild Duck-Almeida theatre

Agree @emicardiff seemed like an innocent request to see if there was any validity in the statement and whether anyone acted on the request. The letter appeared amateurish, low on any corroboration and I had already moved on as we are constantly being bombarded with similar snippets and the person in question was most probably of a similar mindset and just wanted clarification.

Having it pulled so quickly now makes it seem more sinister and feeds the fire of the original accusation.

Remember when Barbra Streisand didn't want photographers taking photos of her house (even though they were just taking pictures of the entire coastline and her house happened to be a tiny part of that) and no one had actually cared about her house before but once she took legal steps to make them stop EVERYONE wanted to see the photos of her house?

Running time on website currently showing as 2 hours 35 plus a 20 min interval. So that’s nearly 3 hours, correct? Or 2 hrs 35 total? Confused.com

Was done by 10:20 the night I went.

It's clear on its own but the context is that they have always done the opposite. Does anyone know why they've made this change?

Maybe they just think a 3-hour show sounds inherently off-putting in a way that a 2 1/2 hour show doesn't. Doesn't help those who don't notice the change of policy though.

The RSC do it, and the Barbican did it for Ninagawa's Cymbeline. Using those two as my baseline, I assume they get complaints from people who see a 3+ hour running time, and therefore choose to emphasise that the amount of time you'll be actively spending watching the play is less than 3 hours. Which completely misses the point that if the play is over 3 hours (including interval, or 2 hours 40 minutes plus 20 minute interval, or however they phrase it) then a 7:30pm start time means no one's leaving before 10:30pm at the earliest so a lot of people will have to seriously consider their transport options before booking and, indeed, may not even be able to book if their last train home leaves at such a time that they could make it no problem if the play finished at 10:10pm but 10:30pm would be a tight squeeze and 10:35pm means a hotel room or a late night coach or missing out all together.

Yes, we can do the maths, it's SUPER easy maths, but it's such a transparently pathetic way of saying "no, the play itself isn't *that* long, honest" that it's just insulting. We want to know the running time because we want to know when we're going to leave the theatre, not because we're concerned about the precise number of minutes that we spend sat in our seat (but hey, don't worry about the interval, 'cos we can get up and walk around then).

RSC started this nonsense a few years ago. Never seen a justification for it.

The Almeida used to have a clock up in the foyer showing you what time the performance was due to end. That’s all I want to know. That requires no calculation at all.

Well I was glad I had read on here that it was all a bit Icke and an interpretation rather just a straight re-telling of the play, thus warned I didn't spend the first 10 minutest thinking what?! and more happily went with 'oh it's all a bit meta' (equally thanks to the board that I even know what that means).
I did find this rather long and sometimes laid things on with a shovel when it came to subtly but I did enjoy it. Enjoyed loathing Kevin Harvey's character, even whilst thinking 'yes I know he clearly isn't quite right', spent an age trying to work out what production at the Globe i'd seen Edward Hogg in and reminding self that really mustn't wear joggers as they're just not flattering. Good child acting and that can't be an easy part to play, lovely Nicholas Farrell's rather touching father and Lyndsay Marshall's Gina, my goodness she must have a lot of patience, quietly suffering Gina. I knew where we going so was happy to get their via to rather different routes, wasn't expecting that ohh moment set reveal and of course the duck scene stole.

So a nice thinky one and with the bonus that you can buy a duck poster, box office person tried rather hopefully to sell me a duck with person poster instead noting that everyone just wanted the duck one, but frankly I just thought the duck was rather cool though it didn't look like any mallard I've ever seen, perhaps it was genuinely Norwegian and therefore better on the truth than if it had been a 'translated' English mallard?

Less enamoured by audience the majority of who didn't come in until it was due to start and then seemed completely unfamiliar with the idea of designated seats or who seat numbering worked. But then they all loudly walked out in the interval apparently unaware that there was in fact something still going on, on stage.

I saw the matinee too - owl-faced person in bright green coat in front row, sitting there thinking oh dear god not more clothing-related audience participation. I'd had a horrible experience at the Royal Exchange a few weeks ago.

I wasn't that keen on it - it was like a performance of a text with someone's scribbled marginal essay notes included, or going round a gallery with one of those headsets that tells you just how you should be interpreting the work in front of you .

(btw, was he meant to trip on the rug?)