Our Town - Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

I'm going. It's my favourite play!😊

I'm going! It's on while I'm in London with my mum, so we're going. And because she's paying, we're having dinner first and sitting in good seats. WIN WIN.

Performance tonight abandoned because of rain after 45mins.

How annoying!

And made us wait for 30mins after to see if it would clear up, GIRL ITS BEEN RAINING SINCE LIKE 6PM

I called before the performance to ask if it was cancelled, even though it was clearly raining. The guy said they never cancel until a few minutes before a show, cause they never know if the weather will turn around

Any comments on the 45 minutes you saw?  Are they doing audience interaction like in other productions of the play?

How bad was the rain? Used to sit thru drizzle with a brolly!

Thanks!

I didn't know they sold plastic things to sit on, but I had the foresight to bring my own! It didn't rain at all on Saturday night, but there had been heavy rain earlier and the seats were very wet.

Well I’m sad to say that I found this quite disappointing last night. I think my main criticism is that the pacing felt far too slow, particularly in Act One where we see little snippets of small town life. It needed to be far more concentrated. As soon as scenes shift toward the story of George and Emily, it suddenly picks up and everything feels much more engaging. There are some great performances, particularly from the performers playing George, Emily, and Emily’s parents.

I really struggled to see how this play won a Pulitzer. The three acts are tonally very different, and while the concept of using no scenery and few props until that scene close to the end is a neat one, the overarching message of the play doesn’t land very smoothly for me. Honestly, i’d rather watch a whole play explicitly about George and Emily’s life than this attempt at existential advice. It will be interesting to see what the critics say after press night tonight, as there were many audience members around me who seemed to really enjoy it.

For me this was just an ok production of a lovely play. I don't think the modern clothing suited the play at all, and if the director was trying to make the play current they failed miserably.

There are however some good performances here, especially the actors playing George and Emily. Overall this gets 3 stars from me.

The 1940 movie is on youtube if somebody is interested. There are also nice clips of a tv production with Paul Newman playing the Stage Manager.

Found a last minute cheap deal to take advantage of the good weather.

Knew nothing of the play, totally blown away, can see why it is considered a classic.

The ennui of acts 1 and 2 gives way to an unexpected and powerful denouement, the inspired staging allows you to reflect on the reflection of your resting place.

Totally blown away by this
Loved it
I want to watch film and read the script. Its my new favourite.