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Post by MrBunbury on Jan 29, 2020 14:17:04 GMT
I saw it last night. It is a very good play and it really confirms that Stoppard is a very clever author. There are some nice hints to famous figures of Vienna and an object that links the different time periods (I don't want to say more to avoid spoilers). I agree with those who were moved by the ending: from what I read Stoppard had a similar experience to Leo(pold) and it is a very original take on what could be an abused topic. I admit that I got lost a little in terms of who were the characters so there are some that I am unable to place anywhere in the family tree (probably the script might help to get all nuances). The only unfortunate side last night was that a woman sitting in the balcony was seriously ill in the last act (at one point she was bent on the balaustrade and probably being sick or in great pan). She was taken out by her daughters and the theatre staff and I hope she is better now (she was sitting and looking better when we go out).
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Xanderl
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Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Jan 29, 2020 14:34:09 GMT
Many thanks to all for the informative reviews so far. Looking for seat advice for a March visit. Need an aisle seat in the stalls and my options are row A stage left or either aisle seat in Row L. Thank you in advance. Not sure which of these is best, but if you need an aisle seat for legroom reasons, you could also look at row Q which has a wide walkway between it and the row in front, and the two middle seats in row R which have nothing in front of them.
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Post by Dave B on Jan 29, 2020 14:48:10 GMT
The only unfortunate side last night was that a woman sitting in the balcony was seriously ill in the last act (at one point she was bent on the balaustrade and probably being sick or in great pan). She was taken out by her daughters and the theatre staff and I hope she is better now (she was sitting and looking better when we go out). She was directly in front of us, I think it sounded/looked worse than it was. She didn't actaully throw up. FoH were on hand to help very quickly, the young lady who helped them out was a first aider and seemed to have the situation in hand. She came back to collect coats/bags etc and did quietly indicate that everything was ok.
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Post by lynette on Jan 29, 2020 19:17:14 GMT
Is it worth getting a programme for some more explanation?
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Post by Dave B on Jan 29, 2020 20:10:30 GMT
Is it worth getting a programme for some more explanation? I think so.
There is a family tree which is helpful. What I found more helpful was the cast page is seperated by time period, and it tells you which role the actors are playing. Comparing that to the family tree during the interval and breif interludes while the set changes made things a little clearer for me.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 29, 2020 20:35:22 GMT
Wow. I think the message board will be rocked by this revelation. Parsley? Have You Come Back To Us? WHERE IS PARSLEY?
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Post by siteseer on Jan 29, 2020 21:06:33 GMT
Thank you Xanderl and theatremonkey. My issue is that I am claustrophobic thereby needing an aisle seat. I was concerned about the Row A seat as Mr. Barnaby mentioned big heavy furniture pieces so I was worried about obstruction. I don't mind the extra cost of Row L. I would imagine it is a better view than Rows P and Q. Don't like being under the overhang.Thanks again for the kind replies.
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Xanderl
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Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Jan 29, 2020 21:21:05 GMT
I think in that case you are definitely better off in L than A as the aisle seats in row A are I think close to the corner of the stage so you could feel hemmed in.
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Post by sweets7 on Jan 29, 2020 21:49:03 GMT
I am so glad this appears to be optimistic. I am so looking forward to seeing it. Intergenerational drama is right up my street.
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Post by rumbledoll on Jan 30, 2020 5:28:22 GMT
Is it worth getting a programme for some more explanation? I think so.
There is a family tree which is helpful. What I found more helpful was the cast page is seperated by time period, and it tells you which role the actors are playing. Comparing that to the family tree during the interval and breif interludes while the set changes made things a little clearer for me.
Oh my. I generally got confused when there’s a need to distinguish 5-6 people but with the cast this large I’d be completely lost.. Can somebody be so kind to post pics with the family tree & cast (if such thing is allowed in here)? Would be most helpful for us, who are yet to see the play so we won’t go through the pages during the action on stage)
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Post by MrBraithwaite on Jan 30, 2020 8:26:53 GMT
This looked interesting to me from the start and after reading some reviews here I booked for row A center. I am usually front of stalls as I'm visually impaired and being closer to the stage helps distinguishing people...but with so many and various time-jumps this will be interesting.
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 30, 2020 10:47:22 GMT
I have to queries for anyone who has seen it: 1) How harrowing does it get in the 30s/40s? 2) Do Jenna Augen & Dorothea Myer-Bennett have reasonable sized roles.
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Post by dlevi on Jan 30, 2020 11:43:16 GMT
I saw this last night and I thought it was basically terrific. Yes, there are a lot of characters, yes you spend time trying to figure out who's who in relation to everyone else BUT it doesn't matter. Stoppard's dialogue sparkles with wit, philosophy and theatricality. The performances are all detailed and beautifully calibrated. The staging and design are superb. To answer Dawnstar's questions - it's not that harrowing except emotionally of course, and both actresses have significant roles but that's true of virtually everyone on stage.
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Post by alexandra on Jan 30, 2020 12:40:32 GMT
Bit disappointing, I thought. I actually wanted it to be longer. I love many of Stoppard's plays, but not this. Maybe it would have been better in the hands of a more experienced director.
The first half is great; you get to know the characters a bit, and it describes an interesting world in some detail. But the rest feels rushed and rather superficial, despite the gravity of the subject matter. It would have made a wonderful epic three parter (had he felt like/been up to writing such a thing), but as it is, was much less rich and rewarding than his Russia trilogy, for example, yet without the snappiness of some of his shorter plays. And I'm afraid I found the acting over the top and lacking in truth on the whole.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 30, 2020 13:19:11 GMT
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 30, 2020 14:29:40 GMT
To answer Dawnstar's questions - it's not that harrowing except emotionally of course, and both actresses have significant roles but that's true of virtually everyone on stage. Thank for your reply. I was assuming it would be emotionally harrowing but wanted to check that it didn't include scenes showing characters being tortured/murdered in concentration camps or anything similar.
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Post by MrBunbury on Jan 30, 2020 14:52:54 GMT
To answer Dawnstar's questions - it's not that harrowing except emotionally of course, and both actresses have significant roles but that's true of virtually everyone on stage. Thank for your reply. I was assuming it would be emotionally harrowing but wanted to check that it didn't include scenes showing characters being tortured/murdered in concentration camps or anything similar. No, there is no torture.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 31, 2020 7:48:02 GMT
There’s a big twist at the end? Intriguing. It better not be the cast all coming out in modern clothes or something equally cliched.
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Post by zahidf on Jan 31, 2020 13:27:58 GMT
What's the current running time for this please?
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Post by rumbledoll on Jan 31, 2020 17:55:02 GMT
You are a star! Thanks a million!
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Post by Jan on Jan 31, 2020 18:21:15 GMT
Ed Stoppard is in it I see. When he played Hamlet in 2005 it seemed like he was set for a great stage career but he seemed to drop from view - at least I didn't see him much subsequently.
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Post by andrew on Jan 31, 2020 18:23:20 GMT
Anyone done TodayTix for this and know where abouts the seats are?
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 31, 2020 18:25:06 GMT
Anyone done TodayTix for this and know where abouts the seats are? Row D of the Grand Circle
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Post by lynette on Feb 1, 2020 18:38:05 GMT
Ed Stoppard is in it I see. When he played Hamlet in 2005 it seemed like he was set for a great stage career but he seemed to drop from view - at least I didn't see him much subsequently. You checking if I’m awake? THAT was Ed Bennett.
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Post by theatrelover123 on Feb 1, 2020 18:42:33 GMT
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Post by lynette on Feb 1, 2020 18:48:12 GMT
😂😂😂😂 So I’m not awake then. Sorreeee. What’s an ED between friends?
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Post by zahidf on Feb 2, 2020 11:56:50 GMT
Didn't like this. Was all over the place and aside from a few very good moments, not memorable
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 2, 2020 15:00:36 GMT
Found this underwhelming, the story is one we have heard many times and this does not really bring anything new to the table even though it’s timeliness is appreciated as we face a rise in ethnic discrimination.
Had no problem following the lineage of the characters and the arc even though at times it felt as if there were more on stage than an audience in some of the smaller Theatres I’ve frequented.
The TodayTix Rush seats are good value and for me a represented a fair price and would have been disappointed if I’d paid full price.
(The interval was taken up applying the maths problem raised for other values and as Gauss identified the formula is extremely simple when you see the pattern)
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Post by alessia on Feb 11, 2020 11:01:47 GMT
I saw this last night. I too was slightly underwhelmed-I sort of regret spending over my budget to see this. Although the production, costumes and set were well done and beautiful to look at, it failed to somehow connect with me, I can't quite put my finger on the reason. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The script has some excellent lines and most of the actors do a great job with it. It just didn't connect and it left me a bit cold despite a moving ending. Felt that buying the booklet might be helpful to work out the family relationships but having gone over budget already I didn't want to spend more! I got the gist of the connections although it is indeed quite complicated with so many actors and skipping forward twice in time. I see that people comment on the children being great, I was waiting to see why but again I'm still wondering, I don't think any of the children did much great acting to deserve praise, with the exception maybe of one scene.
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Post by nash16 on Feb 11, 2020 11:58:37 GMT
I saw this last night. I too was slightly underwhelmed-I sort of regret spending over my budget to see this. Although the production, costumes and set were well done and beautiful to look at, it failed to somehow connect with me, I can't quite put my finger on the reason. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The script has some excellent lines and most of the actors do a great job with it. It just didn't connect and it left me a bit cold despite a moving ending. Felt that buying the booklet might be helpful to work out the family relationships but having gone over budget already I didn't want to spend more! I got the gist of the connections although it is indeed quite complicated with so many actors and skipping forward twice in time. I see that people comment on the children being great, I was waiting to see why but again I'm still wondering, I don't think any of the children did much great acting to deserve praise, with the exception maybe of one scene. For all the heralding of the large cast and the children, the child actors could definitely have been cut. Beyond some pulling of each other’s hair and running around there was little brought by them. The only child you needed was the one who dropped something important. When you realised you were seeing one of them grown up, you didn’t tend to sit there with fond/distinct memories of their younger counterpart. Free up that dressing room space haha.
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