213 posts
|
Post by frosty on Feb 9, 2020 9:19:36 GMT
Absolutely hated this...incomprehensible nonsense, would have left if it didn’t mean disturbing people. I can’t understand why anyone who manages to get that incredible cast in one building would give them this stinker. Definitely not for me.... I try to look for something good in everything, but couldn’t find it here. If youngsters were drawn here because of Daniel Radcliffe, I think they would be put off theatre for life! Thankfully we saw The Visit afterwards, which was amazing.
|
|
|
Post by theoracle on Feb 9, 2020 14:30:22 GMT
I didn't love this but I didn't hate it either. I enjoyed Alan Cummings' performance very much in both plays and Daniel Radcliffe was certainly on good form throughout the evening. Endgame and Rough seem to compliment each other very well and this production really captures the surrealism and nihilism that is so present throughout Beckett's work. I think it was great to see many more younger faces at a Beckett but I don't think these were the plays to try to make Beckett more mainstream. Endgame certainly felt like it was longer than 90mins but it had its moments. 4/5 from me.
|
|
1,196 posts
|
Post by theatrefan77 on Feb 9, 2020 15:27:09 GMT
I loved it. Went on Friday and thought both Cumming and Radcliffe were excellent. Endgame is such a wonderful play anyway, pure nihilism.
I saw recently the movie Joker and made me think a lot about Beckett, he probably would have enjoy it.
Love Beckett's work. Sometimes I don't fully understand it but find it nonetheless fascinating. This kind of play is not for everybody, but people who enjoy Beckett's work will probably love this production of Endgame.
|
|
1,865 posts
|
Post by Marwood on Feb 9, 2020 19:30:17 GMT
I went through a period of seeing a fair bit of Beckett on the West End stage in what seems like a lifetime ago now (Eh Joe, Krapps Last Tape and All That Fall) : it was the lousy version of Godot I saw at the Barbican with Hugo Weaving that put me off seeing any more productions of his work for a long time (I loved the Ian McKellen/Roger Rees version of that so it’s not like I went in unguided): yes Beckett isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste so I can understand people wondering ‘WTF is going on?’but I am SO looking forward to seeing this next week it’s unreal.
|
|
87 posts
|
Post by greenswan on Feb 12, 2020 13:57:28 GMT
Slightly belatedly as life and work intervened - I saw this on Saturday courtesy of the ticket from david.
Unfortunately this proved quite conclusively that I don’t get on with Beckett. Probably my last attempt. The first piece is rightfully obscure in my opinion but at least short. Endgame felt endless - boring and not funny for most of it. The acting - Cummings good, Radcliffe ok.
Toilet queue situation dreadful, seat was great - C11. I’d imagine the corresponding seat on the other side would be even better as the bins are on the left.
|
|
1,865 posts
|
Post by Marwood on Feb 15, 2020 16:54:25 GMT
I liked Karl Johnson in this, and Daniel Radcliffe was rather good too (I don’t know if it was intentional but looking at the way he fell down the ladder near the end, I can picture him becoming a cropper by the end of its run) but overall I can’t say I was that impressed: the whole production just felt a bit heavy handed and a slog to sit through (not helped by the four buffoons sat behind me whispering through the WHOLE f***ing play: no it’s not f****ing Harry Potter, if you don’t know what the f*** is going on or don’t like it, bugger off to a pub or your Quidditch club and moan about it there (rant over)
|
|
1,865 posts
|
Post by Marwood on Feb 16, 2020 15:46:46 GMT
Not relevant to the production, but what is going on with the state of Alan Cumming’s legs? I get paranoid about showing my pasty white legs off when I go anywhere remotely sunny, but here he was, with possibly the skinniest legs in existence (the memory I shall take away from this was two uncooked strands of spaghetti): my legs are like Cristiano Ronaldos compared to those 😝 (to tell the truth, the thought of how he maintains that ‘fine level of physique’ gave me more to ponder than the actual play)
|
|
2,805 posts
|
Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 16, 2020 16:01:06 GMT
Not relevant to the production, but what is going on with the state of Alan Cumming’s legs? I get paranoid about showing my pasty white legs off when I go anywhere remotely sunny, but here he was, with possibly the skinniest legs in existence (the memory I shall take away from this was two uncooked strands of spaghetti): my legs are like Cristiano Ronaldos compared to those 😝 (to tell the truth, the thought of how he maintains that ‘fine level of physique’ gave me more to ponder than the actual play) Uhm I'm pretty sure the legs you see are fake, his real legs are hidden in the chair.
|
|
99 posts
|
Post by emilytemple on Feb 18, 2020 10:09:21 GMT
this proved quite conclusively that I don’t get on with Beckett. Probably my last attempt. The first piece is rightfully obscure in my opinion but at least short. Endgame felt endless - boring and not funny for most of it. The acting - Cummings good, Radcliffe ok. I can’t say I was that impressed: the whole production just felt a bit heavy handed and a slog to sit through Both these are my sentiments after my visit this afternoon too. Oo as far i remember you had famous Stalls Q35? View from that on this was ok or rather difficult Also i noticed mr. Racliffe do stage door A. Anyone know if Alan Cumming as well B. I remember SD in old vic You need show your Play Ticket from same day Sd. Show e Ticket on your phone could work as well? On need to be print?
|
|
|
Post by floorshow on Feb 18, 2020 12:26:45 GMT
Show e Ticket on your phone could work as well? On need to be print? When we passed the queue it looked like you had to show 3 Harry Potter bobble heads each. Disappointing lack of Bond/X Men merch for AC to sign - nerds are so fickle.
|
|
99 posts
|
Post by emilytemple on Feb 18, 2020 12:40:50 GMT
I remember the last time I was sd with Radciffe people next to me were surprised that I did not have a merchandiser from Potter to sign but some photo of him( no hp )
My friend who going on this rather on collects autographs on programs or art if she want "do" sd
if you go to see a play with an actor associated with a fandon and this can make you return to the theater on different play, why not. Like in my case
|
|
539 posts
|
Post by andrew on Feb 18, 2020 14:49:12 GMT
Both these are my sentiments after my visit this afternoon too. Oo as far i remember you had famous Stalls Q35? View from that on this was ok or rather difficult Also i noticed mr. Racliffe do stage door A. Anyone know if Alan Cumming as well B. I remember SD in old vic You need show your Play Ticket from same day Sd. Show e Ticket on your phone could work as well? On need to be print? Radcliffe "stagedoors" inside the foyer and you have to queue on the side of the building and show your ticket. Alan Cumming comes out from the actual stage door on the other side.
|
|
376 posts
|
Post by sherriebythesea on Feb 19, 2020 12:43:47 GMT
I’m not sure what to even think of this. My first Beckett play. Karl Johnson was wonderful, Alan over the top and I thought Radcliffe mis-cast. I would have taken a miss on this except cast sounded so strong
|
|
5,582 posts
|
Post by lynette on Feb 19, 2020 20:15:28 GMT
I’m not sure what to even think of this. My first Beckett play. Karl Johnson was wonderful, Alan over the top and I thought Radcliffe mis-cast. I would have taken a miss on this except cast sounded so strong It isn’t his best.
|
|
1,845 posts
|
Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 22, 2020 22:12:09 GMT
Absolute brilliance, Becket’s appreciation of silent comedy emphasises the absurdity of their narrative.
For me there is no more liberating a playwright than Beckett, we live our lives caged by a narrative of our own writing, once grasped life becomes much simpler, seeking meaning where there is none is the root of a lot of our personal angst.
The only judge and jury on our lives is ourselves, thinking otherwise takes you into thr Kafkaesque nightmare of Rough.
As Annie Baker put it in The Antipodes, the foundation of our personal cells (expectation of order) are cast when we get these words in the ‘right’ order
time, upon, a, once
|
|
2,805 posts
|
Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 24, 2020 0:32:31 GMT
I saw it a couple of weeks ago and LOVED it, I thought it was wonderfully staged and impeccably acted by each of the four cast members. Johnson and Cumming are getting a lot of love - and rightly so - but personally I was very moved by Jane Horrocks, whom I had previously seen (and disliked) in King Lear at the same venue. I have read several Becket's plays but it was my first time seeing one - well, two - on stage and I was amazed by how much funnier they are. I watched the matinee before heading to the Dominion for Prince of Egypt and it's astonishing how Richard Jones achieves more with three white walls than Stephen Schwartz' son does with a budget of millions.
|
|
|
Post by londonpostie on Feb 27, 2020 22:33:28 GMT
the context felt Cold War era, infused with The Goons and French avant-garde. So very 1950s, which is not surprising .. Beckett is different gravy, isn't he. These universal themes laid bare, prodded, dissected. I came out thinking of Larkin's This Be the Verse (' ... you mum and dad'). Excellent cast, excellent everything.
|
|
196 posts
|
Post by rockinrobin on Mar 1, 2020 13:37:50 GMT
I think Alan Cumming is brilliant in it - but being trapped in a chair like this for over an hour must feel a bit uncomfortable!
|
|
|
Post by londonpostie on Mar 1, 2020 13:57:37 GMT
Not his actual legs, surely.
|
|
99 posts
|
Post by youngoffender on Mar 7, 2020 20:48:15 GMT
Comparing this with fading memories of the only Endgame I have seen before, Matthew Warchus's 2004 production at what was then the Albery, I think Alan Cumming misses some of the pathos that Michael Gambon's lugubrious voice brought to Hamm, and Daniel Radcliffe can't match Lee Evans as Clov for vaudeville physical comedy - but this is still a very creditable job, boosted by great turns from Karl Johnson and Jane Horrocks as the bin-bound oldsters. The script is surely among Beckett's funniest, despite its bleakness, and I much prefer it to Godot. Inevitably, the torpor and repetition start to become enervating by about an hour in, particularly after a drink at the interval, but the longeurs are the point - if Hamm's frequently expressed wish for it all to end isn't shared by the audience before it actually does, then you could argue that the production isn't working.
I knew nothing of Rough for Theatre II, but it seems well paired. Both pieces seem to me to be putting us figuratively within a very troubled head, where inner voices compete to torment and comfort with the power of language. This is emphasised by the parallel designs, both with the outside world upstage, and furnished to suggest facial features from within (e.g. the pair of fluttering 'lamps' of Rough and the two high windows of Endgame).
And those are definitely not Cummings' legs! Adding to the music hall aesthetic, I think they are going for the look of a 'Lord Charles'-style ventriloquism act where motionless legs are draped sinisterly in front, and it's only the top half that moves.
|
|
|
Post by sleepflower on Mar 15, 2020 19:59:15 GMT
All performances until the end of the run now cancelled Just got an email as I was supposed to go next weekend. Really gutted but they are offering access to a filmed version if we don't want a refund.
|
|
5,267 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 15, 2020 22:11:07 GMT
This is such a shame. But hopefully most people will donate the cost of their tickets to the theatre.
|
|
805 posts
|
Post by duncan on Mar 15, 2020 23:02:43 GMT
Cant help but think that with both the actors being New York based a major factor in the decision being taken now was to ensure that they could actually get home before all flights in and out of the US from the UK are grounded.
|
|
572 posts
|
Post by princeton on Mar 15, 2020 23:49:48 GMT
My thoughts exactly - especially as the wording of the Old Vic's announcement is pretty opaque.
|
|
|
Post by Forrest on Mar 16, 2020 0:26:11 GMT
As sad as the idea of missing all the plays I have booked in the upcoming few weeks makes me (luckily, I've already seen 'Endgame') I somehow can't help but think that, whatever the reason behind it, the Vic has made a good call. Getting a lot of people in one place feels a bit reckless at the moment, and I am actually surprised they didn't cancel all plays, but just that one. And it's not even only about the audiences, but the casts and the crews who are at risk too, and who really don't have a choice on whether they will or won't turn up, as long as the management's decision is for the show to go on... (There was a really good chart a colleague posted on Twitter that got me thinking about this, and all of a sudden closures don't seem like such a crazy idea, at least for a short time to see how things will develop with this global madness.) I'd even be fine with all the theatres keeping my tickets money (even though for me that would be quite a substantial amount for something I won't actually get to enjoy), since I would prefer to know that everyone involved has the chance to take care of themselves and stay well, rather than be at risk, and the situation really, in this case, is nobody's fault. It feels almost surreal that last Saturday I was having one of the most wonderful nights ever in a theatre, and now I might not step into an auditorium for months...
|
|
|
Post by yokollama on Apr 22, 2020 16:23:24 GMT
For those of you who have chosen to donate the price of your ticket, when did you receive a link to the streamed recording? I had originally booked for the closing night so I'm assumming I may be assigned the final stream on the 25th April(?), but I've not yet had any correspondance from the Old Vic.
|
|
|
Post by sleepflower on Apr 22, 2020 18:34:36 GMT
For those of you who have chosen to donate the price of your ticket, when did you receive a link to the streamed recording? I had originally booked for the closing night so I'm assumming I may be assigned the final stream on the 25th April(?), but I've not yet had any correspondance from the Old Vic. I've had zero correspondance from the OV since they said they were working to contact everyone, and that was a few weeks ago! Hoping I haven't missed something!
|
|
2,389 posts
|
Post by peggs on Apr 22, 2020 19:44:06 GMT
You should have got an email telling you to set up a login on digital theatre at least 2 days before showing if you haven't maybe email them back. You then get sent a login only I didn't as apparently it often never makes it even to spam mail, the box office got me sorted pretty quickly though then took several attempts for digital theatre to get me access to the showing.
|
|
|
Post by sleepflower on Apr 23, 2020 11:13:29 GMT
You should have got an email telling you to set up a login on digital theatre at least 2 days before showing if you haven't maybe email them back. You then get sent a login only I didn't as apparently it often never makes it even to spam mail, the box office got me sorted pretty quickly though then took several attempts for digital theatre to get me access to the showing. Nope, I haven't got any of that! I've just emailed them, hopefully if it's too late for me to watch it I can get a refund at least.
|
|
2,389 posts
|
Post by peggs on Apr 23, 2020 21:26:40 GMT
Fingers crossed, you should have received an email that required you to select which one of four dates you wanted to watch it on, that set the whole thing off.
|
|