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Post by peggs on Sept 10, 2020 20:49:19 GMT
Smart
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2020 22:46:32 GMT
We saw The Outside Dog & The Hand of God this afternoon. Not a full house, quite a few empty seats in stalls and both levels. We had cheap tickets off to the side and felt we missed a bit in the performances. Now that we have been a couple of times are are very happy with the comfort level and the procedures Bridge Theatre are taking, I think we'll take a chance on Rush tickets for a while now. The Outside Dog was a bit more enjoyable, there was more to it. Both in the story and the role so Rochenda Sandall had more to work with, she was very good. The Hand of God was funnier (unsurprisingly) but also lighter. It didn't feel like there was that much to it. Still, after months off this is a fine start back for us. I thought Rochenda Sandall and Tamsin Greig had the best monologues of the lot when I watched them on TV, and did the best job with them too.
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Post by londonpostie on Sept 11, 2020 9:35:33 GMT
email list update this morning that may interest some:
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Post by Dr Tom on Sept 11, 2020 21:37:34 GMT
Saw all four Talking Heads today (5pm and 8pm). All excellent. And another theatre that got the Covid-19 precautions perfect, even telling people to replace their masks after every sip of their drink.
Interesting to see where people choose to laugh (not obvious on TV). To me, many moments are sad, to others clearly hilarious.
The highlight was Rochenda Sandall’s performance, a real acting master class. I didn’t warm to this so much on TV, but it really worked in person.
Also loved The Hand of God, possibly my favourite of the monologues. Kristin Scott Thomas delivered this perfectly as well.
Two different Stalls seats. High stool at the back for the first two (fine, but would have liked to have been closer), front row in the evening (upgraded due to a booking error, absolutely perfect seat). A very comfortable venue with lots of seats removed and impressed as always by everything the Bridge Theatre have done.
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Post by david on Sept 14, 2020 21:34:15 GMT
So after a 190 or so day enforced absence I finally managed to see some live theatre tonight. After such a long period it was just great to be able to walk into a auditorium share the experience with other people of being able to watch 2 wonderful actresses and hear the great Alan Bennett’s monologues (The. Shrine and Bed Among The Lentils) A big shout out to everyone involved at the Bridge theatre and all the other theatres up and down the country (both cast and crew) who have worked miracles in bringing live theatre back into our lives. With live theatre being absent for so long it was just great to part of a wonderful evening and no mobile phones going off or people crunching sweets or having conversations during the show was an added bonus.
From tonight’s experience, certainly I found the whole process straight forward enough. At least with socially distanced seating you haven’t got the issue of having to climb over bags and coats and try and get past people in order to get to your seat. Though one issue I did find and maybe it’s just me but having a single seat right at the front of the stalls (BB29) I certainly felt more exposed being isolated rather than being in a mass of people as you traditionally would. I’m back at the Bridge on Thursday night so hopefully it will be less of an issue. I have to say I was very impressed with the FOH team based in the auditorium who enforced the face covering rule well.
In terms of the actually production, the 60 or so minutes flew by, though the Bed of Lentils for me was the better one both in terms of Bennett’s writing (his dry Yorkshire humour is just a joy to listen to) and the performance by Leslie Mandeville.
Live theatre is back in our lives and I for one am going to cherish every single minute of it.
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Post by david on Sept 17, 2020 21:34:15 GMT
As the last night of my London theatre trip it seemed fitting to end it where the week started by watching another of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads (The Outside Dog and The Hand of God). Another joyful 64 minutes spent listening to another 2 fantastic monologues given by 2 great performers.
Rochenda Sandall’s performance in The Outside Dog was just outstanding though it was Kristin Scott Thomas in the Hand of God that out of the 4 monologues I’ve seen this week, this is the one that I actually enjoyed the most. Having the these 2 monologues paired together I thought worked well. Having the more darker one in The Outside Dog playing first allowed the night to end on a much lighter note in the Hand of God one.
Leaving the theatre tonight to get back to my hotel it gave me chance to have a look back on this week of socially distanced theatre and how I have found it having been to 3 different venues this week. Certainly it’s been great not only to have been able to actually book and to see live theatre again but from a mental health point of view it has really been a great tonic for me personally having been really down over the last few weeks. It may sound stupid but just having that notification ping on my phone saying that I’m at the theatre tonight to watch something is something that I have personally missed over these last few months. It was something to look forward to during the week and having that buzz of being able to see something live. Not having that for such a long time really was having an impact on me personally. Also it’s that social interaction with other human beings whether FOH staff or a complete stranger just discussing theatre that has been a joy to have back even if it has been in more challenging conditions.
I’ve certainly got no complaints in how these venues have handled these conditions and the set up each venue has put in place to allow the performances to go ahead. At the beginning of the week I was certainly more self conscious of being a solo theatre goer being stuck in a single seat with no one around. Though by tonight it didn’t really bother me. It certainly makes for a quicker getaway at the end of the night without trying to get past everyone.
As I said in a previous post it’s just great to have live theatre back in 2020 to brighten up these difficult times.
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Post by londonpostie on Sept 20, 2020 21:27:32 GMT
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 22, 2020 16:47:12 GMT
Well, it seems that Talking Heads will have a life beyond the Bridge. I'm not sure it qualifies as a tour, but Imelda Staunton and Maxine Peake will visit Yorkshire for a full week in November - first stop the world-famous Crucible Theatre, then the not at all famous Leeds Playhouse. 🙂
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Post by sfsusan on Sept 24, 2020 18:24:09 GMT
I saw The Outside Dog and The Hand of God last night. The theater did an excellent job of managing everything, as others have said. I thought Outside Dog was a more engrossing story and allowed a performance that had a wider range. The ending was just chilling. I enjoyed the Hand of God, and thought it was a nice, lightly humorous way to end the evening. I was (pleasantly) surprised that Rochenda Sandall seemed to get slightly more applause than Scott Thomas.
Everybody in the audience seemed very happy to be there and were compliant with distance and masks... until exiting, when masks came off and people were hugging between groups. I have to say that it was quite enjoyable to be seated by myself, with nobody behind me or in front of me (I was on Level 2, on one of the 'bends'). If this is an economically feasible way for theaters to operate, that will be fine with me.
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Post by alece10 on Oct 1, 2020 13:15:23 GMT
Saw the Maxine Peake/Tamsin Grieg monologues last night. Brilliant, especially Maxine Peake. My first theatre trip since March so was quite emotional. Great audience reaction. I think we all decided to clap and cheer even louder knowing there was reduced capacity. Bridge Theatre well done! Really well organised and felt very safe indeed. People in queue outside waiting to enter when its pouring with rain outside. Have your ticket or e mail ready before you get to the front of the queue. We would have all got in a lot quicker and dryer if had get them ready.
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 16, 2020 18:18:51 GMT
Saw Playing Sandwiches and Lady of Letters tonight. Both excellent. Always surprises me from the gasps how many people obviously haven't seen them before.
Very simple but effective stagings. Lucian Msamati has excellent presence.
Imelda Staunton had the crowd treating the whole thing like a comedy, whether it's meant to be or not. Several people whooping in the audience and even applause before the end.
Ran about 10 minutes longer than the advertised time.
Surprisingly quite a few empty seats and blocks of 2 or 3 with only a single person sitting in them. I was in Gallery 1, which was meant to be slightly restricted view, but I actually had a great view by leaning slightly forward (no rows behind) and they avoid the edges of the stage anyway. Perfect sound levels too.
One more trip to the Bridge next week to catch the remaining two monologues.
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Post by vickyg on Oct 19, 2020 19:55:58 GMT
I saw Tamsin Greig and Maxine Peake tonight in my first post re-opening visit to the bridge. I just love Tamsin Greig, she’s so subtle and can turn humour into sadness so quickly. Quite a lot of inappropriate audience laughter which I always find so strange especially given this subject matter.
I’ve never seen Miss Fozzard before but knew immediately Maxine Peake started speaking that it was originally Patricia Routledge as I felt I watched an impersonation of PR playing a role. The mannerisms, the facial movements, the way her mouth sort of stutters open and closed, it wasn’t an original performance at all for me. Yes it was funny but imo Maxine Peake is far, far too young for the role.
I was so happy to be back at the bridge, I love it there. They have done well to make it safe and because their foyer is so big i didn’t have to be near anyone. There were a fair few spare seats though probably due to the awkward 5pm start for which I had to take the afternoon off work. There were also probably more than 50% of groups not adhering to tier 2 rules. How can 4 middle aged women or three 40-ish men for example be a household or bubble. Of course the theatre can’t police these groups but it’s disappointing that people are breaking the rules when they should never have been booking as a group and would always have needed to socially distance.
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Post by joem on Oct 19, 2020 23:31:34 GMT
I saw Tamsin Greig and Maxine Peake tonight in my first post re-opening visit to the bridge. I just love Tamsin Greig, she’s so subtle and can turn humour into sadness so quickly. Quite a lot of inappropriate audience laughter which I always find so strange especially given this subject matter. I’ve never seen Miss Fozzard before but knew immediately Maxine Peake started speaking that it was originally Patricia Routledge as I felt I watched an impersonation of PR playing a role. The mannerisms, the facial movements, the way her mouth sort of stutters open and closed, it wasn’t an original performance at all for me. Yes it was funny but imo Maxine Peake is far, far too young for the role. I was so happy to be back at the bridge, I love it there. They have done well to make it safe and because their foyer is so big i didn’t have to be near anyone. There were a fair few spare seats though probably due to the awkward 5pm start for which I had to take the afternoon off work. There were also probably more than 50% of groups not adhering to tier 2 rules. How can 4 middle aged women or three 40-ish men for example be a household or bubble. Of course the theatre can’t police these groups but it’s disappointing that people are breaking the rules when they should never have been booking as a group and would always have needed to socially distance. Sw them tonight and agree with you on Maxine Peake's performance. Funny but I struggled to understand what age her character ws. On the 4 middle-aged women and the three 40-ish men.... consider what Tamsin Grieg said about suburbia......
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 20, 2020 18:51:27 GMT
Just back from Maxine and Tamsin. So much fun. What a treat!
Still seats available - about 1 hour 15 mins with a 5 min interval.
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 20, 2020 20:30:05 GMT
Saw my final two Talking Heads at the 5pm performance today. Both excellent again.
Tamsin Greig did very well with one of the more restrained monologues. But the highlight was Maxine Peake in Miss Fozzard Finds her Feet, a monologue which is both funny but incredibly poignant. Maxine got a mid-monologue round of applause when a phone went off and she said she wouldn't continue until the owner dealt with it (it was the second time a phone had gone off). Lots of applause and cheering at the end.
Hopefully the Bridge Theatre will get the opportunity to do the Talking Heads monologues they've missed sometime soon. I've really enjoyed this series and the way The Bridge shows such an awareness of Covid-19.
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Post by Forrest on Oct 21, 2020 13:06:30 GMT
Did anyone go to see Inua Ellams' An Evening with an Immigrant?
I went recently and perhaps I was slightly influenced by the fact that it was my first real theatre night out in months, or the fact that it's a topic I am very interested in, or both, but I absolutely adored it. It got a standing ovation at the end, so I definitely wasn't alone.
It's basically Inua telling the story of his childhood and moving to England (and Ireland and back to England), through lots of anecdotes and moments of poetry, but it's actually much nicer than I make it sound. I highly recommend it!
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Post by david on Oct 21, 2020 18:35:41 GMT
As my final pair of Talking Heads this evening (Nights in the Garden of Spain & Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet), what a great pair of monologues to end on. Two fantastic performances from both actresses, though it was Maxine Peake (who I am a big fan of) that was the highlight for me. Alan Bennett’s fantastic writing and her performance was for me was a winning combination. A well deserved standing ovation at the end for both performances.
Having seen 6 of the monologues in the Talking Heads season, they have all been a pleasure to watch (and how the monologues have been paired up I thought worked really well) and it’s great news that some of them are getting a life outside of London to a wider audience in the coming weeks.
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 21, 2020 21:35:20 GMT
They were enjoyable vignettes, some more so than others. I wasn't sure what the 3rd dimension of a live performance added to these BBC works, but then Maxine Peak strode on stage and blew my socks off. It was by far the most physical performance, and carried a little visual humour with it.
That one apart, I had the sense all the directors made the same choices.
From the front row, the great thing for me was seeing six wonderful actors from 8'-10' away, on a low stage. It was literally like watching them from an armchair in your living room
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Post by david on Oct 22, 2020 21:07:59 GMT
I was at the opening night of Nine Lives tonight. Overall I thought it was ok as a monologue with a nice blend of humour and more serious elements with a really engaging performance from Zodwa Nyoni though at 60 minutes it just felt too short to deal with issues that the writing covered (homophobia and issues that asylum seekers currently face) and I really wanted to delve more deeply into the characters back story and outcome (which for me didn’t really happen).
The staging for this is basically non existent. You just get Zodwa with a suitcase full of props to help tell the story. The screens used in the Talking Heads are still on stage but not employed here. I think a few projections as a backdrop to help set the different locations would of been beneficial.
At around 60 minutes it does zip along nicely and I didn’t get bored but walking back to catch the Tube back to my hotel I just felt that I wanted more from this production than what I got.
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Post by vickyg on Oct 23, 2020 8:29:28 GMT
I hadn't seen the updated BBC versions of the talking heads and last watched the originals decades ago at school but I watched Nights in the Gardens of Spain and the beginning of Miss Fozzard last night and was really surprised at how different the performances were on screen as opposed to in the theatre. I was also impressed at how Tamsin Greig managed to be just as, if not more, quietly emotional in a large theatre compared to being completely alone on screen. It was funnier in the theatre too and much sadder on tv. I'm only a little bit of the way Miss Fozzard but so far the performance is completely different even down to the accent and much more subdued.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Oct 23, 2020 11:51:43 GMT
Dear all, I'm trying to sell a single stalls ticket for the matinee on October 31st. The show will feature "Playing Sandwiches" wth Lucian Msamati and "Lady of Letters" with Imelda Staunton. More info here in the Noticeboard. Thank you!
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Post by NeilVHughes on Oct 23, 2020 21:39:23 GMT
I really wanted to delve more deeply into the characters back story and outcome For me this was the core of the piece, an immigrant is perceived as an alien with their humanity removed and whilst in the approval process has neither a past they could return to or a firm future to look forward to, just an existence in stasis made up of endless days of not belonging and the powerlessness this entails. There was enough to understand why he had to leave whilst the narrative showed the decision to seek asylum leads to ‘nationless’, unable to go back and no foundation to go forward, claiming asylum is not the easy option it is often portrayed.
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Post by peggs on Oct 23, 2020 22:37:39 GMT
Did anyone go to see Inua Ellams' An Evening with an Immigrant? I went recently and perhaps I was slightly influenced by the fact that it was my first real theatre night out in months, or the fact that it's a topic I am very interested in, or both, but I absolutely adored it. It got a standing ovation at the end, so I definitely wasn't alone. It's basically Inua telling the story of his childhood and moving to England (and Ireland and back to England), through lots of anecdotes and moments of poetry, but it's actually much nicer than I make it sound. I highly recommend it! I didn't see this but have seen a few interviews etc recently where's he's told this and he's just grand isn't he.
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Post by Forrest on Oct 24, 2020 22:08:20 GMT
He is! I read about An Evening with an Immigrant after I'd seen The Barber Shop Chronicles as part of NT at Home, which was an absolute theatre-crush for me (I think I watched it like 3 times in 2 days - it literally haunted me) and I've wanted to see it since, so I was thrilled to see that the Bridge decided to bring it back! It definitely did not disappoint. He really has a particular talent for storytelling, which manages to be both light and humorous, clever and insightful, and it is such an honest telling of his story that it's easy to find something to connect with. (I also recently attended the launch of his new book of poetry over Zoom and very much enjoyed it, even though I'm not really a big fan of poetry in general. My favourite part of the evening, though, was when Ellams noted, after Sule Rimi had read a poem, that he is working on a new play with a part specifically for Sule. That is something to look forward to!)
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Post by peggs on Oct 24, 2020 22:24:24 GMT
(I also recently attended the launch of his new book of poetry over Zoom and very much enjoyed it, even though I'm not really a big fan of poetry in general. My favourite part of the evening, though, was when Ellams noted, after Sule Rimi had read a poem, that he is working on a new play with a part specifically for Sule. That is something to look forward to!) I was on that too! I saw an interview from the hay festival with back back in the early lock down days and so have kept an eye out since. Barbershop Chronicles was amazing (watched as you when they streamed) would have been amazing to be in that space live, then similarly while not being wild about poetry went and had a little bob around with that music interspersed poetry.
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Post by Forrest on Oct 24, 2020 23:21:17 GMT
I was at the opening night of Nine Lives tonight. Overall I thought it was ok as a monologue with a nice blend of humour and more serious elements with a really engaging performance from Zodwa Nyoni though at 60 minutes it just felt too short to deal with issues that the writing covered (homophobia and issues that asylum seekers currently face) and I really wanted to delve more deeply into the characters back story and outcome (which for me didn’t really happen). The staging for this is basically non existent. You just get Zodwa with a suitcase full of props to help tell the story. The screens used in the Talking Heads are still on stage but not employed here. I think a few projections as a backdrop to help set the different locations would of been beneficial. At around 60 minutes it does zip along nicely and I didn’t get bored but walking back to catch the Tube back to my hotel I just felt that I wanted more from this production than what I got. I agree with this - I left the Bridge rather disappointed tonight too. While I had no issue with the lack of any actual staging (it's simpler during this strange period of mixed monologues, and cheaper for them I guess, and thus fine by me), I felt let down by the text: it was somewhat superficial and just somehow... hollow. I expected to see (and feel) a genuine human story, and it actually felt quite generic and calculated in a catch all/trying-hard-to-be-likeable kind of way (i.e. in the kind of way that Hollywood films based on a tragic true story often are, to make it more palatable to a wider audience, e.g. in some moments it felt like it was trying too hard to be funny, drifting into unnecessary details of random sub-stories just for laughs, at other times it felt too banal). I didn't feel like it gave me enough to go on to actually care much for the character: he felt overwhelmingly like a shell filled with bits and pieces of that what is (I presume) meant to be the opposite to the negative expectations and stereotypes about asylum seekers/immigrants, rather than like a real, complex human being - we never really scratched deeper underneath the surface. I also didn't much appreciate the author's decision to directly employ the some of us voice, rather than just a singular, personal one: it somehow made the already thin character seem even thinner and less important . (Perhaps it made it less clear whose story it is?) I also prefer it when authors give me something to think about rather than just tell me everything directly, plus some of it felt really cliche and unnecessary. By wanting to provide as many counterarguments against common prejudice as possible, Nyoni effectively alienated me as an audience member from her character (and quite ironically so, given the subject matter of the play). I thought the actor was OK (it's Lladel Bryant, btw, not the author), but he didn't have too much to work with from my perspective. The whole thing fades particularly in comparison to An Evening with an Immigrant which so effortlessly manages to be everything that this seems to want to be but isn't: a genuine, heartfelt story about the alienating reality of being the other. TL;DR: I didn't like this all that much, and the more I think about it the more I am wondering why Bridge chose to stage it because I really don't think it's a particularly good text. (I might be tired and too critical, though. Perhaps I should have slept on this before saying anything...)
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 25, 2020 13:28:10 GMT
to be honest I think the monologue concept can struggle as a theatrical concept unless the material is quite excellent. Maggie Smith did well with A German Life and Andrew Scott did the 30' Sea Wall but some of these 3-dimensioned Alan Bennett jobs do perhaps better belong on BBC2. Having said that, it's work for people who need it, audiences are getting out, it's all a sign of progress and this is what can be done for now. Don't know what's in the pipeline but I'd actually like to see angrier work, as well. The whole year has been a catastrophe - part nature, part inflicted, part self-inflicted - and I can only take so many stories from 50-something ladies from Yorkshire. I have Beat the Devil at The Bridge this week, so that might get the juices flowing
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Post by Forrest on Oct 25, 2020 18:12:28 GMT
londonpostie, I couldn't agree more: there's not much that even the best actor can do to disguise a mediocre monologue, and sadly, for me, this belongs to that category. Then again, it's work for those who need it right now, and it's a chance to go back to the theatre for the rest of us, so I'm happy it's there. I am also really impressed by everything the Bridge has done to get the audiences back and, much like you, am looking forward to finding out what they will put on next. Also, looking forward to reading your thoughts on Beat the Devil! (I haven't seen it, sadly couldn't get a solo ticket for any of the dates available.)
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Post by londonpostie on Oct 25, 2020 19:48:22 GMT
@forrest I'm definitely ready for Ralph Fiennes to be angry!
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Post by Dr Tom on Nov 4, 2020 15:15:06 GMT
I did catch two more monologues last Friday.
Nine Lives was watchable enough and well-performed, but I unfulfilled by the end. Perhaps that was the point behind it?
Beat The Devil. Very little about coronavirus, mostly a political piece. It is almost a snapshot of when it was written which feels dated even a few months on.
More empty seats for Beat The Devil than Nine Lives, which surprised me. Several premium blocks near the front.
The Bridge Theatre remains a model of how to operate under Covid-19 conditions.
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