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Post by solotheatregoer on Apr 26, 2023 19:58:24 GMT
Cheryl was surprisingly not awful, or maybe she seemed passable considering the other 3 actors were...passable. Saw the twist coming literally ten minutes in - ALEXA ANYONE?! - so that was that. Glad to have ticked it off, will never see it again. Completely agree with this. I genuinely don't understand the praise this has received. Very predictable plot. I agree the acting wasn't terrible but it did feel a bit amateur in parts. I appreciate the production has probably been designed that way and doesn't take itself too seriously, but I didn't feel it was worth the trip overall.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 26, 2023 20:56:33 GMT
I have this weird conspiracy theory the whole thing is a money laundering scheme but that's for another day 😂
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Post by Roxie on Apr 26, 2023 22:25:37 GMT
Cheryl was surprisingly not awful, or maybe she seemed passable considering the other 3 actors were...passable. Saw the twist coming literally ten minutes in - ALEXA ANYONE?! - so that was that. Glad to have ticked it off, will never see it again. Yes! Alexa really needs an ‘I’m talking ABOUT you not TO you’ setting! I have to whisper it’s name when I’m in the same room as it and I’m explaining something to my dad about it, and it still lights up half the time!
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Post by Steve on May 31, 2023 23:15:38 GMT
Saw the latest iteration of this tonight, and although the acting is strong and the basic premise and structure are still sturdy, this is the weakest of the three versions I've seen. Clifford Samuel is terrific. Some spoilers follow. . . If the A story line is whether or not there's a ghost (Jamie Winstone's Jenny says "Yes," but her husband, Clifford Samuel's Sam says "hell no"), the B storylines concern guest couple, Ben and Lauren, where Ben stresses about a class divide, between himself and everyone else, and Jenny stresses about seeing her old fancy, Sam. For the play to really pop, it's imperative we get distracted from the A storyline (the plot is otherwise too linear, the solution is easy to guess and the scares are cheap tricks) by the B storylines. The B storylines create an atmosphere of delightful delirium and complex social chaos that have the potential to add a massive amount of comedy and drama to the proceedings. In the first Lily Allen iteration of 2:22, Jake Wood brought the chaos to the character of Ben, his inferiority complex manifesting in the most outlandish and outsize behaviour that stunned the other characters and ladled in the laughs from the audience. In the Cheryl iteration, my favourite by far, not only did Jake Wood return to bring the chaos, but he brought the even more chaotic, nervy, edgy, bitter, alcoholic Louise Ford with him, as his partner, Lauren. Ford's performance was a masterclass, every action and look filled with desire and memory and intention. Like a hoity toity Noel Coward character who wandered in from another play, you couldn't take your eyes off her, as her beady eyes ate Sam up right out from under Cheryl. Coupled with Cheryl's more self-effacing embodiment of haunted fearfulness (which Allen also achieved, but with more fragility and notes to her performance), the B storylines served as spectacular entertainment, spurring endless audience laughter and gasps of excitement, allowing the more quotidian A storyline just the right amount of playtime as well as an effective climax. In this iteration, however, while Ricky Champ is gloriously sensitive, believable and loveable, he simply doesn't dominate the audience the way Wood's enormous dick of a Ben did. Similarly, while One Tree Hill fans will revel in the elegance, dignity, decency and credibility of Sophia Bush's Lauren's hush-voiced restraint and poise, as a psychiatrist who never fulfilled her desires, that very restraint diminishes the effect and function of the B storylines. Thus, the A storyline is mightily exposed in this iteration, and although Clifford Samuel's Sam is excitably compelling and funny as the disbeliever in the supernatural, he can't hide the A storyline's flaws. Jamie Winstone, who I felt was terrific opposite Russell Tovey in "Sex with a Stranger" at the Trafalgar 2, is a more experienced actress than either Lily Allen or Cheryl, and consequently, given the threadbare B storyline, her worries and fears about ghosts absolutely overpower the proceedings here, with her Jenny a much more imposing and searching figure than either Allen or Cheryl were, thrusting the mysteries of the ghost story perpetually to the fore. If this material was better, that would be a good thing, but instead, it serves to highlight the weakest aspects of the show. Therefore, despite 4 good performances, this is not more than the sum of its parts, and the material creaks at times. 3 and a half stars from me.
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Post by Rory on Jul 18, 2023 23:10:08 GMT
Is this finally ending in the West End on 17th Sept at the Apollo? No harm to them but I've just had a horrible thought it might try the Haymarket next.
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Post by Jon on Jul 18, 2023 23:44:26 GMT
Is this finally ending in the West End on 17th Sept at the Apollo? No harm to them but I've just had a horrible thought it might try the Haymarket next. It is touring in the Autumn so it's a maybe. Don't think we should knock a successful play, it's better than a dark theatre.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 19, 2023 17:43:56 GMT
Is this finally ending in the West End on 17th Sept at the Apollo? No harm to them but I've just had a horrible thought it might try the Haymarket next. Don't think we should knock a successful play, it's better than a dark theatre. We absolutely can knock successful plays. Being successful doesn’t mean it’s good, and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s beyond criticism. As long as people follow our rules they can criticise. Also, are dark theatres an issue in the WE? Seems to me that there’s a shortage of theatres to meet demand. Are any theatres in the West End dark at the moment?
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 19, 2023 20:23:42 GMT
This terrible play has been clogging up west end theatres for far too long, enough now.
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Post by westendboy on Jul 20, 2023 17:12:10 GMT
I'm not going to lie, even though I enjoyed this play when I saw it at the Gielgud, it's definitely outstayed its welcome.
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Post by mjh on Jul 21, 2023 11:33:14 GMT
Sophia Bush has withdrawn from the rest of the run, with Frankie Bridge taking her place from August.
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Post by ladidah on Jul 21, 2023 11:35:35 GMT
Frankie Bridge!? Lord
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2023 15:30:30 GMT
If they want a high profile name why not at least go for a "TV" actress - Sheridan Smith springs to mind.
What next we get Madonna in Blythe Spirit
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 21, 2023 18:43:05 GMT
If they want a high profile name why not at least go for a "TV" actress - Sheridan Smith springs to mind. What next we get Madonna in Blythe Spirit The point is that Sheridan Smith wouldn’t do this play. She has a successful career and is in demand.
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Post by appoul on Jul 24, 2023 22:07:27 GMT
Apparently Sophia Bush has pulled out of this due to illness. I hope it is not something serious!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2023 22:35:35 GMT
Apparently Sophia Bush has pulled out of this due to illness. I hope it is not something serious! Sophia had some sort of virus she couldn't/cannot shake off. She had tried to carry on with the run but I think she ended up needing medical attention and had been on and off several times. In the end I think she was advised to rest up and with the Producers decided to find a replacement so people would not turn up expecting to see her and be disappointed.
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Post by ncbears on Sept 17, 2023 13:47:13 GMT
It had a very successful run in Los Angeles.
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Post by seeseveryshow on Sept 22, 2023 23:12:56 GMT
Saw this weak drama at the Lyric in January. The two actresses at the performance I saw delivered their lines too quickly and without satisfactory enunciation. Don’t understand how this disappointment played as long as it did.
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Post by evilmat360 on Apr 19, 2024 9:08:06 GMT
It's back at the Geilgud for the summer.
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Post by amyja89 on Apr 19, 2024 9:16:09 GMT
You just can't keep a good (or bang average) ghost down!
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Post by westendgirls on Apr 19, 2024 9:17:40 GMT
It's back at the Geilgud for the summer. Will we start taking bets on a possible cast? I mean they have already scraped the bottom of the barrel with some iterations so who knows who will do it next
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Post by mrnutz on Apr 19, 2024 9:17:49 GMT
Have we gone back in time to 1st April?
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Post by ceebee on Apr 19, 2024 9:21:16 GMT
Spooky Gielgud Hell Dream.
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Post by blamerobots on Apr 19, 2024 9:29:39 GMT
"It's Back" being the tagline for its reannouncement is less like a ghost returning to haunt you, rather more like a bad rash.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 19, 2024 9:59:53 GMT
Absolutely mystified by this shows success. It’s not in the slightest bit scary, clever or good.
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Post by LaLuPone on Apr 19, 2024 10:12:40 GMT
Kim Woodburn as Jenny please, with Gemma Collins at matinees
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 19, 2024 11:39:57 GMT
I have this weird conspiracy theory the whole thing is a money laundering scheme but that's for another day 😂 Just bringing this back...
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Post by scarletmood on Apr 19, 2024 15:34:23 GMT
Kim Woodburn as Jenny please, with Gemma Collins at matinees That would be age blind casting with Kim as a new mum. But I guess they could share outfits.
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Post by nottobe on Apr 23, 2024 11:05:42 GMT
Stacey Dooley as Jenny. Get ready for lots of sympathetic nodding .
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 23, 2024 11:13:23 GMT
Stacey Dooley as Jenny. Get ready for lots of sympathetic nodding . No worse than some of the other people who've done it
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