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Post by Dave B on Jul 26, 2022 12:01:54 GMT
Has anyone sat in rows G/H in the stalls for this? They were marked as restricted view when I booked and I was wondering how restricted they are. Heh, I've sat in both and at the same show.
Often with the strange way Almeida sells and presents these restricted seats, we book one at £10 for me and one the other side of the house at £10 for my better half and sometimes we'll swap at the interval just because. There is a black pillar in the way but it's pretty easy to lean to see around, there is enough space to see each side. For this show I was in G18 and then H9 and I didn't feel like I missed anything. For the price difference of the £40 seat directly next to me - it's more than worth the slight inconvenience. If you go in expecting to lean and to swap between which side of the pillar you lean a couple of times each act, I think you'll be fine.
I'm know I'm not the only one around here that likes these seats, they pop-up in Almeida threads reasonably often as cheap, value seats that are nothing like as restricted as Almeida seem to think they are and they can often get snapped up early.
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Post by Jon on Jul 26, 2022 19:28:45 GMT
Rumour this is transferring to the Noel Coward spring next year. I assume it's due to Tom Hollander's availability as he's shooting a film straight after Patriot's Almeida run.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jul 26, 2022 23:50:37 GMT
This was very good overall. Interesting play about Russian politics. Enjoyed the performances too. Good to see Jamael Westman on stage again after Hamilton, although it's a small part.
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Post by jm25 on Aug 4, 2022 21:54:24 GMT
Thought this was pretty dry. Second half considerably stronger than the first but overall thought it was a bit ‘meh’. Liked the use of space a lot but didn’t care for the sound - the mixing certainly felt a bit off.
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Post by peggs on Aug 7, 2022 7:51:04 GMT
Loved this, writing, set, lighting, sound , acting. Knew next to nothing going in and that was fine. Held my attention throughout and left me wanting to go away and find out more.
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Post by showgirl on Aug 7, 2022 14:09:54 GMT
So agree, peggs: saw yesterday's matinee and having read comments above re the need to know the political background or to the play being dry, I'd gone prepared not to understand and maybe to want to leave at the interval, but I loved it from the very start and there was never a dull moment. I hadn't expected the staging to be so lively, which certainly helped, but after The Southbury Child last Saturday and now this, I feel extremely fortunate to have seen 2 such well-written, entertaining and thought-provoking plays within little more than a week. And a steal for £10, even with the pillars.
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Post by peggs on Aug 7, 2022 21:48:53 GMT
I was at that performance too, I had a 2 week gap from The Southbury Child but quite agree with your sentiment.
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Post by Latecomer on Aug 8, 2022 12:27:30 GMT
Really enjoyed this too. Great staging and fabulous dialogue….plenty of humour and an interesting and clearly told story. The maths was absolute rubbish that they put on the blackboard, which was a bit annoying. If they were going to pretend to do a mathematical exchange at least make it a real one….not some garbage. But apart from that I enjoyed it a lot! I lived though all the London stuff, watching the news at the time, but had no idea who the main character was in this play before this. Fascinating!
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Post by Forrest on Aug 9, 2022 9:16:21 GMT
RThe maths was absolute rubbish that they put on the blackboard, which was a bit annoying. If they were going to pretend to do a mathematical exchange at least make it a real one….not some garbage. This made me laugh! My partner is a mathematician and I was so sorry he was not at the Almeida with me to tell me whether it indeed was garbage (which I assumed it to be). Thank you for solving that mystery! :) It reminds me of a brilliant article I read years ago about how computer programming when shown in films is mostly just "garbage" too, and it made me wonder - why?! If you're going to do something like this, do it right. I fully agree.
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Post by stevemar on Aug 11, 2022 17:53:03 GMT
I really enjoyed this play - well staged*, fantastic performances from Tom Hollander, Will Keen and Luke Thallon. All of them brought so much to their roles.
Although Boris Berezovsky is hardly a sympathetic character, Tom Hollander really brought him to life. I have some familiarity with his real life story, but I wonder how much of the play was written before the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
(*) the stage did seem unnecessarily large for the Almeida. Row C was the front row and I think that means 2 or even 3 rows had been removed. It’s almost as if the stage had been designed for the Old Vic, where the 47th really was inferior to this play IMO. But I wonder how much of that is due to the personalities in this play being slightly less well known?
4.5 stars from me.
Some trademark Rupert Goold flourishes, but he can bring out the best performances from actors who really raise the play to a much higher level I think than some of the dialogue. Oh, the mix of accents was a bit off putting at first.
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Post by Rory on Aug 11, 2022 19:47:56 GMT
Does anyone know where this is transferring to?
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 11, 2022 21:55:31 GMT
Spring. Noel Coward after Best of Enemies I think.
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Post by jaggy on Aug 11, 2022 23:15:45 GMT
Glad someone brought up the accents in this.
I was confused as to why Jamael Westman was using a Liverpudlian accent. I thought maybe they were trying to create a class distinction as the characters in power used RP accents whilst the other characters used regional accents. I assume that was their intention but Westman should have used a different accent. His scouse was awful!
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Post by alessia on Aug 19, 2022 11:29:27 GMT
Does anyone know where this is transferring to? just tweeted!
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Post by Rory on Aug 19, 2022 11:53:07 GMT
Spring. Noel Coward after Best of Enemies I think. Good shout!
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Post by theatrefan77 on May 19, 2023 17:40:47 GMT
Front row at the Noel Coward has just been released. Just £20 per seat
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Post by jakobo on May 20, 2023 22:35:10 GMT
Do we know how high the stage is?
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 21, 2023 12:23:19 GMT
Do we know how high the stage is? 3’ high
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Post by jakobo on May 21, 2023 16:25:31 GMT
Seems a bargain then unless I’m missing something. Are those front row seats only available for previews?
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Post by max on May 21, 2023 18:52:08 GMT
Do we know how high the stage is? 3’ high The DMT website says "the front of the stage is very high, and you may miss moments of the performance". This shows when your cursors hovers over front row seats.
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Post by Jon on May 27, 2023 23:41:41 GMT
Saw the play tonight and found it fascinating. I admit I know nothing about recent Russian history and so was going in cold. It's a good insight into how the Oligarchs were able to put Putin in power but also how easy it was for a kingmaker like Boris Berezovsky to fall from grace.
Tom Hollander was excellent was Berezovsky as is Will Keen as Putin who transform from bumbling deputy mayor to the most powerful man in Russia, Luke Thallon as Roman Abramovich was good as well.
The front row seats are great value at £20, you only miss a scene or two which is played to the back of the set but everything else is play front and centre.
Very mixed audience tonight, quite a few Russians and the normal well heeled crowd.
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Post by joem on May 29, 2023 23:00:31 GMT
I would concur with the previous post. Although the plot is basically 90% culled from historical events - or their differing interpretation by various players - this is indeed a fascinating account of a time of turmoil in Russia and the former Soviet Union which, sadly, has us wondering about what-ifs and what-might-have-been if things had been handled differently.
Morgan has chosen to call this play "Patriots" and give it a slant which considers different forms of patriotism. In making his selections, the playwright has given us his version of a set of truths for dramatic effect and, whilst probably much closer to the truth than (say) Shakespeare's Macbeth, undoubtedly Berezovsky's patriotism and sense of purpose have been exaggerated to create a tragic hero from a rather more shabby real figure. He needs to be heroic so we can contrast him with the cold, calculating amoral or faux moral Putin.
It did not feel overlong in any way, difficult to see what could be cut without mutilating the play, and the solid ensemble performances are topped by a strong one from Will Keen and a towering one from Tom Hollander; at times a mountebank, at times a shaman showing the art of the possible with his mathematical notions of infinity. Excellent staging, good use of lights, sound, music, multi-media - the whole kaboodle. Goold and Maria Friedman have delivered a pretty stunning production.
Quibbles: if you are going to do a play where the actors should be speaking in a foreign language in British regional accents you must have ALL the characters following the rule, else have them all speaking English with "appropriate" foreign accent. Second (stronger) quibble - and this is for the audiences and not the production team - this is NOT pantomime! You DO NOT hiss the villain at a curtain call in serious theatre! It's the actor you are booing, not the character.
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Post by joem on May 29, 2023 23:47:47 GMT
Freudian slip there....make it Sonia.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jun 6, 2023 0:18:07 GMT
This was as good as at the Almeida. Will Keen is excellent reprising his Olivier winning performance. Tom Hollander and Luke Thallon also great.
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Post by edi on Jun 7, 2023 22:04:07 GMT
I liked it a lot. First part kept my attention better, but for me it was a joy to watch
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Post by eatbigsea on Jun 7, 2023 22:25:09 GMT
Really enjoyed this, beautifully written with excellent performances from Will Keen and Luke Thallon, and Tom Hollander with a really outstanding performance. A couple of minor quibbles - there is no Nobel prize in Mathematics, and they had the judge wearing a barrister’s wig (why do they always do this?) I do understand that we shouldn’t boo excellent actors providing superlative performances, and of course I didn’t, but it did feel very odd to be applauding “Putin.”
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Post by Rory on Jun 7, 2023 22:58:55 GMT
I saw this tonight and enjoyed it very much. Propulsive staging and Tom Hollander and Will Keen were superb. I was in Row H in the stalls but I would recommend booking a seat in the dress circle as the staging is raised.
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Post by theatremiss on Jun 10, 2023 23:16:10 GMT
I was late to the party with this one, but I saw it tonight and really enjoyed it. Great performances from Hollander and Keen. I was in front row DC and the view was perfect. On a side note, is Hollander wearing a bald cap or has he had the center of his head shaved?
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jun 10, 2023 23:32:41 GMT
I liked but didn't love this tonight. It was well acted but it felt longer than it was and I thought it didn't live up to the potential of what should have been really thrilling material. It also felt a bit like characters were included/mentioned just for people to have someone to point at and acknowledge as a public figure they recognised from real life. My friend described it as like the easter eggs included in Marvel movies for comic fans except it's Russian political figures. Maybe that's just an unfortunate side effect of it being such recent history that the major players are still so prominent, but it felt laboured like they were making sure you noticed. It certainly wasn't bad but it also didn't do anything to leave a big impression either.
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Post by shownut on Jun 11, 2023 8:17:21 GMT
I liked but didn't love this tonight. It was well acted but it felt longer than it was and I thought it didn't live up to the potential of what should have been really thrilling material. It also felt a bit like characters were included/mentioned just for people to have someone to point at and acknowledge as a public figure they recognised from real life. My friend described it as like the easter eggs included in Marvel movies for comic fans except it's Russian political figures. Maybe that's just an unfortunate side effect of it being such recent history that the major players are still so prominent, but it felt laboured like they were making sure you noticed. It certainly wasn't bad but it also didn't do anything to leave a big impression either. I agree with your post. Caught it Tuesday night and while the second act had some merit following a meandering and sometimes confusing first act, I would have liked it more if both acts had cut between 10-15 mins out.
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