Apologia - Trafalgar Studios

Perhaps they use Cillit Bang? Barry Scott would know.

I hated fizzy drinks when I was a kid, so if a café only had Fanta or whathaveyou, my grandparents would flatten it for me by adding a spoonful of sugar. Must have been horrendous for my teeth, but another handy way to remove bubbles.

How bad is the rail in row D @theatremonkey - it gets a mention on your website but nothing saying restricted view on atg. Central row D or row E to the side a little bit?

Had the absolute pleasure of seeing Apologia this evening. What a great play. Has many parallels with Meryl Streep Dinner Table movie (as I like to refer to it) or August: Osage County as the playwright would. Having read reviews I was expecting a mixed bag but was thrilled that it was such enjoyable material. 


Some thoughts in bullet form:

- Brilliant cast.

I found Freema Agyeman annoying as the character, as is intended, but as an actor I think she nailed this. Ms Channing doesn't disappoint and I can report that her face is indeed filled with expression. Joseph Millson give a smashing performance in the second act as Simon although I found his performance as Peter somewhat lacking depth, perhaps the text doesn't help him much. Laura Carmichael is excellent also however interesting to note that I overheard some friends from the US in the foyer afterwards commenting on how her accent kept switching regions. I was so engrossed in the action that I did not notice! Finally, and not least, Desmond Barrit provides the comic relief and does so well, with a little time at the end of the play to be serious.

- Detailed set

The action of the play is framed well and the set is incredibly detailed however never a distraction. 

- Lighting Design

You may be noticing a trend here, as this was great too! Lighting comes mainly from outside of the house where the play takes place, it's effective for many reasons but i'll let you decide why if you see this!

- Reception

The audience loved it. Most ovated.

- Ms Channing

Was polite and chatty at the stage door afterwards!



Interesting final note...

The theatre was only half full. Bad marketing campaign? Not appealing to the tourists? Whatever it was I felt like this was an audience of locals - not necessarily a bad thing. Great to see many young faces like myself there too!

If you have seen the play, let me know your thoughts!

Saw this Saturday matinee and, having only dipped into comments here, went in with fairly low expectations. Stockard Channings first few lines felt a bit actressy, but then I was just absorbed by the whole thing. Loved the quick funny lines in Act 1, Act 2 much darker and I just wanted someone to hug her! Impressed with all the cast, Desmond Barrit's farewell line to Freema Agyeman was joyous!

Loved the stage "framing", and the lighting though the window, the rain ... Yeah, I'd give it 4* and I'm sad it hasn't sold as well as perhaps it should. I guess it's just a go nowhere story, there's just so much stuff that is left unresolved at the end.

I saw in row B on a Student ticket which was a perfect view. I also sat in AA at the interval to see what the view would be like. It's VERY close and the stage is fairly high but it's also a shallow set. I don't think you'd really miss anything and for £15 a definite bargain!

I saw this at last at yesterday's matinee, having kicked myself for weeks for booking at all as in that time I received so many great deals for it. However, the play itself lived up to my expectations and was worth the wait, and I'm glad to report that for whatever reason (word-of-mouth, deals, papering etc) the auditorium was reasonably full and the audience seemed attentive - and appreciative at the end.

My original seat was one of those which vanished in the reconfiguration, so I should have been in the new row A, but as there were a few gaps further back, I asked to move and was allowed to do so, for which I was very grateful and which improved my view. Had the answer been "no" I would obviously have accepted it.

She was out for most of last week aparantly.

I really enjoyed this tonight, particularly Laura Carmichael who I thought was wonderful. Stockard Channing was very good, I'll agree with earlier comments it's a shame to see how botched the cosmetic surgery is. I'll admit, having not read much about the play beforehand that I didn't know the two brothers were played by the same actor until I've just checked on the tube home....

Didn't expect this to be so funny... was howling at certain moments in act one.

Sat in row AA which was fine, missed a few small moments due to the table but could still see for the most part. I'd say it was about 60% full tonight

Well I really enjoyed this. Nothing groundbreaking but well drawn characters and the writer did a good job at letting you see all their points of view. The soap opera actress and the older son probably the least sympathetic but they were never demonised though I didn't like his last line as they were leaving.

Loved the relationship between Carmichael's & Channing's characters - I could have happily seen more of that.

Thought the cast were uniformly strong, Freema was off but her understudy did a great job.

I feel a lot of modern plays change tones in the second half after a lighter first half and it doesn't always work but it did here.

For those interested, the production will be transferring to New York for a limited run from September to December this year, with Stockard reprising her role.

www.broadway.com/buzz/192935/hugh-dancy-more-to-join-stockard-channing-in-alexi-kaye-campbells-apologia/

She will be joined by Hugh Dancy, John Tillinger, Megalyn Echikunwoke and Talene Monahon in the other roles.

I loved it when I saw it in London, so this is exciting news!