1,250 posts
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Post by joem on Apr 2, 2018 22:22:40 GMT
This was actually very good. I was expecting it to be sombre and relatively joyless but there was a good balance between the lighter and darker aspects of the story. There were ven a number of positively laugh out loud moments.
Penelope Wilton in fine battleaxe mode, Jonathan Slinger has one magnificent long speech which he delivers with panache, Kevin Doyle does his fawning/tyrannical turn to perfection, Michael Pennington comes close to stealing the show as the old Jewish "family friend" (aka la Wilton's old lover) and the cinematic transitions end up being very effective in carrying the story. As for the kids playing Fanny and Alexander - particularly the boy - wow! I am green with envy at the thought of a lifetime of theatre ahead, Why couldn't it have been me?
Many things to ponder about on the philosophical side but I won't bother. With ticket prices slashed see for yourselves. Don't be put off by the length or the reported poor sales (it was actually quite busy tonight) - give yourself a cut-price treat.
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108 posts
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Post by bob2010 on Apr 5, 2018 13:34:00 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2018 20:50:33 GMT
They put the price back up? |
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 6, 2018 12:32:46 GMT
Thanks, just grabbed a £12 seat (well, £13.50 once the booking fee was included).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2018 13:36:31 GMT
They put the price back up? £14 is an astonishingly low price for such a wonderful production though. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2018 18:03:37 GMT
They put the price back up? £14 is an astonishingly low price for such a wonderful production though. It’s a steal! Am going to see it on Wednesday. We paid £12 though. I guess this must be dynamic pricing in action! |
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84 posts
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Post by jasper on Apr 7, 2018 16:48:05 GMT
When I saw the Old Vic was offering Fanny for £12 I thought I will have a bit of that. I like the earlier Bergaman, Wild Strawberries, Sawdust and Tinsel to Cries and Whispers. So I was hoping for something along those lines. Stalls were full. Felt after the first act I did not know where it was all going. Second two acts much better and more gripping. Very well performed. Good to see Pennington again I remember him from his time at the RSC and training showed in his voice skills. The Old Vic theatre always reminds me of the first theatre I went to over 50 years ago with a real curtain and a safety screen that used to have adverts projected onto it in the intervals. Ghosts walk the stage in this production, but not like in his films. The whole thing should have been called Alexander as Fanny had very little to do. It was more like Ibsen than a later Strindberg, despite the reference to A Dream Play. Noted a reference to Wild Strawberries in it as well. I have just read a biography of Strindberg and there are similarities between Strindberg's upbringing and Alexander's.
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143 posts
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Post by Mr Crummles on Apr 8, 2018 18:51:07 GMT
I saw it yesterday (Saturday) and thought this was a truly magnificent production. I couldn't help thinking that Ingmar Bergman himself would have loved it. It's about love and imagination; love and dreams. It's one of the most humane pieces of theatre I have seen in a very long while. The film is an old favourite of mine, and I was delighted to see that the production kept the Christmas song. The cast was exceptionally good, with a very impressive Alexander (I think I saw Misha Handley). Penelope Wilton was brilliant, and so was... well... everybody really.
The scenery is stunning, and used to create very impressive effects. The production - like the film - uses colours efficiently to convey different atmospheres (warm, cold, ominous, sinister, light, oppressive, etc.).
Maybe it was all discounts, but the theatre was, I am happy to report, full (well, at least in the stalls). And I had the impression that the audience genuinely enjoyed the production. I certainly did.
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 11, 2018 7:41:55 GMT
Thanks again for the signposting of the cheap tickets for this. I saw Fanny and Alexander yesterday. A good front row seat and I'd recommend sitting there if you like to be up close. The stage isn't too high, although they do raise the stage in Act 2 with a change of staging.
I enjoyed this, but it was rather bitty. It was almost like three separate plays in one, trying to accomplish too much (I admit that I'm not familiar with the source material). I think it could be trimmed without losing any of the impact.
The two children playing the title characters were the highlights, even if this suffered from the current theatre trend to try and get children to swear as much as possible, including having someone who was playing a 10 year old (or thereabouts) saying the c word.
Glad that I got to see this and the theatre looked reasonable full from the section I could see, which is good.
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