xsunnysuex
Life is a horizontal fall.
What did you think?
This year at the theatre....
- Thread starter belboid
- Start date
forgot to update this.
thought it was great. the set was amazing. i give it 9/10. would have been 10, but it didn't have the famous ompa loompa song.
probably due to rights issue.
xsunnysuex
Life is a horizontal fall.
My other half was pissed off it didn't have Candy Man.would have been 10, but it didn't have the famous ompa loompa song.
probably due to rights issue.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
For those interested in The Drowned Man, there's a series of pre-show talks happening on Sundays in December.
Gutted I can't make the one this Sunday, with the directors.
Gutted I can't make the one this Sunday, with the directors.
Virtual Blue
ready
To the folks who have watched The Book of Mormon, how much did you pay?
Tickets are going for £150 for one atm? Isn't that ridiculous?
Tickets are going for £150 for one atm? Isn't that ridiculous?
Virtual Blue
ready
Just bought tickets for Ghosts (pressie for wifey).
Can't wait!
Can't wait!
wtfftw
melting like a toastie
Arse. I've cocked the end of your quote. Anyway!
Just got back from Scottsboro Boys. It's brilliant.
Virtual Blue
ready
Saw The Night Before Christmas at Soho Theatre.
Average. Play picked up when that lady from Shameless came on.
Otherwise it was a snore.
Average. Play picked up when that lady from Shameless came on.
Otherwise it was a snore.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
So pleased you agree. Great stuff. Feels so direct and involving. And there's that emotional whammy at the end when you suds who she is...
brogdale
Coming to terms with late onset Anarchism
Saw "From morning till midnight" at the National earlier this week. Bit of a 3/5 stars for me without many stand-out performances, but as a good ensemble outing for a youngish cast it did offer a pleasingly dark counterpoint to the season. Certainly one for those fond of German expressionist angst.
silverfish
Sprinkling glitter on turds
Eventually got to see Book of Mormon (first musical)
It was amazing from start to finish, my face hurt from laughing so much and it was educational
Its safe to say though, that it was the comedy, content and deliver style (ala southpark) that hooked me, I can't see myself ever enjoying another more mainstream musical
The hell dream scene/song was beyond funny, I almost coughed up a lung laughing so much
Highly recommended
It was amazing from start to finish, my face hurt from laughing so much and it was educational
Its safe to say though, that it was the comedy, content and deliver style (ala southpark) that hooked me, I can't see myself ever enjoying another more mainstream musical
The hell dream scene/song was beyond funny, I almost coughed up a lung laughing so much
Highly recommended
Hellsbells
World's best procrastinator
Saw Kiss me Kate at the Gatehouse in highgate on Friday. It was brilliant 
I've just bought tickets for the Mouse Trap at Harrogate theatre next year. I first heard of it about 50 years ago and always planned to go to see it but never got around to it. It seems a bit naff now but I want to see it anyway.
Luckily, I still don't know who did it
brogdale
Coming to terms with late onset Anarchism
Saw RSC's Richard II at the Barbican tonight.
Tennant was good, (if a bit too 'Tennanty' at times), but I have confess that I kept on comparing his performance, slightly unfavourably, with Ben Whishaw's wonderfully fey turn in the 'Hollow Crown'. Bolingbrook disappointed after Rory Kinear, but there were some good performances from the company, notably Oliver Ford Davies as York and Michael Pennington's Gaunt.
I'm pretty sure that the few folk offering a standing ovation at the end were Who fans...but I may be wrong.
Have to say, though, that they really nailed the crown scene.
Tennant was good, (if a bit too 'Tennanty' at times), but I have confess that I kept on comparing his performance, slightly unfavourably, with Ben Whishaw's wonderfully fey turn in the 'Hollow Crown'. Bolingbrook disappointed after Rory Kinear, but there were some good performances from the company, notably Oliver Ford Davies as York and Michael Pennington's Gaunt.
I'm pretty sure that the few folk offering a standing ovation at the end were Who fans...but I may be wrong.
Have to say, though, that they really nailed the crown scene.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Don't want to spoil it for you but the version I saw was probably the worst thing I've ever seen at the theatre. Hopefully you'll enjoy it more than I did.I've just bought tickets for the Mouse Trap at Harrogate theatre next year. I first heard of it about 50 years ago and always planned to go to see it but never got around to it. It seems a bit naff now but I want to see it anyway.
Luckily, I still don't know who did it
Oh dear
I've seen some bad plays over the years so I can live with it if it's rubbish. What may depress me if it's really dreadful is that the ticket to see it cost the same as my season ticket (5 plays) at our local theatre.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Dennis Pennis ruined it for me.I've just bought tickets for the Mouse Trap at Harrogate theatre next year. I first heard of it about 50 years ago and always planned to go to see it but never got around to it. It seems a bit naff now but I want to see it anyway.
Luckily, I still don't know who did it
Wanker
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies at the RSC last night.
Wolfie was superb, took a little getting into as Ben Miles obviously isn't Leo McKern, but once I had it was utterly gripping. Condensed the plot bring out particular aspects very effectively, and made it much funnier than the book had been. Wonderfully staged with fairly minimal but clever effects and great performances from Cromwell Henry and Rafe particularly. Joshua James who was Rafe is defo one to watch.
Bodies was very good, but not quite as good. Whether that's because it had to cram even more action into the same time, or just because, after five hours my skinny arse was seriously tiring, and there was still an hour to go, I don't know. Hilary obviously enjoyed it all - she was sat just in front of us.
It's all but sold out in Stratford but is very likely to transfer to London, and well worth seeing if it does.
Wolfie was superb, took a little getting into as Ben Miles obviously isn't Leo McKern, but once I had it was utterly gripping. Condensed the plot bring out particular aspects very effectively, and made it much funnier than the book had been. Wonderfully staged with fairly minimal but clever effects and great performances from Cromwell Henry and Rafe particularly. Joshua James who was Rafe is defo one to watch.
Bodies was very good, but not quite as good. Whether that's because it had to cram even more action into the same time, or just because, after five hours my skinny arse was seriously tiring, and there was still an hour to go, I don't know. Hilary obviously enjoyed it all - she was sat just in front of us.
It's all but sold out in Stratford but is very likely to transfer to London, and well worth seeing if it does.
mango5
Endeavour era
The punchdrunk thing is extended to 23rd Feb, I'm getting a few folk together to go on 1st Feb. Not to go around together, but to meet up somewhere afterwards and compare notes. I don't get to much art or theatre of any kind, so I guess this is a bit of a dive in the deep end. Anyone interested? Lord Camomile
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Just got tix for Brian Friel's Translations, which looks most excellent
http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/event/translations-14/
http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/event/translations-14/
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Melbourne Theatre Company's version of Coward's Private Lives, okish, considering the price of the tickets I wanted something better. The set was this very elaborate piece (nearly always a warning sign IMO) that rotated 360 degrees, and was rather distracting. The actors also attempted to do upper class English accents, which again detracted rather than enhanced the play. Once it started it was reasonable but it was a pale shadow of the R4 version with Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham-Carter.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
verdict?
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
ooh, spanglechick reminds me...
Translations was superb. A bit odd as I wasn't sure if I'd seen it before, and eventually worked out I'd seen a BBC doc on the subject, which had included a couple of scenes from the play. All solidly, rather than spectacularly, acted, but just such a fascinating subject, and so well written. It's about the brits anglicising the place names in Ireland, still redolent in so many places around the globe. Well worth reading even if you cant get to see it.
gosub
~#
Pressure by David Haig - 4 days of preview tickets at £10 worth a pop
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Ibsen's Ghosts by the Melbourne Theatre Company - First time I've seen any Ibsen and I have to say I was a little disappointed. I'm not sure if it was if it was just my very high expectations but I couldn't help but feeling that the play felt rather dated, I mean I can see how it would have been shocking to Victorian audiences but I don't think the performance really portrayed that to me. IMO one problem was the setup of the stage which was very empty, I'm not sure whether that was a purposeful choice to emphasise the isolation of the characters from each other or just a results of the stage being quite large. Either way I think it was a mistake, it would have been better to emphasise the claustrophobia to the situation/family by using a much more confined space. Anyway I think I'm very much in the minority as judging from the reaction of the rest of the audience it went down very well with most people.
Dangerous Liaisons by Little Ones Theatre - Really enjoyed this, LOT describe themselves as a Queer theatre company and this was a deliberately camped up (all the way up) version of the story. As a result I think some of the substance of the play probably was lost but the style in which it was delivered made up for that.
Dangerous Liaisons by Little Ones Theatre - Really enjoyed this, LOT describe themselves as a Queer theatre company and this was a deliberately camped up (all the way up) version of the story. As a result I think some of the substance of the play probably was lost but the style in which it was delivered made up for that.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
I can never find this thread using search, for some reason.
Ok - Orpheus, at Battersea Arts Centre. A little bit Edith Piaf, a little bit school play, it lulls you into, if not low expectations then thinking it's all a bit cobbled together and jokey... And then bit by bit the rug is pulled from under you and it becomes seriously impressive and moving. It's been touring for a year or two now, so it may well be back.
A View From the Bridge - is there another producing house in London with such a consistent hit rate as the Young Vic? This was fucking amazing. Rethinking Miller to emphasise the ways in which the play is like a Greek tragedy, this, then was the most viscerally involving, painfully tense example of classic tragedy I've ever seen (and I've seen bloody loads). Mark Strong as Eddie Carbone was... Omg. I used to be an actor, and this just made me embarrassed I ever called myself that.
The concept of hamartia: the idea that a tragic protagonist has a fatal flaw that if they could just overcome it they could avert their tragedy... I've never felt that so tensely. Every bit of you is silently screaming at him to just stop, (at the same time knowing, completely believing that it's inevitable that he won't) and you feel it more and more until it's almost unbearable at the end.
I studied theatre, I've been a drama teacher on and off for well over a decade, and for most of the rest of my adult life I've been an actor. It's safe to say I've seen a lot of theatre... But this? It knocked my fucking socks off.
Ok - Orpheus, at Battersea Arts Centre. A little bit Edith Piaf, a little bit school play, it lulls you into, if not low expectations then thinking it's all a bit cobbled together and jokey... And then bit by bit the rug is pulled from under you and it becomes seriously impressive and moving. It's been touring for a year or two now, so it may well be back.
A View From the Bridge - is there another producing house in London with such a consistent hit rate as the Young Vic? This was fucking amazing. Rethinking Miller to emphasise the ways in which the play is like a Greek tragedy, this, then was the most viscerally involving, painfully tense example of classic tragedy I've ever seen (and I've seen bloody loads). Mark Strong as Eddie Carbone was... Omg. I used to be an actor, and this just made me embarrassed I ever called myself that.
The concept of hamartia: the idea that a tragic protagonist has a fatal flaw that if they could just overcome it they could avert their tragedy... I've never felt that so tensely. Every bit of you is silently screaming at him to just stop, (at the same time knowing, completely believing that it's inevitable that he won't) and you feel it more and more until it's almost unbearable at the end.
I studied theatre, I've been a drama teacher on and off for well over a decade, and for most of the rest of my adult life I've been an actor. It's safe to say I've seen a lot of theatre... But this? It knocked my fucking socks off.
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