4 posts
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Post by peterd on Jun 30, 2023 17:10:02 GMT
A wonderful play in The Little at Southwark Playhouse Borough, 16 August - 23 September. southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/dumbledore-is-so-gay/(Winner of the VAULT Festival Origins Award and an OffWestEnd.com short run commendation, the play is returning to the London stage after successful runs at VAULT Festival and Pleasance Islington.) |
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Post by Forrest on Jul 1, 2023 20:05:20 GMT
Ah, it's so good to see this! I loved it at the Vault, and I remember it as such a sweet and charming piece of theatre. I'm really glad it is getting a new run. :)
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1,240 posts
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Post by Steve on Aug 16, 2023 21:28:30 GMT
Saw this tonight and LOVED it! It summons all the thrilling, funny and endearing joy of watching three episodes of Netflix's "Heartstopper," back to back, with a clever sci-fi twist thrown in for good measure. The lead, Alex Britt, is absolutely key to the success of this, able to convincingly channel and convey to the audience all the excitement and anxiety of growing up gay, in a hostile environment, from the age of 12 to adulthood. Some spoilers follow. . . The high concept premise is that Harry Potter fan, Jack (Britt), has a "time turner" that allows him to go back in time to fix his teen mistakes. How closeted will he have to be to keep himself safe, and will his teen crush, Ollie (Martin Sarreal, who played John Fletcher, one of Jim Bakker's key enablers, in the Tammy Faye musical), ever requite his feelings? From his love of Harry Potter, to his love of his feelings of love, to his fear of outing himself to his parents, friends and bullies, Alex Britt makes us feel every ounce of the excitable and portentous emotions involved in being young and gay, and because Robert Holtom's play is so sensitively and truthfully written (it shares much of the feel and insight of Jack Holden's "Cruise," even to the extent of including an older member of the scene, Old Norman, in the periphery of the plot - though this play speaks to and about a younger demographic), it is touching, truthful, visceral and funny, all at once. In a way, it's not surprising that Britt is so brilliant in this, as he has played the role twice at the Vaults festival, and once at the Pleasance, and has honed a very special performance over the three years he's, on and off, been at it. Charlotte Dowding is wonderful support, as his bestie, his Mum, his French teacher, etc, and is even delightfully funny when talking to herself in different roles lol. Sarreal is new to the cast, with the former Ollie, Max Percy, now at the Edinburgh Festival with his one man play, "Bakla." But Sarreal nonetheless seamlessly fits into the ensemble, channeling Jack's clueless Dad, the extremely confused object of Jack's desire, Ollie, and others. Ultimately, this is a story filled with painful truths, wry humour and endless hope, delivered by a lead actor who is massively adept at conveying all of it. 4 and a half stars of delight from me.  PS: The running time tonight was 70 minutes straight through. The only moment I thought the writer had made a mistep was when Jack announced, out of nowhere, that he just "discovered women," and I was like, hey what! But it soon transpired it must have been wax in my ears cos it wasn't "women" he had discovered but "rimming!" LOL. |
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501 posts
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Post by anthony on Aug 23, 2023 17:26:51 GMT
Off topic, but what is The Little like? Desperate to book for The Changeling, but I don't want to book for a tiny little theatre where it is going to be me and 10 other people? It doesn't allow you to choose seats...
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1,240 posts
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Post by Steve on Aug 23, 2023 22:20:39 GMT
Off topic, but what is The Little like? Desperate to book for The Changeling, but I don't want to book for a tiny little theatre where it is going to be me and 10 other people? It doesn't allow you to choose seats... It may be called "Little," but it's not THAT little. It fits 120 people, usually in a thrust configuration, with the audience on three sides. So it's capacity is larger than the Royal Court Upstairs or Hampstead Downstairs, for example, both theatres which also typically have first come, first served seating. It has a capacity about the same as the lower half of the Donmar, though with fewer front facing seats and more side seats in it's usual configuration.
The rake is generally good, so everyone gets a good view, though I'm typically happier if I land one of the front facing seats, and minimise looking at the backs of heads.
Will you be sitting with just 10 other people? Quite possibly.
Lots of shows there get very small audiences, though papering can help.
"Dumbledore," though, was ram packed for the preview I saw, every seat taken, and most seemed to enjoy it and left with smiles on their faces.
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