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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2016 9:27:20 GMT
I haven't seen it but my friend is in it and some of the stuff she's been sharing has been pretty jaw dropping. I think we'll love it. Oooh smashing. I can't wait for this one actually. Does one of the jaw dropping moments involve Dominic Cooper and a birthday suit, i.e., his?
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Post by DuchessConstance on Sept 8, 2016 9:31:16 GMT
That was rather the impression I got, hopefully she wasn't just talking about dressing room japery!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2016 9:46:12 GMT
That was rather the impression I got, hopefully she wasn't just talking about dressing room japery!
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 8, 2016 9:50:59 GMT
Literate, too.
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Post by stefy69 on Sept 9, 2016 7:33:02 GMT
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Post by kathryn on Sept 9, 2016 7:52:03 GMT
I'm now getting strange looks on the train for laughing out loud.
Definitely need to see this!
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816 posts
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Post by stefy69 on Sept 9, 2016 7:58:02 GMT
I'm now getting strange looks on the train for laughing out loud. Definitely need to see this! Oh I know Kathryn, am so glad I've booked for this at the Haymarket !
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Post by kathryn on Sept 9, 2016 8:02:23 GMT
We haven't booked yet - figured we could probably dayseat or do a TodayTix lottery, and that it was unlikely to be a huge sell-out hit.
But I'm tempted to book now!
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Post by ldm2016 on Sept 9, 2016 11:17:38 GMT
We haven't booked yet - figured we could probably dayseat or do a TodayTix lottery, and that it was unlikely to be a huge sell-out hit. But I'm tempted to book now! It's already being sold on Time Out Offers for cheap...
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Post by Jan on Sept 9, 2016 13:06:54 GMT
Yes, a well-educated and sophisticated Bath audience bemused by the fact Terry Johnson seems to think a song about dildos is in the slightest bit amusing. Looks like the age guidance on this should be 15 and under rather than 15 and over.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2016 13:13:33 GMT
Yes, a well-educated and sophisticated Bath audience bemused by the fact Terry Johnson seems to think a song about dildos is in the slightest bit amusing. Looks like the age guidance on this should be 15 and under rather than 15 and over. It isn't? Oh, I'm not sure I got that memo. Hey ho . . .
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 9, 2016 13:56:46 GMT
And it's one of the most popular rides in all the Disney parks around the world. Broomsticks give the best ride? No. More prefer a lad in.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 13, 2016 1:33:18 GMT
Well, I saw it tonight and it's not at all what we were anticipating. I went for Dominic Cooper but was disappointed as the play is much too historical and serious for me and he seems to be smoulderingly developing a performance which he may finally unleash when the play opens in Theatre Royal Haymarket, which is a much bigger and airier theatre than the lovely Theatre Royal Bath.
Will Merrick is wasted (not in the Skins sense). The mass dildo song and dance routine turns out to be textually fundamental to the play and not at all an embellishment by Terry Johnson. This show is deadly serious, and I suppose it's a natural for Theatre Royal Haymarket, like Dr Legge's Other Foote which I didn't see.
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Post by Jan on Sept 13, 2016 6:28:20 GMT
Well, I saw it tonight and it's not at all what we were anticipating. I went for Dominic Cooper but was disappointed as the play is much too historical and serious for me and he seems to be smoulderingly developing a performance which he may finally unleash when the play opens in Theatre Royal Haymarket, which is a much bigger and airier theatre than the lovely Theatre Royal Bath. Will Merrick is wasted (not in the Skins sense). The mass dildo song and dance routine turns out to be textually fundamental to the play and not at all an embellishment by Terry Johnson. This show is deadly serious, and I suppose it's a natural for Theatre Royal Haymarket, like Dr Legge's Other Foote which I didn't see. Interesting. I withdraw the dildo charge I made earlier. You saw it in Bath ? On a scale or 1 to 10 how "bemused" were the audience (omit yourself from the calculation).
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 13, 2016 10:10:53 GMT
The audience (including me) was a bit withdrawn and holding back, expecting a breakout of licentious riproaring action which the play never delivers because it turns out it's not that sort of play! We were all bemused, which I think is intended, by that scene because it deliberately changes the tone of the play, and is only explained shortly afterwards. The play is full of humour so there was lots of laughter around me from some people, whereas I was trying to understand the point of the dialogue but not much laughing. The applause at the end was surprisingly warm, given our slightly bemused aloofness through the actual show, with no standing ovations. Although this is the third week, it still feels like a preview, with the national press night still to come when it transfers to Theatre Royal Haymarket. One of Rochester's companions is already leaping about vigorously (as expected in this Restoration setting) and I enjoyed the performances of Rochester's wife, his manservant and his favourite prostitute, but it feels as though there's general controlled holding back until they get the complex balance of this intelligent play completely right in London.
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Post by Jan on Sept 13, 2016 16:34:25 GMT
Sounds like the appalling Haymarket is precisely the wrong venue for this play (as it is for all others of course)
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Post by lynette on Sept 13, 2016 21:23:27 GMT
What do you mean it isn't what we were anticipating? The ads promise sex and sexiness. So no nudity, no dogs, no macaroons?
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 14, 2016 10:43:40 GMT
Tantalising partial glimpse of dying chest, a monkey as painted by Jacob Huysmans, some authentic tavern victuals.
Apart from that: No, No, No.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 11:08:19 GMT
Tantalising partial glimpse of dying chest, a monkey as painted by Jacob Huysmans, some authentic tavern victuals. Apart from that: No, No, No.
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Post by Polly1 on Sept 16, 2016 11:23:46 GMT
What do we reckon, good people of the board, is this a must-see? I quite like Dominic Cooper and could just about fit in a visit but... Offers about already so I suppose I could wait for reviews.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2016 10:18:36 GMT
Let's hope this gets good reviews as is selling at discount at TKTS and if I knew about such things (which I don't) I'm sure I'd be being offered comps....
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2016 22:36:35 GMT
An amusing but ultimately rather bland play. A story that has been told time and time again, just placed in a different part of history. Dominic Cooper does a decent job and I was particularly fond of the actor playing Alcock. However a story like this needs magnetic performances of which it was lacking. The actress playing the mistress in particular wasn't great. Nice costumes.
2.5*
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Post by Anniek on Sept 27, 2016 7:46:09 GMT
Saw this yesterday and not sure what I thought about it. Bland is indeed a word to comes to mind. I was left with quite a couple of questions about the story and the characters afterwards. I really didn't like the ending, it was too much of a 'hmm were running out of time, AND.. The end.' I expected more of that, as I was very intrigued by the prologue, were Dominic was able to get me in the story. (BUT WHY, Do I really need to hate him like he stated in the very first scene?)
In terms of acting I have to say, I did like the most of it. Some scenes are written in a way, the actors need to be over the top, which is something I don't particularly like in general, but besides that it was fine. Mistress was sometimes very strong, but not flawless. I liked Dominic's performance, but for me all characters lacked depth. It could be me though, as Im not very experienced in watching plays.
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Post by nash16 on Sept 27, 2016 12:51:36 GMT
Saw this last night and oh dear…
Very disappointing. The set looks lovely, but that's about it. The music would be lovely were it not played solely on a keyboard. Keyboard "strings" and "brass" sound…well, like they're being played on a keyboard. Mark Hadfield puts in a fine performance, as does Jasper Britton. But Dominic Cooper, despite looking the way he does, seems woefully miscast. And maybe knows it?…
His opening speech is great fun, but right then he did nothing with it, apart from looking at a few people on the front row with a raised eyebrow. He gives the part almost no energy. There is no lust, no joy, no passion, no danger at all. Watch him jump onto a table in a moment of supposed passion…taking extreme care to do so… The few "moments" in the play that are moving or dramatic (and strangely there are very few in Stephen Jeffrey's piece, it almost fights against being dramatic…odd) go for nothing because we do not care about him.
This is part to do with the writing, of course, but Cooper does nothing to help himself.
The women fair a bit better. Although Johnson has done the unforgivable once again, and cast his daughter (the second time in a year). The fate of one of the male characters is met with silence and, again, a lack of empathy, because we simply have not got to know that person, or any of them, in more than a two dimensional way.
The role of Rochester though does have more meat to it. And Dominic Cooper is a fine actor, but not a great one. To be great in this part he would have had to have been directed better by Terry Johnson, and it looks like Terry has failed in this job. One wonders what his close friend Nick Hytner would have managed to get out of him if he had directed it?
At the end of the play Cooper turns to each of the characters and asks, "Do you like me now?", and, as we cringed at what was coming, the inevitable happened, and he turned out front to us and ask us the same question.
I fear the reviewers are going to have a field day with that moment alone, especially if an audience member shouts out.
We don't like you now because we were never allowed to like you in this production, because of the poor writing, but ultimately the poor choice of lead.
He'll run back to TV once the reviews come out and if the run completes its duration, and won't return to the stage for a long time it looks like.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2016 22:40:42 GMT
WoS - 2* Telegraph - 3* Guardian - 4*
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Post by showgirl on Sept 28, 2016 3:41:54 GMT
Libby Purves (Theatrecat) 4*
But well-known blogger says he can't remember when he was last so bored at the theatre.
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Post by stefy69 on Sept 28, 2016 6:24:01 GMT
...and 4 stars from The Times, I for one am so looking forward to seeing this.
If anyone is looking to read a good biography of Rochester then I can recommend Cephas Goldsworthy's The Satyr which concentrates in equal measure on his poetry and his life.
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Post by nash16 on Sept 28, 2016 12:28:20 GMT
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Post by showgirl on Sept 28, 2016 14:58:50 GMT
It is indeed, nash16. I seem to recall trying to sit through this years ago at the Royal Court, and can't remember whether I fell asleep or left at the interval, but I'm not risking it again!
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Post by anthony40 on Sept 28, 2016 20:25:27 GMT
Saw this yesterday and not sure what I thought about it. Bland is indeed a word to comes to mind. I was left with quite a couple of questions about the story and the characters afterwards. I really didn't like the ending, it was too much of a 'hmm were running out of time, AND.. The end.' I expected more of that, as I was very intrigued by the prologue, were Dominic was able to get me in the story. (BUT WHY, Do I really need to hate him like he stated in the very first scene?) In terms of acting I have to say, I did like the most of it. Some scenes are written in a way, the actors need to be over the top, which is something I don't particularly like in general, but besides that it was fine. Mistress was sometimes very strong, but not flawless. I liked Dominic's performance, but for me all characters lacked depth. It could be me though, as Im not very experienced in watching plays.
Yeah, I have to agree. I saw this with Anniek and whist I was please to see Dominic Cooper on stage, this just didn't work for me. I'd have to admit, at one point my mind stared drifting. It's not all bad. If fact, there's lots to like about it. The costumes, the its, etc. There's a particularly effective ever-changing backdrop in a large frame behind the actors but I just didn't care about these people. There was no depth to these people. Without giving any spoilers, I didn't get how Cooper's character gets to where he ends up. Some people left in intermission. Mark Shelton and his husband were there.
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