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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2017 22:37:47 GMT
Had a quick look this morning, but seating plan was pretty impenetrable for an aisle seat gal. Will wait to see if photographs appear that make it clearer what's what.
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Post by Sotongal on Apr 28, 2017 14:46:07 GMT
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Post by peggs on May 10, 2017 19:46:56 GMT
Have an email announcing their first monday night think, Richard Thompson gig, he's a class act but not sure i'd describe a 900 seat theatre as an intimate experience but I guess for music maybe that is.
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Post by Jan on May 11, 2017 14:58:28 GMT
Have an email announcing their first monday night think, Richard Thompson gig, he's a class act but not sure i'd describe a 900 seat theatre as an intimate experience but I guess for music maybe that is. Maybe they'll do what they do at Greenwich, hang a giant sheet a few rows back in the stalls to make it look the size of a fringe venue.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 15:06:06 GMT
I once saw Dolly Parton in the O2 arena - never again. 900 seats is quite civilised compared to that.
I have no idea who this guy is, I should add. He may not be on a par with Dolly.
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on May 11, 2017 15:24:53 GMT
I once saw Dolly Parton in the O2 arena - never again. 900 seats is quite civilised compared to that. I have no idea who this guy is, I should add. He may not be on a par with Dolly. Not a folkie then?
Richard Thompson, folk music god, early on with Fairport Convention, then solo or with his then wife Linda Thompson (who, to bring this back to theatre, appeared memorably in the Bill Bryden Mysteries at the National).
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Post by Honoured Guest on May 11, 2017 15:25:03 GMT
The entire Bridge Theatre is onsale for Richard Thompson - stalls and all three galleries - in the end on configuration being used in the rest of the week for Young Marx. I've seen and heard Richard Thompson live many times over the years, often solo. He keeps things fresh, always giving his many fans a reason to see each tour, while also always referring back to some of his vast back catalogue. A lot of the fans are of his generation but not all of them by any means.
He's a singer-songwriter and in his early years was a folk reviver with the folk-rock movement. On the Fairport Convention front, he's on the bill again this August at the annual Fairport's Cropredy Convention where I once made an appearance selling homemade sandwiches in aid of a local church's fabric fund. We sold out and packed up the van just before Fairport Convention closed that year's festival with a set lasting two and a half hours - my introduction to the world of folk-rock! This was in the old days, before Health & Safety, when we just roped in a gaggle of willing volunteer old ladies to make the sandwiches on our home kitchen table, and there was no thought of any curfew (unlike nowadays) so the music ended at 2.00am.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 15:32:20 GMT
I once saw Dolly Parton in the O2 arena - never again. 900 seats is quite civilised compared to that. I have no idea who this guy is, I should add. He may not be on a par with Dolly. Not a folkie then?
Richard Thompson, folk music god, early on with Fairport Convention, then solo or with his then wife Linda Thompson (who, to bring this back to theatre, appeared memorably in the Bill Bryden Mysteries at the National).
The only two 'gigs' (for want of a better word) I've ever been to were Dolly and Barry Manilow. That probably answers the question!
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Post by peggs on May 11, 2017 18:35:53 GMT
He's a singer-songwriter and in his early years was a folk reviver with the folk-rock movement. On the Fairport Convention front, he's on the bill again this August at the annual Fairport's Cropredy Convention where I once made an appearance selling homemade sandwiches in aid of a local church's fabric fund. We sold out and packed up the van just before Fairport Convention closed that year's festival with a set lasting two and a half hours - my introduction to the world of folk-rock! This was in the old days, before Health & Safety, when we just roped in a gaggle of willing volunteer old ladies to make the sandwiches on our home kitchen table, and there was no thought of any curfew (unlike nowadays) so the music ended at 2.00am. Sigh, so no honoured guest, guest appearance this year then? I will be dancing my stuff there this summer (hopefully not in full waterproof gear) or could have been tempted by this at the Bridge.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 29, 2018 17:04:39 GMT
So now it’s well and truly up and running I was wondering how folk are finding it.
I like the design.
Young Marx was terrible.
I found the BO staff to be rude when they moved me to a restricted view seats for Alleujah. They didn’t encourage my loyalty.
Bizarrely due to work I had to sell my tickets for Alleujah and Dark Matter - I’m now glad I did!
I haven’t booked for anything else and I currently think that is wise.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2018 17:13:47 GMT
I like the lights in the foyer. I like the tap water machine downstairs on the pit level. The productions I've seen have ranged from "fine" to "well that SUCKED". I find it delightfully easy to exchange tickets, I just did it over email the other day without having to pick up a phone or look up a specific email address or anything. I've had pretty good visibility from every seat I've sat in, though as a not-very-large person I'm less enthused about being shoved around the pit space for the "immersive" productions. The view out the front is lovely. The toilets are reasonably plentiful. The Nicks do need a couple of scorching hits though, it's very sub-NT at the moment. They need to forge their own identity that isn't just "remember when we were at the NT? Come down the river for more of the same (but worse)".
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Post by Jon on Oct 29, 2018 17:17:22 GMT
I like the lights in the foyer. I like the tap water machine downstairs on the pit level. The productions I've seen have ranged from "fine" to "well that SUCKED". I find it delightfully easy to exchange tickets, I just did it over email the other day without having to pick up a phone or look up a specific email address or anything. I've had pretty good visibility from every seat I've sat in, though as a not-very-large person I'm less enthused about being shoved around the pit space for the "immersive" productions. The view out the front is lovely. The toilets are reasonably plentiful. The Nicks do need a couple of scorching hits though, it's very sub-NT at the moment. They need to forge their own identity that isn't just "remember when we were at the NT? Come down the river for more of the same (but worse)". TBF to the two Nicks, it'd be unrealistic for them to knock it out of the park in the first year. They'll probably have assessed what gone right, gone wrong and try and make improvements since probably they played it safe for the first season
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Post by learfan on Oct 29, 2018 18:14:53 GMT
Still nothing on to interest me im afraid.
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Post by sf on Oct 29, 2018 18:28:05 GMT
I like the auditorium. I particularly like that there's a range of ticket prices including a very good selection of cheaper seats. The front-of-house experience is generally quite good, or at least it has been on the four occasions I've been. I enjoyed 'Young Marx' and 'Allelujah' but didn't think either of them represented either playwright's best work. 'A Very Very Very Dark Matter' has a script that just isn't ready. It divided people here, but for my money 'My Name is Lucy Barton' is the best thing I've seen all year, and I'm going back for the return engagement. I didn't see 'Julius Caesar' or 'Nightfall'.
I attended a performance of 'Allelujah' in August at which an understudy appeared in one of the play's main roles and the theatre did not announce it. I find that absolutely unacceptable. I was also not impressed with their response to my feedback afterwards - a feedback email they solicited - which was to tell me that sometimes there isn't time to announce the appearance of an understudy. That suggests a certain lack of respect for both performers and the audience, at least on the part of the staff member who wrote that particular email, and it's an area where I think the theatre maybe still has work to do. If there are procedures in place - and there should be - about announcing the appearance of an understudy, they need to be reviewed.
Overall, I think they've probably deliberately played it safe for the first year, and that's understandable. I think they've got a lot of things right. I think they need to flex a bit more muscle in terms of quality control of the scripts they produce, but overall they're off to a reasonably good start.
I do agree they could use a big fat hit, though. 'My Name is Lucy Barton' sold out the final performances, I think, but it was only a three-week run; Richard Bean, Alan Bennett, and Martin McDonagh have all written plays that generated the proverbial line around the block at the box office, but their Great Big Hit Plays were significantly better - and in McDonagh's case in an entirely different league - than the work they did at the Bridge. That's a rut the Bridge needs to break out of, fast.
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Post by peggs on Oct 29, 2018 18:56:53 GMT
It's an easy theatre to get to for me and quick route back to the station. I can't help but think leg of lamb everything time I see their foyer lights but I blame Latecomer for that. Free water, lots of toilets downstairs, range of ticket prices and comfy seats all work for me. They also let you return tickets for refund minus admin fee which makes it more likely that i'd book for things though my experience of booking early and then finding cheaper seats come up later on say today tix has tempered that. It's not the best place pre show unless you get their early to bag a seat but in fairness that's probably as i'm comparing to the nt which it isn't, there's more room that say in the westend. Shows have been mixed, loved JC, disliked Allelujah, skipped very very dark matter due to faint risk and found Young Marx enjoyable but not brilliant. Programming is not wildly exciting but frankly it's a relief sometimes to not want to see things. I think it's had a fairly decent year really for a new theatre.
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Post by kathryn on Oct 29, 2018 19:07:53 GMT
It may be my new favourite theatre - as a building, at least. I think I have somehow seen everything they’ve put on so far - and tickets have been cheap enough that I feel I got value even from the not-brilliant stuff. JC and My Name Is Lucy Barton I loved.
I appreciate that they have focused on new work from familiar writers as their draw rather than stunt-casting the hell out of a production just to get people in through the door. They could have played it much safer than they have.
Yes, they could do with a stonking big hit. But what theatre couldn’t?! They don’t come around all that often even at established venues.
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Post by david on Oct 29, 2018 19:16:17 GMT
Personally, of the 3 times I’ve been to the theatre (Marx, Cesar and Allelujah) I’ve had no issues with the theatre. The Box Office staff have been very helpful and sorted out any issues with the bookings very quickly and with no fuss. Certainly, there’s plenty of space in the foyer unlike a lot of theatres so there’s no claustrophobic feeling you can get in some foyers. The lighting design they have there I think is great. Though to my shame, I have yet to try the lovely loooking madeleines which I’ll hopefully try next month on my next visit.
Location wise, absolutely fantastic. You’ve got that open grass area at the front to use in the summer months and in the winter, some great views and photo opportunities when it’s dark and tower bridge and the Tower of London. are lit up. The facilities within the theatre are ideal. Plenty of loos with no queuing and plenty of free water.
As for the auditorium, for me, it really does set the standard that any new theatres should be aspiring to. Comfortable seats with plenty of leg room and good sight lines from all parts of the auditorium. Even in my preferred Gallery 3 Row B central seat, I’ve had no issues with sight lines and for the price, you cannot fault it. Even the cheapest ticket would get you a very good view of the stage.
Production wise, I think as others have said I think the programming has played it safe in order to try and establish the theatre. This obviously makes perfect business sense. Get yourself established and then maybe take a few more risks. Though the productions that I have seen, I certainly felt I got value for my money and had a nice night out at the theatre.
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Post by Jon on Oct 29, 2018 19:27:12 GMT
Production wise, I think as others have said I think the programming has played it safe in order to try and establish the theatre. This obviously makes perfect business sense. Get yourself established and then maybe take a few more risks. Though the productions that I have seen, I certainly felt I got value for my money and had a nice night out at the theatre. Unlike the National, it's a commercial venture so I think they'll always be a mix of new plays and the odd classic. The fact that they've been able to attract big names already like Martin McDonagh and Alan Bennett is a sign that established playwrights are willing to work in what is quite a big theatre. I wonder when the sister venue opens at Kings Cross, if the Bridge will become more mainstream and the more riskier and experimental shows will go to the smaller venue.
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Post by david on Oct 29, 2018 19:40:10 GMT
Production wise, I think as others have said I think the programming has played it safe in order to try and establish the theatre. This obviously makes perfect business sense. Get yourself established and then maybe take a few more risks. Though the productions that I have seen, I certainly felt I got value for my money and had a nice night out at the theatre. Unlike the National, it's a commercial venture so I think they'll always be a mix of new plays and the odd classic. The fact that they've been able to attract big names already like Martin McDonagh and Alan Bennett is a sign that established playwrights are willing to work in what is quite a big theatre. I wonder when the sister venue opens at Kings Cross, if the Bridge will become more mainstream and the more riskier and experimental shows will go to the smaller venue. Definitely agree with you that to get the names you’ve mentioned so early on is great for the owners. With the sister venue, I’ve wondered how it will work myself to be honest. What you’ve suggested would definitely be the approach I would take if I was in that situation. I think it would be like having a NT Dorfman Mark 2 I suppose. It would give the chance for maybe the more riskier stuff a try in a smaller setting and then moving it upto the Bridge maybe at a later date while keeping the more mainstream stuff at the Bridge.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 29, 2018 20:08:12 GMT
sister venue opens at Kings Cross Another one? London needs to sort out the quality control with the numerous theatres they already have. And put more women's bogs in them.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2018 20:10:35 GMT
Interval madelines and a lovely choice of cremants/champagnes by the glass.
The main things I like about this theatre are not related to theatre.
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Post by peelee on Oct 29, 2018 23:25:15 GMT
I started reading the play text of The Young Marx the other day, having enjoyed the farce when I saw it at The Bridge where it worked in its own witty terms, and it reads nicely. Although when I saw film The Young Karl Marx, by Raoul Peck—he also wrote and directed recent documentary about the work of James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro—I thought it far more interesting and satisfying than Bean and Coleman's play. That was a piece of liberal piss-taking, essentially, and pandered a bit to its local City of London audience, but probably well chosen by such a theatre wanting to attract what it imagined would be a wider, curious audience.
I'd avoided Julius Caesar though tickets for it made a handy, on-the-day supplement to a birthday present, and we took it in that spirit. The Trumpery-treatment was a bit predictable, given the mood of the arts scene these last couple of years, though I thought that women in certain roles worked well enough and gave it a freshness. The young people present around the moving stage seemed to enjoy it, so may have been a nice first-theatre-experience for some that will be built on longer term.
I enjoyed The Barney Norris play, Nightfall, which was much less arts-scene oriented than other stuff to be seen on stage, but more attuned to limited options in the countryside where the struggle to survive and be able to plan is more pressing. Posters on here didn't like it, as I recall, but apart from having been better suited to a smaller space it was good of The Bridge to give this young writer the kind of billing his work deserves.
In the end, I didn't get to see Alan Bennett's Allelujah! and made only periodic half-hearted attempts to book seats throughout its run. I haven't tried seriously to buy tickets for the new McDonagh play, though admire this theatre's staging of his new work. I'll read about the play more widely elsewhere before deciding whether to buy tickets. What I would have shelled out for was the play that had Laura Linney in it; those tickets had sold out fairly quickly, though.
I like the layout of the theatre , the seats are decent, the staff friendly, and it's a nice place to meet friends before a play. I've also had some nice conversations with strangers of all ages before plays and during intervals, and all that's something about this new theatre that works for me.
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Post by sf on Oct 29, 2018 23:29:02 GMT
What I would have shelled out for was the play that had Laura Linney in it; those tickets had sold out fairly quickly, though. It's back in January for a limited run, tickets have only been on sale for a few days, and there are still plenty of seats left. You don't need to pay through the nose if you book now - I got front row stalls for £25, and the front row for this is fine, the deck isn't particularly high.
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Post by peelee on Oct 29, 2018 23:30:30 GMT
Thank you for the information. I'll act on it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2018 9:20:38 GMT
I attended a performance of 'Allelujah' in August at which an understudy appeared in one of the play's main roles and the theatre did not announce it. I find that absolutely unacceptable. I was also not impressed with their response to my feedback afterwards - a feedback email they solicited - which was to tell me that sometimes there isn't time to announce the appearance of an understudy. That suggests a certain lack of respect for both performers and the audience, at least on the part of the staff member who wrote that particular email, and it's an area where I think the theatre maybe still has work to do. If there are procedures in place - and there should be - about announcing the appearance of an understudy, they need to be reviewed. If they have time to tell the understudy to put the other costume on and be ready to play the role, they have time for an appointed person to stand on stage pre-show and announce "the role of Blank will this evening be played by Actor". What a ridiculous response of theirs.
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Post by sf on Oct 30, 2018 16:20:02 GMT
I attended a performance of 'Allelujah' in August at which an understudy appeared in one of the play's main roles and the theatre did not announce it. I find that absolutely unacceptable. I was also not impressed with their response to my feedback afterwards - a feedback email they solicited - which was to tell me that sometimes there isn't time to announce the appearance of an understudy. That suggests a certain lack of respect for both performers and the audience, at least on the part of the staff member who wrote that particular email, and it's an area where I think the theatre maybe still has work to do. If there are procedures in place - and there should be - about announcing the appearance of an understudy, they need to be reviewed. If they have time to tell the understudy to put the other costume on and be ready to play the role, they have time for an appointed person to stand on stage pre-show and announce "the role of Blank will this evening be played by Actor". What a ridiculous response of theirs. Absolutely, or to have someone backstage make an announcement over the loudspeakers. Their response had a very strong whiff of condescension about it - a pat on the head to a customer who couldn't possibly understand all the delicate intricacies of running a theatre (actually, I was a front-of-house manager for several years, and I know exactly what the issues are). Also, the person who responded to my feedback email appears to be unable to spell the word 'performance', which is an unfortunate attribute in someone who works for a theatre.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2018 18:04:11 GMT
Interval madelines and a lovely choice of cremants/champagnes by the glass. The main things I like about this theatre are not related to theatre. Sometimes I think the only reason I go to the theatre is to mask my drinking problem.
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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2018 15:18:11 GMT
I took my partner The Bridge for the first time and he thought it was the fanciest place on earth (we don't go out much). I thought the lighting in the toilets was very unflattering, how does lighting make you look paler?
We have an aisle seat on row K and my partner had a mild panic when a man pulled an end seat out of row J.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2020 22:45:45 GMT
I can’t find if this has been discussed elsewhere...what is going in here after A Number and before The Book of Dust? I checked online today and there is nothing showing. I think there was rumour of A German Life returning. Did I miss something?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 11, 2020 23:12:39 GMT
The clearly need a lot of time to divert the Thames so it floods the theatre...
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