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Post by martin1965 on Jul 11, 2017 20:57:04 GMT
Saw this at Stratford and was v underwhelmed. Frankly astonished it is in WE!
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jul 11, 2017 22:28:48 GMT
I thought this was unbelievably boring, beyond all expectations.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2017 23:28:19 GMT
The play was enjoyable in Stratford but a bit random to re-stage it in London 18 months later, but it is only a 12 week run to keep TRH ticking over. There have been better plays at Swan since then that haven't transferred and which I thought might have had wider appeal.
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Post by nash16 on Jul 12, 2017 0:29:05 GMT
The play was enjoyable in Stratford but a bit random to re-stage it in London 18 months later, but it is only a 12 week run to keep TRH ticking over. There have been better plays at Swan since then that haven't transferred and which I thought might have had wider appeal. It seems like the TRH is getting a lot of stuff in just to help it keep ticking over. What with Venus next...which will have little wide appeal. Do we know what's coming after that? It deserves better. Such a beautiful theatre.
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Post by Rory on Jul 12, 2017 4:51:53 GMT
Do we know what's coming after that? It deserves better. Such a beautiful theatre. The Rat Pack - Live from Las Vegas
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jul 12, 2017 9:19:15 GMT
Thanks. I love that period of history so I guess I'll pick up a free ticket and take my chances on seating.
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Post by TallPaul on Jul 12, 2017 12:46:46 GMT
The Rat Pack - Live from Las Vegas In what way can the Rat Pack be live?
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Post by vabbian on Jul 13, 2017 21:32:39 GMT
I enjoyed this. 3.5/5 The dialogue was smart without feeling pretentious, as sometimes I find RSC productions to be. Romola Garai is captivating as Sarah. Sadly I noticed quite a few people leave at the interval.
I left the theatre wanting to know more about that period in history, which is always a good sign.
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Post by vdcni on Jul 14, 2017 7:56:29 GMT
There's a great biography of Anne by Anne Somerset. There's also a fantastic joint biography of her and her sister called Ungrateful Daughters.
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Post by olly on Jul 17, 2017 12:14:22 GMT
Hi all, Bit of a strange request/long shot - if anyone is going to this soon...could you possibly pick me up a programme? I will of course pre-pay for it and include shipping. I saw it at the weekend but didn't have enough cash to get one. As I'm a complete nerd, it feels odd not to add it to my collection
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Post by bee on Jul 17, 2017 14:58:26 GMT
Hi all, Bit of a strange request/long shot - if anyone is going to this soon...could you possibly pick me up a programme? I will of course pre-pay for it and include shipping. I saw it at the weekend but didn't have enough cash to get one. As I'm a complete nerd, it feels odd not to add it to my collection I'd be happy to pick one for you, but I'm not going till early September. If that's OK with you, drop my a PM with your address.
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Post by Snciole on Jul 17, 2017 15:03:03 GMT
I went on a trade night but know from other sources it isn't selling great. It may not help that a few of the older patrons on the night I went were suspicious of the colour blind casting. It feels like too many other plays to be truly exciting but it is a pleasant historical romp about a Queen people know by name but not her nature. Review here viewfromthecheapseat.com/2017/07/12/queen-anne-theatre-royal-haymarket/
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2017 15:35:52 GMT
Well. There's some lovely door work going on here. They're opening and closing constantly. It's like a Ray Cooney farce. Without the laughs.
It's a bit of a mish-mash really. Romola Garai plays Sarah Churchill all modern like, as though she's just stepped off the set of 'Emmerdale' (I swear she almost did a "guuuurlfriend" finger snap), Emma Cunniffe is unrecognisable as Anne, there's some nice colour-blind casting which is marred slightly by the OVER-ACTING DARLING of Chu Omambala, Hywel Morgan gives us a lovely Prince George of Denmark (via Bavaria) and for those who love James Garnon's Globe performance (select whichever one you like), you'll be delighted to hear he phones it in again rather nicely here too.
And I don't know if the Theatre Royal is short of cash but £2 for a small bar of Dairy Milk. Oh it's daylight robbery. They didn't receive my custom.
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Post by andyb1986 on Jul 21, 2017 2:44:07 GMT
I'm heading to Europe in late September and was thinking of making a trip to London just to see this. As some have posted here in this thread it doesn't seem to be selling (and a quick glimpse at the tickets available for the performances this weekend seems to confirm that). What do you guys think... is an early closure highly likely, and should I abandon/rethink my plan?
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885 posts
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Post by lonlad on Jul 21, 2017 5:22:04 GMT
Whether or not it is still running, I'd avoid it ---- or have a read of Lloyd Evans's HILARIOUS (and entirely accurate) review of it in the current Spectator magazine, than which truer words were never written :-) -- it's dire.
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Post by andyb1986 on Jul 21, 2017 16:51:59 GMT
Whether or not it is still running, I'd avoid it ---- or have a read of Lloyd Evans's HILARIOUS (and entirely accurate) review of it in the current Spectator magazine, than which truer words were never written :-) -- it's dire. Call me crazy or just perverse, but I'd like to see it in spite of the awful reviews. I think it's the combination of Romola Garai (who I loved in Emma), a period costume drama, and the Haymarket, my favourite theatre in the West End or anywhere.
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Post by andyb1986 on Jul 21, 2017 16:53:35 GMT
Welcome to the board, andyb1986 . Have a great stay in London. Thank you for the warm welcome! London is my favourite city (I was fortunate enough to call it home for a year in 2013) so I love any excuse to visit.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2017 19:01:20 GMT
I'm really puzzled about the negative reviews, I have to say. I saw this in the Swan last year and it was one my highlights of the year. Has it changed dramatically? I remember it being funny and moving, and Emma Cunniffe being excellent.
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Post by stefy69 on Jul 26, 2017 9:33:29 GMT
This sadly must be selling very badly, just had an e-mail from TRH offering all seats with at least a 50% discount...
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jul 26, 2017 12:03:51 GMT
Tons of free tickets on the usual suspects. Feels like every other performance since previews has had comps available. I can't remember the last time I saw a play papered so heavily.
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Post by andyb1986 on Jul 26, 2017 14:27:42 GMT
I also received the email about the discounted tickets. I don't know whether it's worth even booking a seat now for when I'll be in London at the end of September.
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Post by lynette on Jul 26, 2017 15:01:30 GMT
I dunno why they put this in the Haymarket. It was quite intimate and contemporary in setting in Stratford. Wrong place, too pricey and no 'stars' .
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Post by nash16 on Jul 26, 2017 17:04:29 GMT
The play's the thing. It's just not dramatic or interesting enough. The producers will have to have deep pockets to get it through the to its end date.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jul 27, 2017 11:48:23 GMT
I dunno why they put this in the Haymarket. It was quite intimate and contemporary in setting in Stratford. Wrong place, too pricey and no 'stars' . Lynette, do you think that, as a London-based RSC devotee, you would have leapt at this at the Haymarket if you hadn't already seen it at Stratford? Or would you have leapt at it anywhere else in London? The RSC transferred Brand directly from the Swan to the Haymarket, where I think it attracted good audiences. Although that starred Ralph Fiennes who had a large fan-base at the time. I think that the RSC audience in London is dying off and not being replaced at all. The presence of Matilda in London hasn't replenished the London RSC audience at all. And the RSC in the Barbican has zero relationship with the rest of the Barbican's theatre and dance programme so they play cold there, except for the last tottering remnants of the old RSC Barbican audience.
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Post by lynette on Jul 27, 2017 12:39:10 GMT
You are definitely onto something here, HG. I would not have gone for this Queen Anne play in London because the prices at The Haymarket are usually very high. But the subject matter might have drawn me after good reviews. In Stratford I am prepared to give most offerings a looksee, taking the good with the bad as it were. There are hardcore RSC groupies in London. I think most of the financial supporters so called, are based in London, though not all. I've always said that the RSC needs to reach the punters in London. Travel and accommodation are an issue. Maybe scheduling is too. For a decent weekend you need to have three different plays available over a two day weekend plus other attractions, talks maybe or exhibitions. And discounts, maybe tokens for hotels and restaurants. Stratford I think is seen as quite a long way from London. I know the trains are rubbish. There doesn't seem to be a united marketing plan for the stuff 'up there'. Cultural packages - Longborough Opera, Highgrove Gardens, RSC ( there are other triangles available on request!) might be a way of getting Londoners there. I confess to having my own accommodation nearby.
I know you have advocated a London base but personally I don't like the Barbican and I didn't bother to see the RSC stuff there unless I had missed it in Stratford. They do need an indentity in London, an association with a theatre here. But a tricky choice and probably an expensive one. Interesting that we have new theatres in London, I'm thinking of Hytner's Bridge so there is a market isn't there? I don't know the ins and outs. Possibly they are putting all the money into developing Stratford with high production values, then maybe tours abroad. Do you know? They are getting TOP going again with some excellent new writing. They do a lot of school stuff and training. Their ripples do extend out a long way.
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Post by Polly1 on Jul 27, 2017 17:00:01 GMT
Saw Queen Anne last night (not free but Today Tix with discount). Top level closed but circle looked full from what I could see and stalls packed as obviously people had been moved down, so nice and buzzy and play given a rousing reception with many favourable comments on the way out. I enjoyed it greatly, ok a lot of the dialogue was stilted but it held my interest all the way through and Cunliffe and Garai were excellent, I thought. I hope it can attract an audience during the summer.
Could not help myself interjecting when a very nice American gentleman next to me told his two companions that the RSC toured all over Britain!!
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Post by stefy69 on Aug 2, 2017 6:56:33 GMT
Just had an e-mail from Ticketmaster ( I'm on their mailing list ) and the subject heading is : " Queen Anne opens to rave reviews ", really ? where ? Am I reading the wrong papers ?
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Post by Jan on Aug 2, 2017 7:24:13 GMT
I dunno why they put this in the Haymarket. It was quite intimate and contemporary in setting in Stratford. Wrong place, too pricey and no 'stars' . Lynette, do you think that, as a London-based RSC devotee, you would have leapt at this at the Haymarket if you hadn't already seen it at Stratford? Or would you have leapt at it anywhere else in London? The RSC transferred Brand directly from the Swan to the Haymarket, where I think it attracted good audiences. Although that starred Ralph Fiennes who had a large fan-base at the time. I think that the RSC audience in London is dying off and not being replaced at all. The presence of Matilda in London hasn't replenished the London RSC audience at all. And the RSC in the Barbican has zero relationship with the rest of the Barbican's theatre and dance programme so they play cold there, except for the last tottering remnants of the old RSC Barbican audience. You are right. They have trashed their brand in London starting with Noble's decision to leave the Barbican. Now they have a loyal core audience which is shrinking all the time, they are just competing for the general audience and they either don't like going to the Barbican or don't know when and what the RSC are doing there (or both). They also seem to treat theirLondon audience as a cash cow transferring only the more mainstream productions at high prices (still plenty of the £75 seats for Tempest available). The audience can't sustain that. There were big empty spaces for all of Sher's efforts there. I have not paid more than £10 for a full-price Barbican RSC stalls seat for years. I don't think Doran cares though, he is quite happy in his Stratford comfort zone. On this play, I never go to the rotten old Haymarket to see anything, even though I could have got a top price ticket for this for £5. If it had been on at the Pit as part of a coherent RSC season over there I might have seen it just on the basis of seeing everything (with a season discount).
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Post by showgirl on Aug 2, 2017 8:16:39 GMT
They lost me in London when they left the Barbican, but I'd go wherever if only they transferred the "right" productions. So many of their new plays had great reviews but none has yet had a life beyond Stratford.
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Post by Jan on Aug 2, 2017 8:46:25 GMT
They lost me in London when they left the Barbican, but I'd go wherever if only they transferred the "right" productions. So many of their new plays had great reviews but none has yet had a life beyond Stratford. Same with their revivals. The Trevor Nunn/Henry Goodman "Volpone" didn't get a transfer for example.
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