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Post by Stephen on Mar 28, 2018 21:06:36 GMT
I think you need to experience this one from the pit Parsley. Interesting you should comment on the sound design re guns and such as this could sound less effective when seated? In the pit I found it nervously realistic!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2018 21:19:36 GMT
I think you need to experience this one from the pit Parsley. Interesting you should comment on the sound design re guns and such as this could sound less effective when seated? In the pit I found it nervously realistic! Perhaps I was front row of the first level They didn’t recoil when the guns went off Those firing them Would be a reflex Just seems unrealistic to me On a related note Does anyone recall at the NT paint frame There Will Be A War I think it was called Tom Basden With Phoebe Fox One of her early stage roles OMG They had rounds and rounds of blanks It was terrifying If anyone else remembers it Please speak up I was shaking I mean they had machine guns firing Whole rounds of blanks Those long chains of them
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 28, 2018 21:35:39 GMT
Sadly I just can't agree with you Parsley - I truly thought it was one of the most exciting pieces of theatre I've seen in a good few years. Standing in the bit was exhilarating and the time flew by.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2018 22:10:04 GMT
Sadly I just can't agree with you Parsley - I truly thought it was one of the most exciting pieces of theatre I've seen in a good few years. Standing in the bit was exhilarating and the time flew by. Don’t be sad We all Have different tastes!! Happy Easter 🐣
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Post by david on Mar 28, 2018 22:44:10 GMT
After watching this back in January, I read Parsley’s comments, and have to say I thought that the production was well done and the audience I was sat with was fully supportive of the performance. Did I feel it dumbed down the text? No, I felt it gave a modern feel to it that allowed the audience to engage with it, wether they had previous experience of seeing Shakespeare performed or not. I can appreciate that this version will not be to everyone’s taste, but hey, if we all liked the same things, life would be pretty boring and we’d have nothing to talk about!
Hopefully, there will have been theatre goers who have seen the show and/or Andrew Scott’s Hamlet and hopefully this will show what theatre can do in terms of staging a show and maybe help breakdown some people’s preconceptions of what theatre is maybe get more people going to the theatre in the long term.
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Post by Stephen on Mar 29, 2018 2:49:21 GMT
Although I don’t share your views on this production @parsley I do find them interesting. I think you’d find things a bit more intense in the pit.
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Post by Marwood on Mar 29, 2018 18:36:41 GMT
Shock, horror : Parsley (or is it parsley, I lost track after the second or third time they regenerated) didn’t enjoy a show. I’m sure all those reviews that the Bridge have quoted in their ads giving JC 4 and 5 stars are totally wrong and Mr. Hytner will be pulling all future ads for this after reading that review 😐
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Post by Jan on Mar 30, 2018 8:16:54 GMT
Agree the sound of the handguns coming from a soundtrack rather than the guns themselves was odd. Maybe they didn’t want to carry guns loaded even with blanks amongst the crowd, who knows.
On the fact it didn’t sell out, well this theatre was built far too big wasn’t it, not much they can do about that now.
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Mar 30, 2018 8:58:47 GMT
Agree the sound of the handguns coming from a soundtrack rather than the guns themselves was odd. Maybe they didn’t want to carry guns loaded even with blanks amongst the crowd, who knows. On the fact it didn’t sell out, well this theatre was built far too big wasn’t it, not much they can do about that now. There are regulations that mean you can’t fire a prop gun with blanks within a certain distance of anyone, something they couldn’t plan for with the audience close by. There is another reason, being the way that an audience reacts and how it screws up the atmosphere. Fire a blank and audiences jump/scream with some then invariably laughing at their embarrassment at doing so. At a serious moment then what you are looking for is totally lost. A sound cue of a gunshot tends not to have that effect, as it is quieter, less explosive. It doesn’t sound anywhere near as good, of course.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2018 8:58:58 GMT
Saw this twice and each time it was full bar a few odd seats. The idea that a new theatre on its second production should be able to sell tickets as easily and quickly as one that's been going for over 50 years... It will take time to get on people's radar, am sure the founders and funders were perfectly aware of that.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Mar 30, 2018 9:03:45 GMT
I believe I read somewhere that the aim was for around 80% capacity to break even, appears to be meeting this in the times I have been.
This under utilisation does give them the opportunity to make real money when they do get the hit and sell, in the meantime at least it makes it easy to get tickets.
Also think this is early days, to me it still feels out of place, not on my standard routes to and between the established Theatres, feels like an effort to get there, which will diminish with time.
While I enjoy Parsleys diatribes, not entierly sure whether it is to elicit a reaction which at least makes you revisit your opinion even only to disagree. Loved this production, seen it twice, once as a Promenader and once seated. We are in agreement on the band, they were atrocious with out of tune guitar solos, a particular bugbear of mine, (if you cannot bend a note in tune, please only play rhythm) took the first five minutes of the play to get over the aural abomination.
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Post by peggs on Mar 31, 2018 20:43:04 GMT
Oh, and did anyone else in the end give in to baser instincts and try and collect the full set of pit stuff - flag, 2 leaflets and a death poster... er, just me then... I hesitated for at least a whole second before I scrambled for a balloon and had been eagerly clutching everything that came my why throughout the production; it went try and make it to front of stage wherever possible whilst making sure not to squash flag!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 8:58:34 GMT
You bunch of kleptomaniacs you I saw this Sunday. Safely ensconced in the upper gallery. The Mob did look fun, but coming to it after 3 days of theatre and wandering around London I was in no mood to be shoved about and/or stand for 2 hours so I'm glad I was upstairs out of the way. The mob still made for a great atmosphere in there though and I thought used to great effect in the scenes. I really enjoyed this production- it's not really in my top 10 Shakespeare plays, so honestly without the cast and the promise of this different take I probably wouldn't have bothered. But I really enjoyed the contemporary approach. In particular there were gender swaps in this that made a lot of sense/added to the story with a woman playing the part- and not to mention giving a couple of great parts to women in the play (unlike poor Portia...). Is it the most nuanced take on the play? no. Do you lose bits of that from the cuts, sure. But if I wanted to take kids I was teaching or Shakespeare newbies/haters to see a play, I'd take them to this to show them what can be done with the text. And to be honest it was just a fun, engaging 2 hours of political backstabbing for an Easter Sunday. Cast uniformly great. Whishaw and Morrissey were excellent, and worked extremely well as a pairing- especially in the opposite roles to what you might expect. Experience slightly marred by the fact it was utterly freezing in there. I wouldn't normally have minded, but I'd spent 3 days wet and frozen in London and just wanted a nice sit down in the warm!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 17:46:04 GMT
Blimey I didn't think my tweeting that the mob is not for me would be SO controversial. Aparently people take issue with...not wanting to do the same as them?
I loathe crowds and loud noises, I'd been on my feet for 3 days walking around London...a perch in Gallery 2 was just fine!
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Post by rockinrobin on Apr 2, 2018 18:20:45 GMT
Oh, and did anyone else in the end give in to baser instincts and try and collect the full set of pit stuff - flag, 2 leaflets and a death poster... er, just me then... I only got the "tyranny is dead" leaflet. I really wanted a death poster but unfortunately the lady in front of me was quicker. I use this leaflet as a bookmark - and I'm currently reading Machiavelli's biography...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 8:44:44 GMT
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Post by asfound on Apr 3, 2018 10:48:33 GMT
Hello all - any chance somebody who has been could advise me on the situation in the pit with regards to kids? I'd like to get a mob ticket at some point before it closes but I really don't want to end up in a mosh pit full of school kids. If I tried for a Saturday I'm guessing I might have a higher chance of avoiding them but a few people here have mentioned them (including on a Saturday).
Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 11:03:48 GMT
Hello all - any chance somebody who has been could advise me on the situation in the pit with regards to kids? I'd like to get a mob ticket at some point before it closes but I really don't want to end up in a mosh pit full of school kids. If I tried for a Saturday I'm guessing I might have a higher chance of avoiding them but a few people here have mentioned them (including on a Saturday). Thanks! I was there on a Sunday and there were minimal kids. If you mean avoiding School groups I'd say yes weekends are a better bet!
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Post by RedRose on Apr 3, 2018 11:04:37 GMT
Blimey I didn't think my tweeting that the mob is not for me would be SO controversial. Aparently people take issue with...not wanting to do the same as them? I loathe crowds and loud noises, I'd been on my feet for 3 days walking around London...a perch in Gallery 2 was just fine! One big advantage of the mob is you will not be cold. It is so bloody cold in the Gallery 2!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 11:11:09 GMT
It's the Easter holidays now, more or less, so it's far less likely for there to be organised school groups in. Can't rule them out all together, obviously, but a weekend during the holiday seems as reasonable time as any to expect fewer groups in attendance.
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Post by Marwood on Apr 3, 2018 13:54:43 GMT
I went last week and from what I remember there were only about half a dozen or so children among the mob, seemingly all with parents/guardians, and all impeccably behaved, so I wouldn't worry too much about hordes of rampaging children (although I would have thought school parties would go in the week rather than the weekend)
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Post by lichtie on Apr 8, 2018 17:11:48 GMT
Went to this again this afternoon (well it's a wet Sunday...) to try out the walking about bit. Really found it a completely different experience. Not sure I'd want to do it too often (first time) but entertaining to be in such close proximity. Quite a few extremely well behaved youngsters present too, some can't have been much over 8 or so.
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Post by showgirl on Apr 9, 2018 3:30:46 GMT
Managed to get a return for the back row of gallery 2 for Saturday's matinee and was amazed to find (though others had said so) how good the view was; I certainly wouldn't hesitate to book for that area in future but am waiting for reports of the next few productions before booking, so may well miss the boat again.
However, as others have also said, it was fearsomely cold up there and 48 hours later I still have severe neck-and-shoulder ache, which is presumably due to savage air conditioning.
Re the production itself, it was interesting and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it live but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. For one thing it was too long for me (2 hours 10, given that the matinee actually finished at 4.40 pm) to sit in those uncomfortable seats without a break, though I appreciate that it was probably appropriate in this case to omit the interval. That did however leave me squirming after an hour or so as the seat depth is so short that it supports only about half your leg length. Also, rather oddly, 2 men next to me briefly left about 30 mins before the end, only to return shortly afterwards, so initially I thought they too had had enough.
The "music" was horrible, monotonous and relentless but probably ideal for rabble-rousing purposes so as with the lack of interval, a case of the production needs trumping my personal preference. All the cast were great apart from David Calder as Julius Caesar, whom I thought was miscast or misdirected. But really the whole thing goes to pot after Mark Antony's funeral oration and the battle scenes dragged on too long for me.
I can see why others would enjoy this and I would still recommend it as a very different theatrical experience to what many believe to be the norm; indeed I'm trying to encourage my OH to catch it in its final week as I think he'd get more from it than I did.
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Post by ceebee on Apr 15, 2018 21:29:09 GMT
Bloody fantastic. Saw today at the final performance - totally relevant, excellent cast and excellent technical team. Watch in cinema if you can or buy the inevitable bluray. Beware the Ides of mosh.
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Post by maggiem on Apr 17, 2018 11:40:00 GMT
Bloody fantastic. Saw today at the final performance - totally relevant, excellent cast and excellent technical team. Watch in cinema if you can or buy the inevitable bluray. Beware the Ides of mosh. I saw the matinee on 14/04. Couldn't agree more with your comments. it was great to be in the "Roman Mob" and really feel in the story. Maybe a bit too much? I nearly went over when we had to move suddenly. One of the"security" asked me if I was alright, which I was. I also got dumped on by the battle debris from the roof.
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Post by asfound on Apr 17, 2018 18:00:55 GMT
A production for the selfie stick generation. It was fun and exciting being shouted at and shoved around the pit, especially during the transition to the war scenes but overall it was gimmicky, unengaging and lacked subtlety. Acting was fine but nothing spectacular. Despite what people here said had to keep moving to avoid the bored, whispering middle class brats. Sound design and soundtrack was poor. There was nothing that really surprised or astounded - it was exactly as I expected from the descriptions and nothing more.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2018 20:28:32 GMT
"Selfie stick generation"? Men in their 50s determined to make the most of family holiday snaps?
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Post by stevemar on Apr 18, 2018 12:59:17 GMT
Although it has now finished, I loved this last week. As well as being a technical tour de force, the acting particularly from Ben Wishaw, David Morrissey and Michelle Farley was excellent. It was a very exciting and urgent production and enjoyed being part of the mob. The theatre was buzzing with excitement, and it was impressive how they marshalled the audience (and no bad behaviour in sight). I think going at the end of the run helped here. We saw Macbeth at the National the same day - the contrast to the silent audience leaving the theatre for that play couldn't have been starker.
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Post by ceebee on Apr 19, 2018 20:50:08 GMT
Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day.
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Post by nash16 on Apr 19, 2018 21:28:59 GMT
Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day. The Bridge Theatre audience were definitely NOT diverse the night we saw it. Glad to hear it was on your visit though.
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