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Post by TallPaul on Dec 5, 2017 13:57:10 GMT
I should probably have added, tonyloco, that O'Neill didn't even want the script published until 25 years after his death, so 1978. His wife over-ruled his wishes, which I always think is a rather dangerous thing to do to dead people, just in case. I'm going to stop now, lest anyone thinks I'm an O'Neill scholar!
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Post by tonyloco on Dec 5, 2017 22:42:47 GMT
Thanks again, TallPaul. Wikipedia has a summary of this information. I find it all intriguing, especially as that powerful production in Sydney in 1959, just three years after the first publication, made a huge impression on me and I can still remember it clearly in a general way. I am looking forward to seeing the current production, but only if the last act is fairly complete, which I suspect it will not be!
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Post by jason71 on Jan 18, 2018 14:38:31 GMT
Will Wyndhams be doing day seats for this show?
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Post by joem on Jan 18, 2018 22:00:05 GMT
How does this compare with the Suchet production?
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Post by callum on Jan 23, 2018 14:17:39 GMT
Lesley Manville looks to be getting excellent notices for Phantom Thread - wonder if they'll let her go to Oscars if she's nominated... If you need any psychic readings, I'll be hanging around with my crystal ball outside the Wyndham's.
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 23, 2018 14:43:22 GMT
^^If it's made from crystal, it certainly will be hanging around!
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 28, 2018 19:42:39 GMT
I saw today's matinee and here there are some thoughts.
It's an uneven production. I loved the staging and the scenery - which is probably making O'Neill spin in his grave, but he didn't even want this play to ever be staged, so who cares. The set is really wonderful, very similar to Eyre's Ghosts, so similar that I was surprised to discover it's a different designer. But apparently it was Eyre's original concept so he can use it whenever he wants - otherwise we would have been very close to plagiarism. It's also very well directed, and the costumes are wonderful.
The acting is a bit of a mixed bag. Rory Keenan is a very good Jamie, but Matthew Beard was pretty bad as Edmund, very declamatory and slightly hysterical. I know it was only the second preview, but there's an awfully long way to go for him, for most of the play he was just dramatically speaking out his line, with very little sense or meaning behind them. Jeremy Irons is, well, bizarre. I find it hard to describe, really. It's not a bad performance, but he does all these puzzling little things, like he has this weird accent or does things with his hands. It's not really a matter of hamming, it's more like he doesn't know how he wants to play the part. There is a lot of mannerism, but it's in the character rather than in the performance, like, he's playing a very theatrical man and Tyrone's theatricality comes across very well during the play. You see a lot of Tyrone the actor, but I wish there were more of Tyrone the man. I remember many of you being unconvinced by his performance in Bristol, and I think I understand now what you meant. Jessica Regan provides comic relief with her Kathleen, she was really lovely and couldn't have been more Irish.
Lesley Manville is extraordinary and delivers an outstanding performance, her Mary Tyrone is one of the most heart-breaking things I have ever seen. She's excellent since the first time she steps on stage, but it's not until her final scene that you realize the magnitude of her performance. There's this moment when she's illuminated by a white spotlight and she looks exactly like the 18 year old girl she's talking about, it's astonishing really. Her phenomenal performance somehow undermines the rest of the show, the quality drops when she's not on stage and you want her back. She makes you wait a lot in the second part, but when she finally returns the payoff is fantastic. The previous scene is not as successful: it's a long dialogue between Edmund and Tyrone, and since the two actors are not at their best the scene never reached its full potential.
It's a four star production for me, and Manville makes it a must-see
PS: The play runs for three hours and a half, the first part lasted 1h20, the second 1h50. It was performed with one interval, between act 2 and 3, but in my opinion it would benefit from a 5 minute break between act 3 and 4.
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Post by skullion on Jan 28, 2018 21:14:56 GMT
Yikes, at that sort of duration I'd better gor for a seat for this one then and not the standing option I often go for at Wyndhams!
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Post by Jon on Jan 28, 2018 21:58:53 GMT
I wonder why they didn't have 1pm and 7pm start times if the show is 3 and a half hours.
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Post by martin1965 on Jan 28, 2018 23:04:37 GMT
Yikes, at that sort of duration I'd better gor for a seat for this one then and not the standing option I often go for at Wyndhams! You've not seen O"Neill before then? His plays are never short.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jan 28, 2018 23:47:33 GMT
You've not seen O"Neill before then? His plays are never short. Except the several of about twenty minutes' duration.
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Post by callum on Jan 29, 2018 0:53:55 GMT
shorter than the Broadway prod I saw with Jessica Lange a couple of years ago
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Post by lonlad on Jan 29, 2018 2:10:00 GMT
yes 3-1/2 is short for a play that normally clocks in around 3 hrs 50 - wonder if they've edited it at all (seems unlikely). Glad to hear Manville is so good - more and more I think this play belongs to Mary Tyrone.
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Post by skullion on Jan 29, 2018 7:00:45 GMT
Yikes, at that sort of duration I'd better gor for a seat for this one then and not the standing option I often go for at Wyndhams! You've not seen O"Neill before then? His plays are never short. No, first time for me.
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Post by argon on Jan 29, 2018 19:51:35 GMT
The only thing that stopped this production from tanking for me was the performance of Manville & Keenan. Irons depiction of James Sr. just didn't work for me & Beard was the weakest link.
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Post by callum on Jan 31, 2018 16:38:43 GMT
A head's up that all of the seats in the royal circle (dress circle) are now priced at £27.75 online for tonight's performance - including the premium seats. Love dynamic pricing!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 10:21:48 GMT
Well. The title certainly tells you what to expect. It's very long. A bit too long in fact, well the second half anyway. Loved the set although I'll bet it's a bugger to polish every night. Some lovely costumes too. I do love a rolled up trouser leg. Performances are pretty smashing on the whole I thought. Lesley Manville as the heroine (I thank you) gets to waft about in some lovely frocks although I did tire of her episodes after a while. It's like going to see a Stephen Sondheim musical. You hear a tune which sounds lovely, then you hear it again and you think "OK nice" and then you hear it a third or fourth time and you're thinking "enough already!". I actually thought Matthew Beard and Rory Keenan were terrific, Keenan especially. Matthew Beard would be smashing in one of those Tennessee Williams plays where the character struggles with being a gayer, he's got lovely sad eyes and a little tattoo on his forearm which I found a thrilling distraction when his shirt sleeve rose up every now and again. Jeremy Irons was odd, I liked his performance ( couldileaveyou says it perfectly) but mostly when he was reacting to the others, particularly Lesley. His reactions were a thing of beauty I thought. Jessica Regan puts in a funny performance as the Irish maid but I thought it was funnier when Catherine Tate played it as a nurse in her TV series. I do have to say though, I don't know how they read all those books. That bookcase is extremely high and not a ladder in sight. I'll bet the books at the top are fake.
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Feb 5, 2018 20:12:05 GMT
Enjoyed this the other day. I'd forgotten this is the one that Moon for the Misbegotten is the sequel to. It's long but they rattle through it relatively quickly!
The monkey nests are great value for £12 or whatever I paid. Clear view of the stage, great legroom, bit uncomfortable for such a long show but you can shift around so that's OK. Plus you're in pole position for the loos at the interval (A5 for the Gents, the other side for the Ladies)
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Post by broadwaylover99 on Feb 6, 2018 19:44:51 GMT
Which boxes are better for this show in terms of angle and view? Any help would be very appreciated
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 8, 2018 14:01:34 GMT
I just happened to walk along that passageway between the Wyndham's and the Noel Coward Theatres yesterday teatime. It looked like a film/tv crew had been doing something at the former. They had so much equipment, it seems unlikely they were filming a 90 second piece for the local news. Does anyone know what was going on?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 17:21:39 GMT
Awww bless, I see there's no Sunday show on 4th March, presumably to allow La Manville to hot foot it to Los Angeles in the morning, lose an Oscar in the evening and head back on a Monday flight for the next show on Tuesday.
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Post by callum on Feb 8, 2018 18:23:16 GMT
Awww bless, I see there's no Sunday show on 4th March, presumably to allow La Manville to hot foot it to Los Angeles in the morning, lose an Oscar in the evening and head back on a Monday flight for the next show on Tuesday. Fabulous - I thought she was excellent in Phantom Thread and could very very shockingly be the spoiler if Janney and Manville split the domineering mother vote. I was wondering if they’d let her go or if she’d be more like Anne Bancroft in Feud - ‘I can’t let the audiences down that have already paid for their tickets to see me, darling!’
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Post by loureviews on Feb 10, 2018 20:35:44 GMT
Lesley Manville was terrific in this. On the Oscars, wouldn't it be fun if she and Gary Oldman both won so she could say at the photocall 'big mistake, leaving me for Uma ...'
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Post by loureviews on Feb 10, 2018 20:36:22 GMT
I just happened to walk along that passageway between the Wyndham's and the Noel Coward Theatres yesterday teatime. It looked like a film/tv crew had been doing something at the former. They had so much equipment, it seems unlikely they were filming a 90 second piece for the local news. Does anyone know what was going on? Andrew Marr show tomorrow.
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Post by loureviews on Feb 10, 2018 20:37:36 GMT
How does this compare with the Suchet production? Jeremy Irons doesn't shout as much and I found him a lot more responsive and sympathetic. A better production all round, really.
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Post by dlevi on Feb 11, 2018 12:23:40 GMT
I saw this on Friday evening and thought it was tremendous, only sour note was Rob Howell's setting, I read his essay in the programme which was fascinating insofar as describing his process . The problem was that what was on stage simply didn't make sense - not the layout of the house, not the see-through walls, or the lack of a ceiling. That aside I found that in a lifetime of seeing productions of this play -maybe ten or eleven ( including film versions) I've rarely seen one so beautifully balanced. And Ms Manville especially finds both the weakness of Mary Tyrone and the fierceness of an addict. Just great!
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Post by raiseitup on Feb 12, 2018 11:39:42 GMT
Does anyone know if Lesley Manville is planning on attending the Oscars? I'm booked to see this on 6th March and don't want to miss her!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2018 11:50:12 GMT
Does anyone know if Lesley Manville is planning on attending the Oscars? I'm booked to see this on 6th March and don't want to miss her! I would guess that she was attending. There is normally a Sunday performance except on 4th March, which is presumably to allow her to go to the ceremony. There isn't usually a show on Monday so I would guess that means that she will fly back on 5th March to be ready for the performance on Tuesday 6th.
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Post by loureviews on Feb 12, 2018 21:23:34 GMT
My review:
Eugene O’Neill’s semi-autobiographical play comes to the West End in another lengthy production, this time starring Jeremy Irons as ageing actor James Tyrone, and Lesley Manville as his morphine-addicted wife, Mary.
A claustrophobic set lined with books and lights moves the plot forward as first, we see Mary Tyrone in recovery, happy and calm, but soon realise she is in her own reality of dope heaven (or hell). In Manville’s hands the role takes on both the fierceness and deceit of an addict, along with the weakness of the wife and mother who ‘once fell in love with James Tyrone, and was so happy’.
Irons is a theatrical Tyrone, every inch an actor and never a glimpse into the real man. He baits his sons – the shiftless Jamie (Rory Keenan) and the consumptive Edmund (Matthew Beard) – and yet can’t control even the level of whisky in the bottle he keeps on the table. He sees the girl within his wife, but can’t reach her.
The twisting hands, the trailing wedding dress, the lying on the bed with eyes open, the drifting, the drinking, the moments where just for a minute or two Mary Tyrone is happy again. It’s all about her, and the moments where Manville is absent from the stage drag, just a little, in a heart to heart between Irons and Beard where the latter just can’t catch the tragedy of the character.
Keenan, though, is good, filled with self-loathing and self-destruction, on a spiral of disappointment by seeing addiction and disgust all around him. He has his father’s name and perhaps, his weakness too. There’s nothing but a downward spiral for all of them, in this raw and broken world where everyone lies and no one can face what’s really going on around them.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 13, 2018 16:25:30 GMT
Apparently on TodayTix they have been doing the thing where even if you don't win the front row lottery they offer you 27£ tickets for stalls/dress circle.
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