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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 7:22:49 GMT
Thinking "War Horse is a bit rubbish" isn't exactly a hot take though. It's a poorly kept secret that it was regarded by the NT as one of the worst plays they had on. Sure, the puppetry was amazing and the music was great, but although that will compensate for a poor script for some, that's not quite the same thing as improving a poor play.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jun 21, 2017 7:33:09 GMT
^ And we all know to trust the NT's judgment of the quality of their plays.
I'm in the camp which appreciates the puppetry and music.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 7:45:52 GMT
^ And we all know to trust the NT's judgment of the quality of their plays. I'm in the camp which appreciates the puppetry and music. I had a fight with my PhD supervisor (which as far as I know is still going on) to exactly this end. I'd stated Horsey was in the realm of 'innovative plays the NT has staged' due to the use of puppetry, music etc she disagreed (as with most things I wrote TBH) I stubbornly upped my defence of Joey just to be stubborn. I stand by it.
Personally my inner horsey child cries just seeing the horses, but the story is sentimental trite.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 8:31:53 GMT
Both Joey would make some tasty tripe (sorry)
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Post by jess173 on Jun 21, 2017 9:15:03 GMT
The last time I wanted to leave was at Sister Act in Berlin.
Most Stage Entertainment shows I saw recently have been bad but this was the worst thing I ever saw.
Whoever translated it from the original was a complete idiot. I know they are adapting certain jokes so the regional audience gets them but this... well... I actually have no words. Also there are often foreigners in lead roles which is totally fine by me if I'm at least able to understand what they are saying. Which wasn't the case here, especially when it came to the singing parts. I guess the woman playing Dolores had no idea what she was saying or singing either. Her intonation was totally wrong and she didn't even pause for the funny bits - which weren't funny anyways, so no real problem there... ^^
The audience was mortified. At least ten people around me got up and left halfway through the first act. I wanted to leave at the interval but my friend wanted to stay. Not because she liked it but for the sake of the money we had spent... I envied everyone that got out of this mess. It was dreadful...
Well I'm seeing the Hunchback of Notre Dame on Friday in Berlin... Let's see how this goes... ^^*
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Post by TallPaul on Jun 21, 2017 12:24:44 GMT
Paging Tesco's Ready Meal buyers... Paging???
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 21, 2017 13:38:44 GMT
Paging Tesco's Ready Meal buyers... Paging??? I hear tm still has one clipped to his belt. When it goes off he has to run to the nearest "phone box" and ring up someone. Fortunately this hasn't happened since 1996.
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Post by TallPaul on Jun 21, 2017 13:56:43 GMT
I'm far too young to remember, but back in the day, did theatres used to make pre-performance announcements about pagers?
(There used to be two companies still providing pager services, but Vodafone recently withdrew from the market, leaving just the notorious Capita. I really can bore for England.)
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jun 21, 2017 14:02:02 GMT
I hear tm still has one clipped to his belt. When it goes off he has to run to the nearest "phone box" and ring up someone. Fortunately this hasn't happened since 1996. But surely all he has to do is wait for someone to pick up the MonkeyPhone and beam out the MonkeySignal into the sky?? Then he can get into the MonkeyMobile and go and fix someone's theatre seating problem.
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Post by TallPaul on Jun 21, 2017 14:11:07 GMT
No. People with pagers were generally doctors etc, and theatres had systems whereby they could leave pagers with staff, and be contacted if required. That aside, people back then had manners. I say no more. But surely ushers rushing into the auditorium, and shining a light into the middle of the dear seats, caused more disturbance?
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Post by Honoured Guest on Jun 21, 2017 14:48:13 GMT
Yes, doctors were seated on a septic aisle.
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Post by PalelyLaura on Jun 22, 2017 12:22:19 GMT
I don't like leaving in the interval as a matter of principle. I've only done it once, and that was for Edward Bond's Dea at the Secombe Theatre. It's not a good sign when you find yourself wanting to laugh at incest and murder.
I nearly left that Martin Crimp play, In the Republic of Happiness, in the interval, but decided to stick it out. I also wanted to leave Three Kingdoms at the Lyric Hammersmith but couldn't, really, as we were a large party there to see my friend's brother who was in the cast. (None of us liked the play it must be said!)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2017 12:30:05 GMT
In The Republic Of Happiness didn't have an interval. I remember a LOT of my friends being angry about that, because they wanted to leave at the interval but were denied the opportunity.
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Post by adrianics on Jun 22, 2017 12:31:37 GMT
The theatre costs way too much damn money to consider leaving before I've seen everything, plus it so often isn't anything to do with the performers or crew and that feels disrespectful to them.
...Having said that, I *desperately* wanted to leave Aladdin and try to drown out the memory of the first act in the nearby Norman's Coach and Horses (one of my favourite London pubs), but we ended up staying because a friend had organised a big group trip and it felt a little harsh to them.
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Post by PalelyLaura on Jun 22, 2017 12:35:01 GMT
In The Republic Of Happiness didn't have an interval. I remember a LOT of my friends being angry about that, because they wanted to leave at the interval but were denied the opportunity. Ah, you're right, of course. I remember what happened is that we had an 'unplanned' interval because something went wrong with the set. We were in the bar for about 20 minutes while they sorted it out. I should really have taken the opportunity to escape.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2017 12:38:54 GMT
Haha! Yes, something of a missed opportunity for you there. Props for sticking it out anyway, a lot wouldn't have.
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Post by westendwilma on Jun 22, 2017 14:17:55 GMT
I left Carmen at the 02 about 45 mins in. It was truly dreadful, opera in an arena setting does not work. Oh I left this at the interval too! Awful
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 23, 2017 11:22:19 GMT
War Horse - I seriously considered leaving. ^^^ oh god I thought I was the only person in the world who thought this. I only got through it by focussing on the bum of one of the puppeteers in his very tight breeches 😋. The rest of it left me cold. And I thought Mrs Snow and I were a very exclusive Club on this one. Our duet is now a Quartet.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 23, 2017 11:33:29 GMT
The theatre costs way too much damn money to consider leaving before I've seen everything, Strikes me as the very definition of Masochism. 'This is killing me, but I'll stay untill I get everything I've paid for'. Rumour has it there are sites on the Web where your interests are fully catered for.
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Post by Polly1 on Jun 23, 2017 14:54:05 GMT
And I thought Mrs Snow and I were a very exclusive Club on this one. Our duet is now a Quartet. Make it a quintet. Oh my it was B.O.R.I.N.G. But I was covering the last matinee and couldn't leave. I don't, anyway, but that was a narrow shave. Sextet. The only time I've left in the interval in 25 years+ of theatre going. I came close again at Woyzeck, only the divine Nancy kept me in my seat for the second half but after I'd seen it, devoutly wished I had left. Otherwise, yes, I will always try to take something from the production.
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 27, 2017 22:21:39 GMT
Here is the rub for me, which I personally find distasteful and I know there is nothing coming up in the queen's speech about this, so it's not going to be law anytime soon. But to go on a theatre messenger board and talk about an art form, then happily indulge that you scarper at the interval, I find completely alien and disrespectful.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 28, 2017 5:49:28 GMT
Here is the rub for me, which I personally find distasteful and I know there is nothing coming up in the queen's speech about this, so it's not going to be law anytime soon. But to go on a theatre messenger board and talk about an art form, then happily indulge that you scarper at the interval, I find completely alien and disrespectful. People who have paid for their ticket lose their right to walk? I do question walking DURING a performance but at the interval why shouldn't they? I 'donate' a significant amount of my personal disposable income to the theater and sometimes I get RUBBISH in return. More fool me for not checking up beforehand but to suggest that I have to eat it all up is perverse. You have to entertain an audience if you want them to come back....after the interval. Calling walkers disrespectful is suspect IMO. Too many people around the arts are somewhat more than a little precious about how important what they do is. If I do my job poorly, I don't expect my customers to come back.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 28, 2017 6:57:56 GMT
Here is the rub for me, which I personally find distasteful and I know there is nothing coming up in the queen's speech about this, so it's not going to be law anytime soon. But to go on a theatre messenger board and talk about an art form, then happily indulge that you scarper at the interval, I find completely alien and disrespectful. Take that to its logical conclusion and no-one would ever switch off a tv programme, abandon a terrible movie, or walk away from a busker mid song. I dont agree with getting up while a theatre performance is underway, disturbing other punters and possibly the actors. But choosing not to come back after the interval is not disrespectful, it's exercising choice in exactly the same way as we did when we handed over our hard-earned ticket money in the first place.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 8:45:38 GMT
I've never booed a performance, nor have I ever asked for my money back. (I have complained about a bad experience after the event and been offered a free return trip though, for which I was appropriately grateful.) I may have left a handful of shows (out of literally thousands attended over my lifetime so far) at the interval, but I've never left in a way that would disturb the cast or my fellow audience members. Also I know for a fact the least respectful I have ever been was when I desperately wanted to leave an interval-less show but couldn't establish a reasonable escape route, and even that was just not being discreet about the fact I was actively trying to fall asleep (and I may have accidentally headbutted the wall behind me in despair at a particularly appalling line of dialogue). If my behaviour counts as disrespectful, then I think you should probably stop going to the theatre all together, because you're going to have your mind BLOWN when you see how many people rustle sweet papers, rattle jewellery, use their phones, chat to their neighbours, go to the loo whenever they fancy it, take their stinky shoes off, etc. Also, I take umbrage at the idea I'm "happily indulging" when I've scarpered at the interval. You think I *wanted* the shows I paid hard-earned money for and gave an afternoon/evening of my life to to turn out to be so unbearably terrible I couldn't hack it any longer? The ONLY happiness involved in leaving a show at the interval is knowing you've only done half the suffering. That still doesn't make up for the money paid, the time used, and the crushing disappointment that a show you thought looked good enough to devote some of your finite resources to wasn't even worth the booking fee, especially if you know you chose it over another show that in hindsight would have been a MUCH better choice, and ESPECIALLY if people are then going to be all unnecessarily sanctimonious about your decision to set yourself free.
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 29, 2017 7:31:35 GMT
Here is the rub for me, which I personally find distasteful and I know there is nothing coming up in the queen's speech about this, so it's not going to be law anytime soon. But to go on a theatre messenger board and talk about an art form, then happily indulge that you scarper at the interval, I find completely alien and disrespectful. People who have paid for their ticket lose their right to walk? I do question walking DURING a performance but at the interval why shouldn't they? I 'donate' a significant amount of my personal disposable income to the theater and sometimes I get RUBBISH in return. More fool me for not checking up beforehand but to suggest that I have to eat it all up is perverse. You have to entertain an audience if you want them to come back....after the interval. Calling walkers disrespectful is suspect IMO. Too many people around the arts are somewhat more than a little precious about how important what they do is. If I do my job poorly, I don't expect my customers to come back. Here is the rub for me, which I personally find distasteful and I know there is nothing coming up in the queen's speech about this, so it's not going to be law anytime soon. But to go on a theatre messenger board and talk about an art form, then happily indulge that you scarper at the interval, I find completely alien and disrespectful. Take that to its logical conclusion and no-one would ever switch off a tv programme, abandon a terrible movie, or walk away from a busker mid song. I dont agree with getting up while a theatre performance is underway, disturbing other punters and possibly the actors. But choosing not to come back after the interval is not disrespectful, it's exercising choice in exactly the same way as we did when we handed over our hard-earned ticket money in the first place. Well if someone chooses to leave in the interval it is down to them and their sense of entitlement, not something I would choose to do out of good manners to the actors. You cannot really compare this with watching TV or a Movie. However I find it absolutely abhorrent and distasteful that a theatre forum, which are for fans of the genre, should post up and wear it 'as a badge of honour'.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 7:57:02 GMT
I don't think anyone is wearing it as a badge of honour (well except maybe one well known poster...) most of us have said 'yes I have reluctantly left x or y' but read back most comments and we've also commented on how often this was because we were unwell, or conditions in the theatre were so bad as much as for the show.
I don't think it's 'disrespectful' at all. I would rather a person leave quietly at the interval than remain, being disengaged, or even outright hostile to what they are seeing. There is no sense of entitlement here. It's our time, our money and we aren't hurting anyone by leaving. I am a fan of many things, but it doesn't mean I blindly love it, or indeed have to continue loving it in instances where it's either actually offensive or uncomfortable enough to make me want to leave.
Also as Baemax points out, for most of us out of 1000s of theatrical events, we can count on one hand the number of times we've left. It's not like any of us (well almost) are leaving every week. I just don't understand how that's 'entitled'
Personally I'd find it difficult to leave a tiny show where my exist would be visible to all involved. But really if I'm sitting at the back of the Olivier and leave at the interval of Common who is any the wiser? nobody.
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Post by The Matthew on Jun 29, 2017 8:07:51 GMT
Well if someone chooses to leave in the interval it is down to them and their sense of entitlement, not something I would choose to do out of good manners to the actors. Indirectly, you're paying them to do a job. If you're not happy with the results then why should you be compelled to sit through it? Is it good manners to expect someone to have a miserable time out of deference to the very thing that is making them miserable? That's one hell of a pedestal you're putting actors on.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 29, 2017 10:24:29 GMT
If you are in a small studio space (and part of a small audience) then the cast might well notice a couple of new gaps in the audience - but otherwise, they are unlikely to be taking that much notice of a few people not returning after the interval. They, indeed, will be concentrating on their performances rather than counting empty seats.
Even if they do notice, then they can't be certain whether it was because someone has moved seats or has had bad news and returned home to deal with emergency or just hated the show so much that they can't cope with it any longer.
Yes, there are cases like the RSC Marat/Sade when it was reported large numbers of people not returning after the interval - but these are few and far between.
And at the end of the day, a cast often knows when they are in a dud. If audience members are leaving, it is likely that there are cast members who wish they could do the same!
As a paying customer, an audience member is at liberty not to return after the interval. You have paid your money, if you are not being entertained then there is no disrespect shown by leaving. Making a fuss about getting up part way through an act to ensure that everyone around you knows that you are leaving is disrespectful. Occasionally you might miss an absolutely amazing second half - but if the production has failed to grip you during the first half, the fault is not with you for not wanting to waste any more of your life on a less than pleasurable experience.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 10:49:35 GMT
Does this same imaginary 'rule' apply to either stand up or gigs? I've left more gigs than plays, either through not liking the band or venue. Equally I've never done it but I imagine it's torture to find yourself in a stand up show that just isn't your cup of tea...
Honestly as long as nobody is climbing over others to get out, frankly I'm pretty sure nobody gives a damn if you leave halfway though.
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Post by d'James on Jun 29, 2017 11:06:14 GMT
I don't think I've mentioned it before but once I left Sister Act at the Interval when Whoopi was in it. Me and my friend had just booked tickets for the following week, when the Box Office Manager offered free tickets to the show that had just started because a coach trip hadn't turned up yet. Well, guess what, they had turned up by the Interval so they offered us the option of standing at the back for the second half of the show, but as we had tickets for the following week we left. No empty seat, no problem ;-)
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