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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 14:49:14 GMT
I'm seeing this play next week. The stuff about Belgium/Colonialism now has me very curious. Very curious or very very very curious?
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1,907 posts
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Post by sf on Oct 18, 2018 14:57:01 GMT
I'm seeing this play next week. The stuff about Belgium/Colonialism now has me very curious. Very curious or very very very curious?
Just Very curious. I'm very very very curious about the Young Vic's Twelfth Night, which I'll be seeing later on the same day.
(And I'm even more curious to know whether the taxi company I use will leave me standing outside Piccadilly station in Manchester for 25 minutes from 2am on my way home, like they did they other week. If they DO, it's hello Uber.)
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Post by MrBunbury on Oct 18, 2018 15:51:28 GMT
I saw this on Tuesday night and I found it rather disappointing. Maybe I was spoiled by all the nice things I have seen before written by Martin McDonagh, but it did not seem to have much to say. I studied the evil Belgian colonialism in school though so I missed the surprise element there.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2018 20:39:18 GMT
Very curious or very very very curious?
Just Very curious. I'm very very very curious about the Young Vic's Twelfth Night, which I'll be seeing later on the same day.
(And I'm even more curious to know whether the taxi company I use will leave me standing outside Piccadilly station in Manchester for 25 minutes from 2am on my way home, like they did they other week. If they DO, it's hello Uber.)
Wow! That is quite a day you’ve got lined up for yourself. Then travelling back to Manchester? That’s dedication.
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Post by sf on Oct 18, 2018 23:23:42 GMT
Just Very curious. I'm very very very curious about the Young Vic's Twelfth Night, which I'll be seeing later on the same day.
(And I'm even more curious to know whether the taxi company I use will leave me standing outside Piccadilly station in Manchester for 25 minutes from 2am on my way home, like they did they other week. If they DO, it's hello Uber.)
Wow! That is quite a day you’ve got lined up for yourself. Then travelling back to Manchester? That’s dedication.
I can sleep (a bit) on the train, and it's cheaper than staying overnight, which in any case isn't always the easiest thing for me to do because of commitments at home. It's a long day - and this week it adds up to a lot of travelling, because I'll be in London on Saturday afternoon as well for a leisurely walk from Hyde Park Corner to Parliament Square with a few like-minded people and some blue and yellow flags - but it's a way of sometimes getting to see things I wouldn't bother with if I had to make a separate trip for them.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 19, 2018 9:07:06 GMT
I wouldn't bother with if I had to make a separate trip for them. I was doing two plays on Saturdays, but I'm mainly going for Saturday matinees now because the night bus back up North wiped me out for the following days, and if one of the two plays turned out to be bad it overshadowed the other. If I book far enough ahead I can do the travel for about £35. And if the reviews are stinking for the play I advance booked for, I try and get a return for something better.
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Post by lichtie on Oct 19, 2018 9:57:10 GMT
I wouldn't bother with if I had to make a separate trip for them. I was doing two plays on Saturdays, but I'm mainly going for Saturday matinees now because the night bus back up North wiped me out for the following days, and if one of the two plays turned out to be bad it overshadowed the other. If I book far enough ahead I can do the travel for about £35. And if the reviews are stinking for the play I advance booked for, I try and get a return for something better. Couldn't imagine taking a night bus after a play - you must have had real stamina to do that for any length of time! I just cough up the cash for an overnight stay in London (which usually works out better doing Friday evening/Saturday matinee performances than all Saturday). There is a late train back to Leeds during the week, but my employer might object if I showed up completely brain dead having only got home at 3am, so my only other option is Saturday matinee only which starts to add up in terms of using up weekends.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 19, 2018 13:06:39 GMT
Couldn't imagine taking a night bus after a play Yeah, I thought I would be able to sleep on it but I don't, so unless it's some really amazing preview or I can get into a press night I'm not going to do it anymore (though in summer, the dawns can be beautiful when it goes through Cheshire). Saturday matinees are fine, it's only 2 hours by train from where I live to Euston, though it does mean I can't get cheap preview seats as they're rarely for matinees.
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Post by gazzaw13 on Oct 19, 2018 22:40:46 GMT
Interesting that early on HCA references 'The Emperors New Clothes' because if this hadn't been written by a big name playwright I can't imagine it would ever have played in a major theatre. I found the whole play dull, crude, repetitive and deeply unpleasant. All you need to know is that the biggest laughs come from repetitions of 'c*ck and balls' he's a c*** and F*ck off Andersen. I'm no prude, usually enjoy McDonagh and loved 'Beauty Queen', 'In Bruges' and 'The Guard' but this was dire. The rush for the exits at the curtain call told me that I wasn't alone.
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Post by Marwood on Oct 19, 2018 22:50:43 GMT
The Guard was written and directed by Martins brother, John Michael McDonagh but sorry to hear about your displeasure watching this (I’m seeing it a week tomorrow)
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Post by partytentdown on Oct 19, 2018 23:02:46 GMT
Is there any real life inspiration to anything that happens in this? Friend asked 'did they find a pygmy skeleton in his room after he died or something?'. What's the starting point for creating such a weird story?
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Post by gazzaw13 on Oct 19, 2018 23:03:00 GMT
Thanks for the correction Marwood. I hope you enjoy it and please do post your thoughts. I doubt anyone will be neutral on this one.
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Post by peggs on Oct 20, 2018 9:16:17 GMT
Any blood?
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Post by partytentdown on Oct 20, 2018 10:21:08 GMT
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Post by Stephen on Oct 20, 2018 12:42:23 GMT
The Whingers didn't enjoy this one too much either.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 20, 2018 13:51:32 GMT
The Whingers didn't enjoy this one too much either. No - their experience was similar to mine. I've really enjoyed his previous work but thought this was dire. Monstagigz didn't like it either.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 15:26:26 GMT
Well all these reviews are depressing. Was hoping for a winner with this one.
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Post by Ade on Oct 20, 2018 15:41:18 GMT
Just seen this at the matinee. I feel like it’s prime matinee material in that I’ve gone, I’ve enjoyed it enough for an and a half, and now I’m heading home without investing an evening in it. Stylistically there’s much to like here. But it’s actually bonkers and barely makes a shred of sense.
Oh and just to add that from my seat on the front row there were definitely a fair few people laughing at the (very simplistic) humour. The laughs were actually nearly as loud as the activity under the stage.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 20, 2018 16:21:11 GMT
Interesting that early on HCA references 'The Emperors New Clothes' Maybe it's just a big, shredded-Banksy style prank, and Andersen's the clue (she says, clutching at straws about a writer she's hitherto liked).
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Post by peggs on Oct 20, 2018 16:36:07 GMT
Do you mind giving some more details if you put it in spoilers please, I'm doing a faint risk feeler.
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Post by Ade on Oct 20, 2018 19:38:34 GMT
Saw it this afternoon, too. Can't say much before press night, but regarding row A, there is a large space between it and the stage. If you are 5ft 9 or over you will see the floor. Row B isn't raked, but you will see the floor from there if nobody tall is in front. The sides of A are best avoided for the reasons already mentioned (that stage corner between the knees is weird) and you won't see behind the proscenium line either, I feel. Regarding blood there is a lot of graphic talk about amputation, and one cut to the head, plus a shooting that has open wounds revealed. There are also two bare chested characters with blood covered torsos containing graphic long wounds stitched together. . Just to say I was in A26 at the side and found it fine but I feel just being one further along in 27 would have made a big difference because of the proximity to the corner.
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Post by peggs on Oct 20, 2018 21:04:36 GMT
Thanks for info Monkey
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Post by smallperson on Oct 20, 2018 22:42:13 GMT
The rush for the exits at the curtain call told me that I wasn't alone. Although this could just be due to the fact that if you snooze you lose if you delay getting out of the Stalls at the end of a Bridge Theatre show!
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Post by perfectspy on Oct 20, 2018 22:46:17 GMT
I saw this play on Monday and liked it. Not sure I could watch it again though. Yep, it’s a very dark play. I am a fan and am familiar with the works of the author which helps to understand just what you’re watching. My seat was in gallery 3, A56. Though on the side, the seat is turned to slightly face the stage so you don’t get a crooked neck.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 21, 2018 9:12:37 GMT
getting out of the Stalls Yes, it takes ages! I went to the front to look at the set afterwards and got stuck in for a while. I presume there are other doors for emergencies but it does feel like a design flaw, esp. given the demographic here seems quite old.
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Post by partytentdown on Oct 21, 2018 11:20:03 GMT
What the hell was going on under the stage? Sounded like someone was un-velcroing something for about 20mins at one point.
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Post by Ade on Oct 21, 2018 13:02:39 GMT
What the hell was going on under the stage? Sounded like someone was un-velcroing something for about 20mins at one point. It was so loud yesterday matinee. I get it’s going to be slightly more noisy with it not being a permanent stage, but surely they could have been quieter. That said maybe they aren’t aware if nobody has told them.
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Post by Mr Snow on Oct 24, 2018 6:14:49 GMT
I though this must be the inspiration behind the the asking for your money back thread? If I paid 12£ at Edinburgh fest and it lasted an hour I’d be thinking “Next”. But I paid 4 x £65 and it felt longer than The Ring. Our night was approx 1 hr 15mins. There were walkouts in a play with no interval (never seen that outside The Fest) and even those annoying creatures who self regardingly laugh very loudly were silent by half way through.
I thought Broadbent looked embarrassed at the curtain call.
I overheard a lady at ROH last night who said much the same and said she’d reviewed it on line and given 1star. But the bridge had sent a questionnaire and she didn’t want to be unkind so told them two stars! I feel many of the comments on this thread are like that, please stop being “kind” and call this out for what it is. A boring mess.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 24, 2018 9:19:36 GMT
asking for your money back thread? I do think this could become a byword for awfulness though, so it was interesting to see in a Springtime for Hitler, Plan 9 from Outer Space way.
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Post by Steve on Oct 24, 2018 10:03:04 GMT
Although far too succinct to cover such serious issues in depth, for me, this is a memorable, original, funny and worthwhile comedy-horror satire on the colonial attitudes and actions of our ancestors. Without getting into specific spoilers, McDonagh is no Tarantino. He is not riffing on sensitive issues for the sheer "edgy" frisson of it. Instead, he creates his own cruel fairy tale about a man who writes cruel fairy tales, that connects the cruelty of yesterday to the cruelty of today. Man has not evolved for hundreds of thousands of years, so for me, it's imperative to understand how and why our ancestors of only 150 years ago, no different from us, could live perfectly happily, guilt-free, doing terrible things. I think this satire of a dopey egotistical Han Christian Andersen, who thinks of himself as a nice chap, yet engages in dreadful behaviour, does a superb job of getting to the bottom of this question. And equally importantly, thanks to Jim Broadbent's laser-precision comedic caricature of a gentle bumbling self-regarding Andersen, this is all very funny, if you allow yourself to tune into the play's savage satirical tone. Phil Daniels is perfectly cast, and equally hilarious, as he does love to overegg a pudding, and here he is invited to do so with glee. The scenes with Broadbent, Daniels, Elizabeth Berrington, and some kids, in Dicken's house, are hysterically funny. The set is a marvel, a myriad of fairy tale dolls hidden in dark recesses, with an enormous ticking pendulum as a thumping resonant reminder of the fact that time passes, but beneath the surface of things, nothing ever changes. Overall, despite it's thinness, I felt this was a massively original and memorable production, effectively engaging with the past in a way very few more conventional plays ever do. 4 stars.
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