536 posts
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Post by jek on Apr 22, 2018 21:29:32 GMT
I live less than ten minutes walk from Stratford East and grew up in the East End. I would say that if you live locally it is hard to miss what is on at the theatre. Every household gets a glossy magazine called the Newham Mag delivered once a fortnight (Eric Pickles tried to stop it but failed) and this has large ads and sometimes editorial about the theatre. The shopping centre (the old one, not Westfield) frequently has banner adverts for the plays. And pretty much every Newham school child - including my three when they were at primary school - gets taken by their school to see the pantomime (part of the council's 'Every Child A Theatregoer' commitment) and so would be aware of the theatre via that. Certainly in my case it isn't that I don't know what is on at the theatre but rather that there is very little on there that I want to see. I often look at the stuff that is on and think that that isn't aimed at me, but I do wonder who some of it is aimed at. It would be so nice to see it buzzing with life.
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Post by dontdreamit on Apr 22, 2018 21:35:39 GMT
Great that Newham do that, but those surrounding boroughs- like Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets etc. don’t really hear much about it- Leyton for example is a ten minute walk away yet friends who live there never hear anything about the theatre. I just feel like there is so much untapped potential. On our local Facebook page, people are always talking about events and places to go and places all over east London (and outside of our area) are talked about, and I can’t recall this theatre being mentioned. Just what I’ve observed though.
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Post by dontdreamit on Apr 22, 2018 21:37:40 GMT
But in terms of there not being anything there you’d want to see I get that! As I said before, I check the website every so often just in case
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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 May 22, 2018 19:56:18 GMT
Considering booking for a couple of things but never visited the theatre - the £10 seats in the first two rows look like a bargain! Are they, or is there a catch (high stage, legroom, etc?)
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Post by talkingheads on May 22, 2018 21:16:34 GMT
Considering booking for a couple of things but never visited the theatre - the £10 seats in the first two rows look like a bargain! Are they, or is there a catch (high stage, legroom, etc?) I only recently discovered the Stratford East when I went to see the brilliant Mark Thomas' Showtime From The Frontline. I was sat on the front row and from what I remember the stage is low enough that although you are looking up you aren't craning your neck. Legroom also isn't a problem, room enough to stretch out. I really liked the theatre and the system of increasing the price of tickets as the theatre fills is I think a great idea. It's meant that I snapped up tickets to King Hedley II, I never got to see Henry's Othello so can't wait to watch him in this. I don't know much about the play, only the playwright from watching Denzel Washington's Fences, so it'll be lovely to see August Wilson's work onstage.
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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 May 22, 2018 22:20:28 GMT
Great, thanks! And welcome to the forum!
Planning to book for Hedley too. Saw Lenny Henry in a production of Fences a few years ago
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Post by talkingheads on May 22, 2018 22:24:38 GMT
Great, thanks! And welcome to the forum! Planning to book for Hedley too. Saw Lenny Henry in a production of Fences a few years ago Really? Wow that must have been amazing! I read an interview with Washington that he has plans to set up a production company to film all of Wilson's plays, I hope that happens. Not to take away from the plays themselves but to spread the work to people who otherwise may not be able to see them. I do wish I had the funds to go to the theatre more, but on the plus side it means that when I do go it's something I really, really want to go and see. Mark Thomas was one such show, and incidentally it was filmed at that theatre for release on DVD later this year.
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536 posts
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Post by jek on May 23, 2018 8:53:14 GMT
I've spent quite a bit of time in Stratford East for school events (like other schools in Stratford the ones my kids go to/ went to use it sometimes for prize givings and the like). It is certainly the case that the first four or five rows of the stalls have much more leg room than those a bit further back. But I'm afraid I don't know about the front row
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Post by cartoonman on Dec 4, 2022 21:13:07 GMT
I can remember when Waltham Forest Council was credited on the programmes as a funder. This stopped years ago. I used to enjoy the melodramas. The best I saw was Silvester McCoy in Zorro. Great fun. I havent been to TRSE for a couple of years now and go to the Southwark Playhouse where every production I have seen has been good and some really good.
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