1,846 posts
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Post by NeilVHughes on Dec 25, 2017 8:12:08 GMT
Also saw this on Friday, a very dry and slightly confusing play, know it is based on truth but came away feeling there is no way the two protagonists would ever get on and be able to pull off the escape. Not sure if this was down to the production or the play,
Worth seeing as a curio and the scheduling did give an opportunity to get away from Christmas for a few hours.
Seeing Mother Christmas this Friday and saw Pine a few years ago one of my favourite Christmas plays so Hampstead can do Christmas, It must be a marketing choice to give people a break from Christmas, has worked well in previous years with Wild Honey and Hapgood coming to mind.
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3,471 posts
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Post by showgirl on Dec 25, 2017 20:18:55 GMT
Seeing Mother Christmas this Friday and saw Pine a few years ago one of my favourite Christmas plays so Hampstead can do Christmas, It must be a marketing choice to give people a break from Christmas, has worked well in previous years with Wild Honey and Hapgood coming to mind. Now there's an interesting point - or two: firstly, though in reverse order, whist I liked Hapgood and Wild Honey, surely the scheduling was coincidental and unrelated to the season? I simply don't think they pay any attention to it in the main house, unless they deliberately ignore it, but it comes to the same thing. Secondly, ah, but can Hampstead do Christmas? Perhaps wait until you've seen Mother Christmas, then decide - or maybe reconsider? I think they were fortunate in being able to programme Christmas-related plays in the smaller space both this year and last, and I won't comment on Mother Christmas until you've seen it, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing mine.
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6,296 posts
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Post by Jon on Dec 25, 2017 20:22:17 GMT
Ayckbourn at Hampstead would be like Ray Cooney at the Almeida, very unlikely to happen.
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4,631 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Dec 25, 2017 20:56:40 GMT
I would tend to agree, if this has actually sold well, but ticket sales have been very poor. Nothing wrong with Hampstead doing Ayckbourn, one of our most famous and renowned playwrights and will sell much more tickets, the National did The Magistrate several seasons ago, just thinking of something in a similar vein, or even a Broadway transfer of a play, but not some poor mediocre play.
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1,315 posts
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Post by tmesis on Dec 30, 2017 18:46:43 GMT
Saw the matinee today and enjoyed it. It kept me engaged throughout. Although not a two-handed, in effect 60% is and Geoffrey Streatfeild and Emmet Byrne are excellent as the two 'friends.' I found the KGB officers, although funny, unconvincingly cartoonish, though.
House was virtually full and I, for one, welcome a very unchristmassy production (says the man writing this in the foyer of ROH waiting to see his umpteenth performance of Nutcracker!)
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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 Dec 31, 2017 8:47:50 GMT
Enjoyed this, definitely worth seeing and difficult to see why it was so badly received first time around. Possibly casting two people best known as comedians raised the wrong expectations as to what sort of play it is?
Personally I'm glad not all theatres put on Christmassy fare at this time of year. And given a lot of Hampstead's core audience is from the local Jewish community its not surprising they choose not to!
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Post by oldhasbeen on Jan 4, 2018 11:19:49 GMT
Quite good but I have the same reservations about it as I had with other Simon Gray plays I've seen - it's rather wordy and a tad plodding. You could probably cut 25% of the play (especially in the first half) without losing anything. And just a bit of the inventiveness of a good Ayckbourn play, or the directorial dash of Rupert Goold or Stephen Daldry wouldn't have gone amiss
The cast, however, were excellent, and not only the leads. Cara Horgan was terrific in both her roles and although the two KGB agents were a bt Laurel and Hardy, they were welcome relief from some of the play's stodginess.
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1,177 posts
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Post by joem on Jan 6, 2018 0:26:34 GMT
Just about ok to watch but slight and morally objectionable to me. I can't understand the extent of the obsession with scumbags like Blake. He wasn't even a glamorous spy just a dirty, little civil servant gone wrong. Look forward to reading his obituary soon.
The cast did a decent job but I do wonder at the taste of the Laurel and Hardy KGB agents (funny as they were) and the way a character is put on stage after having done evil deeds - which we don;t see and only hear about in passing - in slippers and dressing-down. all homely and Pantaloonish. What are we expected to do? Feel his pain? Forgive him for what he doesn't regret? Pah!
A very fidgety audience. Things falling, crunchings and munchings, zippers opening and closing, some snores. The two women in front of me seemed to be suffering from St. Vitus Dance.
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3,471 posts
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Post by showgirl on Jan 20, 2018 22:13:40 GMT
Saw the final matinee again with a full house, so I wonder if the improving numbers as the run progressed were due to word of mouth or people who had always intended to see this simply leaving it late to book? I agree with earlier comments about the play being enjoyable with good performances, including the stereotypical pair of KGB agents, but the real individuals remain a mystery to me.
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Post by perfectspy on Jan 23, 2018 23:02:15 GMT
I saw this play on Dec 20 and enjoyed it as I’m into the genre of espionage. I can see why this play isn’t for everyone as it has a few dull moments. Just a quick note, before the play had started, two women had tried to tuck into some take away Chinese food. The man sitting next to them approached an usher asking to be moved. The manager came out and spoke with them. I wonder what decision process goes on in people’s heads to think that this is acceptable.
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1,177 posts
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Post by joem on Jan 23, 2018 23:35:51 GMT
I saw this play on Dec 20 and enjoyed it as I’m into the genre of espionage. I can see why this play isn’t for everyone as it has a few dull moments. Just a quick note, before the play had started, two women had tried to tuck into some take away Chinese food. The man sitting next to them approached an usher asking to be moved. The manager came out and spoke with them. I wonder what decision process goes on in people’s heads to think that this is acceptable. Well, given the circumstances asking to move doesn't sound an unreasonable request.
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