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Post by Spectator on Jul 25, 2018 10:19:49 GMT
Yeah, thought I’d be pushing it with a few hours to go! Might need to have a bit more faith in First Great Western’s punctuality in this case...
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Post by Spectator on Jul 25, 2018 9:35:58 GMT
Anyone know what the exchange policy is? Have a ticket for tonight but was hoping to try and exchange for a later date. Booked through DMT. (Understand have probably left it a bit late!)
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Post by Spectator on Mar 11, 2018 17:04:36 GMT
In the tiny minority who really liked this (with some reservations), so I am biased, but the intensity of the backlash is still disappointing.
Can’t help but feel some critics wanted a more straightforward setting with heavily signposted contemporary tie-ins about the evils of populism.
Norris took a risk by taking different track. That seems to have backfired, but it was taken for the right reasons, IMO.
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Post by Spectator on Mar 8, 2018 11:18:25 GMT
Sad to see the reviews; this genuinely isn’t that bad and the central performances alone make it more than solid.
The length was far and away the biggest issue when I saw it last week (2 hours 50) and it sounds as if that’s being addressed.
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Post by Spectator on Feb 27, 2018 22:33:24 GMT
So...I liked this.
It’s long; I don’t know the text that well, but not sure a single line was cut (was just under three hours tonight, so assuming some edits have been made since last night.)
Kinnear does chart the descent into madness very effectively and Anne-Marie Duff is basically amazing - actually making you sympathise along the way rather than right at the end, if at all. Don’t think there were any weak links in the cast.
The setting does take some getting used to and probably will divide people. Personally, felt the near-future dystopian was a lot less gimmicky than traditional modern-dress settings. There was a risk this could have shouted “IT’S ABOUT BREXIT”, but it opted for something more subtle and novel.
Appreciate it’s nearly sold out for the run, but would be a shame if this gets a mauling given the calibre of the performances and innovative (if risky) effort to take one of the best-known tragedies in a different direction.
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Post by Spectator on Feb 25, 2018 0:41:18 GMT
The Normal Heart is pretty much the top of my list. I'm also putting in my once a decade request for another decent production of Bent (I know others have been about since but I've missed them). A slightly weird one but I'd like to revisit 'What the Night is for' by Michael Weller. Simply because it was the first play I ever saw, and I'd like to revisit. Oh forgot about The Normal Heart, saw a tape recording of it in the Lincoln Centre archive, even on tape I had such a visceral reaction to it, but would love to see it in the flesh, as this is where theatre deliever. Surprised this hasn’t been picked up by the subsidised theatre, only can think the reason it hasn’t came back is because there is no chance of a Broadway transfer this soon. Let me run this by the board - I have no issue of a production coming back as it was, when it was originally done, I appreciate casting may be difficult. If the returning production was well received, thinking along the lines of Jerusalem, Hangman, The Flick and The River - not everything needs to be revived (where substantial changes are made). Wondering what you think? Slightly off-topic, but strict are the Lincoln Centre’s academic research restrictions? It’s a pretty amazing archive, but the conditions of use always sound quite narrow.
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Post by Spectator on Nov 4, 2017 13:44:54 GMT
Agreed on the audience. This section was a bit PAd-heavy when I went - exposed by the spontaneous raising of right hands whenever the Red Flag was played. Can you explain "PAd-heavy, please, Spectator, as I've no idea what you mean? Sure, PAd: political advisor. Basically Malcolm Tucker wannabes.
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Post by Spectator on Nov 3, 2017 19:39:46 GMT
Saw this last night and really enjoyed it even if I didn't really believe the ending. Youngest theatre audience I've been with for a long time - I was up in the gods, but even so. Agreed on the audience. This section was a bit PAd-heavy when I went - exposed by the spontaneous raising of right hands whenever the Red Flag was played.
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Post by Spectator on Nov 3, 2017 19:00:32 GMT
Adrian Edmondson always set out to be an actor, and has got a reasonable amount of acting-acting under his belt since deciding that the comedy thing had been lovely but he was about done with it now. Definitely. He was really good as a Soviet scientist in a dramatisation of the response to Chernobyl.
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Post by Spectator on Oct 6, 2017 1:12:07 GMT
Wow.
Close to a definitive cast. In addition to Lear, Goneril, Regan, Gloucester and Edgar particularly great as well.
As a modern-dress sceptic when it comes to Lear, consider myself fully converted.
Soundtrack very cinematic, storm scene very realistic - as is a certain other scene (consider Beggin' You officially ruined from now on...)
McKellen heartbreaking in his final rejection, the storm and during the ending. Makes it seem effortless.
All in all worth fighting your way through a rail strike, sleep deprivation and general logistical difficulties to get to.
So, so hope this is filmed or there's a limited transfer to a suitable space.
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Post by Spectator on Sept 25, 2017 23:15:08 GMT
I have before now made my entire row in the Minerva move up one so I can be on the end of the row for a quick escape. If you're reasonably able-bodied, I think it's quicker to dash from theatre to station on foot rather than gamble on a taxi. There's sometimes a later train that goes to Three Bridges, from where there are reasonably regular trains to Blackfriars and Victoria through the night, which is a useful plan B for London-bound theatre-goers. Maybe worth checking if there's a way to Brighton from there? If it's three hours though, I should hope you'd be fine as long as you don't dawdle, even with a 7.45 start. They must know people travel by train! Thanks - this is really helpful. Just wondering if I can summon the courage to ask everyone to move during the final act: "Howl, howl, how-sorry; train to catch"
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Post by Spectator on Sept 25, 2017 16:04:13 GMT
Seeing this Wednesday and was wondering about logistics.
Somewhat optimistically hoping to catch the 23:17 train to Brighton (yes, I know...)
Understand running time is 3 hours plus interval and c. 20 minute walk to the station, so would be cutting it really fine.
Just wondering how people usually handle this and how easy it is to exit the Minerva before the performance ends.
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Post by Spectator on Jul 15, 2017 7:58:12 GMT
Saw Dunkirk earlier tonight, introduced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas - I have to say I was impressed, I have a few reservations (the characters are a bit thinly written, i. e. Tom Hardy IS 'RAF guy', Mark Rylance IS 'bloke with a boat', Ken Branagh IS 'thoroughly decent Navy officer' and Hans Zimmers soundtrack was a bit too modern and atonal) and I'm not sure how much of an international market there will be for this, but recommended - make sure you see it on the biggest, loudest screen possible. Was there too. Awe-inspiring stuff and definitely worth the 3 hour wait with no guarantee of a ticket immediately beforehand. The floor of the BFI lobby is surprisingly comfortable!
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Post by Spectator on Jul 15, 2017 7:51:45 GMT
Saw this last night (as second part of an Almeida double-bill having seen Hamlet in the afternoon) and really enjoyed it. But I agree with those who heard a lot of Trunchbull in Carvel's Murdoch, and a surprisingly subdued Australian accent, I thought. The Almeida is on an amazing roll at the moment. When is the announcement of their next couple of shows due? Presumably Icke is due another big show? Yes, from the clips I've heard and the reviews, his performance sounds very different to Murdoch during that period.
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Post by Spectator on May 7, 2017 16:44:33 GMT
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Post by Spectator on Apr 26, 2017 18:35:58 GMT
Failed to accomplish several basic tasks and potentially exposed myself to asbestos (the two were unrelated). #winning
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Post by Spectator on Apr 25, 2017 22:10:41 GMT
Researcher for an MP. Somewhat at the mercy of real-world events as of last Tuesday....
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