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Post by johng on Jun 16, 2023 14:02:11 GMT
Watermill had Jasper Britton as Rooster. I booked but didn't go and I have no idea why!
I understand what people mean about Rylance = Rooster but I saw an amateur production at the Electric Factory in Guildford back in 2016 and it was wonderful and persuaded me it is a great play and not simply actor dependent
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Post by johng on May 21, 2022 21:48:46 GMT
Ian Mckellen and Derek Jacobi at the first preview of The Unfriend in Chichester. Also Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue.
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Post by johng on Jan 6, 2022 15:14:42 GMT
Received from CFT yesterday
We are deeply sorry to have to tell you that the production of Two Cigarettes in the Dark will not go ahead as planned this Spring. Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty around Covid-19, the producers feel unable to proceed with their tour, therefore all performances have been cancelled including those at Chichester
Having looked at the miniscule bookings for performances of An Hour and a Half Late (March), Private Lives (April), and The Homecoming (May) at Theatre Royal Brighton I worry that other productions may get cancelled prior to rehearsals starting if producers see no prospects of sales picking up.
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Post by johng on Nov 13, 2020 15:54:45 GMT
Just got an email from CFT that had this tucked away down the page. COMING SOON TO CFT (prior to a UK tour)
We are very excited that in the new year, we will be announcing our new Spring 2021 season. It will open with Michael Frayn's classic comedy Benefactors, a funny, gripping and wryly shrewd look at the unforeseen consequences of our best intentions. Directed by Charlotte Gwinner, the play will reunite Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner who starred in the BBC's hugely popular Outnumbered. Further details and booking dates will be sent to you in January.
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Post by johng on Mar 16, 2020 16:13:24 GMT
Yvonne Arnaud put tickets for Judi Dench on sale this morning, and even more surprisingly they still had the £150 intimate post show reception on sale. It's not until July so there's a small chance the show will happen, but surely not the meet and greet
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Post by johng on Feb 24, 2020 22:31:01 GMT
This is also on at the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford on July 5.
Regular Tickets from £28.50
On-Sale Dates Vanbrugh - Mon 2 March Friends - Mon 9 March General - Mon 16 March
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Post by johng on Apr 19, 2019 13:02:45 GMT
I'm choosing a ticket for this for the matinee on April 27 and would be grateful for some advice.
My options are Pit H13, K10, L33, M31 or Circle N43.
I would normally go for H13 as the closest to the stage but as I'm only 5'7" I was slightly concerned by a note on the monkey's site
that the rake is very shallow.
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Post by johng on Aug 28, 2018 10:26:38 GMT
Perhaps only "a very different RSC" in the sense that this is a transfer of the 2014 production in New York. Nothing wrong with that but equally nothing to do with the RSC
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Post by johng on Jul 24, 2018 15:20:46 GMT
Just noticed at evening shows on 2 and 4 October Mark Rylance performing Pinter's Nobel speech.
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Post by johng on Feb 23, 2018 20:41:09 GMT
The Herald understands that "The Boy in the Dress" would be launched as the festive family show for 2019
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Post by johng on Feb 23, 2018 20:38:02 GMT
"David Walliams to work with RSC on new musical" is the headline
You can link to the front page through their twitter feed
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Post by johng on Feb 13, 2018 14:17:09 GMT
I agree with Lynette, how much poorer we would be without the RSC King John ;-) I do remember watching the John Barton Wars of the Roses and discovering lines that completely clarified why people felt so hostile and untrusting of Clarence, and was confused why these lines were normally left out. Of course I subsequently discovered these were just some of the lines Barton had written and added, but it certainly convinced me of the value of not being over respectful of the text. I also seem to remember that Billington suggested that Barton's production of King John could be be included in the "Best New Play" category of the Oliviers.
I saw 2059 stated as when Beckett could pass into the Public Domain, so I think that follows the european rule of 70 years after death. Not sure about what they can do after that to maintain control (hopefully nothing, but rather academic for me!).
Branagh's "eternity" film version runs at 4 hours, and merges bits from the various texts. Most of the variant texts cover the same ground, so there are only a few bits that are in one version not another and can be added to make it longer (unless you add multiple versions of the same soliloquy, or where different characters have the same scene) I don't know whether someone has ever tried to stage one this long.
Tiffany Stern gave a British Academy lecture in 2014 dealing with the Elizabethan/Shakespearean attitude to time (it used to be available online). When she considered what the running time of plays might have been based on lots of contradictory evidence she (when pressed) said her best guess would be not more than three hours, although that would be without an interval, but might include the post show jig, which apparently could run up to 30 minutes.
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Post by johng on Feb 13, 2018 12:58:40 GMT
Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra both have more lines than Lear so you think both the recent RSC productions were heavily cut as well.
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Post by johng on Feb 13, 2018 11:59:11 GMT
Not just the estate but Beckett himself, as shown by the note he legally insisted be added to the programme of a 1984 production:
“Any production of Endgame which ignores my stage directions is completely unacceptable to me. My play requires an empty room and two small windows. The American Repertory Theater production which dismisses my directions is a complete parody of the play as conceived by me. Anybody who cares for the work couldn’t fail to be disgusted by this.”
The Footfalls led to Beckett's literary agent issuing a statement that "the director will be forbidden to do his plays in the future", while Billie Whitelaw said she "felt as if Samuel Beckett were burned at the stake; I felt numb, physically ill."
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Post by johng on Feb 13, 2018 11:00:34 GMT
McKellen King Lear ran 2 hours 55 minutes plus interval in the Minerva and Almeida Hamlet 3 hours 6 minutes plus intervals so not "heavily cut" surely.
Rose Bankside currently doing an 80 minute Macbeth and next month a 90 minute Loves Laboours Lost.
My highlights of 2017 included a 60 minute one actor Richard III in the back room of a pub, and a 93 minute plus interval two performer puppet Richard II in the freezing cellar of an art gallery in Brighton. This took place under a plastic roof in a biblical downpour and was one of the best Shakespeare productions I've ever seen. It's my favourite play and I normally like a full three hours at least as almost every word is joyous to me, but this showed how malleable these plays are.
Also Richard III in Salisbury Cathedral at under 2 hours plus interval required a lot of cutting for what is a very long text, but managed to retain Queen Margaret, who sadly often seems to get excised when a reduced running time is required.
Certainly the RSC could have improved all 3 Roman plays I saw (I missed JC due to being "Southerned" on the inward journey) by cutting 20-30 minutes from them.
Beckett would benefit from allowing more imaginative adaptations but that's not going to happen while they are treated with such absurd reverence and rigidity.
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Post by johng on Nov 14, 2017 15:49:37 GMT
Also no restriction on buying a single seat leaving a single seat (BTW there is a a single front row £25 seat left for the matinee on November 7th)
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Post by johng on Jul 24, 2017 16:27:46 GMT
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Post by johng on Jul 10, 2017 13:41:01 GMT
Tickets for Bath are now on sale, and I've got my usual front row seat for the matinee on April 5th booked. Tempted to book the evening as well to ensure I get to see Lia Williams as Elizabeth, but decided in the end I would leave it to the coin toss!
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Post by johng on Jun 15, 2017 7:18:25 GMT
I saw in on 28 May and it ran 2 hours 30 minutes (Out by 6pm at a 3:30pm matinee)
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Post by johng on May 29, 2017 10:27:39 GMT
At this for the sunday matinee and thought it had a couple of fantastic moments but as a whole was more a makes you smile than a makes you laugh out loud comedy. Haven't yet decided whether I'll go again on July 2nd so I might have a spare front row ticket if anyone's keen.
It ran 2hours 30 minutes and it certainly didn't drag.
Maureen Lipman played the uptight character very well, and Felicity Kendall was suitably eccentric as Lettice. As an aside I don't really get the nasty remarks about her appearance as for a 70 year old she looks fine.
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Post by johng on May 25, 2017 17:26:42 GMT
Just received notice that they've cancelled the Wednesday matinees, so I guess the ticket sales hadn't picked up.
Was doing this next Wednesday with an evening performance of Ugly Lies The Bone, so may have to try to find something else to justify the train journey to London!
Unfortunately means I won't be able to get to this, shame as I really like Greg Hicks
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Post by johng on Apr 28, 2017 7:56:18 GMT
Professional Foul can be found on Youtube.
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Post by johng on Apr 10, 2017 14:35:13 GMT
Sope Dirisu is playing Coriolanus.
Described by Olivier as the easiest role in Shakespeare.
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Post by johng on Feb 24, 2017 21:13:37 GMT
Aiming to get this booked tomorrow before heading off to Bristol for Othello and Two Gents, and then on Sunday Orpheus and Eurydice in the Clifton Suspension Bridge!
They're limiting this production to 2 tickets per member so hopefully there will be something left for those relying on public booking. After the wonderful Lear at the Minerva in 2013, this has me really excited, again combining my favourite theatre space with my favourite play.
The Chichester announcement wording "the ensemble will include Ian McKellen" had made me wonder if he was going to play Gloucester or the Fool, given the disappointing rarity of actors revisiting the major Shakespeare roles in different productions, but I guess not.
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Post by johng on Jan 5, 2017 0:03:57 GMT
Also there for the matinee today, now feeling really glad they were able to find me a seat (B8 in the stalls) after last week's cancellation (and they gave me a £10 refund as well!)
I thought the casting was so perfect with Lia Williams as Mary that I find it hard to imagine the other way around. Shame they are not doing any performances with the casting "preset" as I would really like to see how it works the other way.
And remarkably the Southern Rail "reduced" service from Chichester got me to London on time and home only ten minutes late, so that's a real bonus on any London theatre trip these days!
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Post by johng on Dec 28, 2016 12:18:30 GMT
Thanks to Xanderl for the link. I hadn't seen that on theatremonkey's site before (although I'm always on there for the seating plans), and it will be useful in future.
I had checked the TKTS site earlier but I saw This House in Chichester and I've got the Dresser booked at the CFT in January, and nothing else really appealed. I thoroughly enjoyed Nice Fish but not enough for a second visit.
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Post by johng on Dec 28, 2016 11:58:25 GMT
Luckily, I spoke to them earlier and although they couldn't confirm definitely the cancellation at that time I decided to take a chance and stay home. Disappointed to miss this if I can't reschedule, but not as disappointed as I would have been if I'd submitted myself to the vagaries of Southern railway and only found out when I arrived in London!
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Post by johng on Dec 28, 2016 11:55:00 GMT
Both today's performances are cancelled.
Apparently due to Juliet Stevenson illness.
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Post by johng on Dec 27, 2016 21:12:35 GMT
Just noticed this on the Almeida website:
27/12/2016: Unfortunately we are cancelling tonight's performance of Mary Stuart due to cast illness. We apologise for the disappointment this will cause
Supposed to be travelling up for the matinee tomorrow so I hope they make a decision about it before I have to leave Chichester in the morning (and with Southern the way they are that will be quite early!)
Otherwise I could end up hunting for a matinee to see.
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Post by johng on Dec 18, 2016 23:03:23 GMT
Saw this last week, and thought it was much inferior to the Chichester version. The first half is 20 minutes shorter than the Hare version but felt much longer. Some great actors in this production but when Geoffrey Streatfeild and Jo Herbert seem at a loss as to how to make the play work, not much is going well. Every character seemed inferior to the Hare version. It felt they were struggling to fit the tragic and farcical elements together, and the transition between the two was jarring, something that never happened in Chichester.
Possible I simply prefer Hare to Frayn, as in this case the source material is so unfinished that it will have more the stamp of the adaptor than the author.
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