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Post by Snciole on Jan 9, 2019 15:54:10 GMT
I've got an opportunity to send Adrian Lukis some questions for View from the Cheap Seat? Does anyone have anything they want to ask about the production?
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Post by Snciole on Jan 3, 2019 15:25:27 GMT
Please note I am not paying to see Shakespeare, which means I expect you all to pay for me or at least invite me to your all-nude production of Two Gentlemen of Verona or something.
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Post by Snciole on Jan 1, 2019 22:07:32 GMT
To be fair my experience of Shakespeare in 2018 was pretty grim. I have seen some excellent productions/adaptations (like the Mexican Macbeth in 2017) but I am getting tired of spending my money/time/both and coming out of it feeling foolish because a director has decided to make a production vague and unclear. I don't blame William at all but there is an inherent, middle class smugness to Shakespeare which just alienates me. Maybe I am stupid and foolish but you only have to humour me for a few hours that I am not.
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Post by Snciole on Jan 1, 2019 17:32:28 GMT
I struggled with this. I didn't understand who anyone was or what happening until halfway through. SRB and Leo Bill were engaging because they could focus on their characters but I don't think either was well cast but I was not getting any contemporary references/inspiration.
There was a real lack of characterisation. It reminded me of the recent Watership Down. I agree that there was some overacting from one of the actresses but she was the only one who tried to give her various characters personality and different voices (though I noticed SRB seemed to aim the bucket of water right at her though)
Also I found the use of fluids and dirt really unnecessary. You have this non existent set because everyone is imprisoned yet insist on soil, water and fake blood. Either you are embrace the symbollocks or you don't. It just heightened my anxiety about slipping and going flying into the audienxe.
To conclude I am not paying to see Shakespeare in 2019. I just don't care anymore.
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Post by Snciole on Dec 23, 2018 19:08:00 GMT
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Post by Snciole on Dec 21, 2018 14:16:58 GMT
I don't know if anyone saw Eyam at the Globe but Annette Badland played a male character and it brought nothing to the production. She isn't a masculine built actress, nor did it bring some feminity to the role. It was a real shame because in musicals like Ruthless or Matilda the gender reversal works.
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Post by Snciole on Dec 21, 2018 10:03:48 GMT
Isn't back row of the Ambassadors pretty awful though? I can imagine you'll only get to see La Logan's feet. Possibly a knee. Unless you're into podophilia I guess in which case, they're probably premium seats. It is selling so badly (at the risk of sounding like Parsley) that it is worth purchasing as you will get bumped up.
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Post by Snciole on Dec 19, 2018 11:48:06 GMT
Reports on MTAS on Facebook of sexual activity in the auditorium during this evening's performance of Bat out of Hell. Not sure how credible this is - but I don't think I have heard of oral sex being performed in the audience at a musical before... Wasn't there a report of Motown the musical having some kind of sexual activity at some point? @xandrel ?? (For clarity Xandrel told me the story, he wasn't involved...or so he says) @xand Xanderl
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Post by Snciole on Dec 15, 2018 18:11:48 GMT
I am very sorry. I ended up having to work, then review a show and now seeing friends this evening so just couldn't squeeze it in.
Can I request a spring meet when we are more healthy and have no festive commitments
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Post by Snciole on Dec 13, 2018 9:36:39 GMT
Surely Walker's character, representing the academies, is the just the new patriarchy with its incredibly draconian approach to teaching ("Eyes forward, silence in the corridor")? Surely generations of pupils will be coming after her?
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Post by Snciole on Dec 12, 2018 10:57:05 GMT
Firstly it was so lovely to see Foxa and meet Mr Foxa. In hindsight I found the stuff about academies far more horrifying than the corporal punishment system. It was barbaric, it wasn't a deterrent but it has thankfully gone and is seen as something almost Victorian despite the fact anyone born before 1970 may have been caned before it was removed from schools in 1986.
As a play I found the relationships odd; Maggie Steed is great as the mother who always hated the cane and crucially always hated her daughter (The suggestion that Steed's character, because I don't know names sorry never practised teaching, is interesting) but the highlights are Walker and Armstrong as this father-daughter partnership who if they got on could be brutal but Walker as the unloved daughter relishes seeing her parents suffering, both professionally and personally, gives a really sinister performance.
The biggest issue is the fact that I don't think any talks of being caned in the same way they talk of sexual abuse or as Foxa said above bullying. School is just a grim place to be; are there going to plays about how awful detention is? I wasn't convinced by Ravenhill's argument that the #metoo movement is coming for these men in their 60s/70s for doing their job. Ravenhill tries to hint there is a sadomasochism element to Armstrong's relationship with his daughter and his pupils.
Finally; the set. It broke during a key reveal scene only to be another empty box (The characters get very hysterical about how full of crap the loft is and it is completely bare on stage). It wasn't helped by my awful seats in the Slips where I could often see a mirror and an audience member sleeping. I keep saying this but whilst this is good, it at times felt first draft good. I hope as the previews continue it tightens up and improves a set which doesn't reflect a script in its current form. Also I thought the broken stairs looked more like pork pies.
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Post by Snciole on Nov 29, 2018 23:07:35 GMT
I enjoyed it. Both actors great, especially Calum. Didn't expect the twist at the end but a great one. I'd recommend thoroughly. Audience about three quarters full, great response from them. At the risk of sounding like a random stalker were you on the end of Row A Circle? I saw a young man who looked familiar but couldn't place exactly
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Post by Snciole on Nov 29, 2018 22:04:26 GMT
Add me to the "not exceptional but doesn't deserve the mauling it got from the press" if this was a better play than Logan (uncanny as Highsmith) would probably be up for a ton of awards but this is really about Calum Finlay's Edward getting into the heart of what made Highsmith who she was. This is a break out performance and I look forward to seeing him in more things. Critical disclaim aside I can see why this isn't selling; two hander about Americans from an unknown writer. A production it is lucky to have this opportunity and I think some London audiences would say the same.
I did hate the set though, the purpose of why it is so shoddy becomes clear but The Ambassadors really isn't fit for purpose and calibre of shows you would expect in the West End.
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Post by Snciole on Nov 28, 2018 13:00:17 GMT
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Post by Snciole on Nov 28, 2018 12:38:37 GMT
I should be able to pop in, I've sadly arranged an Ikea trip/seeing the Coca Cola van that weekend (I need more cheap glasses for my Amaretto/Whisky sours) but that is what Sundays/late night shopping is for
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Post by Snciole on Nov 25, 2018 12:48:41 GMT
There was a lot of vocal love for this, I think Twitter is shaping what transfers as much as traditional critical acclaim. I missed this as I find the Globe a difficult venue (I don't want to stand and I don't want to pay a lot for uncomfortable seats either and why O why are the shows always so long) but if I can find cheap or heavily discounted tickets *wink* for this I will probably pop along.
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Post by Snciole on Nov 22, 2018 19:01:20 GMT
So the ballot is just an opportunity to queue for tickets? I am reading it wrong?
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Post by Snciole on Nov 22, 2018 19:00:27 GMT
I am SCREAMING at this response. No explanation, just usual cold as ice response from the NT
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Post by Snciole on Nov 21, 2018 14:22:01 GMT
As a blogger who gets free tickets getting a free programme has become a genuine treat. I don't always review press nights so don't always get a programme but they are getting more and more obscene in cost. I had to walk away in shock at Breakfast at Tiffany's because the programme was £8. How broke ass are the TRH?
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Post by Snciole on Nov 12, 2018 15:26:10 GMT
She always misses performances, I get she is no spring chicken but I would rather she job shared or simply didn't commit to such long runs. People are booking for her and she knows it.
On the one hand, yes. On the other... my cousin saw it a couple of weeks ago, and said afterwards that Redgrave seemed quite unwell, and coughed several times during her scene. Sometimes illnesses that you shake off quite easily when you're younger can be a lot more debilitating if you're older or have long-term health conditions.
Indeed, I am a wreck in my thirties but that is even more reason why Redgrave shouldn't commit to such long runs. I would much rather see her do a limited 4-6 week run somewhere than put her health at risk and damage her reputation as when she is on she is usually good but when she isn't she gains a reputation for being unreliable.
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Post by Snciole on Nov 12, 2018 13:53:45 GMT
She always misses performances, I get she is no spring chicken but I would rather she job shared or simply didn't commit to such long runs. People are booking for her and she knows it.
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Company
Nov 10, 2018 22:18:08 GMT
via mobile
Post by Snciole on Nov 10, 2018 22:18:08 GMT
I always get them confused! I can never remember if Japanese have an e or not in their whisk(e)y either!
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Post by Snciole on Nov 10, 2018 22:10:39 GMT
The whole premise of this new production is about challenging the way women are viewed in society, and I think it’s perhaps a conscious decision to have Bobbie NOT drinking a ‘feminine’ choice for this very reason. Yes, the whole point is to gender-flip the characters but not change their behaviour - so Bobby should still drink whisky. if you view a female Bobby drinking whisky differently than a male Bobby, then that's on you. I could be generalising here but Americans relationship with Bourbon is a lot different to the relationship Brits have with Scotch Whiskey, particularly single malts. I think whiskey is seen as a masculine drink but that is changing, along with those in the alochol industry. All the best whiskey cocktails contain bourbon and for many Bourbon is a right of passage into drinking. I felt Bobbie, perhaps harking back to youth as she gets older would find comfort in Jack Daniels in the same way I often find myself with a Blue WKD or Smirnoff Ice.
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Post by Snciole on Nov 2, 2018 14:06:47 GMT
I rarely have cash and my partner and I had to run past the bucket at Wipers Times, shamed up. I don't think we will ever be cashless, theatres still haven't found a cost effective way of using card machines for Ushers for example and there are a generation like my mum who haven't embraced contactless due to trust issues (She thought a shop could just take money from her account via sensors in the shop)
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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2018 15:18:11 GMT
I took my partner The Bridge for the first time and he thought it was the fanciest place on earth (we don't go out much). I thought the lighting in the toilets was very unflattering, how does lighting make you look paler?
We have an aisle seat on row K and my partner had a mild panic when a man pulled an end seat out of row J.
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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2018 15:11:46 GMT
The tremendous Catherine Tate. We’d been to see her fantastic live show at De Montfort Hall in Leicester and were buying some merch afterwards (a v funny tea towel, of all things). The man at the counter told us that Miss T would be signing any merch at the stage door, so we made our way around. There was quite a crowd (and it was a bitterly cold night), but Catherine cheerfully signed everything anyone had. She took dozens of selfies with people on their phones. We were the very last in the queue. She took the time to ask us how we’d enjoyed the show, sign our tea towel, and take a number of selfies. We told her we’d seen her being equally brilliant in Much Ado About Nothing, and she talked about that for a while, until her minder dragged her back into the warm. Great show. Lovely lady. I had much the same experience with future Dame Tate. She actually photobombed me and I didn’t realise till months later (camera broke). Apropos of nothing, Charlie Edwards shops in my local M&S. If Charles Edwards is your best friend then I am on the side of those hysterical fans.
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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2018 13:59:04 GMT
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Post by Snciole on Oct 31, 2018 12:44:06 GMT
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Post by Snciole on Oct 29, 2018 22:32:14 GMT
I'm not even going to attempt the racial discourse route because I'm absolutely not clever enough. However. Does anyone else find that the tickets for this are crazily overpriced? Who the hell pays £60 to see Jim "playing himself again" Broadbent? I may be in the minority but I don't think he's any good... I dislike him too. I thought his make up made him look odd as well, which was distracting.
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Post by Snciole on Oct 29, 2018 22:29:23 GMT
So I didn't hate this but there is a good idea that got lost. Dickens and Andersen coming from dark places to influence their work is a great idea and you probably could have had a lot of fun with it. A short black woman hobbling around takes away a lot of the fun. Johnetta Ackles is great when she is allowed to have fun but McDonagh seems so keen not to offend black women (Good, we will come for you) when everyone from Belgium's to Gypsys are up for grabs.
I think McDonagh of old is braver than this but it feels rushed, unclear and despite the constant references to Congo doesn't seem very focused on why 21st audience should care now. It was an awful atrocity but imagine writing about the Holocaust as an isolated incident, that is what McDonagh did here.
I think Broadbent and Daniels did have a lot of fun with the characters and their scenes together brought this up from 2* to a 3* but it is problematic (both in attitudes and its story)but not enjoyable enough to overcome those issues.
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