Sylvia - Old Vic

This has gone on for so long that if they do at last have an ending, you'd be entitled to complain about the unexpected extra time and scene(s)!

I would just like to chime in here. - I am truly shocked by all these negative comments. I’m guessing not many of you have seen the show because otherwise you would think differently. I went on the Thursday matinee and I am not friends or family and I gladly gave the most genuine standing ovation I have ever given. It was an honour to be there and witness the magic that happened onstage. This musical is mammoth! And for two cast members to be called upon to take on two new roles, one of them being the leading lady who barely leaves the stage, and learn what they can within 3 days is outstanding. Yes, they had books (which you hardly noticed because the dialogue flowed so well and they performed as if they didn’t have books in their arms) and yes, there were microphone issues but none of it mattered. Why? Because this production is truly that good. It’s fresh, raw and feels unbelievably British, which I think is fantastic. I have booked another ticket for the closing night and yes I’d like to see a completed show but at the same time, I’d be just as happy to see what I saw again, just more polished. I didn’t realise the theatre community was full of such negativity towards new British work or any work for that matter.

It's very simple - people have paid good money to see a professional production and they are perfectly entitled to expect a full show. Illness is unavoidable. A show not being ready is avoidable, or at least should lead to the good grace to cancel or comp the show until a full performance is possible. Not having an ending sorted and still charging people full price to see it is embarassing and unprofessional.


I was intrigued by this and intending to book, but I won't be going near it unless/until I know I'll actually get to see the whole show.

I'm extraordinarily easy-going in real life and am always happy to roll with whatever punches happen in a theatre, but I have to say I completely sympathise with people being unhappy about not getting a complete show. As has been pointed out, there's no reason why they can't just stand on the stage and sing the finale without any of the staging or whatever it is that makes it unsafe to perform at the moment. People will *understand*, but you need to give them something *to* understand. I'd be interested to know how generous they're being with refunds for this one...

(I don't doubt for a second that people who've enjoyed what they've seen have been genuine, but I am very glad I didn't book an early performance.)

Agree with you on this, I have seen works in progress (‘Prom Queen’ & ‘Son Of Rambo’ most recent) and it’s perfectly acceptable for some scenes to wither not being fully written yet or rehearsed to stage but in effect they are claiming there is a ending but they can’t stage it for safety then why not sing it, read from scripts and explain what plans to happen on stage!

However ending or not I am looking forward to this tonight and I love supporting new domestic shows!

A friend of mine is there tonight and apparently, it's the first night they're doing the entire show, ending and everything! I'm seeing it next week, can't wait.

Just booked on the basis of this post for Sat evening. Hope act two lived up to your expectations!

Thanks for the update Westendcub! Glad the show is in better shape. Did anything about the last 15 minutes scream "impossible to stage" then, or was it similar to the rest?

That's probably safest. I've already booked an evening show, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they manage to tighten it up over the next couple of weeks, or at least that the show is so good I won't mind getting out at such a late hour.

I also went last night and whilst I enjoyed big chunks of it, I am not surprised that they apparently completely cancelled press night now and that the whole thing is just one big preview, because whilst there is a lot of potential there, they are far from ready IMO.

The cast was amazing, not a single weak link among them, I couldn't fault their commitment or talent.

It is more varied than Hamilton in musical style (and I definitely was reminded of both Hamilton and Color Purple at several points musically as well as staging wise) but I feel overall the score wasn't as memorable. It had a lot of funny lines but the sound issues (mic cues missed, voices being drowned out by band, crackling, etc.) meant I missed a fair bit of the lyrics.

I feel the narrative still needs a lot more work, the characters are all still fairly one-dimensional, even though maybe being able to hear more of the lyrics would have fleshed them out a bit more. But overall none of the characters got enough definition to really make me care about them and strangely I felt the focus for most of the show was much more on Emily and Christabel Pankhurst than on Sylvia.

And the much anticipated ending.... I seriously don't see any other reason than them not being ready, as to why it hasn't been performed before last night. Yes there were a few boxes moved around that they stood on, but there were plenty of boxes around beforehand, too. I expected something really technically elaborate, seeing that they gave 'safety' concerns as their reason for not showing more than half of act 2 previously (it was apparently 40 minutes last week and nearly one hour 25 mins last night). But again, I felt the ending was more about Emily and Christabel than Sylvia from a factual point of view celebrating the fact that women got the vote in 1918, when what Sylvia fought for didn't come into effect until 1928 and that got just a passing mention.

Anyway, I am excited to see what they make of it and if they bring it back (hopefully after a lot of rewrites and tightening) it could really be something special. For me it's just not ready yet.

That said, they got a huge standing ovation at the end, so what do I know. LOL

P.S.: I think the midweek matinees this week and next week were added after the cancellations of the shows last week, so they are probably quiet because they haven't been on sale long.