The Crown Jewels - Garrick / Tour

Yeah, unfortunately there is and I found it pretty tasteless.

There is a long monologue in the first act that felt more like an Al Murray stand up than a play, where he basically picked on the audience and used cheap humour.

The exact joke off the top of my head was he asked a lady where she was from, she replied Denmark and he said you’re shaped just like your country, round with no features, and then a few moments later when talking to someone else referred back to her again as the “fat one in the third row”.

He also “selected” a lady who he found the most attractive in the stalls and had one of the cast come down and pretend to escort her to his bed chamber (as the king). The cast member basically came over in character and was like the king wants you at once and took her over to the side door and then said ok go back to your seat when the lights went off at the end of the scene. The lady was sitting just behind me and sounded really confused and panicked, it was all just very bizarre and like I said before something you would see on a Blackpool pier!

Also something I forgot to mention in my initial review - if you’re in the front row prepare to get wet as Carrie “Accidentally” spills a bowl of water she’s holding multiple times onto the audience in the opening song. It was again a silly gag that added nothing to the show:

I wasn't going to bother with this production, but a friend had a spare (free) ticket so I tagged along. I suppose it could get a bit zippier before press night, but at the moment it's kind of a mess and one of the weakest and most pointless things I've seen all year.

I'm not especially a fan of Al Murray but both he and Mel Giedroyc (who I do like) undeniably have comedic skill, and they are the highlights of a disappointing evening in the theatre. They both have a lot of interaction with the audience (yes, it's that kind of show) and aside from the fact that (as has already been mentioned) this did occasionally veer into uncomfortable territory, the audience responded positively to both of them.

The question of what Carrie Hope Fletcher might be doing in this strange confection is immediately answered, as the show opens with a song - and she sings it very well.

But, boy oh boy, the rest of it is a real slog. In the scenes without Al Murray or Mel Giedroyc when the 'plot' (such as it is) takes centre stage, the energy - along with audience engagement - totally vanishes. Entire minutes pass with silence from the audience, and no laughter. Aidan McArdle and Neil Morrissey struggle gamely on with lame gags and feeble attempts at slapstick; but, to be fair to them, they're not exactly helped much by Joe Thomas (who has no real stage precence, and whose less than half-hearted attempt at an Irish accent is staggeringly - almost offensively - amateurish) or by Tanvi Virmani (who doesn't seem, on the evidence of this production, to possess a particular talent for comedy.) On a positive note, I did enjoy Adonis Siddique as Charles II's footman.

Oh, there's also a chase scene that is staged in a way that felt very famililar. (Did I perhaps see a similar scene in the same director's production of The Ladykillers...?)

Running at nearly 2 and a half hours, it really outstays its welcome. What takes the biscuit is that, just when you're desperate for the whole thing to come to an end, there's a long scene in which Blood (McArdle) is granted an audience with Charles II (Murray) - any attempt at comedy has largely been ditched at this point, and the scene feels like it should be in a different play.

Maybe this will find its audience but I couldn't recommend it to anyone.

I'm getting angry just reading that. What a nasty piece of work! I think it would have ruined my night - at least I'd struggle to be receptive to comedy once I'd been annoyed like that. He would have got both barrels from me.

I have regularly had tuts from entitled people who have to stand to let me into a row, who clearly believe that everyone further in should arrive before them, but this goes well beyond that.

Yeah that's exactly how I felt at the start of the show, I had entered the theatre feeling really relaxed and looking forward to seeing the play, but I felt so uptight and annoyed for the first little while.

I agree some people feel that paying for a ticket entitles them to behave in whichever way they want, when really it's an age old accepted norm that if you go to a show you will probably have to stand to allow others to enter your row at some point. It's not as if the other person wants to brush past you - if there was another way to get there without disturbing others I'm sure people would do it!

Technically all intellectual property is protected by the intellectual property act, but this is only applies when someone is planning to sell and make profit from someone else's work without permission. It doesn't apply if someone is simply taking a photo of something to enjoy for themselves, otherwise we'd all be in jail for listening to music or watching a film at home.

To be fair, as much as it is a total downgrade for Carrie and I can imagine she herself knows the script is horrible (I was really amazed at her saying the line about not marrying the prince because he’s too fat for example), she also comes over as the best thing in the show as her song at the end breaks up the terrible attempts at humour - maybe that’s a silver lining for her?

There was so many young people with Carrie tour T-shirts on last night as well, I can only imagine what they must’ve been thinking.

I absolutely agree, but she was also very vocal about disliking the body shaming lines in Cinderella.

I still think that criticising ALW on such a public forum was very misjudged, especially since Georgina who kept totally silent is now starring as the lead in a major ALW show at the Palladium.

(I'm not defending how the cast were treated in any way by the way).

That's not the case in two areas that I know about - publishing and visual arts. For example you're not allowed to make a single photocopy of a whole magazine or a book even if it is only for your own personal use. Also while art galleries will normally waive copyright restrictions and allow you to photograph their artworks on a non-commercial basis they will normally ban it if they are showing stuff for which they don't own the copyright, loans and so on. I don't know about music but I'd be amazed if you were allowed without permission from the copyright holders to record a live concert on your phone even if it was just for your personal use - I mean I assume people do this but I'm guessing it is technically a breach of copyright law and there's no "personal use" exception. 

It is true, yes - but why is it any of their business?

You were technically in the wrong on this one though so I don't see the big deal. It's not like they got up and got an usher to come over to you. Bit odd to say people should just ignore bad behaviour.

And yes I take photos too, but I'd hold my hands up if someone called me out on it.

In theatres, it's become slightly complicated. Technically you could say that taking photos is not allowed because of the copyright, and when a new show opened at any of the theatres I worked in, we were often briefed on stopping this from happening.

HOWEVER, people would do it anyway and then tweet them, and then the production would often retweet them and thank them for coming and ask for more people to share theirs! So yes, while it might technically not be allowed, a show's presence on social media has become a large part of what sells it, and many producers are happy to look the other way regarding copyright as long as the show is getting lots of exposure.

In short, taking a photo before a show is so common nowadays and such a large part of creating an online buzz that very few places are going to stop you.

I think pre show taking a picture is fine but during the show itself is a no no.