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Post by erik24601 on Nov 7, 2023 15:52:16 GMT
Another (very late) cancelled performance this evening.
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Post by mm75 on Nov 7, 2023 16:06:43 GMT
Tonight’s performance cancelled. Yikes! If this is illness-related we can understand, but if it is related to the poor reviews, uh huh. (I still can’t believe that Kenneth Branagh is on his flop era.) http://instagram.com/p/CzWYougy-Xp I doubt this is anything to do with reviews .. everyone everywhere is getting sick right now ..
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Post by parsley1 on Nov 7, 2023 18:53:32 GMT
I doubt this is anything to do with reviews .. everyone everywhere is getting sick right now .. People please have your flu and or Covid jabs if eligible
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Post by theatreliker on Nov 7, 2023 20:38:49 GMT
Is he doing another Poirot?
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Post by demelza on Nov 8, 2023 12:08:07 GMT
Is he doing another Poirot? A Haunting in Venice did well at the Box Office compared to how much it cost to make (I think it recouped?) so I'd imagine that Disney will want a fourth one
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Post by David J on Nov 8, 2023 12:42:15 GMT
Is he doing another Poirot? A Haunting in Venice did well at the Box Office compared to how much it cost to make (I think it recouped?) so I'd imagine that Disney will want a fourth one That's not certain. So far it has made more than $120 million and with a supposed budget of $60 million, but that doesn't factor in the share cinemas take from the box office and the marketing. General rule of thumb is a movie has to make 2.5x its budget to break even so Haunting in Venice has to make roughly $150 million. Maybe it will eventually get over the line with streaming but its not a good outlook for the Poirot series. And Disney is a bit strapped for cash at the moment, though they have been making some costly decisions lately It's telling when Haunting in Venice was clearly aiming for a younger demographic who are into horror movies, which probably turned off some of it's key older demographic. And given the strikes it will be a while before we see another Poirot movie.
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Post by demelza on Nov 8, 2023 13:12:42 GMT
Potentially no fourth then unless it does unprecedentedly well on digital! At least that could give some time to rework King Lear before it goes to New York next year
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Post by Jan on Nov 8, 2023 15:52:20 GMT
Have won the lottery for Monday, so there is hope if you're looking for affordable seats. I just won it too. How exciting, assuming it’s actually back on next week.
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Post by rumtom on Nov 8, 2023 18:53:47 GMT
Have won the lottery for Monday, so there is hope if you're looking for affordable seats. I just won it too. How exciting, assuming it’s actually back on next week. How strange.. I just won it too! I even had the box office calling me to make sure I was booking.
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Post by Sotongal on Nov 9, 2023 12:29:34 GMT
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Post by mm75 on Nov 9, 2023 14:57:45 GMT
Wow due to the canx re sickness I guess more shows being put on and reasonably priced I will be going back again ..
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Post by sara1333 on Nov 11, 2023 11:17:21 GMT
If anyone is interested- I have a ticket listed on the noticeboard for next Tuesday.
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Post by zahidf on Nov 11, 2023 16:49:47 GMT
Meh this wasn't very good. The acting felt very Rote and didn't feel the tragedy
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Post by westendboy on Nov 12, 2023 12:10:32 GMT
I booked a ticket to see this back in June, mainly to see Branagh live on stage. I enjoyed his film version of 'Hamlet' from 1996 a lot, so I was enthusiastic to see him perform Shakespeare live. I was also not too familiar with 'King Lear', having not seen or read it before, so I was hoping to get a thrilling first proper performance of this play. Even when all the less than positive reviews came in, I still went in on Thursday evening with an open mind and waited to give my own judgement. Coming out of the Wyndham's 2 hours later, I think the reviews weren't without reason to dislike this production.
This was honestly a very disappointing experience for me, almost bitterly! For me the two main issues with this production I had were how they adapted 'Lear' and the performances;
As someone who hadn't seen, or read, 'King Lear' before, I could barely follow the plot half the time. I think this was due to them cutting a potentially 3-4 hour play to 2 (with no interval I mind you) that made me miss the tragedy of the piece. I might have to just read the full text, or watch a better performance to fully understand and appreciate it.
Now as for the performances, this is probably where I had the most issues with. As we know, the majority of the cast, bar from Branagh, are all RADA graduates and I could honestly tell that they were from their performances. I'm not trying to say this in a condescending way, but more of that they all need a bit more time and experience. Some performances were decent, whilst others were not so good. It also didn't help that they were all noticeably younger than Branagh, despite some of the characters being supposedly the same age as Lear.
Speaking of Branagh though, I honestly found his performance to be the weakest out of everyone in the cast. Putting his age aside, I just couldn't believe him as Lear. Most of the time, his performance just felt very 'performey' and I couldn't take him seriously throughout. There were times where I think his intention was to be serious in specific moments, but they just turned out to me more unintentionally funny. But during the ending, my god, it was the most over the top, unbelievable acting I had ever seen. He was hamming it up more than a ham sandwich! As others have pointed out, Branagh is a very good actor. I liked him in 'Hamlet', even if he did 'ham' it up a bit there, but he's proven to bring believable performances, such as in 'Tenet', so it was honestly a let down to see him bring a less than stellar performance.
Overall, a mighty disappointment, not much else to say. At least 'Backstairs Billy' last night was better.
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Post by sb61 on Nov 15, 2023 20:09:58 GMT
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Post by nash16 on Nov 15, 2023 21:16:33 GMT
He scoured the length and breadth of the RADA foyer, and then forgot to direct them all. 🙄
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Post by sb61 on Nov 15, 2023 22:12:41 GMT
He scoured the length and breadth of the RADA foyer, and then forgot to direct them all. 🙄 Read the article it says how good they are ..
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Post by nash16 on Nov 15, 2023 22:21:42 GMT
It’s baffling, isn’t it? Is she a friend of Ken? Read the article it says how good they are ..
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Post by zahidf on Nov 15, 2023 22:33:57 GMT
I feel they would have benefited from a less high profile west end role overall.
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Post by hannechalk on Nov 16, 2023 11:20:04 GMT
I doubt this is anything to do with reviews .. everyone everywhere is getting sick right now .. People please have your flu and or Covid jabs if eligible I had both, and guess what?
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Post by theatrefan62 on Nov 16, 2023 12:52:25 GMT
People please have your flu and or Covid jabs if eligible I had both, and guess what? Yeah not sure what the lecturing on jabs has to do with anything or changing the situation. My dad had both and still ended up in ICU in a coma this month from flu (not covid). Jabs don't stop people getting sick or spreading it.
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Post by sfsusan on Nov 16, 2023 17:10:34 GMT
Jabs don't stop people getting sick or spreading it. But they do reduce the spread of it as well as the severity if you do get ill.
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Post by Jan on Nov 17, 2023 22:19:24 GMT
I think what’s gone wrong here is it has been badly directed. They should have brought in an experienced director. They could have told Ken to dial it down and stop channeling Brian Blessed in the first half, and also concentrated more on the supporting roles. But the main thing they could have done is not cut it to a 2hr schools version where all that’s left is the basic plot.
Still, I’ve seen worse productions of this play. 3*
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Post by ceebee on Nov 17, 2023 23:11:19 GMT
I think what’s gone wrong here is it has been badly directed. They should have brought in an experienced director. They could have told Ken to dial it down and stop channeling Brian Blessed in the first half, and also concentrated more on the supporting roles. But the main thing they could have done is not cut it to a 2hr schools version where all that’s left is the basic plot. Still, I’ve seen worse productions of this play. 3* Channelling Brian Blessed... "Goneril's alive?"
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Post by Jan on Nov 18, 2023 9:42:45 GMT
I think what’s gone wrong here is it has been badly directed. They should have brought in an experienced director. They could have told Ken to dial it down and stop channeling Brian Blessed in the first half, and also concentrated more on the supporting roles. But the main thing they could have done is not cut it to a 2hr schools version where all that’s left is the basic plot. Still, I’ve seen worse productions of this play. 3* Channelling Brian Blessed... "Goneril's alive?" Ha ha. But really, if you haven’t seen this yet watch out for it. There are comments here about the strange way he phrases lines and certain words and his hammy approach but it is all pure Blessed. I assume it is deliberate. Of course BB played King Lear fairly recently but had to withdraw due to illness - maybe this is Ken’s tribute to him. Similarly the actor playing Cornwall sounds really uncannily like Simon Russell-Beale.
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Post by ceebee on Nov 18, 2023 13:35:12 GMT
Channelling Brian Blessed... "Goneril's alive?" Ha ha. But really, if you haven’t seen this yet watch out for it. There are comments here about the strange way he phrases lines and certain words and his hammy approach but it is all pure Blessed. I assume it is deliberate. Of course BB played King Lear fairly recently but had to withdraw due to illness - maybe this is Ken’s tribute to him. Similarly the actor playing Cornwall sounds really uncannily like Simon Russell-Beale. Yes, I agree - I thought Cornwall was superb but very SRB with staccato delivery and menacing but slightly camp. I found KEn quite boomy but was not offended by hos performance. I'm not sure I'd see Lear-lite or similar as a habit but the production was a nice way to waste two hours
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Post by Jan on Nov 18, 2023 14:10:56 GMT
Ha ha. But really, if you haven’t seen this yet watch out for it. There are comments here about the strange way he phrases lines and certain words and his hammy approach but it is all pure Blessed. I assume it is deliberate. Of course BB played King Lear fairly recently but had to withdraw due to illness - maybe this is Ken’s tribute to him. Similarly the actor playing Cornwall sounds really uncannily like Simon Russell-Beale. Yes, I agree - I thought Cornwall was superb but very SRB with staccato delivery and menacing but slightly camp. I found KEn quite boomy but was not offended by hos performance. I'm not sure I'd see Lear-lite or similar as a habit but the production was a nice way to waste two hours Agree. I had £20 lottery front row seats and they were excellent so for me it was well worth seeing. If I was 4 rows back and had paid £250 then not.
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Post by ilovewemusicals on Nov 18, 2023 20:37:46 GMT
Sir Kenneth spotted me staring at his six-pack. It’s not well defined but definitely there. He’s too old for me though.
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Post by ceebee on Nov 18, 2023 23:31:13 GMT
Sir Kenneth spotted me staring at his six-pack. It’s not well defined but definitely there. He’s too old for me though. King Leer
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Post by couldileaveyou on Nov 20, 2023 7:44:40 GMT
Saw it a couple of days ago, and it's okay? It's a serviceable production and, with its Hamiltonesque pacing, it must be the first time I watched Lear without ever getting bored, but together with the play's challenges they also cut its emotional rewards: there is no getting around the fact that in focusing on the plot, they neglected the emotional depth.
I think the real problem of this production is being in the West End and having Kenneth Branagh Inc. in the leading role. It would be much better off touring the country with a familiar name as Lear: GCSE and A-level students everywhere would enjoy it much better than your regular 3-hour-something Lear, and it's a very accessible introduction to the play for a young theatergoer.
The lines were beautifully spoken – congrats to RADA on its attention to diction – but the cast is definitely still unexperienced. I liked Corey Mylchreest. So many lines from Lear, Gloucester and Kent focus on (old) age, and the contrast between what you see and what you hear is particularly jarring: Branagh himself is a vigorous and virile Lear that could pass for a man in his 40s! Seeing him play with his staff during the opening scenes made me wonder why he didn't just play and direct himself as Prospero, which feels more appropriate for his age and his late-stage-Olivier acting style.
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