700 posts
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Post by cheesy116 on Dec 7, 2023 0:56:01 GMT
The only show I've ever left at the interval was Thriller Live in London, in about 2017. It was abysmal.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2023 3:29:53 GMT
I have done occasionally when I'd got cheap tickets for shows mainly in London.
No issue with people doing this, its a personal choice.
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840 posts
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Post by Steffi on Dec 7, 2023 10:47:04 GMT
The only show I've ever left at the interval was Thriller Live in London, in about 2017. It was abysmal. I wish I had left that show at the interval. I only went because a friend was in it and had given me a free ticket. So at least I didn't pay for those 2 hours of torture but I also felt obliged to sit through the whole thing. |
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Post by erik24601 on Dec 7, 2023 11:06:03 GMT
The only show I've ever left at the interval was Thriller Live in London, in about 2017. It was abysmal. Agreed! |
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Post by hannechalk on Dec 13, 2023 23:12:08 GMT
Didn't walk but wanted to - the Selladoor touring production of Flashdance. About 2018, I think? Joanne Clifton in the starring role.
From very early on I was like 'Oh god, this is awful! This is pure sh*te!'. Sitting through act I was torture.
My friend had booked it, and I thought 'When she asks at interval, just smile sweetly and say it's good.'.
Interval - I look at my friend, she looks at me. Then she says 'I'm really, really, really sorry!'.
We decided to stay in case act II was better. It wasn't.
I hasten to add this was not down to the cast - they were clearly very talented, but the production was so terrible, they just couldn't shine.
It's funny then to watch people rise up at the end for a standing ovations in pure rapture, exclaiming as they left 'Wasn't that brilliant?'.
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641 posts
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Post by christya on Dec 13, 2023 23:28:16 GMT
I saw that production and also wished I'd left at the interval. Terrible. I'd go a step further and say that it was the fault of some of the cast, too, because there were some terrible performances going on. Amateur rubbish.
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Post by jaybird89 on Dec 14, 2023 0:17:36 GMT
I had the awful pleasure of watching that flash dance tour for every performance it was at the waterside theatre when I worked there. I can confirm it got worse with each viewing.
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Post by hannechalk on Dec 14, 2023 20:32:27 GMT
I had the awful pleasure of watching that flash dance tour for every performance it was at the waterside theatre when I worked there. I can confirm it got worse with each viewing. It was the pointlessly dragging around of the set after each song or so for me as well. As if they were told 'You are not allowed to cross the stage without a piece of the set.'. |
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Post by toomasj on Dec 14, 2023 21:04:40 GMT
I thought you guys were talking about “Dirty Dancing” (I always confuse the two, 80’s cult hit shows with similar themes) - then I remembered how naff BOTH of them were. At least the performers did their own singing in “Flashdance” and didn’t have two vocalists stand at the side of the stage while they danced.
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Post by crabtree on Dec 14, 2023 22:15:05 GMT
the Royal Exchange seem to be having a decent run at the moment, but a few things in recent years have had me screaming and vacating quickly - Wuthering Heights and Persuasion to name but two - simply trying too hard, too gimmicky, and too far from the author's intent.
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on Dec 14, 2023 23:27:47 GMT
Newsies last year at Troubadour Wembley. I didn't get the hype of it at all. I was also in a very bad mood that day which didn't help so the fact that the crowd around me were behaving like a Broadway audience at a school show didn't help. Nothing against the talented cast but the sound was dreadful, I didn't like the design, the barn of a theatre was roasting and uncomfortable, horrible FOH space. I could go on...
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15 posts
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Post by robwilton on Dec 29, 2023 2:10:29 GMT
I started my regular theatre-going 61 years ago, and until 2016, very seldom left a show at the interval - but since then:
In 2016 I saw 68 shows, and left at the interval of one:
DOCTOR FAUSTUS/Duke of York's (look-at-me-I'm-the-director)
In 2017 I saw 66 shows, and left at the interval of three:
QUEEN ANNE/RSC at Haymarket (dull dull dull)
YOUNG MARX/Bridge (dismally unfunny)
LORD DISMISS US/Above The Stag (v.poor script)
In 2018 I saw 63 shows, and left at the interval of three:
THE DIVIDE/Old Vic (a script which should never have reached the stage)
NIGHTFALL/Bridge Theatre (undeveloped text)
ABSOLUTE HELL/Lyttelton (disastrously misdirected)
In 2019 I saw 59 shows, and left at the interval of one:
AS YOU LIKE IT/RSC at Barbican (worthy but dull)
In 2020 I saw 17 shows right through.
In 2021 I saw 22 shows, and left at the interval of three:
THE GAME OF LOVE AND CHANCE/Arcola Outside (sophisticated French comedy played as coarse farce)
CAROUSEL/Regent's Park (misguided "update" of this excellent musical, with ghastly new orchestrations)
INTO BATTLE/Greenwich Theatre (plain dull)
In 2022 I saw 33 shows, and left at the interval of only one:
THE 47th/Old Vic (poor Bertie Carvel ...)
In 2023 I saw 48 shows, and left at the interval of four:
A SLIGHT ACHE and THE DUMB WAITER/Greenwich Theatre (Pinter needs a stronger hand)
WHEN WINSTON WENT TO WAR WITH THE WIRELESS/Donmar (v.dull play)
THE CHANGELING/Southwark Playhouse (all style over substance - and they cut the sub-plot!)
THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA/Lyttelton (a miscast, unfocussed production)
Just my opinions ...
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Post by theatresellers on Dec 29, 2023 14:25:59 GMT
I find leaving at the interval not very different from putting down a book half finished. Life is too short to waste time.
But I’m all in favour of leaving at the interval for seniors and other people who might be too exhausted to stay for the full duration of an unpleasant show. Getting up and leaving during the show and disturbing people is a very different matter and should be treated with the death penalty.
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Dec 29, 2023 22:40:31 GMT
I started my regular theatre-going 61 years ago, and until 2016, very seldom left a show at the interval - but since then: In 2016 I saw 68 shows, and left at the interval of one: DOCTOR FAUSTUS/Duke of York's (look-at-me-I'm-the-director) In 2017 I saw 66 shows, and left at the interval of three: QUEEN ANNE/RSC at Haymarket (dull dull dull) YOUNG MARX/Bridge (dismally unfunny) LORD DISMISS US/Above The Stag (v.poor script) In 2018 I saw 63 shows, and left at the interval of three: THE DIVIDE/Old Vic (a script which should never have reached the stage) NIGHTFALL/Bridge Theatre (undeveloped text) ABSOLUTE HELL/Lyttelton (disastrously misdirected) In 2019 I saw 59 shows, and left at the interval of one: AS YOU LIKE IT/RSC at Barbican (worthy but dull) In 2020 I saw 17 shows right through. In 2021 I saw 22 shows, and left at the interval of three: THE GAME OF LOVE AND CHANCE/Arcola Outside (sophisticated French comedy played as coarse farce) CAROUSEL/Regent's Park (misguided "update" of this excellent musical, with ghastly new orchestrations) INTO BATTLE/Greenwich Theatre (plain dull) In 2022 I saw 33 shows, and left at the interval of only one: THE 47th/Old Vic (poor Bertie Carvel ...) In 2023 I saw 48 shows, and left at the interval of four: A SLIGHT ACHE and THE DUMB WAITER/Greenwich Theatre (Pinter needs a stronger hand) WHEN WINSTON WENT TO WAR WITH THE WIRELESS/Donmar (v.dull play) THE CHANGELING/Southwark Playhouse (all style over substance - and they cut the sub-plot!) THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA/Lyttelton (a miscast, unfocussed production) Just my opinions ... Respect for your ‘leavings’. |
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Post by zuberin0 on Apr 13, 2024 10:23:18 GMT
I generally force myself to stay until the end of pretty much everything I see, although I make an exception maybe once a year. I remember I left The Duchess of Malfi at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the interval about 10 years ago (mainly because, unsurprisingly, I was very uncomfortable, and it reminded me why I hate that particular theatre, and why I generally avoid everything at The Globe.) Recently, I went to see When Winston Went to War with the Wireless at the Donmar, and I really wasn't enjoying it at all. I spent the whole interval toying with the idea of leaving... but, in the end, I went back in to the theatre and, for the next hour, regretted that I hadn't gone home early. I did this last night for the current Malfi at the Wanamaker. Lousy sightlines from upstairs, poor projection by a couple of actors, different cast members talking at completely different paces, tiresome musical ensemble right next to my ears - all in all, it didn't make for a great show. |
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Post by lt on Apr 14, 2024 17:26:13 GMT
Haven't left a play since seeing The Caretaker when I was sixteen on a school trip. Now however dreadful the play, I stick it out, in the hope that there will be something worth staying for.
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Post by matttom0901 on Apr 22, 2024 21:01:57 GMT
I used to think that I have to stay until the very end, but then my way of thinking changed: they already got my money, but they won’t have my time as well. Left after act 1 for the following:
Oklahoma! At the Wyndham’s theatre
Groundhog Day at The Old Vic
Newsies at Wembley Troubadour
Metamorphosis at the Lyric Hammersmith
Carmen at the Coliseum
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1,061 posts
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Post by David J on Apr 22, 2024 21:20:11 GMT
Here's a paradoxical one, but I considered leaving during the short interval of the 2014 Bath Theatre Royal's Who's Afaid of Virginia Woolf.
Only because when the late Tim Piggott Smith's crazed George went out to get something, I wanted to be far away before the shooting spree started.
When even a production is so tense and has you fearing for your own safety, even though it's not real, you know you're witnessing some great theatre.
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Post by greatauntedna on Apr 23, 2024 8:49:57 GMT
I used to think that I have to stay until the very end, but then my way of thinking changed: they already got my money, but they won’t have my time as well. Left after act 1 for the following: Oklahoma! At the Wyndham’s theatre Groundhog Day at The Old Vic Newsies at Wembley Troubadour Metamorphosis at the Lyric Hammersmith Carmen at the Coliseum Why Groundhog Day? |
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Post by matttom0901 on Apr 24, 2024 18:41:03 GMT
I used to think that I have to stay until the very end, but then my way of thinking changed: they already got my money, but they won’t have my time as well. Left after act 1 for the following: Oklahoma! At the Wyndham’s theatre Groundhog Day at The Old Vic Newsies at Wembley Troubadour Metamorphosis at the Lyric Hammersmith Carmen at the Coliseum Why Groundhog Day? It wasn’t my thing. My partner and I really disliked it. |
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