Saint George and the Dragon (National Theatre)

I think Poliakoff's Remember This might have closed early, c1998

I once saw a show where there were about six people in the audience. I can’t remember where but I think it was in a pub theatre somewhere. They agreed to go ahead with the performance. I can’t remember what the show was, but I remember enjoying the novelty of having what in effect was a private showing.

I was once part of an audience of 6 in a pub theatre. Tow of us plotted escape in the interval and two others looked at us very thoughtfully. I'm pretty certain that there were only two in the audience for the second half

It must be very tempting to put in some extra performances of Follies (sold out) to replace St George!

So wanted this to be good. However when the request came for a second time to ‘close your eyes and imagine the future’ all I could see was us leaving in the interval........

This was yet another dreadful play at the Olivier, I can't believe I have sat through three such plays at the National in the last 5 months, Salome, Common and St George. I went last night and I was saddened to see how empty the Olivier was, it must have ben very disappointing for the actors. almost all the side of the circle was empty and there were lots of empty seats in the back of the stalls.

The play itself was poor, boring and far too long. The scenery, special effects and the quality of the acting from the company, apart from John Heffernan, was very amateurish, like watching a school play. I can't understand how such poor plays get accepted and produced by the National without someone actually commenting on the fact that it is rubbish. I know previews are supposed to iron out any problems but quite frankly, all three aforementioned plays should never have got to the preview stage. I wonder whether the NT should have an audience panel who can see the play in rehearsal and have their say. Would this help?

I am loathe to book any new plays at the Olivier in the future, seems a waste to be a priority member nowadays.

I've seen two of Mullarkey's plays and while I think he has a talent for coming up with bold ideas (what if the type of posh woman we associate with conservatism/the status quo became a violent anarchist?; what if St. George visited England in three different periods and found that the evils we face now are harder to deal with than the mythical dragon of the past?), but, from those two examples, at least, doesn't write interesting, believable characters (I found the daughter character painfully weak in this) or plot in such a way as to create tension/comedy/surprises/some sort of reaction beyond, ultimately, boredom. Both of those plays showed promise for the first 15 minutes or so and then lost steam. I didn't see Cannibals - from what I read that was probably better and obviously others really rate him as he's won a lot of awards and has commissions all over the place: 'Rory is currently under commission to the National Theatre, the Almeida Theatre,the Michael Grandage Company and the Royal Exchange Theatre. He is also writing libretti for The Royal Opera House and The English National Opera.'

Maybe he's being spread a bit thin?

On the positive side, I would think the NT, after three big flops, will have to look at its commissioning/dramaturgy?

I guess the challenge is that pretty much every play is flat on the page - they need to be on stage to come to life. I've been as critical about quality control at the NT as anyone but that's not to say I think it's easy to sort the wheat from the chaff (if it was so clear you'd never see a stinker). I suspect audience reading groups would produce the most unmitigated crap ever seen...!

Nick Hytner's book is very interesting on the genesis of War Horse - he thought the early previews were awful, told the writer and director how to fix it, went back, they hadn't, so he stepped in himself and started making significant changes before its official opening. I'm guessing that Rufus Norris hasn't got that level of clout yet, the worse explanation is that he doesn't see a problem with the productions.

I have a friend in the St George cast and they were worked to the bone in previews and rehearsals which were conducted in high panic mode because despite having programmed it noone had any confidence that the play was ready. I thought the play was full of promise and I'm a big fan of Lyndsey Turner's - but the Norris NT has worked its inverse Midas touch on talented people yet again. People on here will wail but the good shows are the exceptions now and it wasn't like that under Hytner.