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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 11:39:00 GMT
I'm thinking about squeezing in a trip, but similarly, the fact it's not selling well means I'm waiting for super-cheap offers, which is probably not what the theatre wants at all. Oops!
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Post by andrew on Mar 22, 2018 11:47:47 GMT
I'm thinking about squeezing in a trip, but similarly, the fact it's not selling well means I'm waiting for super-cheap offers, which is probably not what the theatre wants at all. Oops! Maybe they'll pay us to go if we wait long enough?
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 22, 2018 13:42:39 GMT
£15 ticket offer on Today Tix.
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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 23, 2018 17:27:32 GMT
Obvs too late now but don’t forget next time if you are in the stalls, front left hand side , ladies' loo tucked away in the corner. Oh Lynette, that is terrible advice to give, I got all kinds of terrible stares, I think really they were concerned as I couldn’t find the urinals.
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Post by duncan on Mar 23, 2018 19:46:28 GMT
8 - Fanny & Alexander - Old Vic - 21st MarchAt the Ekdahl christmas dinner, Helena announces her retirement from the stage. The Ekdahls are a theatre family and Helena has been the star for the last few decades and she now leaves her son Oscar to put on Hamlet with a new Gertrude None of them know the consequences of this announcement will tear the family apart and place Fanny & Alexander at the mercy of Bishop Vergerus and his sister.Majestic! A 150 minute adaptation of the Ingmar Bergman film and its a superb piece of theatre - sadly its dying on its arse in front of sparse houses but I guess trying to sell a 3hr + play based on a Swedish film with only Penelope Wilton having any real name presence was always going to be tough. But go if you can, I got a £65 ticket for £21 such was the lack of paying customers. This is a play about love, love for your family love for your wife love for your husband love for your children love for other peoples children love for the sound of your own voice love of stories and most importantly its a story about love of god. The run time flys by in an intriguing show as we get an ensemble piece that is led by the character of Alexander whose love of fantasy and story (representing the world of theatre) comes into a more and more bitter and destructive conflict with the Bishop and his love of god and austerity to prove his faith against the world of fantasy (and thus theatre). The world of the theatre is all red and lush and vibrant whilst the world of the Bishop is desolate, empty, cold and plain white. And that's the main difference between them, one can see the excitement present in the world whilst the other sees excitement in a book written hundreds of years ago and wants everyone else to share that excitement. Split into 3 hour long chunks if you are not familiar with the film and I wasn't then the end of Act 1 comes as a massive shock as they kill off the man who has been set up as the lead and then introduce the Bishop at his funeral and the story goes off in directions I'd never have seen coming if I'd guessed all evening. Its not perfect - you could shave some time off it, the food motif becomes tiresome and there is one off performance from the actor playing Ismael but its a lovely production and it deserves to be seen by so many more people. A corking 9/10 Although I still have no idea what was supposed to have happened when the Bishop looked in the chest.
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Post by duncan on Mar 23, 2018 19:56:35 GMT
...and another thing, when the Bishop puts his hand under Alexander's bed clothes you could hear the audience gasp - surely the Vic wasn't about to pass comment on its previous Artistic Director in the middle of a play, in front of everyone!!!
Well no, they weren't but if you'd not seen the film you wouldn't have been shocked if they had gone down the sexual abuse route as this is a play that doesn't follow a straight line from start to finish.
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Post by ruperto on Mar 29, 2018 11:11:11 GMT
I just thought I should highlight the fact that the Old Vic website has slashed the price of ALL tickets to this to just £12 for the performances from April 4th to 14th inclusive (except for the evening of the 14th), which is a total bargain.
In a way, it's such a shame - they must really be struggling to sell tickets to have to resort to that sort of discounting.
I loved this play - this, along with the previous Old Vic show The Divide (which I think also had to do some discounting), are possibly the two things I've enjoyed most at the theatre so far this year. I've booked a return visit and am taking my eldest daughter. I would totally endorse duncan's review above - if you don't know the film, this one goes off in some quite surprising directions, and it gets quite dark and Dickensian. And Penelope Wilton really is magesterial in it. In fact, it's got a really strong cast, and there are some visually striking moments. And no, I'm definitely not on the Old Vic payroll!!
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Post by NeilVHughes on Mar 29, 2018 11:43:12 GMT
In agreement with ruperto both Divide and Fanny & Alexander are surprise highlights of the year so far. Initially when the season was published It looked quite risky with no real standout productions, which appears to have been backed up with the lack of box office interest and the thread on here. Hope this lack of sales does not bring us a season of ‘safes’ such as Ibsen, Chekhov, Shakespeare next year, the return of a sure fire hit A Christmas Carol, which I found too saccharine, indicates this is extremely likely. The only caveat, the Old Vic charges West End prices for a Theatre which I perceive (wrongly) as an Offie, often has aseasons which would not be a surprise at either the Almeida or Donmar at half their price.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2018 18:28:54 GMT
I’ve heard enough good things to spend £12 on this. Especially given as I booked onstage Quiz at £42 today, not realising that it would have been half the price to go sooner.
Any thoughts on the best spot to be in for this show? There really is a lot of availability so I feel like I might as well go for the best view.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2018 18:33:17 GMT
I’ve heard enough good things to spend £12 on this. Especially given as I booked onstage Quiz at £42 today, not realising that it would have been half the price to go sooner. Any thoughts on the best spot to be in for this show? There really is a lot of availability so I feel like I might as well go for the best view. I looked on theatremonkey...”The monkey normally likes central row H back to K, though, for viewing comfort. It could even go further back too, with A in use, to rows J to N to avoid the dip...” So should I do front row or h middle?
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Post by joem on Apr 2, 2018 22:22:40 GMT
This was actually very good. I was expecting it to be sombre and relatively joyless but there was a good balance between the lighter and darker aspects of the story. There were ven a number of positively laugh out loud moments.
Penelope Wilton in fine battleaxe mode, Jonathan Slinger has one magnificent long speech which he delivers with panache, Kevin Doyle does his fawning/tyrannical turn to perfection, Michael Pennington comes close to stealing the show as the old Jewish "family friend" (aka la Wilton's old lover) and the cinematic transitions end up being very effective in carrying the story. As for the kids playing Fanny and Alexander - particularly the boy - wow! I am green with envy at the thought of a lifetime of theatre ahead, Why couldn't it have been me?
Many things to ponder about on the philosophical side but I won't bother. With ticket prices slashed see for yourselves. Don't be put off by the length or the reported poor sales (it was actually quite busy tonight) - give yourself a cut-price treat.
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Post by bob2010 on Apr 5, 2018 13:34:00 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2018 20:50:33 GMT
They put the price back up?
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 6, 2018 12:32:46 GMT
Thanks, just grabbed a £12 seat (well, £13.50 once the booking fee was included).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2018 13:36:31 GMT
They put the price back up? £14 is an astonishingly low price for such a wonderful production though.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2018 18:03:37 GMT
They put the price back up? £14 is an astonishingly low price for such a wonderful production though. It’s a steal! Am going to see it on Wednesday. We paid £12 though. I guess this must be dynamic pricing in action!
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Post by jasper on Apr 7, 2018 16:48:05 GMT
When I saw the Old Vic was offering Fanny for £12 I thought I will have a bit of that. I like the earlier Bergaman, Wild Strawberries, Sawdust and Tinsel to Cries and Whispers. So I was hoping for something along those lines. Stalls were full. Felt after the first act I did not know where it was all going. Second two acts much better and more gripping. Very well performed. Good to see Pennington again I remember him from his time at the RSC and training showed in his voice skills. The Old Vic theatre always reminds me of the first theatre I went to over 50 years ago with a real curtain and a safety screen that used to have adverts projected onto it in the intervals. Ghosts walk the stage in this production, but not like in his films. The whole thing should have been called Alexander as Fanny had very little to do. It was more like Ibsen than a later Strindberg, despite the reference to A Dream Play. Noted a reference to Wild Strawberries in it as well. I have just read a biography of Strindberg and there are similarities between Strindberg's upbringing and Alexander's.
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Post by Mr Crummles on Apr 8, 2018 18:51:07 GMT
I saw it yesterday (Saturday) and thought this was a truly magnificent production. I couldn't help thinking that Ingmar Bergman himself would have loved it. It's about love and imagination; love and dreams. It's one of the most humane pieces of theatre I have seen in a very long while. The film is an old favourite of mine, and I was delighted to see that the production kept the Christmas song. The cast was exceptionally good, with a very impressive Alexander (I think I saw Misha Handley). Penelope Wilton was brilliant, and so was... well... everybody really.
The scenery is stunning, and used to create very impressive effects. The production - like the film - uses colours efficiently to convey different atmospheres (warm, cold, ominous, sinister, light, oppressive, etc.).
Maybe it was all discounts, but the theatre was, I am happy to report, full (well, at least in the stalls). And I had the impression that the audience genuinely enjoyed the production. I certainly did.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 11, 2018 7:41:55 GMT
Thanks again for the signposting of the cheap tickets for this. I saw Fanny and Alexander yesterday. A good front row seat and I'd recommend sitting there if you like to be up close. The stage isn't too high, although they do raise the stage in Act 2 with a change of staging.
I enjoyed this, but it was rather bitty. It was almost like three separate plays in one, trying to accomplish too much (I admit that I'm not familiar with the source material). I think it could be trimmed without losing any of the impact.
The two children playing the title characters were the highlights, even if this suffered from the current theatre trend to try and get children to swear as much as possible, including having someone who was playing a 10 year old (or thereabouts) saying the c word.
Glad that I got to see this and the theatre looked reasonable full from the section I could see, which is good.
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