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Post by popcultureboy on Mar 21, 2018 8:11:35 GMT
I would imagine that's being explored, but it might be stymied by the lack of an available house. The Gielgud, Wyndhams, Coward, Duke of York's, Pinter, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Apollo, Duchess, Lyric, Vaudeville, Ambassadors, none are immediately available. WAIT. Trafalgar Studios 1 isn't programmed after Grinning Man closes on 14th April, which is a week after Summer & Smoke closes at the Almeida. I wonder........ Given that Grinning Man has extended for three weeks now, whatever happens to this, it isn't coming straight in. But then it took Mary Stuart over a year to come in after its Almeida run, so I won't rule anything out. Luckily I have tickets for this Saturday afternoon and am VERY excited about seeing it.
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Post by Rory on Mar 21, 2018 9:01:51 GMT
It could still go in after 5th May. I think Matthew Needham is filming something in April once the Almeida run ends.
I'd say either this or Caroline, or Change are potential contenders for Trafalgar Studio 1 if nothing else is programmed.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2018 9:31:20 GMT
Finally blogged an opinion, for those interested. On a transfer, weren't the Trafalgar talking about a re-model, to make it an "in the round" place? If not, it would not be bad in the space, I think. Not if you're sat behind one of the pianos . . .
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Post by peggs on Mar 21, 2018 12:25:57 GMT
Finally blogged an opinion, for those interested. On a transfer, weren't the Trafalgar talking about a re-model, to make it an "in the round" place? If not, it would not be bad in the space, I think. Not if you're sat behind one of the pianos . . . I reckon if you sat behind the right piano, there's a fair bit of piano climbing, I wondered if they had steps on the other side 🤔 and more importantly maybe that is where the ice cream can be found?!
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Post by jasper on Mar 24, 2018 19:27:54 GMT
Saw this this afternoon. I have caught it in its two previous incarnations, with Pike and under the arches in London Bridge. It has moved on from the last version. No balloons, but lots of pianos. Liked the main leads and the production worked well. Having the female lead as a young woman (I think that was the intent and nothing to do with me seeing everyone as young these days) worked better than an older Pike. I think Williams had been reading Freud as women are hysterical and religion is a neruious in this play. Do not understand why they had no shoes, maybe hobbits in disguise. They had a notice warning of haze and the smoking of real cigarettes. I wondered what unreal cigarettes would look like. The pianos reminded me of the the old Julian and Sandy line 'a miracle of dexterity at the cottage upright.' Also a hanky was dipped into a jug of water and later two actors poured some water from it and drank it. Is that hygienic I thought, what about their vocal cords?
The worst thing was the constant coughing. It was throughout the performance, clearing of the throat, stifled coughs and maybe a few death rattles. two people left from the middle of the aisle during the performance. They left one before the interval and one after. Most distracting for me, do not know about the actors. I do not know if the coughing was connected to the smoking or if I was in a seat where the coughing was easily heard.
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Post by popcultureboy on Mar 24, 2018 23:08:11 GMT
The worst thing was the constant coughing. It was throughout the performance, clearing of the throat, stifled coughs and maybe a few death rattles. two people left from the middle of the aisle during the performance. They left one before the interval and one after. Most distracting for me, do not know about the actors. I do not know if the coughing was connected to the smoking or if I was in a seat where the coughing was easily heard. I was there this afternoon too and holy effing eff the coughing, the endless endless coughing. It was like watching it in a fricking TB ward, it was SUCH a joke. I'm glad it wasn't just me being driven out of their mind by it. I loved the production though. It is a real masterclass in taking a not particularly outstanding play and crafting something truly exceptional out of it. And Patsy Ferran is on her way to becoming the next Dame Judi Dench, I think. Her performance is complete perfection and deserves to win every award it possibly can. Having not been that fussed by Needham previously (probably due to him being in two Almeida duds), I thought he was lovely here and had nice chemistry with Ferran. Now that Trafalgar 1 has something else booked in, the earliest I think any house is available is June (the Ambassadors, which would be a great fit for the show I think). It will surely come in at some point.
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Post by Rory on Mar 25, 2018 0:15:25 GMT
Either Ambassadors or else Duke of York's after King Lear, I'd say.
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Post by popcultureboy on Mar 25, 2018 8:04:37 GMT
Either Ambassadors or else Duke of York's after King Lear, I'd say. Or Trafalgar 1 after Killer Joe. Both the Duke of York's and Trafalgar 1 have had recent Almeida transfers which looked better in their spaces than in Almeida.
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Post by lichtie on Mar 25, 2018 9:11:24 GMT
I saw this yesterday matinee. Glad I was upstairs as heard no coughing... Ferrari completely inhabited the character in every sense. Standout performance. Needham was fine. The rest functional, didn't intrude, but some of the doubling of the roles meant they ended up as fairly anonymous generic southern. Fortunately didn't diminish from the overall. Minimal staging worked well I thought, though not sure about the full semi circle of pianos, since they rarely needed even half for the music/sound effects. I guess the bare feet was an attempt to make the cast southern, but both superfluous and mildly distracting I felt.
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Post by foxa on Mar 25, 2018 14:32:22 GMT
Was there at the evening performance on Saturday - the coughers must have cleared out by then.
I thought this was absolutely wonderful.
Seeing it in the same week as 'Macbeth' at the National was instructive.
The director of this, Rebecca Frecknall, treats the script (which some have dismissed as a water-downed, schematic version of Williams' themes seen in 'Streetcar') with such respect, heart and insight. The semi-circle of pianos works beautifully, both for creating the soundscape of the play and as levels upon which the actors perch, walk, observe, but also as a symbol for Alma's love of the arts (she is a music teacher, she leads a book group.) And without spoiling the effect, the pianist at the end of the piece is used incredibly well. Ferran and Needham are the focus of the production and have, as mentioned above, excellent chemistry. Their nuanced, intricate reactions to each other hold you throughout. Williams' rarefied women can seem the stuff of parody, but Ferran's Alma is so touching and raw - as if all her nerve-endings are exposed. The other casting is excellent, with Anjana Vasan (who plays Rosa/Nellie) being a particular find - especially when she belts out a blues number. All the elements of the show, the music, the lighting, the set, the staging, serve to mine and reveal the play.
I hope it does transfer - I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Post by peggs on Mar 25, 2018 16:55:11 GMT
foxa what a wonderful review, I agree with you entirely though could not articulate it anywhere near as clearly as you.
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Post by andrew on Mar 27, 2018 12:46:58 GMT
Snagged a rush ticket today, much easier on my laptop this time. Next week, I'll be back.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 13:03:44 GMT
Snagged a rush ticket today, much easier on my laptop this time. Next week, I'll be back. Which site did you use? I’ve been looking on Today Tix and cannot see anything.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 13:20:06 GMT
Which site did you use? I’ve been looking on Today Tix and cannot see anything. The Almeida website release an allocation of rush tickets every Tuesday at 1pm for performances in the following week.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 13:28:26 GMT
Which site did you use? I’ve been looking on Today Tix and cannot see anything. The Almeida website release an allocation of rush tickets every Tuesday at 1pm for performances in the following week. I swear that joining this site might be the most expensive decision of my life.
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Post by peggs on Mar 27, 2018 13:54:29 GMT
The Almeida website release an allocation of rush tickets every Tuesday at 1pm for performances in the following week. I swear that joining this site might be the most expensive decision of my life. Yes for all the money save you get tempted in to seeing a lot more things!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 14:54:59 GMT
I popped into the box office. Apparently the rush tickets went “within five minutes” (so now I know why they are called rush tickets.)
I’ll try again next Tuesday.
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Post by andrew on Mar 27, 2018 17:22:18 GMT
I popped into the box office. Apparently the rush tickets went “within five minutes” (so now I know why they are called rush tickets.) I’ll try again next Tuesday. For context, last week I was in a queue of 300 odd people, for what I think is maybe 12ish seats per show. This week there were only three performances up for grabs, so you can see how much the odds are against you. I just happened to be 18th in the random queue
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Post by ruperto on Mar 29, 2018 12:32:51 GMT
What I liked about this: * Patsy Ferran, who is amazing - she's going to be a huge star. * Tennessee Williams's wonderful words. * Some other good performances. What I didn't like: * The production/direction - pretentious and way too stylised IMHO. And with zero sense of time and place, when I'd have thought the whole small-town America aspect is critical. I felt like I was watching something that had been dreamed up in the rehearsal room by a bunch of pseuds. Barefoot cast? Check. Dirty bare stage? Check. No set to speak of, and hardly any props? Check. Cast wearing scruffy/nondescript clothes that don't chime with the roles they're playing, so that a doctor in his surgery (at least, I think he was in his surgery - you couldn't tell) just looks like some ordinary scruffy guy? Check. A character suddenly singing a Portishead song for absolutely no reason? Check. * Those nine bloody pianos circling the stage that people play, poke, hang around by and clamber on. Those pianos were the capital city of Pseudland. * The fact that several of the cast double on roles, including Forbes Masson playing both the dads, and Anjana Vasan playing various young women, so that it's not always immediately clear who they are playing. Couldn't they have scaled back on the number of pianos they rented and used the cash to pay for some more actors? It's not as if it's a play with a large cast. It's just more silly pretentiousness, IMHO. * The fact that for me, it dragged - and I hardly ever check my watch when I'm at the theatre.
I'm a very mild-mannered and generally upbeat theatregoer, but as you can tell, this production really annoyed the hell out of me! Transferring this sort of intimate (the kindest word I can find) production to a big West End theatre would in my view be commercial insanity. But as everyone keeps saying on here, it's great that there's such a diversity of views!!
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Post by n1david on Mar 29, 2018 12:44:13 GMT
* The production/direction - pretentious and way too stylised IMHO. And with zero sense of time and place, when I'd have thought the whole small-town America aspect is critical. I felt like I was watching something that had been dreamed up in the rehearsal room by a bunch of pseuds. Barefoot cast? Check. Dirty bare stage? Check. No set to speak of, and hardly any props? Check. Cast wearing scruffy/nondescript clothes that don't chime with the roles they're playing, so that a doctor in his surgery (at least, I think he was in his surgery - you couldn't tell) just looks like some ordinary scruffy guy? Check. A character suddenly singing a Portishead song for absolutely no reason? Check. Interestingly, I was at the Cast Q&A on Monday and this came up. Apparently, in his later life Tennessee Williams was frustrated at the rigid, traditional staging of his work when he felt it had broader themes which were being lost in the "picture of small town America" context. And they also claimed that Summer and Smoke had been one of Williams's less successful plays because the spiritual elements were not believable when the play was rooted in a very literal context. Hence the decision to take this out of the small-town context into something more generic, more malleable. The actors also discussed the staging (eg why the Portishead song was in there - to set the scene in a casino to provoke a 'mental scene change'). The doubling was deliberate to tie in with the theme of dopplegangers throughout the play - e.g. Forbes Masson's characters being the flip side of each other (he described thinking of one of them as being masculine and one as feminine, in very general terms). I'm not sure I entirely bought the staging, but I thought the cast did a good job of explaining and justifying the staging decisions - I don't think any of it was done on a whim or to be trendy. I hope the Almeida puts the Q&A online, although I don't remember seeing cameras, so I doubt it. But it certainly helped me understand the production. And I agree with the general idea that one shouldn't need to read a programme or attend a talk in order to "understand" a show, but in this case it definitely helped.
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Mar 29, 2018 14:11:05 GMT
What I liked about this: * Patsy Ferran, who is amazing - she's going to be a huge star. * Tennessee Williams's wonderful words. * Some other good performances. What I didn't like: * The production/direction - pretentious and way too stylised IMHO. And with zero sense of time and place, when I'd have thought the whole small-town America aspect is critical. I felt like I was watching something that had been dreamed up in the rehearsal room by a bunch of pseuds. Barefoot cast? Check. Dirty bare stage? Check. No set to speak of, and hardly any props? Check. Cast wearing scruffy/nondescript clothes that don't chime with the roles they're playing, so that a doctor in his surgery (at least, I think he was in his surgery - you couldn't tell) just looks like some ordinary scruffy guy? Check. A character suddenly singing a Portishead song for absolutely no reason? Check. * Those nine bloody pianos circling the stage that people play, poke, hang around by and clamber on. Those pianos were the capital city of Pseudland. * The fact that several of the cast double on roles, including Forbes Masson playing both the dads, and Anjana Vasan playing various young women, so that it's not always immediately clear who they are playing. Couldn't they have scaled back on the number of pianos they rented and used the cash to pay for some more actors? It's not as if it's a play with a large cast. It's just more silly pretentiousness, IMHO. * The fact that for me, it dragged - and I hardly ever check my watch when I'm at the theatre. I'm a very mild-mannered and generally upbeat theatregoer, but as you can tell, this production really annoyed the hell out of me! Transferring this sort of intimate (the kindest word I can find) production to a big West End theatre would in my view be commercial insanity. But as everyone keeps saying on here, it's great that there's such a diversity of views!! This might be more to your liking.
www.blu-ray.com/movies/Summer-and-Smoke-Blu-ray/73448/
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Post by ruperto on Mar 29, 2018 16:08:16 GMT
Thanks for the tip! I didn't know there was a film of Summer and Smoke - that's one that's passed me by...
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Post by kathryn on Mar 31, 2018 21:18:08 GMT
I really enjoyed this today! I found myself mentally urging Alma to jump his bones - it may have been the lovely view of Matthew Needham’s shoulders I was getting from d27. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated haveing a side view so much...
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Post by audrey on Mar 31, 2018 22:30:57 GMT
Alma - Patsy Ferran - was incredible in this role and she deserves to get a load of awards. But some plays don't survive the test of time and this is one of them. Our history in plays is sadly one of white male playwrights and it would have been fascinating to see an equivalent female playwright, especially a woman of colour writing about the same period. It was an interesting production but am really not sure why the Almeida thought his play should be revived - would have much preferred to see Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes plays revived from the same period .
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Post by quine on Apr 2, 2018 11:42:11 GMT
Alma - Patsy Ferran - was incredible in this role and she deserves to get a load of awards. But some plays don't survive the test of time and this is one of them. Our history in plays is sadly one of white male playwrights and it would have been fascinating to see an equivalent female playwright, especially a woman of colour writing about the same period. It was an interesting production but am really not sure why the Almeida thought his play should be revived - would have much preferred to see Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes plays revived from the same period . Love Zora Neale Hurston - if you haven't read Their eyes were watching God
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Post by andrew on Apr 3, 2018 11:30:29 GMT
I attended last night, joined by some of the Mary Stuart cast, Mark Shenton and governor-extraordinaire Mark Carney. I though the staging was OK, although the pretentiousness bell in my head was tinkling ever so slightly. There was no reason they couldn't wear shoes. The piano-number-mystery was on my mind, I determined that they have to have an odd number since the pianos line up with the sections of the back wall. So you either have 5, 7, or 9. They never used more than 7 pianos. Make of that what you will.
I don't think I loved this quite as much as the majority do, although I loved seeing Patsy Ferran, it's a performance I'm glad I didn't miss. I don't think it's Tennessee's best, although there are several moments of magical theatre, the sort that tends to emerge in his plays. The doubling made sense to me, but perhaps I was helped by having already the discussion on here. This particular production manufactured it's own, for example in the beautiful song in the second act. My favourite moment has to be the last scene though, which sort of made the whole thing worth it. A really great ending, brilliantly portrayed and staged.
I think it's worth seeing this to see a not-perfect-play put on in a very compelling way, but it didn't quite climb to the 5 star heights for me that it's gotten to for others.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 11:41:56 GMT
I attended last night, joined by some of the Mary Stuart cast, Mark Shenton and governor-extraordinaire Mark Carney. Oh I couldn't have stopped myself, Mark Carney is such a silver fox.
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Post by theatreliker on Apr 4, 2018 13:27:40 GMT
Is a transfer on the cards for this?
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Post by zahidf on Apr 4, 2018 14:12:32 GMT
Patsy Ferran has joined my list of 'must watch' in the theatre. Hope she will be in something else VERY soon
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Post by crowblack on Apr 7, 2018 20:14:43 GMT
Is a transfer on the cards for this? I asked at the box office today, but they didn't know.
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