959 posts
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Post by nash16 on May 3, 2018 22:28:23 GMT
I dont get the good reviews for this. its very average! It really is such a mild play and production. Yet the centre stalls were roaring...
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1,858 posts
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Post by Marwood on May 7, 2018 19:38:57 GMT
Interval time: wouldn’t say it’s rubbish but not finding much to recommend it to anyone - sincerely hoping the second half is a lot better.
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1,858 posts
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Post by Marwood on May 7, 2018 22:50:24 GMT
I also found this a bit dull, a lot of skirting round what Chaplins character had done that had been so terrible to the 'heroine' without actually going into any details about what had happened (beyond her having been flown over state lines), and a lot of chatter from the supporting cast to no particular end didn't leave me feeling particularly bothered what happened to anyone at the end. I don't blame Ifans for bailing, I'm just glad I only paid £2 to see this. Stalls were about two thirds full, couldn't get a clear view where I was sitting up the upper levels looked pretty empty.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 0:52:46 GMT
I also found this a bit dull, a lot of skirting round what Chaplins character had done that had been so terrible to the 'heroine' without actually going into any details about what had happened (beyond her having been flown over state lines), and a lot of chatter from the supporting cast to no particular end didn't leave me feeling particularly bothered what happened to anyone at the end. I don't blame Ifans for bailing, I'm just glad I only paid £2 to see this. Stalls were about two thirds full, couldn't get a clear view where I was sitting up the upper levels looked pretty empty. How did you get a £2 ticket?
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 0:57:33 GMT
Have seen three previews in the last few weeks, two where I have agreed with the critics and one where I think they saw a different play, as I book in advance for most things and rarely rely on critics have found this divergence quite thought provoking. Nine Nights, absolute cracker, Board and Critics in harmonius agreement. Mood Music, surprised by the critics, I was especially enamoured by the composition and subject matter, as a musician who could bore the pants off someone (if they hung around) discussing diminished seventh arpeggios it is right up my street. Absolute Hell, found it tedious and thought the production lacked the depth the play deserved, like @n1david tempted to see it again as it has been tinkered with a lot since I saw it in an early preview, as there is so much good theatre around currently this is unlikely. Someone once told me about the three Ps: Press, Practitioners (those in the theatre industry) and Public. They said that there were plays that were loved by the press and the public but hated by those in the industry or loved by the press and hated by the public (who vote with their feet). They said that it is very rare for all three to be in agreement.
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1,858 posts
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Post by Marwood on May 8, 2018 8:56:23 GMT
I also found this a bit dull, a lot of skirting round what Chaplins character had done that had been so terrible to the 'heroine' without actually going into any details about what had happened (beyond her having been flown over state lines), and a lot of chatter from the supporting cast to no particular end didn't leave me feeling particularly bothered what happened to anyone at the end. I don't blame Ifans for bailing, I'm just glad I only paid £2 to see this. Stalls were about two thirds full, couldn't get a clear view where I was sitting up the upper levels looked pretty empty. How did you get a £2 ticket? I'm on a mailing list of a site that offers tickets to plays, concerts, comedy : the tickets themselves are 'free' but you have to pay a £2 admin charge per head for the privilege. They're usually at lower key places like The Jazz Cafe or the Churchill in Bromley rather than anywhere like the Old Vic.
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18,700 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 8, 2018 13:42:16 GMT
Isn’t he marvellous when he’s angry?
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2018 14:40:33 GMT
Dreadful
Didn’t even last 30 mins
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2018 15:30:39 GMT
Ben Chaplin
Really is a awful actor
No facial expressions
The play is a disaster
Desperate
And unengaging
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1,181 posts
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 9, 2018 20:09:02 GMT
If there are any further infringements, the admin team will seriously consider revising our policy to ban members on a first offence and without warning, and also pass the details on to the papering company concerned.
Whilst I agree with the policy of not naming papering sites etc, are you allowed to pass on people’s personal information to another company when people have signed up in good faith and are anonymised/ haven’t expressly given their permission for details to be passed on? I might of course have missed it in the board rules (and please don’t ban me for asking) but it’s just a thought.
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4,631 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on May 10, 2018 22:26:55 GMT
To clarify, it means that we would consider notifying the relevant organisation that there has been a public posting by an anonymous someone, talking out-of-turn. We were fully aware that we cannot pass on actual information. Straight Red Card
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884 posts
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Post by lonlad on May 14, 2018 23:34:28 GMT
Amazing the number of walkouts at this tonight - on top of plenty of empty seats to begin with. Even more amazing is that I wasn't amongst them. It's dreadful --- Penhall has lots of points he wants to make but forgot to write the play to contain them, and the production is surprisingly clumsy for someone of Roger Michell's pedigree.
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137 posts
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Post by jason71 on May 17, 2018 16:42:08 GMT
Just booked a ticket to see this play. Ticket only cost me £2. I hope that I've not wasted £2 on this show.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:42:16 GMT
Amazing the number of walkouts at this tonight - on top of plenty of empty seats to begin with. Even more amazing is that I wasn't amongst them. It's dreadful --- Penhall has lots of points he wants to make but forgot to write the play to contain them, and the production is surprisingly clumsy for someone of Roger Michell's pedigree. A lot of posters seem to concur, yet my perception is that this got very good reviews. I'd be really interested to hear if anyone has an opinion on why it was so popular with reviewers (if that's the case...I haven't seen them all, just the one in the Guardian which I think was 4 stars).
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32 posts
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Post by welcometodreamland on May 26, 2018 22:30:33 GMT
Well I thought it was pretty good. First time in the Old Vic theatre and it's a pretty basic layout. Nothing unique about the layout of the place, but either way.
Thought it was good enough story wise. Ben Chaplin is great as this very seedy egotistical producer. Seana Kerslake I also really liked too.
One complaint would be to see more of what actually happened between the two rather than it being told through other characters.
Saw it today at its matinee showing. I think I was in Seat K14, so pretty close up.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2018 7:02:43 GMT
If nothing else, I hope the cast have got fit during this show as a result of all that walking up and down and up and down and up and down and . . .
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923 posts
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Post by Snciole on May 27, 2018 16:41:05 GMT
The reviews don't seem to have ensured it sells very well though. It doesn't deserve to but it is interesting how badly Red was selling and now has full (weekend at least) houses based on reviews.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2018 18:28:19 GMT
The reviews don't seem to have ensured it sells very well though. It doesn't deserve to but it is interesting how badly Red was selling and now has full (weekend at least) houses based on reviews. Perhaps word of mouth (given that wom these days consists of Twitter, Facebook etc) is just as impactful as reviews these days.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2018 9:29:21 GMT
The reviews don't seem to have ensured it sells very well though. It doesn't deserve to but it is interesting how badly Red was selling and now has full (weekend at least) houses based on reviews. Oh but it does. It's one of the most excruciatingly boring things I've sat through in a long time. Even Dame Eileen Atkins to my left wasn't enough to make me like it. I wanted to take one of those dangly microphones and wrap it around Ben Chaplin's neck just to end the misery. In fact there were moments I considered wrapping one around my own neck if it would have made it stop.
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923 posts
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Post by Snciole on May 28, 2018 9:40:48 GMT
I agree! My wording was terrible. It doesn't deserve to sell very well and I am baffled by the good reviews. I hope Sea Wall can make up for the losses on this production.
Much like my feelings on Quiz I think something was lost from page to stage, the subject is interesting. The production loses sight of this early on and can never claw it back.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2018 9:46:33 GMT
I agree! My wording was terrible. It doesn't deserve to sell very well and I am baffled by the good reviews. I hope Sea Wall can make up for the losses on this production. Much like my feelings on Quiz I think something was lost from page to stage, the subject is interesting. The production loses sight of this early on and can never claw it back. I don't think it's helped by the fact that the character we're supposed to sympathise with (the singer) is just as dreadfully irritating as the producer. I couldn't have cared any less about them. Apart from the lead two, you have to wonder about the sizes of the mortgages of the rest of the cast to guess why they accepted such rotten roles in this.
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3,458 posts
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Post by showgirl on May 28, 2018 14:18:42 GMT
I'm really surprised at the way the feeling here now seems to be so anti; obviously opinions differ but the critics seemed to like it and though I didn't think it was perfect, as I said at the time, I really enjoyed it and would happily see it again if time allowed.
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99 posts
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Post by noboiscout on May 29, 2018 12:26:26 GMT
I'm really surprised at the way the feeling here now seems to be so anti; obviously opinions differ but the critics seemed to like it and though I didn't think it was perfect, as I said at the time, I really enjoyed it and would happily see it again if time allowed. It is strange how the pro's and anti's for any show often appear in clumps! I have to say I really disliked this play. The female lead's accent was grating to say the least (and I am Irish myself), both lead characters were unsympathetic and the supporting cast just fumbling around in search of a plot. There must be better plays that merit a production than this?
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1,510 posts
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Post by anita on Jun 3, 2018 9:51:48 GMT
I couldn't make out a word the young female said.
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411 posts
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Post by schuttep on Jun 4, 2018 13:22:32 GMT
Well I thought it was pretty good. First time in the Old Vic theatre and it's a pretty basic layout. Nothing unique about the layout of the place, but either way. I didn't love this but didn't think it was that bad either. It was entertaining enough. I did like the artist/therapist/lawyer points of view to get a message across. Although it's a pretty basic layout it isn't the usual Old Vic proscenium presentation - it's created a thrust stage. That means that (a) seats have been taken out and (b) the playing area is huge. I can see why they thought they didn't need all the seats normally used but the play was somewhat lost on that larger stage and relatively cavernous arena. it would have been better suited to a smaller venue.
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Post by cat6 on Jun 10, 2018 16:50:11 GMT
Hi Guys, Well, its run is nearly over. I saw this play about a month ago and I'm sorry to say I didn't like it. I thought the characters, despite the playwright trying to give them dimension by having them analyzed on the run, were flat. I was in the 3rd row center, and the lady next to me fell asleep. I wanted to like the play. The premise sounded interesting. I LOVED Joe Penhall's Sunny Afternoon (of course, I'm a Kinks fan, and while everything in the play was not exactly as it happened IRL it was still an excellent piece), so I was expecting something really exciting and insightful here. The worst thing was coming away with no understanding at all about why a producer would treat an artist like a doormat. OK, the lead character was a psychopath (wasn't he?) and psychopaths are annoyingly self-centered at best. While true, that didn't, couldn't, make the best dramatic material by a long shot. He wasn't even given words that would give away, or directed to show a hidden charisma. I would not doubt that Rhys Ifans pulled out of the role after reading the script. There was nothing he (nor Ben Chaplin, who got the part after) could do with it.
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1,175 posts
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Post by joem on Jun 10, 2018 19:30:39 GMT
I'm going to go out on a limb from most people here on this one. I enjoyed it and I thought it was a good play. I particularly want to address the point of the Ben Chaplin part (Bernard). First, the guy can act and to complain about his being inexpressive is frankly to confuse the character with the actor. I think there were plenty of lines where the character showed his complete lack of empathy with others and his overweening ego, and many of these were the best lines in the play. The devil does tend to have them.
The role of the exploited artiste was less meaty but Seana Kerslake, as Cat, coped with it reasonably well, especially on the musical side - not sure if her accent wasn't more Ulster than Dublin but I'm not an expert on Irish accents. The rest of the cast were attendant lords.
I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the conversations between different sets of characters began to merge and feed off each other. Required good timing and was dramatically very effective.
For me this was an entertaining and interesting piece on exploitation, specifically within the music industry and how it is targeted particularly against women, but it was also a wider critique of the relationship between creativity and commercialism. It sounded good too. My biggest quibble was the poor sightlines, at one point the Chaplin character was being blocked by a chair with someone sat on it and by the piano so basically you could barely see him. Not the first time this has happened to me at the Old Vic though.
Last night it was full, there were no walkouts and the audience applauded enthusiastically and enjoyed quite a few laughs.
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717 posts
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Post by Latecomer on Jun 14, 2018 17:47:52 GMT
Hmmm....people hated this one didn't they? I took something entirely different from the play...it was all about the power games between men and women. It was about how women are often victims of men but are programmed to collude in this behaviour...we are taught to doubt ourselves and therefore end up playing the "victim" and encouraging the bad behaviour of men. These are learned behaviours, hence all the back stories.... So, I liked it. I didn't necessarily like the characters, but hey, it had something to say and it said it! Next time you see a man being a bully and a woman putting up with it, ask yourself "why?"
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17 posts
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Post by theplayer on Jun 16, 2018 23:21:07 GMT
Saw the final matinee performance of this. I liked it. An interesting take on power dynamics in the music industry. Funny, and also managed to not be pretentious.
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577 posts
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Post by ncbears on Jul 9, 2020 14:01:06 GMT
On YouTube now for a week until 14 July, 7:00 p.m. London Time.
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