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Post by lt on May 29, 2024 13:07:22 GMT
A bit random but I really dislike the name of this play. Wishy-washy, unhelpful, beige. Conveys nothing whatsoever about the themes, or the humour, or the energy. It sounds like a BBC travel show with Judith Chalmers (who?!) or Jane Macdonald. Doesn't do the piece justice. Is this not spelt out in the script? People, Places and Things are what trigger addictions and in the final scene she returns to the People, Places and Things that trigger her? Once you've seen the play, the title makes sense, but I can see it might not entice people to see it, which would be a huge shame. But then I think many play titles are not that compelling.
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Post by aspieandy on May 29, 2024 15:02:12 GMT
A bit random but I really dislike the name of this play. Wishy-washy, unhelpful, beige. Conveys nothing whatsoever about the themes, or the humour, or the energy. It sounds like a BBC travel show with Judith Chalmers (who?!) or Jane Macdonald. Doesn't do the piece justice. Is this not spelt out in the script? People, Places and Things are what trigger addictions and in the final scene she returns to the People, Places and Things that trigger her?
Of course it is. That isn't my point. See last sentence.
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103 posts
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Post by annette on May 30, 2024 23:07:09 GMT
I had high expectations for this play having heard so many great things about it when it first opened some years ago. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything to admire about it at all.
I though Denise Gough was excellent in Angels in America at the NT, but in this play it felt to me like she spent a lot of the play treading a very thin line between a good performance and over the top show boating. I found the staggering around routine at the beginning quite embarrassing and got so weary of all the shouting.
I didn’t understand the point of having some of the audience on the stage at all. It was just distracting after the initial reveal.
I get why the music and sound effects had to be loud to achieve the right impact, but they were SO loud that I ended up having to cover my ears (we were sitting a few rows from the stage in the stalls).
The group therapy sessions felt unbearably protracted and left me cold and a lot of the interaction between Denise Gough’s character and the other patient who later joined the staff of the clinic did not ring true at all. It was really only the scene with the parents towards the end that made me feel something other than wishing the play would finish asap.
Very disappointing and for me, quite a torturous evening ( but not in the way the writer/director may have intended).
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Post by alessia on Jun 14, 2024 6:40:34 GMT
I really enjoyed this last night, perhaps my expectations were too high after reading the reviews from the previous run and now - I missed it before so tried very hard to not read any spoilers. I liked it a lot, but did not love it- thought the acting was brilliant, especially Denise Gough of course, but I did not feel moved, I was waiting for it but it never happened. It was more like 'oh she is really good, here- believable, etc' but I was thinking about it rather than feeling it in my bones.
I was thinking just now about another play I saw a while back, Black Out Songs- same concept more or less, but for me more powerful than this one. I was in the stage seats, front row, and it was fine though I wonder what was the point of those seats...?
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9 posts
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Post by dynamiccoins on Jun 16, 2024 6:42:04 GMT
Had front row stage seats for this yesterday.
After reading a few negative reviews on here recently I was a little wary going in.
I really didn't like the shouting/slurring during the first check-in sequence and was thinking oh no I'm not going to enjoy this character.
But once that initial part was over I absolutely loved the play and Goughs performance.
I'm sure I would have enjoyed it sat anywhere, but sat onstage, right on top of the action was fantastic.
Side note...
I've not been for many years, but when I was a member of the Donmar in the late 90s - mid 2000s, my partner and I used to sit in the same 2 seats for every performance (a26 and a27 if I remember rightly), and the front row stage seats yesterday reminded very much of that. The intimacy it brings being that close to the actors is fantastic.
I went to see Lady Dealer a few weeks ago and sat in the front row for that, so have had the pleasure of being front and centre for two fabulous performances recently.
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