2,492 posts
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Post by zahidf on Sept 4, 2018 6:53:36 GMT
Ghost stories back onstage for hammersmith lyric next May 2019
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2018 7:03:11 GMT
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on Sept 5, 2018 11:31:44 GMT
Great timing for me having missed the play before but recently enjoyed the film.
I will be going. I will be scared. I will need hand holding.
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562 posts
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Post by jadnoop on Apr 5, 2019 11:22:03 GMT
I really love horror films, and had never seen a horror play, so I went to see Ghost Stories with pretty high expectations. In the end it was good fun, if a little disappointing. The acting was decent, and the three short stories that form the play's bulk were fun, if built around quite over-used horror tropes. The problem for me was in the wider framing. With the auditorium's dressing, and with the play opening in a brilliant, playful fourth-wall breaking way, I was hoping for, and expecting, something inventive that really played with the medium. But aside from some fantastic audio, the effects & ideas felt oddly pedestrian. Even going so far as to have a giant rubber monster fall from above with a bang. Towards the end of the play, the story shifts direction (albeit into another horror cliche), and there was a commotion at the back of the theatre as one audience member was making noise, and another grumbled at them to shut up. At that point I got excited that something really interesting might happen: something that couldn't exist in another artform. But nope, it was just a case of poor audience behaviour. Perhaps in the end the real problem is that my expectations were wrong. This isn't Rosemary's Baby or Don't Look Now, or the other 'serious' horror classics that it visually references. And it's not an ideas-driven piece that plays with the medium. Instead this is the ghost train in a funfair. There's nothing wrong with that (and like I said, ultimately I had fun), but I wanted something more unexpected. It made me jump, but it didn't make me think |
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134 posts
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Post by romeo94 on Apr 20, 2019 21:21:47 GMT
I'm currently debating whether to catch this before it ends. I've heard many people say that the original production a few years ago was good and very scary. I understand that the scariness is down to sudden loud noises- is that right? Are there many of these?
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on Apr 21, 2019 1:29:57 GMT
I'm currently debating whether to catch this before it ends. I've heard many people say that the original production a few years ago was good and very scary. I understand that the scariness is down to sudden loud noises- is that right? Are there many of these? I haven't seen this yet but have read it recently. Perhaps someone on here that has seen it is in a better place to comment But having read the play text I imagine there will be some but if I did go I'd be a bit better prepared. I jump at loud noises and feel very uncomfortable about them as many on here know! |
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562 posts
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Post by jadnoop on May 6, 2019 11:04:04 GMT
I'm currently debating whether to catch this before it ends. I've heard many people say that the original production a few years ago was good and very scary. I understand that the scariness is down to sudden loud noises- is that right? Are there many of these? Sorry, just read your message, so not sure if it's too late, but here's my two cents in case you're still considering going (spoiler-free): The play has a reasonable amount of tension-building set up for each short story. This is done predominantly through a mix of the story itself, lighting, and a (great) soundscape. Whether or not you find this silly fun, a little unnerving, or outright scary is probably down to your tastes/temperament. Aside from this, yes, there are a few quiet-quiet-BANG moments that are structurally very similar to what you get in a lot of modern mainstream horror movies. If you want to know specifically how often this occurs then: You essentially get 4 of these moments; one at the end of each short story segment. Ultimately, my feeling is that if you're comfortable with a funfair ghost train ride then you'll be fine. |
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3,572 posts
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Post by Rory on Jul 14, 2019 17:07:16 GMT
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Post by tw on Jul 14, 2019 18:31:09 GMT
From Andy’s Twitter ‘clue’, I imagine this is transferring to the Ambassadors after Adrian Mole?
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on Jul 14, 2019 21:15:18 GMT
I've only now worked up the courage to see this. I'll definitely be going!
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3,316 posts
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Post by david on Jul 14, 2019 21:24:24 GMT
Great news if a transfer has been sorted out. I didn’t get a chance to see it at the Lyric Hammersmith unfortunately. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that the dates work out this time.
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3,572 posts
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Post by Rory on Jul 15, 2019 6:54:29 GMT
From Andy’s Twitter ‘clue’, I imagine this is transferring to the Ambassadors after Adrian Mole? Yes, looks like it is transferring to the Ambassadors. |
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Post by tw on Jul 15, 2019 7:58:43 GMT
At the Ambassadors Theatre 3rd October - 4th January.
Tickets on sale 10am this morning.
I assume that Adrian Mole will be closing early then.
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19,774 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 13, 2019 14:09:18 GMT
On tour as well. Lowry in February but I can’t find an official website for the full tour details.
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5,156 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 13, 2019 15:35:43 GMT
Yes, I searched earlier, too. Apart from Salford, all I could find was Edinburgh in April. V. unsatisfactory!
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Post by edi on Sept 13, 2019 16:54:16 GMT
Just booked dress row C tickets on the todaytix £15 sale. Very pleased with it.
However I am not into horror, I hope it will be OK. At least I know they cannot kill anybody on stage LOL . I only booked it because my other half really wanted to see it.
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Post by xanady on Sept 15, 2019 14:43:54 GMT
^Yes,Edinburgh in April can indeed be very unsatisfactory...especially when it rains😀
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2019 15:09:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2019 6:23:35 GMT
Full tour schedule - ghoststorieslive.co.uk/tour.html07/01 - 11/01/2020 The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham 14/01 - 18/01/2020 Theatre Royal, Bath 21/01 - 25/01/2020 Theatre Royal, Nottingham 28/01 - 01/02/2020 New Victoria Theatre, Woking 04/02 - 08/02/2020 Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury 11/02 - 15/02/2020 Theatre Royal, Brighton 18/02/ - 22/02/2020 The Lowry, Salford 25/02 - 29/02/2020 New Theatre, Cardiff 03/03 - 07/03/2020 The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury 10/03 - 14/03/2020 Grand Opera House, York 17/03 - 21/03/2020 Richmond Theatre 31/03 - 04/04/2020 Liverpool Playhouse 07/04 - 11/04/2020 Theatre Royal, Glasgow 14/04 - 18/04/2020 King's Theatre, Edinburgh 21/04 - 25/04/2020 Sheffield Lyceum 28/04 - 02/05/2020 Nuffield Southampton Theatres City, Southampton |
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Post by xanady on Oct 3, 2019 16:16:59 GMT
Just in case...is there a defib fitted in every theatre as this is one heck of a shocker...not for the feint-hearted!
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Post by edi on Oct 3, 2019 18:24:41 GMT
Nah, not needed. If someone needs help they take them into the theatre bar, tell them to buy a large drink and then show them the bill. Works every time and saves a fortune on electricity. How true. In that very theatre the other day I ordered a glass of hugely overpriced wine and after pouring it the waitress checked the level and proceeded to pour some of my wine into a plastic cup. Obviously she poured me a little over the measure but it was an odd way of sorting it. As we were the last one served in the very quiet bar, that little drop of wine in the plastic cup would have gone stale before it got given to the next punter. |
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Post by xanady on Oct 4, 2019 21:45:06 GMT
^There’s got to be a joke in that story about spirits...somewhere?
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Post by NorthernAlien on Nov 4, 2019 9:47:22 GMT
Saw this on Saturday, at the matinee.
I think this would have been amazing when it first came out. The problem is that we're all now familiar with the work of Derren Brown, and so it's much easier to spot the 'clues' running through the narrative - Andy Nyman, the writer of this, is one of the writers for Derren, and you can see a lot of the same tricks that were on those shows here.
I was in a big group of people seeing this, and my friend next to me had seen the film - he said it was exactly the same as this, beat for beat - so if you've seen the film, you've seen the theatre show. There was a member of staff in the circle who kept on moving up and down the stairs, seemingly to activate some technical-something-or-other during the show, which was quite distracting.
It becomes quite predictable quite quickly, in terms of the trajectory of each 'story', and you quickly get a sense, if not all the details, of what's going to happen at the end. It's basically a series of jump scares, but they're massively telegraphed by the lighting and sound design. The acting was good, but it's an all male cast, without the justification of say, 'Barber Shop Chronicles' as to why that decision has been made - I think there's no reason why at least two of the characters couldn't have been female.
Seat - Row H in the Circle - tight armrest room, but the seat itself slightly more generous - very steep steps up to those rear rows though. The circle was maybe 70 - 80% full, and as ever, I couldn't see what was happening in the Stalls (although there was a woman sat in the stalls who screamed a lot and so loudly that she actually made me jump more than the actual show). They were giving away 'come back with a friend and get a discount' flyers on the way out.
In Summary - not for me, prepare to potentially be scared, and probably not worth it if you've seen the film.
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167 posts
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Post by cherokee on Nov 5, 2019 9:59:24 GMT
Saw this on Saturday, at the matinee. I was in a big group of people seeing this, and my friend next to me had seen the film - he said it was exactly the same as this, beat for beat - so if you've seen the film, you've seen the theatre show. This seems to be a curious criticism: that the film adaptation of a play should be like the stage version? Why would your friend assume it would be different? (Although as it happens there are some significant differences between the two: the elderly paranormal investigator that the lead character visits in the film does not appear in the stage play, and is involved in a big twist that is unique to the movie.) |
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3,316 posts
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Post by david on Nov 15, 2019 23:53:01 GMT
I was at tonight’s late show. A big thanks to the Ambassador’s box office for the seat upgrade. A circle row H ticket became a Circle row B with a great view of the stage and with plenty of room as the circle wasn't particularly busy tonight.
The play kept me entertained for the 90 minutes with some decent scares and jumpy moments in the different stories presented. The lighting and soundscape were excellent and added to the tension in the stories.
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