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Post by perfectspy on Jan 26, 2019 15:35:53 GMT
I don't know why, but I see the Vaudeville as a really boring theatre in the West End. I rarely see anything there I have any desire to see. Did you not see True West?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2019 15:40:53 GMT
I don't know why, but I see the Vaudeville as a really boring theatre in the West End. I rarely see anything there I have any desire to see. Did you not see True West? No I haven't, though that is the only thing I've been vaguely enthused to see, because of Kit. The only show I've ever seen there was Forbidden Broadway, which was years ago now!
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 26, 2019 15:51:48 GMT
Performances of Bank Robbery will soon be taking a short break while refurbishment work takes place at the Criterion.
Unless it's ultra-urgent, and can't be delayed, it does suggest that both the theatre and Mischief think it will run for a while longer yet, otherwise it would surely be scheduled between productions.
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Post by poster J on Jan 26, 2019 16:04:53 GMT
I'd rather see TPTGW go, if one of them has to. I'd rather see Bank Robbery go. That said, everyone I know who's seen both finds the first one they saw to be the better of the two!
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 26, 2019 19:09:55 GMT
I'd rather see TPTGW go, if one of them has to. So would I. However as it's consistently easier to get last minute tickets for TCAABR than than TPTGW I'd expect the former to close before the latter. poster J I saw TPTGW first - back when it was a 1-acter - but it's my least favourite of the three scripted shows. I still enjoy it, just not as much as the other two.
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Post by Jon on Jan 26, 2019 19:13:40 GMT
Performances of Bank Robbery will soon be taking a short break while refurbishment work takes place at the Criterion. Unless it's ultra-urgent, and can't be delayed, it does suggest that both the theatre and Mischief think it will run for a while longer yet, otherwise it would surely be scheduled between productions. I would guess the Criterion isn’t exactly the most sought after theatre so Bank Robbery probably is safe for a while. I agree it’ll likely close before Goes Wrong.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2019 20:49:12 GMT
For me, each piece loses its sparkle slightly once the original team move on. Henry Shields et al really sell the shows for me with their charisma.
I’d imagine that one of the other two shows in the residency will be Magic Goes Wrong, and I can’t wait!
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 26, 2019 23:50:31 GMT
For me, each piece loses its sparkle slightly once the original team move on. Henry Shields et al really sell the shows for me with their charisma. I'd agree that as a team the original cast for each show were unbeatable, especially in terms of physicality as the moves were created for their bodies. However I have seen some replacements who I would say have been just as good on an individual basis.
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Post by stuart on Jan 27, 2019 22:15:07 GMT
I think The Play That Goes Wrong will be on the West End for many many years to come. The Duchess is a small theatre and is likely to find another guaranteed long runner in the immediate future.
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Post by dippy on Jan 27, 2019 23:19:43 GMT
That said, everyone I know who's seen both finds the first one they saw to be the better of the two! Then I suppose I'd better not give a second one a chance even though I sometimes think I am tempted to see the other.
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Post by freckles on Jan 28, 2019 10:24:49 GMT
Did anyone manage to get the £10 off preview seats mentioned above to work?
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jan 28, 2019 10:40:10 GMT
Yes, Friday afternoon it worked for me... Hope it's not a faux pas to post this link from my email offers here - mischieftheatreoffer.ticketswitch.com/city/2957-london/PBP8-groan-ups/ BUT BUT BUT it says must be booked before 11am TODAY 28.01.19 Save £10 on all price bands for the first 10 performances only*. Offer valid on below performance dates: 20th, 22nd, 24th – 27th, 29th September &1st October (excluding Saturday) *Must be booked by 11am on Monday 28th January
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Post by galinda on Jan 28, 2019 11:30:30 GMT
She's not commented on Twitter either ... Weeping into her bank account ...? I think that Mischief has enough fans nowadays to be over-excited on Twitter without me needing to join in. (Actually, if you look at my Tweets & Replies rather than just Tweets I have made a number of comments.) In terms of ticket booking, as Nimax evidently doesn't consider me worthy of getting the previews £10 offer that other people have mentioned - despite the number of seats I've booked with them over the last few years - I am holding off until Monday when more of tickets are supposed to go onsale in the hope that there may be stalls seats available at less than £52.50, as I cannot currently afford to make repeat bookings at that price. Where did you read more tickets would be released today?
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 28, 2019 15:25:38 GMT
Where did you read more tickets would be released today?
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Post by lynette on Jan 28, 2019 21:21:43 GMT
When I booked by phone, the assistant gave me the impression I was the first person to book and could take my pick of the Theatre. I was booking for early October.
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 28, 2019 21:49:28 GMT
On Friday I looked through ticket availabilty for a number of dates throughout the run and took a screenshot of the "typical" availability. So it looks like there are a lot of seats that haven't been made available to book yet. Presumably some will be for reserved agencies and perhaps others will be released later.
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gemmiejewel
Auditioning
Finally got to see Mischief Theatre. Henry Shields as a talking lasagne that's staying with me lol
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Post by gemmiejewel on Feb 5, 2019 23:21:59 GMT
On Friday I looked through ticket availabilty for a number of dates throughout the run and took a screenshot of the "typical" availability. So it looks like there are a lot of seats that haven't been made available to book yet. Presumably some will be for reserved agencies and perhaps others will be released later. It looked the same for me when I was thinking of making the trip from Wales but life has thwarted me and I can only hope for a tour. In relation to a few comments I’ve seen I never normally respond (just lurk) but personally I think comedy on the west end is a good things in these uncertain times and if it’s provided by the same group then good on em. Having a laugh for two hours is a brilliant stress reliever. At least for me anyway. Hope that doesn’t sound too preachy!
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Post by pianowithsam on Sept 20, 2019 15:27:15 GMT
Anyone going tonight, or in close proximity to the start of the run? Looking forward to hearing reviews as questioning whether to book or not.
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Post by londonmzfitz on Sept 20, 2019 16:28:08 GMT
Anyone going tonight, or in close proximity to the start of the run? Looking forward to hearing reviews as questioning whether to book or not. I'm there tonight, as is Dawnstar (naturally!)
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Post by danielwhit on Sept 20, 2019 17:23:41 GMT
I'm also in, dress circle.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 20, 2019 18:27:52 GMT
I can quite understand why they had to take out rows AX & AY. The stage is above eye level in row A. Taking out the other rows does mean there's at least 6 feet of legroom for all but the outermost seats. I am regretting A1 (booked only as the rest of the row was already gone) as I'm outside the pros arch & will probably miss stuff stage right.
No pre-show, at least not thus far with 5 mins to go. Playing what I think are 90s pop songs, although I've only actually recognised one so far. Plain blue velvet curtain with a large lectern in front of it. Running time in the programme is 2h20 but the ushers have been saying to all the entering audience that the interval may be longer tonight.
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 20, 2019 22:47:44 GMT
Edit: post deleted because there's no point in anyone slogging through it when danielwhit has said similar things but in more detail & in a more interesting way below.
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Post by danielwhit on Sept 20, 2019 23:12:12 GMT
The "2hrs 10 including interval" running time seriously needs to be looked at - as previously posted, this was 2hrs 45 tonight. To their credit this did include a 27 minute interval due to a "large set change" (which was very prop heavy in changes but in all honesty I struggle to see why it took that long). There's a very good core play here, with Mischief clearly edging towards comedy with an emotional hook rather than out-and-out farce as they mature. Cuts do definitely need to occur, however there are some fantastic moments here. Definitely feels on a par with the first preview of Comedy About A Bank Robbery, from my recollection. More spoilery thoughts buried inside the spoiler tag.. Act 1 (6 year old) - starts off as "Yellow Group from Year 2" performing an assembly. They get held back to have playtime in the classroom as they "added bits". One of the added bits is a fantastic demonstration of how six year olds interpret extra marital sex (cleaning the bedroom). The chairs/tables in the classroom are larger than life, to try to "size down" the actors. This is a little bit off scale, as I have never seen a 6 year old need to actively climb onto a chair before. The scene is solid, however the fact that this is almost entirely constructed of things which are later used as jokes is not hidden in the slightest. It is extremely obvious and, in my opinion, needs to be made somehow more subtle.
Act 2 (13 year old) - strong section. I am a secondary teacher so the tropes presented were immediately visible and I spent a great deal of this act thinking "yeah, that's something ___ would do". SOme of the 6 year old stuff hit punchlines, other jokes were teased to be deployed later. Stronger than act 1.
Interval.
Act 3 (30 year old) - the best of the three. This is clearly where the bulk of the creativity work has been placed in. Almost all of the plot points presented in Act 2 are neatly wrapped up, alongside some classic farcical moments. Henry Lewis' hamster difficulties evolve wonderfully from Act 1 all the way to Act 3. I do not want to reveal anything plot related here, however there are some real gems in this act.
Curtain call. Curiously two understudies appeared - but not all four. Then a song which, personally, felt very self-indulgent. There was no reason for a song (in fairness a couple of the characters are presented as having been in a band, however this is clearly not that line up so it jars significantly), and it is an easy 5 minutes to cull with the evening no worse off for it. I'm heading back shortly after press night, will be interesting to see what changes have been made in the meantime. Well worth a visit, just expect a straighter comedy than Bank Robbery. Culturally, this is clearly designed to match the Mischief team's ages. As I am one year younger than they are, I got a lot out of this. Also, buy the programme - it has a lot of very good reading material, makes a great change from most commercial programmes!
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Post by waybeyondblue on Sept 21, 2019 18:04:55 GMT
2h45m today’s matinee with approx 22m interval.
It reminded me of the Movie Night show with shades of The Play in the second half. First half could be tightened whereas the second was much better. I felt the direction of travel wasn’t clear from the get go and maybe some introduction would help explain why we’re watching a number of funny and less funny oberservations about kids.
Not wasted but not yet a classic.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Sept 21, 2019 23:41:15 GMT
The second half is objectively much stronger both in terms of writing and acting (the primary school stuff felt like extended improv) but the entire first half is non-stop laughs, and the second is mostly serious drama with the odd gag thrown in. Some bits in the second half are very funny, but I was surprised how dark and serious it got. Kudos to Mischief for trying something different and not being afraid to allow scenes of real emotional drama breathing space. But a surprise to find myself suddenly watching a Pinter play with hamsters after being barely able to breathe in act 1 from laughing so hard.
The core five are certainly extremely talented actors.
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Post by Figaro on Sept 21, 2019 23:52:53 GMT
I’ve just put up 2 tickets to see this tonight (Sunday) on the notice board. £10 each!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 12:19:52 GMT
The second half is objectively much stronger both in terms of writing and acting (the primary school stuff felt like extended improv) but the entire first half is non-stop laughs, and the second is mostly serious drama with the odd gag thrown in. Some bits in the second half are very funny, but I was surprised how dark and serious it got. Kudos to Mischief for trying something different and not being afraid to allow scenes of real emotional drama breathing space. But a surprise to find myself suddenly watching a Pinter play with hamsters after being barely able to breathe in act 1 from laughing so hard. The core five are certainly extremely talented actors. I’m intrigued - are there really hamsters or is this an autocorrect gremlin?
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 22, 2019 12:22:11 GMT
The second half is objectively much stronger both in terms of writing and acting (the primary school stuff felt like extended improv) but the entire first half is non-stop laughs, and the second is mostly serious drama with the odd gag thrown in. Some bits in the second half are very funny, but I was surprised how dark and serious it got. Kudos to Mischief for trying something different and not being afraid to allow scenes of real emotional drama breathing space. But a surprise to find myself suddenly watching a Pinter play with hamsters after being barely able to breathe in act 1 from laughing so hard. The core five are certainly extremely talented actors. I actually found the second half funnier as well as stronger. That may be because I don't find real children remotely amusing so was probably not as amused by fictional children as the rest of the audience were, although seeing 5 adults playing children is much more amusing than seeing actual children on stage. I’m intrigued - are there really hamsters or is this an autocorrect gremlin? The word "hamster" is correct. (Carefully phrased to try to avoid spoilers.)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 16:54:13 GMT
Curiouser and curioser! I’m going next week so I’ll just stay intrigued until then. :-)
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 22, 2019 17:22:58 GMT
Whereas the comparison to Pinter is not - apologies to anyone booking on the strength of an oxygen deprived post.
I've never seen a Pinter play so can't comment on that. I would say to anyone going not to expect another Goes Wrong show & the 13+ age warning should be observed as while children might enjoy the 1st act I think by the 3rd act they'd be struggling, at least I certainly would have been at 13.
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