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Post by Dawnstar on Oct 6, 2019 12:24:08 GMT
There tonight. Bag check that rivals Heathrow. They really must invest in the wand if they wanna do this and the preshow music is so loud I’ve had to retreat to foyer until it starts. I’ve complained. It is only mixed pop stuff so why so insanely loud. Never heard the like before. Manager says I’m not the only one and they have already turned it down. But he has another one of those faceless conversations. The security's been like that at all the Nimax theatres I've been to recently. The last time I went to the Duchess a couple of months ago the queue was right round the corner of the block & halfway down that street because the bag checks were taking so long. To be honest, if a terrorist wanted to blow up a theatre I'd've thought they'd go for a higher-profile one rather than the Nimax ones which are some of the smaller West End ones. I can't say I'm enamoured to the pre-show pop music either (I much prefer the 50s ongs at TCAABR!) but I assumed that was just because I dislike loud pop music in gerneral so didn't think of complaining. The scene change between 1&2 was dire. Invest in more people or some quick flick over boards and wheels for furniture. The set didn’t look right for 13/14 year olds to me. Too junior. Ah, so they are now trying to do that scene change visibly. I haven't seen it yet because they couldn't get it to work to start with. Does that mean that there's now only one scene the two teachers, at the start? |
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Post by lynette on Oct 6, 2019 13:45:14 GMT
Two teachers at a podium in front of curtain. Then small kids scene and then a scene change in full view with them dancing about madly to the teen scene. Really amateur.
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Post by lynette on Oct 6, 2019 13:46:22 GMT
Not in the play. V loud pop ish stuff before the show. |
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Post by danielwhit on Oct 6, 2019 15:19:49 GMT
To continue the Moonness, Krystal is on this afternoon.
The set change between 6 and 13 works well, personally. It looks a bit silly but not out of place with everything that has gone before it. Text feels smoother now in Act 1.
And yes, it is never stated the 13 year olds are in their classroom, so I've always taken it to mean they've broken into their old Year 2 one (the Mrs Murray-White on the door kind of gives this one away). It is never, unless I'm mistaken, stated though. Adding a line in would probably be a good idea.
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Post by Dawnstar on Oct 6, 2019 19:01:31 GMT
Two teachers at a podium in front of curtain. Then small kids scene and then a scene change in full view with them dancing about madly to the teen scene. Really amateur. To continue the Moonness, Krystal is on this afternoon. The set change between 6 and 13 works well, personally. It looks a bit silly but not out of place with everything that has gone before it. Text feels smoother now in Act 1. And yes, it is never stated the 13 year olds are in their classroom, so I've always taken it to mean they've broken into their old Year 2 one (the Mrs Murray-White on the door kind of gives this one away). It is never, unless I'm mistaken, stated though. Adding a line in would probably be a good idea. Thanks. I'll be interested to see the set change when I next go in 2 weekends time. I too assumed that in Act 2 they were illicitly occupying a classroom that happened to be one of their former ones rather than their current classroom. |
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Post by stevej678 on Oct 6, 2019 20:15:42 GMT
If that was Krystal's first performance as Moon this afternoon then wow! She was so assured and natural in the role, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the character.
I was enjoying the show at the interval but what followed only got better. The first two thirds of act three was Mischief Theatre at their anarchic best. The final 20 minutes was something very different but equally effective. Loved the encore too!
Highlights for me were Dave Hearn gatecrashing the reunion, everything hamster related, and Bryony Corrigan arguably stealing the show as the hilarious Chemise. I thought Groan Ups also highlighted what a fantastic actress Charlie Russell is.
There's just something about the original Mischief Theatre team and the chemistry between them that makes seeing them on stage together so enjoyable.
Groan Ups still feels like a work in progress at times in the first two acts but all the elements of another hit are there. It's great to see Mischief going for a character-driven comedy, with moments of classic laugh-out-loud farce woven into it, with so much payback from the first two acts in what follows.
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Post by Stephen on Oct 6, 2019 22:15:48 GMT
Also there tonight and enjoyed it. I worked with Krystal last year and had no idea that she was in this. It was a lovely surprise when I saw the understudy sheets (very clearly placed FOH - good) and she was excellent.
Fun seeing the original Mishief lot doing their thing and as pointed out this gets better as it goes on until the final act delivers great laughs and emotional punch. All of the business with hamsters is comedy gold.
The pop music before and during the interval has clearly been turned down a bit as, although it felt a bit loud to me, wasn't uncomfortable.
Highly recommend this and it's a great show for a Sunday evening!
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Post by Dawnstar on Oct 7, 2019 18:21:04 GMT
If that was Krystal's first performance as Moon this afternoon then wow! She was so assured and natural in the role, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the character. I thnk her first performance was on Thursday, per Dave's Twitter. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Oct 8, 2019 8:37:30 GMT
TodayTix 24hr £15 Offer.
Picked up a row P central for £15 for next Friday, first Mischief production, fits in well with the recording of BBC Radio 4 News Quiz earlier in the day.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 8, 2019 16:35:38 GMT
Yet another rubbish Todaytix offer imo: all it offered me for £15 was the grand circle, regardless of which of many dates I tried. Once again I shouldn't even have bothered looking and don't understand how others managed to book much better seats - but good luck to those who did. If I'm that bothered I will wait for other offers or day tickets idc.
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Post by edi on Oct 8, 2019 17:22:49 GMT
Yet another rubbish Todaytix offer imo: all it offered me for £15 was the grand circle, regardless of which of many dates I tried. Once again I shouldn't even have bothered looking and don't understand how others managed to book much better seats - but good luck to those who did. If I'm that bothered I will wait for other offers or day tickets idc. there were some tickets in the last 3 rows of stalls, but this is a play that I want to see closer up. Besides I didn't like the reviews on seat.plan. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Oct 8, 2019 18:02:21 GMT
Yet another rubbish Todaytix offer imo: all it offered me for £15 was the grand circle, regardless of which of many dates I tried. Once again I shouldn't even have bothered looking and don't understand how others managed to book much better seats - but good luck to those who did. If I'm that bothered I will wait for other offers or day tickets idc. I had a look & the only date I would potentially be interested in was one of the ones that had to £15 tickets avaialble. I find this almost always happens when I look at ticket offers. Oh well, I probably have enough tickets booked for the rest of the run anyway. |
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Post by lynette on Oct 9, 2019 11:39:16 GMT
Yet another rubbish Todaytix offer imo: all it offered me for £15 was the grand circle, regardless of which of many dates I tried. Once again I shouldn't even have bothered looking and don't understand how others managed to book much better seats - but good luck to those who did. If I'm that bothered I will wait for other offers or day tickets idc. there were some tickets in the last 3 rows of stalls, but this is a play that I want to see closer up. Besides I didn't like the reviews on seat.plan. It isn’t a huge theatre and the ‘acting’ means you can pick up it all up from the back. |
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Post by edi on Oct 10, 2019 17:29:56 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. How was front row? I'm considering booking it. I don't mind looking up a bit but not if the stage is so high that it obscures my view. But I prefer looking up vs looking around people's head. Thanks |
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Post by lynette on Oct 10, 2019 18:02:52 GMT
I was near the front and it was ok. I think best place for this a bit further back frankly.
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Post by edi on Oct 10, 2019 18:10:42 GMT
I was near the front and it was ok. I think best place for this a bit further back frankly. Thank you Lynette. I keep getting giants sitting in front of me so I'm a fan of front row  |
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Post by gregsp on Oct 10, 2019 19:58:12 GMT
Saw it last night. Very unimpressed.
I didn't laugh at all in the first half and only a handful of times in the second (and that was at one character).
I could see what they were trying to do with regard to the plot and how the different acts played out, but it just seemed so heavy-handed and forced.
The ending, in particular, I just found embarrassingly bad.
Such a shame as I generally love their stuff and have been looking forward to seeing it for months.
Oh well, you can't strike gold every time I suppose. At least it'll save me the money I usually spend on repeatedly seeing their shows.
On the plus side, I still have a thing for Nancy...
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Post by stevej678 on Oct 10, 2019 22:22:18 GMT
Two stars from the Evening Standard.
"What’s worse than a stage full of screaming children? A stage full of screaming adults pretending to be screaming children."
Ouch.
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Post by zahidf on Oct 10, 2019 23:26:58 GMT
2 stars in the times. 3 stars in the guardian.
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Post by drmaplewood on Oct 11, 2019 10:19:34 GMT
2 stars in Time Out too
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Post by gregsp on Oct 11, 2019 10:46:51 GMT
2 stars is probably what I'd give it too - if someone wants to pay me to review it!
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Post by stevej678 on Oct 11, 2019 11:35:54 GMT
Four stars from WhatsOnStage, The Telegraph and the Daily Mail. That's more like it.
As much as I enjoyed it though, I do wonder how it will come across on the Royal Variety. The opening act is the weakest but I imagine that's the one we'll see an excerpt from on TV.
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Post by lynette on Oct 11, 2019 11:49:11 GMT
What I found interesting was that unlike the previous Mischief plays, they decided to cut out the kiddie audience. This isn’t ‘suitable ‘ for younger theatre goers and coming up the Xmas therefore misses out on the lucrative Xmas outings. But I suppose they are sure of their adult audience.
I thought at one point that they could have more imaginatively done it backwards with the infant scene coming at the end. Would need some heavy rewriting but the linear approach looks to me like an early draft but with some moments of polish. I’m being critical because I admire these guys so much. They are super talented and obviously very hard working.
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Post by londonmzfitz on Oct 11, 2019 12:51:22 GMT
I've waited to comment because I did think I might have been having an off night. I'd give it 3 stars overall, I loved the premise of it (saw it on the first preview and I know changes have been made). I loved the music too - loud didn't bother me as I'm not chatting to people, I can see how it would bother others. I thought the first act was clunky and overlong, milking the idea just too far. The second act was a bit better (Oh, how I love Nancy). And I certainly laughed throughout, some big laughs at points. Hamsters worked for me too. But the overall - I'm sure there's a better word for it , but - despair - of the characters in the last act. I know I'm a sensitive old bird but when I'm expecting to be out for an evening of laughs I don't want to feel sad for the characters; unrequited love and sad unfulfilled lives.
It's probably because I love these guys I wanted a happy ever after ending for all and it just left me unsettled. Laughing at misery. I wish them well with this, I hope it's tightened up but I think I'll save my £'s and see the Magic show.
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Post by Steve on Oct 11, 2019 15:15:00 GMT
Some of these reviews seem to grade this as if it's a serious drama, which deserves to be spanked because the plot points are lame. And honestly, as a serious analysis of human nature, it's thin, with some characters behaving irrationally malignantly and others irrationally benignly, deflating the drama. But I judge this show by whether it made me laugh, and while I only chuckled in the Act 1 set-up, I laughed consistently and naturally throughout the payoffs of Acts 2 and 3. I laughed at the performances, but also at the writing of the character throughlines that were consistently paid off by the performances. I think there is one defining scene in this show that demonstrates the priority of the creators: that comedy trumps drama - SPOILER ALERT: it's the scene where the most dramatic thing in the whole show happens in the foreground, but behind a glass door in the rear, two incredibly horny characters loudly make out. When I saw it, the audience were in hysterics. The implication is: the most dramatic scene in the show is just fodder for laughs, and that's ok with me. |
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