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Post by wannabedirector on Apr 8, 2019 22:21:07 GMT
Just back from this tonight, got out around 22:45, so it’s avout 3 hours 15 minutes so a relatively long one.
Have never seen nor read Three Sisters before so I didn’t know what to expect. I did enjoy Summer and Smoke, although I didn’t get all the hype around it, but I was nonetheless interested to see Patsy Ferran and Rebecca Frecknall working together again.
Some parts of this are really great, but some parts a little over long and I have no doubt it will be tightened up as previews go on. The cast are great, and it didn’t feel like a second preview in respect of the acting. A couple of sound issues which I’m sure will be fixed as well. The parts that were good were excellent in my opinion, but there is stuff to be tinkered with, and if they do that right the Almeida might be on to another winner.
It’s got it’s similarities and differences to Summer and Smoke (there is a piano!), so I don’t really want to compare them, but on balance I quite enjoyed this tonight. A half standing ovation from the audience showed lots of others enjoyed as well, and I have a feeling the critics might too.
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Post by Stephen on Apr 9, 2019 5:16:42 GMT
wannabedirector I'm interested to see this one. It would be my first visit to the Almeida (shocking) There's a sudden loud noises warning. What's that about? Feel free to use spoilers if it's a big giveaway!
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Post by MrsCondomine on Apr 9, 2019 9:14:41 GMT
Stephen I haven't seen this particular version but in the play there's {Spoiler - click to view} a duel towards the end in which one of the characters is shot and killed. I imagine it will be that 
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Post by wannabedirector on Apr 9, 2019 10:31:14 GMT
wannabedirector I'm interested to see this one. It would be my first visit to the Almeida (shocking) There's a sudden loud noises warning. What's that about? Feel free to use spoilers if it's a big giveaway! It is what’s put in spoiler tags above, however last night it wasn’t that loud at all. I don’t know if it was a technical thing, but I was a little on edge for it and then barely realised it happened |
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Post by nash16 on Apr 10, 2019 22:05:39 GMT
Was so looking forward to this after the delightful Summe and Smoke, to see Patsy and Rebecca create more magic, but it was not to be tonight.
It is such a shame as it's a wonderful play, but this production is terribly indulgent and terribly long as a result.
Not an indulgence in silly bells and whistles type things, but the reverse. Some may say Frecknall has allowed the play to breathe, like S&S, but here it's like she told the actors to take as much time as they like (it's Chekhov after all, they're meant to be bored, so don't speak until you're bored, don't be passionate, take. your. time.)
Any tension or drama or real longing goes out of the window and it makes for a very very long and slightly stupefying evening.
The movement bit at the start? Why?
The out of place dance in the middle? Why?
Andrey spends 98% of the play stuck on a shelf. Actually on a shelf. Why?
Patsy Ferran is playing Olga, the oldest sister, and yet looks the youngest. why?
Eliot Levey appears to be in is own "funny" play. Doing a turn. Why?
No one connects with each other. The stakes are zero.
That gunshot is indeed distant in sound, presumably to be realistic for the situation.
But like the production itself, its effect is not felt.
Did I say how long it felt?
No West Ed transfer looms for this, or Oliviers.
Maybe S&S was a one off?
Maly theatre are bringing theirs to the Vaudeville in June. I would save your money and see them.
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Post by westendgurl on Apr 11, 2019 9:25:07 GMT
I was about to book this - I loved S&S, but I think I might be saving my money!
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Post by MrBunbury on Apr 11, 2019 9:57:36 GMT
I saw the play on Tuesday night. I liked the staging (a little out of time), although as Nash says some choices seem to be more reflective of the director’s aesthetics than the actual play (which is something I already thought of Summer and smoke, to be honest). It is my third Three sisters and it is the first time that Irina feels so central to the story: I wonder if that is because she is the only one among the Sergeyevna sisters who actually makes an active life choice in the end. Ria Zmitrowicz is excellent again (after Dance Nation) and Patsy Ferran does not have a huge part (and she does not look like the youngest!). Overall an excellent production, maybe less revelatory than Summer and smoke because the play is well-known.
P.S. Marianne Elliott and Miriam Margoyles were sitting in front of me.
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Post by peggs on Apr 11, 2019 10:04:43 GMT
Is it still 3 hours 15 please?
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Post by MrBunbury on Apr 11, 2019 10:41:01 GMT
Is it still 3 hours 15 please? Yes, I left the theatre at 10,45. |
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Post by peggs on Apr 11, 2019 11:30:51 GMT
Is it still 3 hours 15 please? Yes, I left the theatre at 10,45. Rats. Am due to now do a very quick turn around run. Thanks for info. |
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Post by lonlad on Apr 11, 2019 14:11:40 GMT
>>and Patsy Ferran does not have a huge part (and she does not look like the youngest!)
Good since Olga is the oldest !
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Post by nash16 on Apr 11, 2019 17:02:07 GMT
>>and Patsy Ferran does not have a huge part (and she does not look like the youngest!) Good since Olga is the oldest ! Haha, no they were replying to a comment I'd made as we thought she looked the youngest (she's so slight of frame and tiny) compared to the two others, yet is meant to be the older one, left on the shelf. (Actually we shouldn't talk about shelves...what on earth is the Andrey-then-Natasha shelf all about? Anyone got any ideas?) It's a very odd production... |
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Apr 11, 2019 21:30:53 GMT
>>and Patsy Ferran does not have a huge part (and she does not look like the youngest!) Good since Olga is the oldest ! Haha, no they were replying to a comment I'd made as we thought she looked the youngest (she's so slight of frame and tiny) compared to the two others, yet is meant to be the older one, left on the shelf. (Actually we shouldn't talk about shelves...what on earth is the Andrey-then-Natasha shelf all about? Anyone got any ideas?) It's a very odd production... I've not seen the play and I don't know what it's about but Andrey and Natasha are characters from War and Peace if that helps but I don't know the context so I could be way off. |
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Post by MrBunbury on Apr 12, 2019 8:30:35 GMT
>>and Patsy Ferran does not have a huge part (and she does not look like the youngest!) Good since Olga is the oldest ! Haha, no they were replying to a comment I'd made as we thought she looked the youngest (she's so slight of frame and tiny) compared to the two others, yet is meant to be the older one, left on the shelf. (Actually we shouldn't talk about shelves...what on earth is the Andrey-then-Natasha shelf all about? Anyone got any ideas?) It's a very odd production... The shelf might represent being emotionally apart from what is happening (which applies for Andrey and later for Natasha, who does not sympathise with the sisters). |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 8:43:44 GMT
I mostly liked this, but it was too long - by 1035pm I really didn't care how unhappy they were or how much they wanted to go back to Moscow.
At the start it felt like everyone was pursuing a very different acting style and it didn't gel but it seemed to work by the end, so either it all came together or I got used to it.
I don't think I've ever seen Ria Zmitrowicz on stage before - was she intentionally playing Irina as being very irritating and slightly defective (which is a perfectly good reading of the character) or is she always like that?
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Post by nash16 on Apr 12, 2019 10:04:20 GMT
Haha, no they were replying to a comment I'd made as we thought she looked the youngest (she's so slight of frame and tiny) compared to the two others, yet is meant to be the older one, left on the shelf. (Actually we shouldn't talk about shelves...what on earth is the Andrey-then-Natasha shelf all about? Anyone got any ideas?) It's a very odd production... The shelf might represent being emotionally apart from what is happening (which applies for Andrey and later for Natasha, who does not sympathise with the sisters). That sounds horribly plausible. (Not judging you when I say that, rather, if that is how they've decided to express that element, what on earth? It's almost hilarious.) |
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Post by lichtie on Apr 13, 2019 11:01:58 GMT
Down to 3 hours including interval last night. Out sharp at 1030. Thought this was pretty good myself. The shelf, whilst a bit weird, served it's purpose (which indeed was to really show isolation and estrangement I thought and make it clear rather than just have the actors off stage for large chunks).
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Post by peggs on Apr 13, 2019 13:46:43 GMT
3 hours? That sounds much better, thanks for update.
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Post by somnorific on Apr 16, 2019 12:06:48 GMT
Hi all. So I just realized Patsy Ferran is in this, and decided to try my luck for rush tickets. Now, I've done this a few times prior for plays I had no vested interest in, and today I came across the exact same issue...
...that being, "Almeida Rush" tickets seem to only have a single seat available in the balcony, for each date?? A SINGLE seat for £10? Nothing else?
I've never encountered such a stingy promotional offer of any sort before. Is this really how it is meant to be?
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Post by zahidf on Apr 16, 2019 12:15:53 GMT
Press night tonight. Intrigued by what the reviewers say. Am seeing it tomorrow with a date!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2019 12:21:41 GMT
Hi all. So I just realized Patsy Ferran is in this, and decided to try my luck for rush tickets. Now, I've done this a few times prior for plays I had no vested interest in, and today I came across the exact same issue... ...that being, "Almeida Rush" tickets seem to only have a single seat available in the balcony, for each date?? A SINGLE seat for £10? Nothing else? I've never encountered such a stingy promotional offer of any sort before. Is this really how it is meant to be? Just had a look and there are about 10 rush seats in the circle for every date I looked at. So not sure why you can only see 1! On the other hand it's not sold out so you are probably better off just booking a normal ticket so you can get a better seat in the stalls for a similar price. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2019 12:28:47 GMT
I was due to go to see this last week but I just could not be faffed.
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Post by somnorific on Apr 16, 2019 22:35:51 GMT
Hi all. So I just realized Patsy Ferran is in this, and decided to try my luck for rush tickets. Now, I've done this a few times prior for plays I had no vested interest in, and today I came across the exact same issue... ...that being, "Almeida Rush" tickets seem to only have a single seat available in the balcony, for each date?? A SINGLE seat for £10? Nothing else? I've never encountered such a stingy promotional offer of any sort before. Is this really how it is meant to be? Just had a look and there are about 10 rush seats in the circle for every date I looked at. So not sure why you can only see 1! On the other hand it's not sold out so you are probably better off just booking a normal ticket so you can get a better seat in the stalls for a similar price. Xanderl, ahh... You are indeed right.. but I meant specifically the seat priced at £10. There's always just a single seat, so that they can claim a price range starting at £10 ... But with only 1 seat at that price, it's a bit disingenuous! lol |
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Post by David J on Apr 20, 2019 21:23:12 GMT
So I saw the matinee and am inclined to give this a 2.5 star rating. It would have been 2 stars if the second act didn’t bring things together
I was sitting next to two nice old ladies who had a lot of knowledge of Chekhov and we came to same conclusion that Rebecca Frecknall and Cordelia Flynn do not get Chekhov and this adaptation is devoid of the beauty and essence of this play
Having grown up on countless Shakespeare productions I like it when directors take a play and interpret in many ways. But I’ve come to the conclusion that Chekhov is a different beast altogether and there’s a reason why naturalism is his style.
The Union Theatre production was my first introduction to the play and close up I saw Chekhov’s attention to detail from the setting to the offstage sound effects. The intimacy also meant you can sense the three sisters’ world shrinking around them
So watching this stylistic, simplistic production is like comparing night to day. There’s nothing to stop one attempting a different spin on Chekhov but this production lacks the layers in chekhovs storytelling that makes it so engaging to watch
Frecknall’s direction may have worked in a stylistic play like Summer and Smoke but Three Sisters really shows her limits
It doesn’t help that the actors, as mentioned above, seem to be performing in different productions. I enjoyed the three sisters, especially Patsy Ferran, and Vershinin. Lois Chimimba’s broad welsh accent kept taking me out of the production. I get she’s playing an outsider as Natasha but she was laying it on thick sometimes
The ladies couldn’t help noticing the lack of diction as well as the dancing you usually see at the globe theatre being used during the first act
But most of all the way the cast has been directed to play the scenes at a slow pace really drags the production out, especially in the first act. Yes the characters are bored but we need to see their hopes, fears, anguish and so on break through
You get a bit of that in the second act from the sisters, but this is a slog to get through before you get to that
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2019 21:34:21 GMT
Also saw the matinee, would give four stars. Chekhov’s fits stylisation perfectly, as it’s the universality that matters. As proved also by Benedict Andrews’ similarly stylised production at the Young Vic a few years ago (the use of soil was actually a bit too close, although maybe a conscious homage).
The beautifully glacial pace reminded me of Katie Mitchell’s enthralling Vanya from last century (also at the Young Vic). I love slow, others may not. I thought that Chanda and Zmitrowicz outshone Ferran here, I loved the cynical posh girl of the former and the hyper posh girl of the latter. What it got right where other productions flounder is making actions both sad and funny. Too often productions plump for alternating them but I found myself with a tear and a smiie at the same time here.
Natasha’s accent is broad Scottish, it sounded like Glaswegian to me, with its attendant class connotations.
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