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Post by gibbo1956 on Feb 11, 2020 17:03:18 GMT
I thought it was a shame that with such a downbeat ending the kids didn't get the customary cheer that West End Audiences always give youngsters.
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Post by Steve on Feb 12, 2020 18:48:22 GMT
I loved this. It's like Stoppard put down his calculator and took up painting full-time, as this, for me, is an exquisitely beautiful, detailed and personal portrait of a family passing through time. Some spoilers follow. . . I think for most playwrights, asking questions is the limit, fearing that trying to answer them would border on arrogance, or limit the scope of the art in some way. What's typically great about Stoppard is that he fearlessly DOES try to answer questions, utilising his wit, and a magpie knowledge of facts, philosophies and mathematics. Often, his plays can be written out as equations lol. So, "Arcadia" might be condensed into the equation: (order plus romanticism) divided by time = humanity. Which is actually genius, I think. Or "The Hard Problem" might be condensed into the equation: consciousness plus humanity = religion is proved; which didn't resonate quite so well with me. This play, Leopoldstadt, is the one in Sesame Street that is not like the others: it's so incredibly personal, and yet so beautifully rendered a portrait of Stoppard: his roots, his family, his ideas, his thoughtful dissection of ideologies, his communing with time as his eternal unifying theme, that it struck a massive chord with me. I think Stoppard finds the universal in the personal. It's like Bong Joon-Ho said at the Oscars, quoting Martin Scorsese to Martin Scorsese lol, "the most personal is the most creative." This is personal because it deals with Stoppard's Jewish roots, it's personal because Leo Thallon gets to play a version of Stoppard (in the character of Leo, his young English assimilated self), it's personal because his son's in it playing another version of himself (in the character of Ludwig, a man calmly and compassionately dissecting ideas and ideologies), it's personal because actors from other Stoppard plays are in it, it's personal because it depicts family life (I think children crawling about under tables and pestering adults are key to that depiction), it's personal because it's at once a Stoppardian discussion of ideas and time, as well as being all about Stoppard the man. It is, of course, also another timely reminder about the dangers of ethno-nationalism, but the power of the piece is it's completeness and beauty as a self-portrait of it's author. The ensemble are universally good. Adrian Scarborough (romantic) and Ed Stoppard (rational) stand out as two well-meaning family patriarchs; Leo Thallon nails that purse-lipped conceited self-regard that James Norton trade-marked in his portrayal of Stephen Ward on TV recently, and Jenna Augen and Faye Castelow shine in their portrayals of strong individualistic women. Overall, this show doesn't solve any hard problems, but it beguilingly sums up a life, and life in general. 4 and a half stars from me.
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Post by jampot on Feb 12, 2020 19:13:26 GMT
Is it press night tonight?
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 12, 2020 19:37:36 GMT
Is it press night tonight? Yes. Reviews early-to-mid morning tomorrow.
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Post by jampot on Feb 13, 2020 0:30:31 GMT
Reviews seem quite upbeat...
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Post by lonlad on Feb 13, 2020 0:33:17 GMT
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Post by Jon on Feb 13, 2020 2:12:00 GMT
I wouldn't be shocked if Broadway is on the cards either later this year or next year.
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Post by lynette on Feb 13, 2020 14:35:42 GMT
Thanks for posting the review. I will go prepared...
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Post by learfan on Feb 13, 2020 18:36:38 GMT
I wouldn't be shocked if Broadway is on the cards either later this year or next year. I thought that as soon as i saw Brantley had flown over to review it.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 15, 2020 11:38:10 GMT
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Post by lynette on Feb 22, 2020 23:45:01 GMT
Thanks to Neil I bought a programme for the family tree which I was consulting in the interval and I also bought a text on the way out. There is a lot to take in.. I wonder if Stoppard is giving a q&a anywhere on this play as I do have questions. Dramatically I think it is flawed, some speeches a little long though the audience was still and very well behaved, no wriggling, right to the very end. (apart from wrapper rustler in the same row and two people who spoke in loud whisper behind me - the 'look' worked) But this is an important work and it had his heart and soul in it and actually it has himself in it at the end as one of the survivors of the family. It is layered and woven and textured and beautifully acted. Adrian Scarborough smashed it out of the park. The sets were good, the lighting, the sound, the direction which must have been tricky, all excellent. I might say more later but at the moment I’m trying to absorb.
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Post by learfan on Feb 23, 2020 10:44:51 GMT
Interesting Lynette, i always buy a orog anyway so i will concentrate on the family tree before curtain. Im there Saturday night.
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Post by londonpostie on Feb 23, 2020 11:03:26 GMT
I wouldn't be shocked if Broadway is on the cards either later this year or next year. I thought that as soon as i saw Brantley had flown over to review it. I'm beginning to twig Sonia Friedman's enthusiastic encouragement ...
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Post by lynette on Feb 23, 2020 15:09:03 GMT
There are some mentions of American policy towards Jews at the time. I think there would be an audience for this play in New York 😘
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Post by learfan on Feb 23, 2020 16:17:11 GMT
There are some mentions of American policy towards Jews at the time. I think there would be an audience for this play in New York 😘 I would be v surprised if this didn't go to NY.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 23, 2020 18:42:25 GMT
I loved this. It won me over right from the start with that wonderful big family set-piece, the charm of the characters and the wit and the intelligence of the dialogue. The decline towards the horrors and beyond was superbly done, though if I had a criticism it would be that we didn't have time to get to know the next generation down from Hermann and Gretl, so I could have happily had another scene in the 20s or early 30s; I did lose track of who was who, but reading the text clears all that up and helped me get a couple of other references. I was moved by Hermann's optimism, that feeling in 1899 that this was a great time for Jews in Vienna and that they were basically living in the Promised Land. The tragedy is that history proves him appallingly wrong, of course.
Some have said that the characters were just mouth-pieces for ideas but I didn't feel that; the arguments reflect character too - look at Hermann's unwillingness to face reality, not only in politics. And I'm sure for many of us the last four years have contained family gatherings full of debate about Brexit and Corbyn and Trump, often the same debates rehashed year after year. Nothing unusual about that. Some have asked what is new that Stoppard adds to the stories we already know, and for me it has to do with the ambitious time-frame, from 1899 to 1955. I'm in my late 50s so have read and seen many things to do with the Holocaust but nothing that covers that expanse of time. Many of us, I'm sure, have watched Chekhov plays and wondered what might happen to those characters in the terrifying upheavals of the next forty years. This play takes similar characters from an era of hope and promise and takes them through the horrors and beyond. I can't think of anything else that does that. The ending is very powerful, necessarily brutal in its simplicity.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 25, 2020 17:47:55 GMT
The National Theatre bookshop is selling copies of the script signed by Tom Stoppard, in case anyone is interested
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Post by altamont on Feb 25, 2020 18:58:11 GMT
The National Theatre bookshop is selling copies of the script signed by Tom Stoppard, in case anyone is interested Would love to get hold of one but not up in London for a while. If anyone could pick one up I would be very grateful and would pay you back (plus postage of course) very promptly! Thanks in advance...
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Post by lynette on Feb 25, 2020 19:01:14 GMT
I was slightly annoyed they weren’t signed at the Wyndhams. If I’m there, I will get.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 25, 2020 23:04:24 GMT
The National Theatre bookshop is selling copies of the script signed by Tom Stoppard, in case anyone is interested Would love to get hold of one but not up in London for a while. If anyone could pick one up I would be very grateful and would pay you back (plus postage of course) very promptly! Thanks in advance... Apparently they have some signed copies in the online shop too
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Post by altamont on Feb 26, 2020 9:49:29 GMT
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Post by learfan on Mar 1, 2020 1:01:05 GMT
Saw this tonight. A major work by a major writer. A huge cast all superb but special mention to Adrian Scarborough and Luke Thallon. You could have heard a pim drop at the end. I'd put money on a NY transfer. Five stars. What with this and Women... At the SWP ive had a great day 😊
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2020 11:46:10 GMT
Thinking of making this the final selection for my early April visit. Have discounts been appearing much or is it likely going to be a full-price purchase?
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Post by zahidf on Mar 1, 2020 12:16:10 GMT
Thinking of making this the final selection for my early April visit. Have discounts been appearing much or is it likely going to be a full-price purchase? Today tix rush tickets seem easy enough
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Post by edi on Mar 1, 2020 16:25:25 GMT
Thinking of making this the final selection for my early April visit. Have discounts been appearing much or is it likely going to be a full-price purchase? Today tix rush tickets seem easy enough Are they always balcony? I only do stalls or circle
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Post by zahidf on Mar 1, 2020 17:09:06 GMT
Today tix rush tickets seem easy enough Are they always balcony? I only do stalls or circle Was grand circle when I went
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Post by peggs on Mar 10, 2020 12:02:48 GMT
Nt live 25 June.
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Post by n1david on Sept 15, 2020 17:29:54 GMT
Email update today, just saying that they “continue to work alongside the producers on the return of Leopoldstadt to Wyndham’s Theatre”.
So they are still planning to bring it back, but no news yet...
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Post by theatrelover123 on Sept 15, 2020 18:45:36 GMT
Email update today, just saying that they “continue to work alongside the producers on the return of Leopoldstadt to Wyndham’s Theatre”. So they are still planning to bring it back, but no news yet... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
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Post by n1david on Sept 15, 2020 18:53:39 GMT
When I saw the email subject I hoped it might be an email like yesterday’s for “Good”, but at least it wasn’t a “sorry, we can’t do this, here’s your money back”...
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