The Welkin

I really want to see it! Seems like the Crucible like you said crossed with 12 Angry Men and I love Ria Zmitrowicz who I didn't realise was in this until recently so that's made me even more determined to go. I think I'm going to try to get rush tickets on Friday for next Saturday matinee hopefully.

Oh I didn't realise I've seen the director's work before but I've loved everything of his I've seen (The Father, Virginia Woolf and John) so that's another reason to go!

Oh no really? That was kind of how I felt about Duchess of Malfi so I hope if that's true then they tighten things up by the end of previews!

How long is the current running time? I'm seeing it tomorrow and psyching myself up for a long one!

Went to the second preview last night which came in at just under three hours. Its got a brilliant cast and amazing performances but the play itself is way too long, muddled and confused. It needs some very sharp editing and reworking to make it hang together. The theme - no justice for women - is powerful and at times the writing is so sharp and funny. But the play gets lost in itself. The opening scene is beautifully staged - but then theres a long bit of preamble with a half stage and lighting device - which looks amazing but feels excessive and unconnected to the main part of the play. It felt as if we were watching the second or third draft of the play rather than something that had been properly thought out and tested. Its a shame as am a huge Lucy Kirkwood fan but The Welkin as we saw it isn't up to the standard of her other plays.

Welcome zackpolanski.  Yes, it's stayed with me too. The lighting and design are gorgeous; it looks like a Vermeer painting at times.  Some smart ideas: for example the voiceless man, and the fact that one of the two main characters is so unlikeable. Now that the pacing has become a little less...luxurious (I'm guessing they've shortened the interminable opening scene, and yes I know that's a paradox but that's how it felt), I would love to see it again. Beautiful show.

Agreed.

The middle section (basically everything with the 12 women in the room debating) is fantastic, a few lines a little on the nose but some of the strongest writing I've seen in years. And the end of the first half is incredible.

The first scene and even the second scene with the comedy lineup are unnecessary (and the first is painfully boring) and don't add anything to the play. The second scene has some good if tonally misplaced one-liners but we don't need such a massive scene just to introduce the characters, Ocean's 11 style. Is Kirkwood so insecure about her own writing ability that she feels the characters won't become clear and distinct through the writing, so forces us to sit through ten minutes of each character popping up in turn to say, " I am Mrs Smith, I have 5 children and a layabout husband, and I [insert pained anecdote showing they are the 'feisty' one, or the 'naive' one, or the 'menopausal' one]"?

Cut both scenes. Maybe keep the silent prologue. Otherwise cold open with all the women entering the debating room. Closed space, closed time. Ramp up the claustrophobia and the tension. Don't delay it with a bunch of one-liners about kissing books, or needless exposition.

The indeterminable ending or I should say endings dribble and blather and weaken all that went on before. I would end the play the second the guard does the thing at the end. Or possibly have Peake's character re-enter and a brief conversation before she accedes to the request. Bringing back one of the random women to monologue on and on and ON about some dog and nutmeg. Who cares?

It's a shame, because there's a phenomenal play there if it had only been cut a little.

I saw it last night ( Friday) and never found it boring or too talky ( well when some of the accents got too thick, then it was too talky) but by and large I found the production stunning ( a special shout out to the sound design) and the performances forceful and with one obvious exception - sympathetic. I had lunch with a friend earlier in the day who had seen the first half of it two nights earlier and hated it, so y expectations were lowered. However, last night when the interval was over I noticed that a lot of people didn't return for the second act. They should've stayed, Ms Kirkwood's play has plenty of rewards to offer and she keeps proving herself to be one of our most exciting playwrights.

I liked the 

It's out of previews now I think. Press night was a couple of days ago I believe.

Is there any absurd puppetry in this production?

Most Excellent.

The hill remains to be run.