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Post by Jan on Apr 28, 2021 14:49:19 GMT
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Post by NeilVHughes on Apr 28, 2021 15:20:12 GMT
Impressive, a great little Theatre punching way above its weight and showing a lot of the big players how it should be done.
DRAMA
Our new Carne Deputy Director, Ebenezer Bamgboye, reopens the theatre with the first revival of Biyi Bandele's award-winning play Two Horsemen. Our friends at the Watermill Theatre share their wonderful production of Lone Flyer, about pilot Amy Johnson. Keith Waterhouse's Mr and Mrs Nobody is his hilarious adaptation of The Diary of a Nobody.
SOLO
These nine plays for one performer are a banquet of delights. They include work from our Creative Associates Somebody Jones and Khadifa Wong (HOW I LEARNED TO SWIM), brilliant actors Hannah Morrish (Hole), Helen Reuben (Saviour), Jack Klaff (The Whole Shebang), Sophia Eleni (On Arriving), and Robert Mountford (Vagabonds - My Phil Lynott Odyssey). Simon Evans from the BBC's Staged makes his JST debut with Leaves. The Girl Who Was Very Good at Lying is a comedic treat, and Hannah Kumari's football drama ENG-ER-LAND, could hardly be more timely!
CABARET
Come taste the wine, come hear the band... These shows include the music and comedy we've all been waiting for to celebrate the end of a long winter! Performers include Stefan Bednarczyk with Flanders and Swann and Tom Lehrer, Issy van Randwyck with Dazzling Divas, Rosemary Ashe with Adorable Dora, and Terence Blacker with The Shock of the Old. There's comedy from Katie Arnstein in her Sexy Lamp and Bicycles and Fish, and from Sudha Bhuchar in Evening Conversations, a tribute to Joyce Grenfell in Ode to Joyce. It all kicks off with a family musical, HouseFire.
CLASSICS
Great stories, wonderfully told. Jatinder Verma and Tom Littler stage readings of The Mahabharata and The Odyssey. Michael Pennington returns with his acclaimed shows Anton Chekhov and Sweet William. 'Rockstar classicist' Natalie Haynes brings two very clever standup shows about the ancient world. Fans of William Blake can't miss Blake: Letters from Heaven and Hell, lovers of Pinter can delight in James Hayes’ Mac and More, Shakespeareans should flock to The Rape of Lucrece, and if you're in the gutter dreaming of the stars, book Wilde Without the Boy. Christopher Kent and Gamal Khamis bring the extraordinary Love and War Trilogy. And if you're a fan of magical realism, check out Love in the Time of Corona.
SHOWCASES
Discover the stars of the future in these four Showcases of our Creative Associates.
POETRY
The Live Canon Ensemble perform six amazing sets of poetry at Sunday teatimes including poetry of the Romantics, the Metaphysicals, Women on War, the Abolition, Science Fiction, and the Pre-Raphaelites.
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Post by zahidf on Apr 28, 2021 15:58:47 GMT
what's the onsale date for these please?
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Post by NeilVHughes on Apr 28, 2021 16:08:17 GMT
Believe they are on sale now.
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Post by lichtie on Apr 28, 2021 16:11:33 GMT
Yes, just bought a ticket so onsale now.
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Post by Jan on Apr 28, 2021 17:12:01 GMT
They got Covid bail-out money but not that much, £90k I seem to think, but are spreading it widely across lots of freelancers. Just shows what an enthusiastic creative AD can do (I’m looking at you Doran).
I’ve seen that Pinter piece before, NT 1982 I think, it is quite amusing. Also the Pennington Chekhov show from around the same era.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Apr 28, 2021 17:18:52 GMT
300 Freelancers. 43 Shows. 11 weeks. 1 Festival
Definitely using their bail out money to support the freelance community.
Booked the two Pennington’s at the Theatre so far and will likely book a few more.
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Post by lynette on May 2, 2021 21:20:45 GMT
Fantastic programme.
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Post by Phantom of London on May 3, 2021 2:06:53 GMT
The only disappointment is their critically acclaimed production of the Tempest is not being revived, sure this got cut short because of Covid lockdown.
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Post by Jan on May 3, 2021 5:55:47 GMT
The only disappointment is their critically acclaimed production of the Tempest is not being revived, sure this got cut short because of Covid lockdown. It still might be, these are mostly shorter pieces for the reopening season. It was their intention to bring back Tempest. I hope they also revive their planned production of Three Sisters. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on May 3, 2021 6:40:58 GMT
I’m pretty confident The Tempest will return, Pennington remains closely connected with the Theatre as he has 2 solo’s in the Festival.
I saw the writing on the wall with the impending lockdown and was fortunate to get a last minute ticket to one of the few productions of The Tempest that went ahead.
Didn’t realise they were planning the Three Sisters, the small stage could really bring the claustrophobia of the sisters to life.
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Post by Jan on May 3, 2021 9:43:59 GMT
I’m pretty confident The Tempest will return, Pennington remains closely connected with the Theatre as he has 2 solo’s in the Festival. I saw the writing on the wall with the impending lockdown and was fortunate to get a last minute ticket to one of the few productions of The Tempest that went ahead. Didn’t realise they were planning the Three Sisters, the small stage could really bring the claustrophobia of the sisters to life. Tom Littler was planning to direct Three Sisters. As his production of Miss Julie was a sensation in the same space I thought it should be good. One of the most notable productions of Three Sisters, directed by Treveor Nunn, was on the small stage of The Other Place lit by candles to generate that sense of claustrophobia and remoteness. |
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Post by bee on May 8, 2021 12:41:00 GMT
The main website still shows The Tempest for 10th Sep - 9th Oct, and Relatively Speaking for 14th Oct - 13th Nov. Tickets "On Sale Soon".
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Post by NeilVHughes on May 17, 2021 21:36:47 GMT
Two Horsemen
Took my time walking from St Pancras to the Theatre soaking up central London and just enjoying being out and about, whilst still relatively quiet it was good to see London waking up and am sure by the weekend it will be significantly busier.
On entering the Theatre everyone was in good spirits and plenty of conversations sparked up in the audience as we all enjoyed being in a Theatre again and could not contain our excitement.
The play itself is a complex two hander where the stories swirled, twisted upon themselves and never really settled into a linear narrative and honestly a play I did not fully understand and one that requires concentration and glad I saw it live as at home the distractions would reduce the immersive impact required that only live Theatre can provide.
The acting was top notch and the characters often morphed into each other adding to the confusion and personally believe there was only one character and a play I would dearly love to discuss further as I’m sure every one of us there came out with a different perspective.
An enjoyable return and even though socially distanced and the wearing of masks the pleasure of being there greatly outweighed any inconvenience.
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Post by lynette on May 21, 2021 22:21:04 GMT
Bravo, Neil. I’m not joining you out there yet but hope to catch up soon.
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Post by Jan on May 22, 2021 8:46:51 GMT
I see they also have "Relatively Speaking" re-scheduled for later in the year. I had tickets for that previously. One of Ayckbourn's very early plays but in my opinion one of the ones that will stay in the repertoire the longest.
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Post by Jan on Jun 5, 2021 15:58:16 GMT
Went to my first production of the year at Jermyn Street this week. Good to be back.
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Post by lynette on Jun 5, 2021 18:51:46 GMT
Watched the Mac and More - entertaining, fringe feel,
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Post by Jan on Jun 6, 2021 11:14:08 GMT
Watched the Mac and More - entertaining, fringe feel, Yes. He had some good theatrical anecdotes. I've seen him on stage more than just about any other actor. |
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Post by zahidf on Aug 19, 2021 10:14:05 GMT
Season wasn't a success it seems
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Post by NeilVHughes on Aug 19, 2021 10:47:03 GMT
It does seem to be the case that for most productions sales are slow and offers are plentiful, most productions which previously required immediate booking for good seats still have plentiful supply days afterwards, will Macbeth at the Almeida buck the trend?
(personally believe the 3 booking periods is to try to influence urgency and scarcity which will be confirmed next week when I try to get a ticket but will likely be more successful in the 3rd release as long as tickets are shared out equally)
As Tom said they tried, the freelancers got work and they just about managed the financial implications of low sales.
His thought that it will take a year for normality to return is more worrying.
Went to a few shows and was there on the opening night which is confirmed in the photograph as I can be seen lurking at the back looking at my phone.
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Post by Jan on Aug 19, 2021 11:03:34 GMT
My assumption on the Almeida 3 booking periods is they don’t know how to price it. Three periods also reflects their recent practice of pricing high at the start and end of a run and lower in the middle.
On JST, some of the events in that season would not typically have got an audience there anyway.
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Post by Jan on Sept 25, 2021 17:44:10 GMT
Relatively Speaking is really good, recommended if you like that sort of thing.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Sept 25, 2021 18:03:45 GMT
Good to hear, seeing it in a couple of weeks.
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Post by zahidf on Sept 25, 2021 21:34:05 GMT
Relatively Speaking is really good, recommended if you like that sort of thing. I saw it a few days ago. Lots of fun! |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Oct 9, 2021 21:47:14 GMT
Relatively Speaking
Definitely hit the spot tonight, with all the serious plays around it was just great to leave the brain at the door and just let the laughter flow.
Cannot beat an Ayckbourn to bring a smile to your face, cannot remember the last time I was in a Theatre full of laughter.
Shame it was the last performance but do wish for some more Ayckbourn revivals in the near future.
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Post by tmesis on Oct 10, 2021 11:37:34 GMT
Totally agree - was at yesterday's matinee; It was very funny, with a near perfect cast and spot on production. I actually feel it deserves some sort of transfer. I'd never seen this early Ayckbourn play until yesterday but it left me feeling hugely impressed, not just at the way the humour develops as the tension increases but just at his brilliant technical skill in pulling it off.
I too hope we get more Ayckbourn revivals but in London (may be less so in the provinces) he seems to be out of favour - at The National in the past 20 years there have only been two revivals: Season's Greetings and Small Family Business.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 10, 2021 12:16:19 GMT
Totally agree - was at yesterday's matinee; It was very funny, with a near perfect cast and spot on production. I actually feel it deserves some sort of transfer. I'd never seen this early Ayckbourn play until yesterday but it left me feeling hugely impressed, not just at the way the humour develops as the tension increases but just at his brilliant technical skill in pulling it off. I too hope we get more Ayckbourn revivals but in London (may be less so in the provinces) he seems to be out of favour - at The National in the past 20 years there have only been two revivals: Season's Greetings and Small Family Business. Seasons greetings is not a strong play. I remember SG & Business both struggling to find praise and the latter an audience |
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Post by Jan on Oct 10, 2021 13:59:15 GMT
I too hope we get more Ayckbourn revivals but in London (may be less so in the provinces) he seems to be out of favour - at The National in the past 20 years there have only been two revivals: Season's Greetings and Small Family Business. They did House & Garden too but that wasn't technically a revival I suppose. With the miserablist Norris at the helm they won't be doing any more, that's for certain. The RSC did one of his plays once too, that was when they used to do a few new plays. Somewhere like the Orange Tree might oblige though they seem unduly fixated on Rattigan and the hopeless old windbag Shaw. |
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Post by showgirl on Oct 10, 2021 14:04:50 GMT
SG may not be a atrong play but it is very popular, especially, of course, around Christmas. Though the quality of the plays varies, I think a lot also depends on the production and cast, as I've seen a play I didn't rate the first time round lifted in a subsequent version by the casting and director; Nicholas Le Prevost, for instance, in the London 2016 run of How The Other Half Loves.
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