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Post by theoracle on Jul 15, 2023 11:17:14 GMT
Has anyone had a chance to see this yet? Am very curious about the floor seating and how this will work. Thanks
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Post by drmaplewood on Jul 20, 2023 6:36:10 GMT
I went to the final preview last night and found it very effecting. It is minimal staging - in the round, on the floor (no stage) and only minimal props (inside cardboard boxes, the significance of which becomes clearer as the piece goes on). I feel the capacity of the Dorfman has been massively reduced but someone may correct me there.
The first, shorter, act is the background on the events leading up to the night itself - the missed opportunities and outright corruption that led to the disaster. This bit felt slower and at times, more of a lecture than theatre (multiple screens are placed around the theatre and used to briefly show archive footage, and for the rest of the piece to spotlight characters being questioned during the inquiry).
After the interval however, things ramp up significantly as the actors play both the survivors of the fire explaining how they escaped as well as playing multiple roles within the inquiry.
Saying any more would possibly spoil things but there is some fourth wall breaking and an ending that I haven't seen in a theatre before but massively paid off, in my opinion.
Pretty much bang on 3 hours last night, though we started late, and didn't feel it at all. This might not tell you an awful lot you don't know if you followed the inquiry. But its pulled off with such heart and care that this is a must-see for me. There was a group of young American teens / early 20s in last night who clearly didn't know about the case and were stunned and gasped in several moments - so if it can highlight the injustice to others, then its already doing its work imo.
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Post by drmaplewood on Jul 20, 2023 7:43:59 GMT
And many thanks jr for the ticket! |
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Post by properjob on Jul 24, 2023 19:26:21 GMT
I had seen one of the verbatim enquiry shows but this show succeded in its aims of telling the wider story about the people who lived there and what life was like for them. It certainly challenged my assumptions about them.
It is 3 hours long but I wasn't bored for a moment.
The stuff from the enquiry wasn't completely new but I still learnt new things and it serves as a powerful reminder that good regulation matters.
There is a saying from the railway industry that the rule book is written in blood which I think is relevant here.
I expect many on this board like myself will be involved in putting on theatre at some level and will have been frustrated about the tight fire safety rules in theatre. But they matter.
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Post by lolli on Jul 26, 2023 16:07:59 GMT
This is worth seeing if you can. Extremely powerful and thought provoking.
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jul 27, 2023 14:27:50 GMT
I caught this through Friday rush and found it very educational (know that's a weird thing to say, we all know what happened) - in terms of, I had no idea there was a blog online by upset residents and the council/tenant org just ignored them. I think it's important to keep this tragedy in the public sphere; because there are murderers who allowed this to happen. They need to be held to account. I thought it was sensitively handled and of course, very moving. All ticket sales go back to Grenfell community too. Glad I saw this. It wasn't that full when I went but I guess it's not the most enticing and quite polarising. But I don't regret booking this.
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Post by Dave B on Jul 31, 2023 8:56:19 GMT
I feel the capacity of the Dorfman has been massively reduced but someone may correct me there. I saw a picture on Twitter which lead me to t his review - and I think you are very right. It looks like they have put the floor in at the circle level, so covering the pit stalls and usual stage area. There is just the Circle which is now essentially stalls and Gallery which is now essentially the Circle. This explains why I've never seen a Pit/Stalls ticket available despite repeatedly keeping an eye out for one! |
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Post by londonpostie on Jul 31, 2023 10:03:06 GMT
This caused me to check my seat. I don't mean to be contrary but I bought a Pit ticket last Thursday for the Wed matinee this week. There were 5 available.
Also, don't forget the earlier start times for this production.
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Post by Dave B on Jul 31, 2023 10:09:57 GMT
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Post by jr on Jul 31, 2023 14:57:41 GMT
I saw this last Saturday evening. It wasn't very full and probably quite a few comps. The first half was ok and I was thinking that it didn't need 3 hours to tell this story. I was completely wrong. The second half moved me deeply (rage, sadness, even you are able to laugh a couple of times). I don't want to explain a lot because I think if you don't know much about it you will enjoy it more.
Al the actors are fantastic and I don't know how they are capable of playing these roles every night at that level of emotion. Very well directed and paced.
There is a reason why the capacity has been reduced and you'll understand when you see it.
It is not perfect (not convinced about how they end the show, a bit manipulative for my taste) but it made me think and feel and that's much more than most plays do for me. I highly recommend it and it should be full every day. A play cannot change the world but might help us to understand it better.
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Post by cavocado on Aug 2, 2023 11:13:43 GMT
I feel the capacity of the Dorfman has been massively reduced but someone may correct me there. I saw a picture on Twitter which lead me to t his review - and I think you are very right. It looks like they have put the floor in at the circle level, so covering the pit stalls and usual stage area. There is just the Circle which is now essentially stalls and Gallery which is now essentially the Circle. This explains why I've never seen a Pit/Stalls ticket available despite repeatedly keeping an eye out for one! That makes sense. I was a bit disorientated by the layout - didn't seem like as many stairs as normal. I thought this was sensitively done and very hard hitting. I can't remember ever feeling so upset by a play, and rightly so. It's a shocking tale for our time about the safety and wellbeing of a community being sidelined by profit, greed, prejudice, aesthetics, etc, and all the more shocking for being told in the words of those who lost their homes and, for some, their loved ones too. This deserves a wider audience, e.g. it would be good if any filmed performance is televised rather than just available on subscription. |
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Post by londonpostie on Aug 3, 2023 6:55:27 GMT
Usual 3 levels for Dorfman productions, in the round, what is the stage end in other productions becomes a screen towards the end - the audience sitting there moves to sit on the floor in the middle of the room so to watch the screen with everyone else.
400 capacity for this production, with a standard layout it's 450.
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Post by Dave B on Aug 3, 2023 13:51:04 GMT
Usual 3 levels for Dorfman productions, in the round, what is the stage end in other productions becomes a screen towards the end - the audience sitting there moves to sit on the floor in the middle of the room so to watch the screen with everyone else. 400 capacity for this production, with a standard layout it's 450.
Okay, they are 100% doing something odd with this then. While at another show with a friend last night and chatting about various shows as you do - she saw it Saturday and shared her from the seats pic. It pretty clearly shows just one gallery level and her ticket was Circle, row N which as you can see was at stage level (and the seat next to her was used by cast repeatedly) Here is another audience pic from twitter which clearly shows there just being two levels. Are they adding and taking away a floor based on number of tickets sold to embrace the community aspect?
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Post by londonpostie on Aug 3, 2023 14:52:03 GMT
Think I am wrong, dave B. I thought I looked right up, but now I'm pretty sure I didn't look above the first floor, more than likely because it was dark. I asked, was told 400 for this production (as opposed to 450 max) and assumed the difference was due to choices made at Pit level. |
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Post by cavocado on Aug 3, 2023 15:31:26 GMT
I was sitting roughly where Dave B's friend sat, which I thought was the third row of the Pit, but according to my ticket was Circle row N. They're not adding/removing levels depending on sales. Looking at the seat plan, I think they have raised the floor as suggested in an earlier post. So the circle + pit all makes a stalls level, but the tickets for the first 2 rows are on sale as Pit seats, and the next 2 rows are circle, even though they are, effectively, 4 rows of seating on the same (stage) level, as shown in Dave's photos. The circle normally just has 2 rows (I think?), so no change there, and the stage seating must add enough to mean the capacity isn't hugely reduced.
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Post by dlevi on Aug 9, 2023 7:03:54 GMT
I saw this last night and thought it was pretty damn magnificent. Powerful political theatre at its best Wonderfully and yet unobtrusively, designed - the lighting is especially stunning and the blackness of the space is truly remarkable ( you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.) Exquisite performances and the script itself is carefully constructed for maximum impact. This is exactly the sort of production that does our National Theatre proud. It should not be missed.
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Post by curiouskc on Aug 16, 2023 20:23:44 GMT
I have a stagey trip to London planned next week. I'd mostly planned to see a bunch of a musicals but due to the Saturday train strikes I am going to have to stay in the city another night which means I'll have another show slot. Was thinking of booking this one. Does anyone who has been recently know how ticket availability going? It might be a last minute decision if I go, but it does sound like a very powerful piece of theatre.
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Post by jr on Aug 17, 2023 8:20:06 GMT
Glad to see it is sold out for most performances left.
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Post by Mark on Aug 17, 2023 8:37:34 GMT
It was so well done, one of the best and most important pieces of work I’ve seen at the National. The actors were all incredible and the way three hours passed in the blink of an eye. Highly recommend.
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Post by alessia on Aug 17, 2023 13:28:48 GMT
Went to see this last Friday and both my friend and I really liked it. It was long but we didn't feel it. Very important piece of history and cleverly realised for the stage, I particularly liked the part when each character was leaving the apartments and the light and audio recreated the idea of a stairwell and echo, with the person finally outside and looking back at the building with the street light on their face. Very clever. We were in the pit (the stage usually at the Dorfman) and we then sat on the floor for the final part. I could have done without the end procession with the people carrying the banners. Other than this, I thought it was great and highly recommend it. |
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