173 posts
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Post by paplazaroo on Aug 23, 2018 9:50:02 GMT
This was weird for me in the sense I loved the story and was a blubbering mess by the end but really disliked the production. I thought the dialogue was clumsy, the set and costume were like ikea and Gap, the movement imprecise and all a bit devised theatre 101, the ropes were cool but it annoyed me how they just had extra ropes to make props from - would be stronger if they were all connected to the tree.
All of this was overcome by the emotional heft of the story and I guess combined with personal experience it had a big impact on me. Basically if you’ve ever watched someone you love die in hospital this will be like an emotional mugging.
They should have some sort of room full of sofas for people to pull themselves together in after the play.
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196 posts
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Post by rockinrobin on Aug 26, 2018 0:04:27 GMT
Saw the final show tonight.
Obviously, for those who have been there and know what it's like, it is a painful and intense experience. I cried buckets. But then - theatre is one of the greatest therapies. This show didn't make me feel sad - it made me feel RELIEVED, it made me... exhale.
That's theatre at its best, simple yet powerful, helping you fight or befriend your demons, let go of your emotions and come to terms with yourself.
And Matthew Tennyson is going to be very, very famous one day.
And Stuart Goodwin gives fantastic hugs.
(Of course, I loved the music and the ropes - it was mesmerising - but that hug!)
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382 posts
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Post by stevemar on Sept 2, 2018 17:55:15 GMT
Thank you to those of you who posted links to Today Tix. I wouldn’t have registered this play at all, as the Old Vic’s prices have generally labelled it “avoid” for me. Having seen Jane Eyre and Peter Pan at the National, I was familiar with some of Sally Cookson’s work, but this was on a different level. Outstanding movement, music, projections. Despite some limited dialogue, the second half really hit home, as well as the end of act one despair of the grandmother. Hugely emotional, a big surprise. We were all in tears, and much of the cast was also at the last performance. I was surprised to see that I had seen Matthew Tennyson before (at the Donmar years ago). He was wonderful in this role, and I don’t think I have seen an actor crying so much and so in the moment even (or especially) at the curtain call.
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202 posts
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Post by harry on Sept 3, 2018 16:49:29 GMT
the Old Vic’s prices have generally labelled it “avoid” for me What is it about Old Vic prices that, more than any other London theatre, makes people recoil? I ask because it's actually one of the few theatres with a massive range of prices to start with, plenty of well-priced restricted view seats at the £21, £16 and £12 mark, and it makes huge "dynamic price" discounts nearer the time too. Is it perception or what am I missing? Weirdly I think it's the dynamism of the pricing that I find most offputting. Yes you can grab a last minute bargain but it also is two fingers up to those who like to book early, when in fact they are the people who the theatres need most - regular or intrepid bookers who don't just wait for the 5 star reviews. Plus for popular stuff it seems the sky is the limit for what they will charge - I've seen £150 tickets in really unexceptional areas of the auditorium for a run of the mill play which just happens to have a famous person in it. Yes there's obviously a supply and demand element with all theatres and tickets, but surely because you can charge over the odds doesn't mean you should. By having a pricing structure and sticking to it (or moving stuff very slightly) shows much more confidence in the work you are putting on than just changing the prices wildly up and down to maximise bums on seats for each individual performance. |
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382 posts
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Post by stevemar on Sept 3, 2018 22:23:15 GMT
the Old Vic’s prices have generally labelled it “avoid” for me What is it about Old Vic prices that, more than any other London theatre, makes people recoil? I ask because it's actually one of the few theatres with a massive range of prices to start with, plenty of well-priced restricted view seats at the £21, £16 and £12 mark, and it makes huge "dynamic price" discounts nearer the time too. Is it perception or what am I missing? For me, Theatremonkey, it is the lack of transparency about the pricing. I could buy a lower priced ticket (at the regular price) but then I think, that they might put the prices down for all the higher priced ones, so why should I book early. I should add that I generally go to subsidised theatre, but am happy to splash out for something in demand at “West End”prices if I wish or £40/50 regularly. However, the Old Vic isn’t consistently delivering quality in a way which is “worth a punt” unlike theatres which encourage loyalty and early booking such as the Young Vic, Donmar, NT and Almeida, where I think there are better seats and lower prices. Obviously subsidised. I think the dynamic pricing is quite recent at the Old Vic, and has been quite extreme? I don’t know if anyone has done an analysis, but I guess PWC or the Old Vic think it works (unless this is for an experimental period) to have some money spinners mixed with other shows which struggle and have to discount very heavily. They used to have more regular pricing, but I guess now use the West End model. Oddly, the best prices and seats at regular prices were when they performed “in the round” for Electra and The Crucible, which had great seats closer to the action. If a Monster Calls had been on at the National, I believe it would have sold better. The early reports here refer to it being far from sold out. When I bought my half (ish) price ticket 3 weeks before the show, on checking the OLd Vic site, I’d say 70% of seats were still showing as available. They managed to fill the theatre on the last night (except the highest Circle) but at what price per seat? So, none of this encourages loyalty in booking early. But maybe they think this works, and most non-regular theatre goers (unlike the majority who post here) book based on reviews, or last minute. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2018 22:24:27 GMT
What is it about Old Vic prices that, more than any other London theatre, makes people recoil? I ask because it's actually one of the few theatres with a massive range of prices to start with, plenty of well-priced restricted view seats at the £21, £16 and £12 mark, and it makes huge "dynamic price" discounts nearer the time too. Is it perception or what am I missing? For me, Theatremonkey, it is the lack of transparency about the pricing. I could buy a lower priced ticket (at the regular price) but then I think, that they might put the prices down for all the higher priced ones, so why should I book early. I should add that I generally go to subsidised theatre, but am happy to splash out for something in demand at “West End”prices if I wish or £40/50 regularly. However, the Old Vic isn’t consistently delivering quality in a way which is “worth a punt” unlike theatres which encourage loyalty and early booking such as the Young Vic, Donmar, NT and Almeida, where I think there are better seats and lower prices. Obviously subsidised. I think the dynamic pricing is quite recent at the Old Vic, and has been quite extreme? I don’t know if anyone has done an analysis, but I guess PWC or the Old Vic think it works (unless this is for an experimental period) to have some money spinners mixed with other shows which struggle and have to discount very heavily. They used to have more regular pricing, but I guess now use the West End model. Oddly, the best prices and seats at regular prices were when they performed “in the round” for Electra and The Crucible, which had great seats closer to the action. If a Monster Calls had been on at the National, I believe it would have sold better. The early reports here refer to it being far from sold out. When I bought my half (ish) price ticket 3 weeks before the show, on checking the OLd Vic site, I’d say 70% of seats were still showing as available. They managed to fill the theatre (except the highest Circle) but at what price per seat? So, none of this encourages loyalty in booking early. But maybe they think this works, and most non-regular theatre goers (unlike the majority who post here) book based on reviews, or last minute. The whole run was papered |
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630 posts
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Post by jamb0r on Sept 4, 2018 10:38:38 GMT
I remember for one of the earlier performances of Groundhog Day (before it started selling out) I had booked a cheap restricted view ticket in advance, but on the day I checked and there were much better seats that had been dynamically reduced to the same price as I paid for the restricted view seat. I called the box office and they gladly swapped my seat to a better one for no extra charge.
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 9, 2018 23:05:17 GMT
I was told earlier by someone who was part of the show that this is due to return, which is good as I missed it first time around. I wasn’t completely clear if this is returning to the Old Vic or transferring. Anyway make of that what you will.
(the same source also said that Sylvia is returning although I think we knew that already)
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530 posts
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Post by jampot on Jun 7, 2019 19:56:37 GMT
Out on tour....
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3,578 posts
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Post by Rory on Nov 26, 2019 20:37:20 GMT
Edit: Was UK tour cast announcement.
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256 posts
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Post by grannyjx6 on Mar 14, 2020 23:33:44 GMT
I saw this last week with about a thousand school kids who whispered/talked all through the first half and unwrapped sweets when not talking. They were much better in the second half, but maybe because they had fallen asleep. I found it very drawn out, although the ‘tree’ and the monster where very impressive.
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 7, 2020 22:53:17 GMT
Haven’t seen the film or read the book and I missed this at the Old Vic. Something about the way this was billed at the time didn’t really appeal to me. Watched the archive recording tonight and thought this was very good, if a bit over-stylised in parts. Very Curious Incident in feel (or at least that’s how it came across on the recording) although I’m not convinced this will have quite the same long-term success. Disappointed now I didn’t see this in the theatre, although at least I escaped what seemed like a load of sudden loud noises (not something I enjoy). I did find the ending moving.
I think the tour had just started before the theatre shut down. They’d changed the ethnicity of many of the lead roles for the tour. Looks like it the remaining tour dates were unfortunately cancelled. The official website is suspended which is never a good sign. A shame for all involved and I would have made an effort to see this live on the strength of the recording.
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Post by originalconceptlive on Jun 8, 2020 8:56:05 GMT
I watched the stream the other day. It's fantastic to be able to watch a recording of this show at all, much less for free. The use of ropes in the staging was very creative, and the adult actors played the child characters well, along with managing some athletic feats with those ropes. But after all the build up, I found that Connor's final revelation didn't get to me in the way that it was meant to. It's possibly my own fault for not doing research beforehand and understanding that this story is about a child's journey, and so a stunning realisation for them may not be a new insight for me. But it felt as though there wasn't much else going on in the play, other than building up to that one moment. I also lost a bit of sympathy for Connor when... {Spoiler - click to view}
he broke the other boy's arm and nose. Even if the other boy was a bully and Connor was dealing with trauma, it was a bit much. Especially as the bullying we'd seen earlier, nasty though it was, hadn't looked all that extreme. It felt weird that this other boy's injuries were just used as a stepping stone for our protagonist's journey of self-discovery about something else. Maybe it would have helped if, at some point, Connor had specifically acknowledged "the monster is me" or "it wasn't the monster who did it, it was me". |
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5,906 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 12, 2020 8:16:55 GMT
I found this very disappointing. Didn’t warm to the performances at all and the tree didn’t work for me, perhaps because the actor has no gravitas.
I’m glad I didn’t pay to see it. BUT it’s wonderful that it’s being made available like this.
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