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Post by NeilVHughes on Jan 31, 2020 11:02:31 GMT
Dumb Waiter
Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter will run from 19 March to 18 April.
The Two Character Play
Tennessee Williams' The Two Character Play will run from 24 April to 23 May.
The Death of a Black Man
Alfred Fagon's The Death of a Black Man will run from 28 May to 27 June.
“night, Mother”
Marsha Norman's Pulitzer-winning '''night, Mother'', will run from 2 July to 1 August.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2020 11:11:25 GMT
I think that is a great looking season. Driven by the history of the venue and reintroducing audiences to plays they haven't encountered in decades
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Jan 31, 2020 11:34:09 GMT
Agree, although a shame they went for "The Dumb Waiter" for the first one as that was done last year as part of Pinter at the Pinter, rather than another rarer one.
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Post by Jan on Jan 31, 2020 12:40:10 GMT
Agree, although a shame they went for "The Dumb Waiter" for the first one as that was done last year as part of Pinter at the Pinter, rather than another rarer one. I suppose they were limited by plays that were first staged at Hampstead. But they could have paired it with The Room for a better-value double bill, for me it is a long way to go for a one-act play. |
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Post by bordeaux on Jan 31, 2020 14:11:13 GMT
Nice idea - a revisiting of modern classics; shame that none of the plays really grab me (and I've seen the Dumb Waiter enough). A good review or two could convince me otherwise, though.
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Post by Jan on Jan 31, 2020 14:38:12 GMT
Nice idea - a revisiting of modern classics They’ve done it before - they revived Abigail’s Party I seem to remember, and Wild Honey. They always seem to be looking for ways to workaround their “new plays only” brief, adapting Chekhov short stories, or historical novels. They might as well abandon their policy and stage a few classic revivals. |
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Post by foxa on Jan 31, 2020 14:54:15 GMT
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Post by learfan on Jan 31, 2020 15:11:33 GMT
Agree, although a shame they went for "The Dumb Waiter" for the first one as that was done last year as part of Pinter at the Pinter, rather than another rarer one. I suppose they were limited by plays that were first staged at Hampstead. But they could have paired it with The Room for a better-value double bill, for me it is a long way to go for a one-act play. Gosh yes Hampstead is in the middle of nowhere. |
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Post by Jan on Jan 31, 2020 16:25:35 GMT
I suppose they were limited by plays that were first staged at Hampstead. But they could have paired it with The Room for a better-value double bill, for me it is a long way to go for a one-act play. Gosh yes Hampstead is in the middle of nowhere. Londoners only on this thread please. |
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Post by learfan on Jan 31, 2020 16:56:17 GMT
Gosh yes Hampstead is in the middle of nowhere. Londoners only on this thread please. Born and bred Londoner thanks for asking. |
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Post by princeton on Jan 31, 2020 20:06:54 GMT
It looks to me as though it's a season driven by the need to save money - and certainly not what I'd expect within the first year from an Artistic Director who stressed that she would be focusing on new works. I don't know "The Death of a Black Man" but it seems to have a cast of three, whilst the other three are definitely two-handers on single sets. I guess one of the upsides is that they'll almost certainly have meaty parts for good actors - and I'm sure at least one of them will have an eye on a longer life as an additional income generator.
I've nothing against revisiting plays from the past - and Hampstead has hardly been awash with the discovery of great new writing over the last few years (certainly long before the arrival of the current AD) - but it's another example of a London fringe (or off-west end) theatre having a lack of identity - and possibly a corresponding lack of audience. This is equally applicable to Donmar, Bush, Kiln, Lyric Hammersmith and Stratford East - all of whose work is now largely interchangeable.
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Post by lynette on Feb 1, 2020 18:34:32 GMT
Londoners only on this thread please. Born and bred Londoner thanks for asking. You can’t park in Hampstead. |
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Post by Jan on Feb 1, 2020 18:50:51 GMT
Born and bred Londoner thanks for asking. You can’t park in Hampstead. For The Dumb Waiter my travel time to get there will be longer than the running time of the play itself. That’s was my point. I appreciate that Learfan would travel up to 6 hours to see A Chaste Maid In Cheapside (it’s a play, I hasten to point out) but we are not all so dedicated. |
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Post by lynette on Feb 1, 2020 22:39:14 GMT
To be honest I think Hampstead is a ‘local’ theatre , well that is what it looks like to me when I go. I don’t go to the Orangetree because it is just too far or to Hammersmith and even the Bush is out of my sphere. So not going to Hampstead from the Deep South is understandable.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 1, 2020 22:54:12 GMT
Being a relative newcomer to London from the sticks, nowhere is really more than an hour away and fortunately can consider anywhere within the M25 as being local along with being a kid in a candy store everywhere is open for consideration. lynette I would consider the odd Saturday matinee at the Orange Tree, as the Donmar, Almeida and Park become more interesting the Orange Tree rarely disappoints and the Lyric in Hammersmith has its moments.. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 1, 2020 22:58:01 GMT
Being a relative newcomer to London from the sticks, nowhere is really more than an hour away and fortunately consider anywhere within the M25 as being local along with being a kid in a candy store everywhere is open for consideration. lynette I would consider the odd Saturday matinee at the Orange Tree, as the Donmar, Almeida and Park become more interesting the Orange Tree rarely disappoints and the Lyric in Hammersmith has its moments. |
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Post by lynette on Feb 2, 2020 13:07:39 GMT
I’m loving The Park and am amused at the way the area around it is now brimming with eateries.. and I have visited the Orange Tree a while ago when we had friends ho lived near there.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Mar 3, 2020 11:59:52 GMT
CAST ANNOUNCED for the TWO CHARACTER PLAY by TENNESSEE WILLIAMS DIRECTED by SAM YATES
David Dawson (The Last Kingdom, Ripper Street, Banished) and Lyndsey Marshal (Dracula, The Hours, Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar) star in The Two Character Play, Tennessee Williams' innovative and personal drama.
Fellow actors, brother and sister Felice and Clare have been on tour too long: every town looks increasingly the same until they feel they could be anywhere… Abandoned by the rest of the acting company, but faced with an audience expecting a performance, they must enact The Two Character Play.
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 3, 2020 12:33:54 GMT
To be honest I think Hampstead is a ‘local’ theatre , well that is what it looks like to me when I go. I don’t go to the Orangetree because it is just too far or to Hammersmith and even the Bush is out of my sphere. So not going to Hampstead from the Deep South is understandable. Well, I wouldn't go out west on the bloody District Line but the train is a piece of cake from Vauxhall/Waterloo (16-20 mins), and I love pottering around on the Overground anyway. Both of those will do the job with the Orange Tree bang opposite as you come out.
The most awkward places I enjoy are the Almeida and Stratford East, but both are generally worth the bother 
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Post by crowblack on Mar 3, 2020 13:52:44 GMT
David Dawson! One of my absolute must-book faves ( local boy!). I will brave the plague for this, then.
(One of my 'wish I had a time machine with teleporter' productions is the US one with Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif ).
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