THEATRE THREAD

Solidgone said:

Arthur_Trudgill said:

Garrymanilow said:

seth plum said:

I am shocked to realise that until yesterday I hadn’t been to the Theatre since before the lockdowns, until last night.
Pico of this parish and I missed the Millwall fun to go to the National Theatre to see Dear England.
I recommend it, there isn’t a spoiler for it, but it is a story of redemption predicated on penalties, starting with that Southgate miss.
Great to see a play, but even better it was a large cast in a big space with good creative input from all arms of the production. It had both humour and pathos and for those aware of recent history, particularly in football, there were lots of good reference points.
One great aspect of the experience was the sold out audience. So mixed, with a much greater proportion of young people than you usually see at the National. Standing ovation from 50%.
It might have been more sharply edited, a long show, however on the Setheatreometer I would give it eight out of ten.

We were at the same showing for that Seth,  I enjoyed it a lot, Joseph Fiennes' Southgate was spot on, everything from the hands in pockets mannerisms to the way of speaking. There's a lot of caricatures of people in the play but it does contextualise that at certain points. It was funnier than I thought it would be and it drew a cleverer conclusion than I expected. Good night out.

We saw 'Dear England ' last night and thought it was very good.

I love Gina McKee who plays psychologist Dr Pippa Grange. It was a nice surprise to see her, as most of the publicity seems to be about Joseph Fiennes.

I highly recommend the play. I hope it goes on a national tour.

I went to the matinee performance yesterday and really enjoyed the show. A must see when it reappears in the West End.

West End tickets went on general sale today. Great tickets from £20 widely available for all dates.

Greenhithe said:

Saw The Pillowman last night. Been wanting to see it for ages. The Mrs told me to get home by 5.30 so had to leave the game early. She basically told me we were going for dinner but surprised me with tickets for the last night of the play. 

It was absolutely brilliant. Scary at times, macabre, profound, emotional and above all bloody funny. 

Steve Pemberton and Paul Kaye were hilarious and Lily Allen acted the fuck out of it. 

I’d recommend it but it’s finished so if it resurfaces go.  

Clem_Snide said:

Greenhithe said:

Saw The Pillowman last night. Been wanting to see it for ages. The Mrs told me to get home by 5.30 so had to leave the game early. She basically told me we were going for dinner but surprised me with tickets for the last night of the play. 

It was absolutely brilliant. Scary at times, macabre, profound, emotional and above all bloody funny. 

Steve Pemberton and Paul Kaye were hilarious and Lily Allen acted the fuck out of it. 

I’d recommend it but it’s finished so if it resurfaces go.  

Saw it at the start of this run. Loved it. Properly dark. Almost made for Steve Pemberton. Shame Reece Shearsmith wasn't in it as well!

As you said Paul Kaye and Lily Allen were also very good. Can't understand the poor reviews Lily Allen was given when it first came out.

I agree. Some of these critics are more interested in making themselves look good or contrary than actually being honest. I thought her acting, and at times deadpan matter of fact delivery was excellent. 

Went to see The Crown Jewels when we were over last month. Some real laugh out loud bits, especially when Murray engaged with the audience as King Charles II. Aiden McCardle is excellent as Captain Blood, and it's a good history lesson if you don't know the full story of the theft.  

CharltonKerry said:

Bad news for the orchard theatre in Dartford, it’s been forced to close with immediate effect as the roof is made from the RAAC (or whatever it’s called) concrete.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/theatre-to-close-over-concrete-fears-292880/

Going there in late October … hope sorted by then but doubt it

Saw Nick Mohammed as Mr Swallow at The Duke of York this evening. Very funny. Great support from Amy Gledhill as well.

Went to The Other Palace to see Frank and Percy starring Ian McKellen and Roger Allam. It was an excellent show; very funny and sad. 

Managed to get a couple of rare kid free afternoons recently to see two plays:

2.22 A Ghost Story - really enjoyed it, great ending.  Only issue was one cast member with a terrible and unnecessary American accent, but it was still good.  Would definitely recommend it.

And The Crown Jewels.  Thought it was awful!!  Al Murray was funny in a few audience participation bits, mainly because it's Al Murray and that's basically his stand-up routine, but the script was terrible.

Shame, because it's got a decent cast and it's actually an interesting story, but was so much less than the sum of it's parts.

North Lower Neil said:

2.22 A Ghost Story - really enjoyed it, great ending.  Only issue was one cast member with a terrible and unnecessary American accent, but it was still good.  Would definitely recommend it.

I went last week, that American accent truly is awful. Enjoyed it other than that

Clem_Snide said:

Saw Dear England this evening. Opening night at the Prince Edward Theatre. Enjoyable, but ultimately a bit underwhelmed. Joseph Fiennes was very good, but not convinced by any of the other actors. Not sure it warrants the hype that has followed it around.

I loved it. Saw it at the National 

Not traditional theatre, but on the way home from an evening with Irvine Welsh and John Niven. Celebrating 30 years since Trainspotting was first published. Great night. Could have done with subtitles at times, but Irvine is a seriously funny/interesting guy.

ThreadKiller said:

Saw Cabaret at The Playhouse which is transformed into the Kit Kat Club. It was a fabulous all around experience, I loved it

Great, wasn't it ! 

Family going in  2 weeks' time to celebrate 2 x 50 year olds' birthdays this summer. 

Solidgone said:

Eve(Which Fanny Fanackapan said:

ThreadKiller said:

Saw Cabaret at The Playhouse which is transformed into the Kit Kat Club. It was a fabulous all around experience, I loved it

Great, wasn't it ! 

Family going in  2 weeks' time to celebrate 2 x 50 year olds' birthdays this summer. 

Interesting. Am thinking of going as it seems to be a great night out but was wondering about the cost of the tickets and what do you get for it e.g food & drink included, is it worth going near the stage or from the stalls (whichever). Basically whats the best tickets compared to the basic tickets?

Not sure of your budget but we went when it first opened and sat pretty high up at back for £30 and it was fab from back there (considering the pre show shnizz in
the foyer) so whilst you won’t get those tickets for £30 now, anywhere you can afford would be great just to be in there.  

Solidgone said:

Eve(Which Fanny Fanackapan said:

ThreadKiller said:

Saw Cabaret at The Playhouse which is transformed into the Kit Kat Club. It was a fabulous all around experience, I loved it

Great, wasn't it ! 

Family going in  2 weeks' time to celebrate 2 x 50 year olds' birthdays this summer. 

Interesting. Am thinking of going as it seems to be a great night out but was wondering about the cost of the tickets and what do you get for it e.g food & drink included, is it worth going near the stage or from the stalls (whichever). Basically whats the best tickets compared to the basic tickets?

We went in March - a very generous birthday present from family - and sat a a "table for 2" almost on the stage. Couldn't get much closer with a perfect view of proceedings and a feeling of being involved IYKWIM. 

Decided not to pre book any food as looked to be expensive for what we noted other attendees were served, and booked a table at the Bella Italia in the Strand for 5pm . This gave us ample time to eat & walk the short distance to the theatre using Villiers St. However, Mr F used the bar at the interval & paid , if I remember correctly, a glass of wine and a beer  costing around £20...so be warned! 

With our daughter in law  & son in law both having 50th birthdays  this summer, we pushed the boat out & bought 4 tickets for them in the sane area as those we had. Let's just say, the total paid was just 4 figures....But as a one off, I hope they'll agree it's worth it.

I have friends that have watched from seats "high up" and still thoroughly enjoyed the show. 

Definitely a "one off" experience so worth spending a bit more than at a basic theatre show.