Do you have to know anything about the Harry Potter stories to see this show or does it stand up on its own merit of theatre?
It's tricky as I have read them etc so I'm not 100% sure, but I'd say yes, i think you do, as there's a lot of bits where they travel back to the original book events etc and it's all weaved around the original story and the original characters a few years on. It's definitely not a standalone.
5 hours or whatever it is is a long time to be pretty lost about what the hell is going on, even with really good effects etc.
I personally have never felt engaged with the Harry Potter thing but am aware of its huge appeal. I did try reading the first book but got bored and irritated very quickly.
I personally have never felt engaged with the Harry Potter thing but am aware of its huge appeal. I did try reading the first book but got bored and irritated very quickly.
I love the books, but then I was a 12/13 year old I think when I started reading them rather than an adult so I think that helps.
Do you have to know anything about the Harry Potter stories to see this show or does it stand up on its own merit of theatre?
Both, but it is a two parter (so feels more like a film than theatre).
Never seen it but heard good things. It is pretty much Harry Potter but after Harry Potter (so no commitment to see the film it is like a sequel to the film franchise).
Just on my way back from Stage Fright now. Absolutely loved it. Fantastic homage to the TV show. Laugh out loud funny and genuinely creepy at times. No spoilers, but any fans going to see it will not be disappointed.
Yeah, Stage Fright was cracking. Really enjoyable and we could only get seats right up in the gods but still a great view and they were super cheap. Only disappointment was our celebrity and that wouldn’t have been a disappointment if I didn’t know it was different every night, or if I was maybe 25-years younger but the rest of it was great 👍🏻
Looking forward to the matinee at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre next Thursday to see Three Sisters. I wonder when our @Weegie Addick is going, because I want to make sure any comments I have are after her visit to avoid any unintentional spoilers. I know it is classic Drama, but each production can have a different style and focus.
Took the missus to see Wicked last night, very good it was to. Also got some added entertainment when a drunk Brummie got "sshhhh-ed" by people around him and he started swearing and threatening a Scottish family. On his way to being escorted out he continued swearing at random people before throwing his remaining glass of wine over various people near the exit! Complete pr**k. Hope he got nicked,but doubt it.
Complete piss take out of Andrew Lloyd-Weber with the only character in the show being the man himself.
Absolutely hilarious, helps that I am a fan of Flo and Joan anyway, but regardless this was fantastic.
Richard Fouracre who plays the lead role is amazing. Its so far from a Lloyd-Weber show (they reckon the budget was £50 and Tim Rice is played by a bag of rice!).
New theatre for me as well. Underbelly Boulevard just off Wardour Street. Really nice venue. It's on till 2nd March. If you like a parody I can't recommend this enough.
Looking forward to the matinee at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre next Thursday to see Three Sisters. I wonder when our @Weegie Addick is going, because I want to make sure any comments I have are after her visit to avoid any unintentional spoilers. I know it is classic Drama, but each production can have a different style and focus.
Attended the Elektra launch night yesterday. We thought it was excellent, though the avant garde staging won’t be for everyone. It is very much about the spoken (or sung) word so requires concentration throughout - a skill many lack these days!
Brie Larson dominates with a really powerful performance - amazing for her West End debut.
Off to Three Sisters this afternoon. Sam Wanamaker at the Globe, new theatre for me.
Been ourselves now. Thoughts?
I liked it enormously. There was a classic Chekovian feel to it all with the set, props and costumes, and the Theatre suited the intimacy of the production where the candlelight enhanced rather than distracted. As usual the play was a company piece and there was no star vehicle nor weak performances on show, but an effort to present the work as true to itself. The only acting choices I would have disputed was the approach with Solyony who was verging on a maniacal type. I have seen the play a lot, including at the Greenwich Theatre with a stunning performance by Joanne (Singing Detective, and recently Wolf Hall) as Masha, and in the West End with a fantastic Vanessa Redgrave as Olga, both memorable. So it was rather a classic Checkov, in a classic production that suited me fine annd was well received, and I would give it an 8 on the Setheatreometer. I hope you liked it H.
Off to see the return to the stage after some six years of Cate Blanchett at the Barbican in another Checkov, The Seagull, on March 13th. Only need to see an Uncle Vanya by mid November to have seen the four full length classics within a year.
We went to see Churchill in Moscow this week at the Orange Tree in Richmond and thought it was extremely good. Roger Allam played Churchill with his usual aplomb. The play dramatises the actual August 1942 top-secret between Churchill and Stalin at a time when each of them feared defeat to Hitler. Unsurprisingly, the respective diplomats struggled to control the alcohol-fuelled discussions between the two unpredictable leaders.
It is the Orange Tree's fastest ever selling play and the sold out run ends next month. Although there have been no indications thus far, I imagine that it will transfer to the National or West End at some stage, given the likely level of demand for tickets.
Off to Three Sisters this afternoon. Sam Wanamaker at the Globe, new theatre for me.
Been ourselves now. Thoughts?
I liked it enormously. There was a classic Chekovian feel to it all with the set, props and costumes, and the Theatre suited the intimacy of the production where the candlelight enhanced rather than distracted. As usual the play was a company piece and there was no star vehicle nor weak performances on show, but an effort to present the work as true to itself. The only acting choices I would have disputed was the approach with Solyony who was verging on a maniacal type. I have seen the play a lot, including at the Greenwich Theatre with a stunning performance by Joanne (Singing Detective, and recently Wolf Hall) as Masha, and in the West End with a fantastic Vanessa Redgrave as Olga, both memorable. So it was rather a classic Checkov, in a classic production that suited me fine annd was well received, and I would give it an 8 on the Setheatreometer. I hope you liked it H.
Completely agree re theatre, the atmosphere and the acting. Felt the first half dragged a bit but the second was enthralling. I’m probably more a 6.5/7 - enjoyed it.
Went to see Oedipus starring Remi Malek and Indira Varma, there was some interesting dancing and atmospheric lighting and it started well before I got bored and fell asleep for a bit. Saw Richard II last week at The Bridge Theatre with Johnathon Bailey who was very good and it was all fairly enjoyable, although I may have drifted off slightly in the first half
Just seen Much Ado About Nothing with Tom Hiddlestone and Hayley Atwell. Not sure ive ever seen this play staved before, really enjoyed it and impressed with the delivery, staging and cast.
Comments
5 hours or whatever it is is a long time to be pretty lost about what the hell is going on, even with really good effects etc.
I did try reading the first book but got bored and irritated very quickly.
Apart from that, to each their own.
Never seen it but heard good things. It is pretty much Harry Potter but after Harry Potter (so no commitment to see the film it is like a sequel to the film franchise).
i won’t spoil it for anyone but it wasn’t what I was expecting either.
Is it true they have a different celebrity guest each night?
in short one turned up last night in an hilarious bit where he obviously hadn’t rehearsed or know what was going on.
Only disappointment was our celebrity and that wouldn’t have been a disappointment if I didn’t know it was different every night, or if I was maybe 25-years younger but the rest of it was great 👍🏻
I know it is classic Drama, but each production can have a different style and focus.
Complete piss take out of Andrew Lloyd-Weber with the only character in the show being the man himself.
Absolutely hilarious, helps that I am a fan of Flo and Joan anyway, but regardless this was fantastic.
Richard Fouracre who plays the lead role is amazing. Its so far from a Lloyd-Weber show (they reckon the budget was £50 and Tim Rice is played by a bag of rice!).
New theatre for me as well. Underbelly Boulevard just off Wardour Street. Really nice venue. It's on till 2nd March. If you like a parody I can't recommend this enough.
Off to see stage fright tomorrow
Brie Larson dominates with a really powerful performance - amazing for her West End debut.
Sam Wanamaker at the Globe, new theatre for me.
There was a classic Chekovian feel to it all with the set, props and costumes, and the Theatre suited the intimacy of the production where the candlelight enhanced rather than distracted.
As usual the play was a company piece and there was no star vehicle nor weak performances on show, but an effort to present the work as true to itself. The only acting choices I would have disputed was the approach with Solyony who was verging on a maniacal type.
I have seen the play a lot, including at the Greenwich Theatre with a stunning performance by Joanne (Singing Detective, and recently Wolf Hall) as Masha, and in the West End with a fantastic Vanessa Redgrave as Olga, both memorable.
So it was rather a classic Checkov, in a classic production that suited me fine annd was well received, and I would give it an 8 on the Setheatreometer.
I hope you liked it H.
It is the Orange Tree's fastest ever selling play and the sold out run ends next month. Although there have been no indications thus far, I imagine that it will transfer to the National or West End at some stage, given the likely level of demand for tickets.
Saw Richard II last week at The Bridge Theatre with Johnathon Bailey who was very good and it was all fairly enjoyable, although I may have drifted off slightly in the first half