Pygmalion at the Old Vic

[foxa]

Wonderful cast. But I still haven't forgiven the director Richard Jones for his Once in a Lifetime at the Young Vic.

[jek]

I grew up in Stepney, East London and still have the accent. When I was a kid at a local comprehensive the school arranged for us to go and see a production of Pygmalion at Toynbee Hall, which was a local settlement organisation set up for Oxford graduates to come and do good in the East End. It continues to have a rather nice theatre. I think our teachers sold the trip to us via its connection to My Fair Lady. You can imagine how disappointed we were that there were no songs! I don't think any of us came out of it wanting to 'speak proper' but it still makes me smile to think of how the theatre company were playing to a room full of Elizas most of whom had never seen a play before. Now approaching 60 I hope I manage to get tickets for this production - which I think I will appreciate a bit more!

[Someone in a tree]

With Richard Jones directing this wont be going into the West End ...

[Jan]

Apr 12, 2023 7:58:48 GMT Someone in a tree said:

With Richard Jones directing this wont be going into the West End ...

Agree. Great cast but totally the wrong director with his day glo off-kilter sets and cartoon characters. He has his place but this isn't it. 

[londonpostie]

Given the usual Christmas fare here, the OV could be virtually sold out from September to January.

Going to be a slight mental adjustment given, the last time I saw these two at the Old Vic, one was a sort of American Nazi and the other was .... Donald Trump* <cough>

*Camp Siegfried and The 47th

[c4ndyc4ne]

Apr 12, 2023 10:43:09 GMT londonpostie said:

Given the usual Christmas fare here, the OV could be virtually sold out from September to January.

Going to be a slight mental adjustment given, the last time I saw these two at the Old Vic, one was a sort of American Nazi and the other was .... Donald Trump* <cough>

*Camp Siegfried and The 47th

If Groundhog Day sells out they could be sold out from May!

[mattnyc]

Booked this morning. Plenty of decently priced seats available for this, which was nice.

[mkb]

Is it legal to sell tickets without disclosing their face value?

LondonTheatreDirect have a 24-hour pre-sale and are offering prices from £30 to £90 with premium at £144. However, the Old Vic website says non-premium tickets are £13 to £75. I can't see the Old Vic direct booking page to verify, but that appears to be a hefty undisclosed mark-up.

[ceebee]

Apr 17, 2023 9:35:01 GMT mkb said:

Is it legal to sell tickets without disclosing their face value?

LondonTheatreDirect have a 24-hour pre-sale and are offering prices from £30 to £90 with premium at £144. However, the Old Vic website says non-premium tickets are £13 to £75. I can't see the Old Vic direct booking page to verify, but that appears to be a hefty undisclosed mark-up.

Somebody on another board complained about LondonTheatreDirect's pricing - almost double face-value... Seems to be their preferred way.

[mkb]

Apr 17, 2023 9:39:24 GMT ceebee said:

Apr 17, 2023 9:35:01 GMT mkb said:

Is it legal to sell tickets without disclosing their face value?

LondonTheatreDirect have a 24-hour pre-sale and are offering prices from £30 to £90 with premium at £144. However, the Old Vic website says non-premium tickets are £13 to £75. I can't see the Old Vic direct booking page to verify, but that appears to be a hefty undisclosed mark-up.

Somebody on another board complained about LondonTheatreDirect's pricing - almost double face-value... Seems to be their preferred way.

Clearly the Old Vic are complicit by allowing this agency early access.  They obviously don't give a fig for the ethics of how tickets are marketed to theatregoers either.  This theatre has probably done more virtue signalling than any other in recent years, but, when it comes to actually treating theatregoers respectfully and fairly, they show their true colours.

[TallPaul]

Panter and Squire's, innit!

[londonpostie]

"Contains portrayals of abuse, abusive language and coercive control"

Not OV ticketing policy but the trigger warnings for Pygmalion, unless there was a mix up in the c&p.

[alessia]

I am finding the tickets for this very expensive indeed, most of the stalls are premium prices!

[londonpostie]

Public booking at noon - which I couldn't make. Hit the OV site at 12.14 - about 1,100 in the queue - all done within 30-minutes.

Straight forward process (OV website very smooth now), lots of availability. Big old venue.

There is the £10 PwC on this production, though you have to think it'll be mayhem on the day. Went the safe option and booked a slim pillar.

[mkb]

Does anyone know when the PwC sale is? I couldn't find it when I looked recently.

[Jon]

It is usual for rehearsals to start 5 months before opening? I assume perhaps they're doing it now as Bertie Carvel has filming commitments in the summer.

[Being Alive]

Apr 18, 2023 13:05:05 GMT Jon said:

It is usual for rehearsals to start 5 months before opening? I assume perhaps they're doing it now as Bertie Carvel has filming commitments in the summer.

They're photos of him in rehearsals or the 47th and her in rehearsals for Camp Sigfried.

This won't go into rehearsals til end of July

[anxiousoctopus]

I remember seeing a touring production of this at the Cheltenham Everyman around 2017(?). It was strangely minimalist where Henry Higgins had a music studio mixing room and the house visits took place in an elevated glass box. Does anyone remember what that production was?

Update: found it! It was the Headlong, Southampton’s Nuffield and the West Yorkshire Playhouse production with Natalie Gavin as Eliza and Sam Pritchard as Higgins. Idk if it says anything about the show that I can’t really remember the show outside of the weird pre-recorded sounds and terrarium for a living room!
amp.theguardian.com/stage/2017/feb/09/pygmalion-review-west-yorkshire-playhouse-leeds-shaw-higgins-headlong

[princeton]

I saw that production at Oxford and still can't decide whether it was utterly bonkers or utterly brilliant - or maybe a bit of both. It was certainly very high concept from the lip-syncing to pre-recorded, seemingly random, voices; text and videos being projected onto the set; a Yorkshire accented Eliza bursting into My Fair Lady at one point; and Doolittle as a stand-up comedian. It was definitely anything but boring and I remember it being rather moving in places, particularly in the way it explored the relationship between Eliza and Higgins.

It was actually directed by Sam Pritchard - the late Alex Beckett played Higgins and Liza Sadovy was Mrs Higgins.

[digne]

Apr 18, 2023 12:37:49 GMT mkb said:

Does anyone know when the PwC sale is? I couldn't find it when I looked recently.

Usually around 5 weeks before the show opens.

[Dawnstar]

Apr 17, 2023 17:25:55 GMT londonpostie said:

"Contains portrayals of abuse, abusive language and coercive control"

Not OV ticketing policy but the trigger warnings for Pygmalion, unless there was a mix up in the c&p.

I wonder if they consider it to be Higgins abusing Eliza or Eliza abusing Higgins or both? It's been a while since I saw Pygmalion but from what I recall they seemed pretty evenly matched in arguments, and I didn't consider their relationship to be abusive either.

[FairyGodmother]

Or her father maybe?

I've got a copy somewhere, I might have a re-read.

[londonpostie]

Less I say the better, Dawnstar.

If there is a victim, it's not going to be Higgins.

[theatrelover97]

I hope they not changing it. The press today have all gone into the trigger warnings and gender netrual toilets. Will sell my tickets if too radical.

[Jan]

May 5, 2023 17:50:30 GMT theatrelover97 said:

I hope they not changing it. The press today have all gone into the trigger warnings and gender netrual toilets. Will sell my tickets if too radical.

It’s Richard Jones - he directs everything in exactly the same way no matter what it is so it’s not really a radical approach at all. Hard to see this play as being a good fit for him.