898 posts
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Post by bordeaux on Sept 21, 2023 7:15:46 GMT
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5,795 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 21, 2023 7:54:31 GMT
After her positive review for Rebecca - I don’t have any respect for her opinions |
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4,955 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 21, 2023 8:38:16 GMT
After her positive review for Rebecca - I don’t have any respect for her opinions I dont enjoy Akbar's writing and now wont read her reviews. To think she replaced Billington |
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Post by orchidman on Sept 21, 2023 18:09:36 GMT
A review which describes a character in a play from 1913 as a "proto-Marxist". Marx died in 1883. Say what you will about the Grauniad but this is the kind of thing their writers used to know about. |
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882 posts
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Post by longinthetooth on Sept 21, 2023 18:35:45 GMT
As a massive fan of My Fair Lady, I was at today's matinee and absolutely loved it. Didn't miss the music at all (well, maybe, now and again, thoughts of a song crept in!). Five stars.
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1,081 posts
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Post by andrew on Sept 23, 2023 7:25:18 GMT
I found it very gaudy and garish, like it was being made deliberately unpleasant to watch. The harsh lighting, dissonant music, over the top performances. I love both Ferran and Carvel but found the former absolutely pantomime like in the first hour and the latter did the same the whole way through. I note comments about the ball scene needing work, I thought it was a complete mess. Fussy and strange to follow, I never really quite understood what the different lighting cues were meant to signify. I suppose you could summarise it as being a directorial vision I did not get on with in any way.
It's my first time seeing Pygmalion and there is some interesting stuff in there, I found it much less funny than a lot of others in the crowd did but it probably passed the 6-laugh-test.
I'd say 2 stars from me.
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Post by colelarson on Sept 23, 2023 19:57:11 GMT
Saw this for the Matinee this afternoon and agree with comments about Higgins being a bit pantomime and on the spectrum. It definitely is a different take to the last time I saw it on stage with Rupert Everett.
Strange to see a mix of old and new with some classic costumes and modern twits with Eliza wearing trainers when we first meet her.
The set and lights were a strange mix and the music also an odd touch at times.
The ball scene was very strange and distracting with the noises, stops and lights. Also didn't think Eliza in her Grecian gown wasn't stunning enough to make her outshine others, it didn't work well in my opinion.
I did get a bit bored of Bertie Carvel's tongue action...it rolled outside his mouth similar to David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it was a bit odd at times!
Patsy Ferran is quick witted as Eliza Doolitte and did outwit Higgins at times. I did like the ending compared to other productions and the Musical as she got the upper hand.
I was in the stalls near the steps onto the stage and got whacked a few times by the coats of the passing actors!
I liked Michael Gould as Pickering and Sylvestra Le Touzel as Mrs Higgins. Always good to see Lizzy Connolly on stage and John Marquez as Alfred Doolittle brought laughs.
Glad there was an interval and I think it was put at the right time of the action.
Happy I saw it as a great cast but could be better.
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3,040 posts
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Post by crowblack on Sept 24, 2023 19:37:25 GMT
The set design looks surprisingly dull/ugly from the photos I've seen. Is it?
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Post by foxa on Sept 24, 2023 22:09:02 GMT
The set design looks surprisingly dull/ugly from the photos I've seen. Is it? Yes, I thought so. And the lighting generally did not enhance either. But some of the photos I've seen accompanying the reviews look even worse than I thought it did at the time. |
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703 posts
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Post by theatremiss on Sept 25, 2023 5:53:46 GMT
The set design looks surprisingly dull/ugly from the photos I've seen. Is it? Yes, I thought so. And the lighting generally did not enhance either. But some of the photos I've seen accompanying the reviews look even worse than I thought it did at the time. It’s like going into the hardboard area of Wickes |
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Post by londonmzfitz on Sept 29, 2023 9:59:05 GMT
Lols at the hardboard area of Wickes.
Saw it Wednesday matinee with the Old Timers £ ticket. I loved Patsy Ferran with her Mr Bean eyes! Her expressions were the highlight for me. Fabulous. Couldn't warm to Higgins. Ham and eggs. Too hammy, over egged. And once that thought was in my head I couldn't get away from it.
First half I enjoyed a lot, second half was way too shouty and pouty. I've given it a 3* on balance, but overall it's probably worth a 2*.
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Post by mkb on Sept 29, 2023 11:01:37 GMT
Carvel's interpretation lands better I think when you've met people just like that in real life.
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Post by lichtie on Oct 6, 2023 11:50:42 GMT
If anyone was thinking about this before the end of the run and planning to book the new musical as well, the following offer just popped up in my email:
Get £25 tickets for the best seats in the house for ★★★★★ Pygmalion if you book tickets at the same time as Just For One Day. Use promo code PYG25 by midnight on Sunday, and put tickets for both shows in your basket to get your discount.
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3,040 posts
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Post by crowblack on Oct 6, 2023 17:11:05 GMT
Nice, wide ranging interview with Patsy Ferran on Radio 4's Front Row this week btw.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 6, 2023 17:16:21 GMT
All talk of a transfer seems to have gone quiet...
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Post by edi on Oct 6, 2023 21:56:45 GMT
I ended up preferring this over the musical. The only bit I disliked was the ball scene, very confusing. And THAT dress, it looked cheap for such a high profile event.
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180 posts
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Post by bee on Oct 15, 2023 12:21:05 GMT
I saw this last night. I liked it on the whole. The two leads, Bertie Carvel especially, were excellent, and there was some good laugh-out-loud moments provided by the supporting cast as well. I'd agree with the general feeling about the ball scene. It was messy and didn't seem to achieve anything. In general though, a good night out.
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Post by Jan on Oct 15, 2023 14:04:41 GMT
Just a note for some of our more mature members - if you check some of the remaining matinees those who are 60+ can get £75 stalls tickets for £30. I wasn't intending to see this - although I like Bertie - but now I think I will.
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343 posts
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Post by Sam on Oct 16, 2023 9:06:56 GMT
Would someone spoil the ending in this one for me?
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Post by alessia on Oct 17, 2023 9:42:44 GMT
I saw this last night, and really enjoyed it. Not much to add to what others have already said- both Patsy Ferran and Bertie Carvel are great though I wish he didn't do that thing with his tongue quite so much, it was a bit weird. The set design could have been better, it was a bit too bare and cardboard like. Neither my friend nor I had seen this play before and we only knew other versions where Eliza and Higgins end up a couple. SPOILER for Sam above {Spoiler - click to view}
they don't in this one, she marries some other guy and good for her I didn't mind the ball scene, my friend thought it was exceptionally done. My friend got upgraded to the stalls (from the upper circle, which I believe was empty last night). There were also some empty stalls seats and empty seats in the dress circle, where I was. |
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343 posts
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Post by Sam on Oct 17, 2023 11:44:46 GMT
I saw this last night, and really enjoyed it. Not much to add to what others have already said- both Patsy Ferran and Bertie Carvel are great though I wish he didn't do that thing with his tongue quite so much, it was a bit weird. The set design could have been better, it was a bit too bare and cardboard like. Neither my friend nor I had seen this play before and we only knew other versions where Eliza and Higgins end up a couple. SPOILER for Sam above {Spoiler - click to view}
they don't in this one, she marries some other guy and good for her I didn't mind the ball scene, my friend thought it was exceptionally done. My friend got upgraded to the stalls (from the upper circle, which I believe was empty last night). There were also some empty stalls seats and empty seats in the dress circle, where I was. {Spoiler - click to view}
Oh, that's what usually happens in Pygmalion. GBS wrote a prologue where she marries Freddie. I don't necessarily agree with any interpretations where they end up as a couple, but I'd like a happy medium, where they can be friends with her retaining her independence. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 21, 2023 16:49:53 GMT
I was well prepared for this because I'm familiar with the play and have seen it before and I also know that Richard Jones directs everything as if it is a piece of 1920s German expressionism with his flashing lights and geometric monochrome set and people rushing back and forth. The problem is that he imposes this on every play he directs whether it serves the text or not. Here it illuminated some aspects of the play at the expense of others. Quite a turn by Bertie and a unique and interesting take on the role, but only if you've seen it done conventionally I suppose. Solid 3*
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Post by Jan on Oct 22, 2023 12:47:49 GMT
This is the third production I've seen of this play, and is the richest and most original by far. The 2011 Garrick version was traditional, except Rupert Everett portrayed Higgins as dour and mean-spirited, rather than the excitable scientist and inventor that Shaw intended (see Leslie Howard in the 1938 film, for example, or read Shaw's notes on the character, that he wrote in response to everybody begging him to turn the story into a romcom). The best thing about the 2011 production was seeing Higgins's fierce mother (Diana Rigg) drip scorn all over Everett's Higgins's bad attitude. At the Old Vic, in 2008, by contrast, I felt Tim Pigott-Smith was the quintessential Higgins, every bit the playful, excitable but casually superior gentleman that Shaw intended, and Michelle Dockery was the quintessential Eliza, opposite him, vulnerable but becoming a powerful defiant and emotional Galatea. The production was traditional in the best way, everything Shaw intended, no more no less. 5 stars from me.  Another notable version people might have seen was the Howard Davies NT production with Alan Howard (Higgins), Frances Barber (Eliza), Michael Bryant (Doolittle), Robin Bailey (Pickering) which on paper is perfect casting. I also saw a West End production with Peter O'Toole as Higgins and John Thaw as Doolittle. Imagine that. |
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Post by alicechallice on Oct 23, 2023 0:47:59 GMT
This is in much better shape than the preview I saw. The interval now sits before heading to the ball (a la My Fair Lady) which is great. Patsy has flourished even further and is so bloody good in this. Bertie has toned the Trunchball-ness in his voice down and is shouting a lot less of his lines, so it feels like he's got room to move about in it a bit more. Still obsessed with the woman playing Mrs Higgins - she's fab. The ball still isn't quite right, and I'm not a fan of the guy playing Doolittle (although he's settled into it). 4 stars for me - it will absolutely divide people, but I enjoyed. The woman playing Mrs Higgins is Sylvestra Le Touzel and she is indeed a fabulous actress. In fact, she should have been playing Eliza too... |
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Post by Jan on Oct 23, 2023 14:54:42 GMT
Still obsessed with the woman playing Mrs Higgins - she's fab. The woman playing Mrs Higgins is Sylvestra Le Touzel and she is indeed a fabulous actress. Over in another thread we were mentioning her performance in a production of The Alchemist in 1985. She's got loads of credits on stage and TV where she started as a child actor. One of those super-reliable first-class supporting actors who are never out of work. |
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