253 posts
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Post by frankubelik on Jun 10, 2023 6:14:21 GMT
Performance cancelled last night at the Theatre Royal Windsor due to "technical difficulties". Since it's a two hander, perhaps the set is giving trouble! Windsor very accommodating in exchanging tickets.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jun 10, 2023 6:55:30 GMT
On my way to Windsor today for the matinee, hope everything is sorted and if not notified before I leave.
Thought the set was just a bench as the synopsis implies most of the action takes place whilst they walk their dogs in the park.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jun 10, 2023 16:57:39 GMT
An octogenarian……
Really enjoyed this, only the first performance, a bit clunky and some prompting required but the twinkle was there.
Give it a few weeks, Allam & McKellen will be having a hoot.
Stage has a revolve and expect that is what caused last nights issues.
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Post by Jan on Jun 10, 2023 16:57:41 GMT
On my way to Windsor today for the matinee, hope everything is sorted and if not notified before I leave. Thought the set was just a bench as the synopsis implies most of the action takes place whilst they walk their dogs in the park. McKellen is not the first great actor in his declining years to appear in a lightweight American play prominently featuring a park bench. Paul Scofield - in one of several questionable career decisions - appeared in I’m Not Rappaport in the West End |
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Post by sf on Jun 20, 2023 21:26:09 GMT
It's slight, sweet, middlebrow, predictable - exactly what you'd expect from the poster - and sometimes very funny. It's also too long. It's a two-act play that is crying out to be a ninety-minute one-act. Allam and McKellen are charming, it has a nice set, and it needs to lose twenty-five minutes of stage time and the interval.
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253 posts
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Post by frankubelik on Jun 21, 2023 6:45:03 GMT
Totally agree with the above. Very enjoyable nonetheless.
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Post by profquatermass on Jun 21, 2023 13:42:52 GMT
On my way to Windsor today for the matinee, hope everything is sorted and if not notified before I leave. Thought the set was just a bench as the synopsis implies most of the action takes place whilst they walk their dogs in the park. McKellen is not the first great actor in his declining years to appear in a lightweight American play prominently featuring a park bench. Paul Scofield - in one of several questionable career decisions - appeared in I’m Not Rappaport in the West End The next new play at Windsor, also directed by Sean Mathias, also seems to be benchtastic theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk/alone-together/ |
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Post by Jan on Jun 21, 2023 14:36:05 GMT
McKellen is not the first great actor in his declining years to appear in a lightweight American play prominently featuring a park bench. Paul Scofield - in one of several questionable career decisions - appeared in I’m Not Rappaport in the West End The next new play at Windsor, also directed by Sean Mathias, also seems to be benchtastic theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk/alone-together/Good spot. They can use the same set. Beckett’s “The Old Tune” next ? |
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Post by lynette on Jun 30, 2023 23:35:59 GMT
Does he stop after that birthday? No he doesn’t but he might rest up…Judi Dench is going to do an event this autumn, touring, on her book. I’ll be going cos you never know - her or me. |
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Post by Mark on Jul 3, 2023 21:43:27 GMT
A very charming play. McKellen and Allam are having a ball. Lots of laughs throughout, none moreso than when the champagne bottle seemed to spontaneously fizz after being picked up and McKellen popped his mouth around the bottle.
I’ll agree with earlier comments that this should be a 1hr30/40 straight through no interval. The interval comes at a strange moment and it would be better to keep the momentum going.
I did really enjoy it though, if just to see two wonderful actors doing their thing.
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Post by Jon on Jul 4, 2023 11:23:57 GMT
A very charming play. McKellen and Allam are having a ball. Lots of laughs throughout, none moreso than when the champagne bottle seemed to spontaneously fizz after being picked up and McKellen popped his mouth around the bottle. I’ll agree with earlier comments that this should be a 1hr30/40 straight through no interval. The interval comes at a strange moment and it would be better to keep the momentum going. I did really enjoy it though, if just to see two wonderful actors doing their thing. Do you think it could run in the West End? |
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Post by Mark on Jul 4, 2023 11:37:29 GMT
A very charming play. McKellen and Allam are having a ball. Lots of laughs throughout, none moreso than when the champagne bottle seemed to spontaneously fizz after being picked up and McKellen popped his mouth around the bottle. I’ll agree with earlier comments that this should be a 1hr30/40 straight through no interval. The interval comes at a strange moment and it would be better to keep the momentum going. I did really enjoy it though, if just to see two wonderful actors doing their thing. Do you think it could run in the West End? If a play starring Ian McKellen couldn’t run in the West End, I think we’d have a problem! But yes, a short run would surely do well. The theatre was fairly busy with a lot of older couples in seemingly the primary audience. I felt very young for sure. The dialogue felt very natural, lots of funny one liners too but very believable. |
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Post by Rory on Jul 4, 2023 12:11:16 GMT
There's a bit in this clip which made me laugh!
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Post by jamb0r on Jul 5, 2023 21:13:38 GMT
Really enjoyed this tonight! I thought it was well written and had a good pace. The performances felt so natural and the chemistry between Mckellen and Allam was believable. Quite a few belly laughs but also very touching. They’ve both obviously found their stride as this felt very slick. Simple but effective set.
I could see this having a short run in the West End provided they scrap that awful artwork - it really didn’t represent the piece well at all.
Only disappointment was that though there is a ‘theatre dog’ listed in the programme they don’t make an appearance on stage.
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Post by joem on Jul 6, 2023 23:06:26 GMT
Yes, this is enjoyable and has some excellent lines. To see these two icons is always a pleasure; McKellen is well within his comfort zone, Allam has to work a little harder - he also had a few problems with lines tonight.
The play itself is a harmless love story, funny and poignant in parts, good on anti-ageism, but it does seem to skim over the surface of life somehow. It feels too light-hearted to go into depth even when sad things happen. Interesting detour into cancel culture which might have merited deeper delving.
Disappointing for a play with so much dog content not to see a single mutt on stage (although there was plenty of bitching).
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Post by bobby on Jul 6, 2023 23:19:45 GMT
Do you think it could run in the West End? If a play starring Ian McKellen couldn’t run in the West End, I think we’d have a problem! But yes, a short run would surely do well. The theatre was fairly busy with a lot of older couples in seemingly the primary audience. I felt very young for sure. The dialogue felt very natural, lots of funny one liners too but very believable. Just thinking whether this would be suitable to slot into the Theatre Royal Haymarket after Accidental Death finishes? |
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Post by Mark on Jul 7, 2023 9:37:51 GMT
If a play starring Ian McKellen couldn’t run in the West End, I think we’d have a problem! But yes, a short run would surely do well. The theatre was fairly busy with a lot of older couples in seemingly the primary audience. I felt very young for sure. The dialogue felt very natural, lots of funny one liners too but very believable. Just thinking whether this would be suitable to slot into the Theatre Royal Haymarket after Accidental Death finishes? Any playhouse it would fit. |
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Post by mkb on Jul 8, 2023 20:37:32 GMT
I didn't have a problem with the length, the pacing or the interval placement. All felt just about right. I do think the script doesn't dig sufficiently deeply into either character, and the sidetrack into political issues in the second act could have been interesting but felt like a mis-step; I thought McKellen's Percy was not credible as the device through which the playwright expounded some controversial opinions.
In truth, much of the dialogue seemed unconvincing for the eponymous title pair; I never truly believed in either Percy or Frank. I couldn't get out of my head that I was watching McKellen and Allam each perform a role, rather than seeing their characters. The acting was never more than serviceable, which is unsurprising given the slightness of the material, and the laziness of the direction.
The occasional joke hit home, but most did not. There was greater success with the pathos, which elicited a tear or two along the way. The set and backdrop were simple but effective.
An enjoyable, if rather mediocre, afternoon overall. With a more experienced hand to adapt the play, this could make an excellent film.
Three stars.
Act 1: 14:30-15:28
Act 2: 15:48-16:52
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Post by Steve on Jul 14, 2023 22:18:50 GMT
I LOVED this tonight. Though it could go deeper, I believed in the characters; the play is very funny, in that McKellen's character never misses a chance to rib Allam's character; it's touching, because the characters are getting on, but like at any age, they still connection. Some spoilers follow. . . The play isn't about climate change, or anything the characters talk about: it's about the fact of talking, and relating, about the moments between talking, of listening, about how to talk and how to listen; it's about two very different people (McKellen's Percy, a talker, a joker, a mover, a shaker, more socially adept, and the other, Allam's Frank, a listener, a dreamer, straightforward, less socially adept), both desperately in need of connection, beyond their bond with invisible dogs. This isn't a play about twists and turns, grand surprises and original visions: it's a simple affirmation of connection, depicting how the obstacles to connection are us; it's about a relationship developing chronologically, the small things that fill our days, inevitable setbacks, small joys to be savoured as long as humanly possible. It's also about how good McKellen is, at doing something on stage when he's ostensibly doing nothing, at thinking, at being alive and in a moment, and how good Allam is at simply being. Both are as fascinating, when they are not talking, as when they are. It's a straightforward play, funny and moving, never showy. For me, it lives up to the promise of Weatherill's "Jellyfish." There is less drama (obstacles are internal and character-based rather than external, like the parents in "Jellyfish" that protectively stood in the way of their daughter seeking connection), but both plays depict the pursuit of love and laughs, the value of that, whether you're young or old. An easy 4 stars from me.  |
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Post by Rory on Jul 15, 2023 7:55:27 GMT
Great review, Steve. Wonder if there's any more word on this transferring? Seems to be more popular with audiences than critics. |
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Post by cavocado on Jul 15, 2023 15:09:47 GMT
This was quite a fun evening out - light-hearted, charming and well acted (of course). It was nice to see a play about a new relationship between older people and also the exploration of the bond between owners and dogs. The digression into climate change politics was a bit jarring - not well woven into the play. Otherwise nicely observed dialogue, if occasionally a bit cliched.
The direction felt a bit pedestrian, design okay with a nice woodland backdrop, though a bit odd that a year or so passed by and the trees remained summer-green.
I am surprised this has been offered so widely on papering sites, when it seems to have appeal - dogs, romance, feel-good factor and Ian McKellen. Is that down to Windsor being hard to get to/get back from in the evening? Or not enough theatregoers in the local area? I assume with talk of a West End transfer it must be due to location rather than it being a hard play to sell.
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Post by Rory on Jul 15, 2023 15:37:26 GMT
I know Bill Kenwright is the Executive Producer of Theatre Royal Windsor and that he has to programme it but I always wonder how a show like this can sustain such a lengthy run in a smallish place.
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Post by Dave B on Jul 16, 2023 12:34:21 GMT
I am surprised this has been offered so widely on papering sites, when it seems to have appeal - dogs, romance, feel-good factor and Ian McKellen. Is that down to Windsor being hard to get to/get back from in the evening? Or not enough theatregoers in the local area? I assume with talk of a West End transfer it must be due to location rather than it being a hard play to sell. This surprise me too but the previous two McKellan's in Windsor ended widely papered too. We went down to Windsor for both and the train was easy and cheap, theatre quite close and loads of nice places to eat. It's not even an hour on the train from Waterloo but I assume people just think it's far and a hassle. |
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Post by Rory on Jul 20, 2023 6:08:02 GMT
I see that Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove have been cast in the second Windsor summer play, Alone Together.
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Post by Rory on Jul 28, 2023 10:05:08 GMT
Death Note in Concert is running at the Lyric Shaftesbury Avenue between 7th and 10th September so it seems that Nimax haven't managed to secure a production to fill the complete 13 week gap between Aspects and Peter Pan Goes Wrong. I felt sure this would have gone in (it still might but could only do up to 10 weeks now).
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