Farm Hall - Jermyn Street / Theatre Royal Haymarket

[barelyathletic]

Deservedly excellent reviews for Katherine Moar's debut play at Jermyn Street. A cast of British stage stalwarts, including Alan Cox, David Yelland, Julius D'Silva and Forbes Mason are joined by the younger Archie Blackhouse and Daniel Boyd in this gripping and strangely humorous true story, set at the end of the Second World War and the dawn of the atomic era. Small and intimate in scale it tackles big subjects and does so remarkably well. An unexpected delight.

[bordeaux]

On tour. Coming to Bath Theatre Royal in mid-April.

[bee]

Just come out of today's matinee. Liked it a lot. In a way it's similar to the recent Oyster Problem at the same venue, but this time it's physicists rather than writers who spend the play batting ideas back and forth. This has the additional factor of the backbiting between those who were Party Men and those who kept themselves morally pure (and the reasons why each did what they did). Thoroughly absorbing, the 90 minutes flew past. It's beautifully played by all involved. Highly recommended.

[showgirl]

Mar 16, 2023 21:46:43 GMT bordeaux said:

On tour. Coming to Bath Theatre Royal in mid-April.

I've still been unable to find any tour details so know only of the Guildford dates (10 - 14 October) and have just booked one of the Yvonne Arnaud's bargain advance tix.  If only all the successful productions from Jermyn St Theatre would tour, as the prices can be far more affordable elsewhere, though as Tom Littler has now moved on, it's too soon to say whether JST will continue to maintain his high standard & interesting e of plays.

[alicechallice]

Jun 12, 2023 3:47:20 GMT showgirl said:

Mar 16, 2023 21:46:43 GMT bordeaux said:

On tour. Coming to Bath Theatre Royal in mid-April.

I've still been unable to find any tour details so know only of the Guildford dates (10 - 14 October) and have just booked one of the Yvonne Arnaud's bargain advance tix.  If only all the successful productions from Jermyn St Theatre would tour, as the prices can be far more affordable elsewhere, though as Tom Littler has now moved on, it's too soon to say whether JST will continue to maintain his high standard & interesting e of plays.

The Bath tour date was back in April, I think. Weird that they only visited one other venue after the London run.

[Steve]

Jun 12, 2023 3:47:20 GMT showgirl said:

Mar 16, 2023 21:46:43 GMT bordeaux said:

On tour. Coming to Bath Theatre Royal in mid-April.

I've still been unable to find any tour details so know only of the Guildford dates (10 - 14 October) and have just booked one of the Yvonne Arnaud's bargain advance tix.  If only all the successful productions from Jermyn St Theatre would tour, as the prices can be far more affordable elsewhere, though as Tom Littler has now moved on, it's too soon to say whether JST will continue to maintain his high standard & interesting e of plays.

It's at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in September before that, as well, I see:

www.cambridgeartstheatre.com/whats-on/farm-hall

[Dave B]

Short filler for this at TRH for 30 shows from August 07th

tickets.trh.co.uk/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowPerformance.aspx

[cavocado]

I'm sure there was discussion on this when it was at JST but I've searched for thread and not found one. 

I've just booked a reasonable seat (D5 royal circle) for £15.00 for the short run 7-31 August. There's good availability and prices are not bad for West End trh.co.uk/whatson/farm-hall/

[BurlyBeaR]

Merged

[lynette]

Had to search for this thread. I missed it first time round but looks v interesting. Any more opinions?

[frankubelik]

Some very very good acting on display here. Could do with a little more pace and no interval IMO. Fascinating topic. Rather well done.

[iwanttix]

Bought a ticket for this after seeing front row for cheap. Can't resist a bargain - even if it's for something I know nothing about!

[lynette]

Really enjoyed this. Old fashioned tacky talky stuff. I advise if you really know nothing that you look up Farm Hall on t’internet so you know what is going on. V interesting to put alongside Copenhagen. Not quite in that league but the subject overlaps and they inform each other. Lovely acting by them all. Love having serious plays in the West End

[iwanttix]

I read the blurb about the basic plot and find the atomic bomb era interesting, so hoping that's enough to draw me in!

[lonlad]

It's ok == seems very bitty and old-fashioned and the interval is just a cash grab to get people to go to the bar. It's a nice burst of seriousness in the West End but not very exciting, sadly, especially compared to the previous (better) play with Nat Parker and Jamie Bogyo on exactly the same topic.

[iwanttix]

I found the interval was needed as the first act was quite slow - well for me at least. The second act really picked up and was really rather good.

[Steve]

Aug 13, 2024 15:44:27 GMT iwanttix said:

I found the interval was needed as the first act was quite slow - well for me at least. The second act really picked up and was really rather good.

I think the interval is very well placed, with a significant event signalling a big change in the dynamics.

I LOVED this evening's performance, and found this just as good as "Operation Epsilon."

It's also a marvellous showcase for 6 wonderful character actors.

Some spoilers follow. . .

With all the extra players, "Operation Epsilon" felt more like a depiction of what "Farm Hall" might actually have been like. I also found "Operation Epsilon" funnier because of the cheery British officer frequently interjecting to scheme against and manipulate the German scientists.

But having only 6 cast members, depicting only the most key German scientists, allows much better character definition and development in this production.

Another improvement in this version is the more enigmatic and sinister depiction of Alan Cox's Heisenberg ("You're the only one who's secret thoughts I cannot read," admits Masson's Hahn), who came off as more of a transparently egotistical Trumpian buffoon in "Operation Epsilon."

In both plays, the nuclear fission inventing Hahn is the moral conscience of the piece, and like Nathaniel Parker in the other play, Forbes Masson is equally good in this as a man who understands his culpability in being "a destroyer of worlds," and he brings the gravitas that makes us feel the stakes of the play.

The first half of this play is all character building and revelation, and this pays off in the second half, which is thus the more exciting half.

If Masson brings the feels, nicely supported and tag-teamed by David Yelland's Von Laue, and Cox brings the mystery, Julius D'Silva's Diebner offers a fascinating weirdly sympathetic portrayal of a blunt experimental physicist outsider, mistreated by the more conceited theoreticians, who cuts through their pretensions easily, but who ultimately is a frightening depiction of someone willing to do evil as if it's just a job, and justifies it all too easily.

Archie Backhouse and Daniel Boyd, as the younger two scientists, acolytes of Heisenberg, are also wonderful, the former full of artistic knowledge and cultural pretensions, the latter loaded with sympathetic sounding excuses, but both actually mini-mes of the more transparent Diebner.

All in all, I adored this production, and found it complemented rather than supplanted the equally excellent "Operation Epsilon." So glad this transferred to the tune of 4 stars, in my estimation.

[g3]

Does anyone know just how obtrusive the high stage is? There are some decent front row tickets available and I want to know if it's worth the risk.

[iwanttix]

Not obtrusive at all, view from front row was great so I'd say go for it.

[david]

Having had my first attempt of seeing this one at the JST fail last year, I was very happy when it was announced that it would be making a short transfer down the road to the TRH and making use of both a ticket offer and some credit on TT to get a £15 stalls seat (S8) got to finally see this one at today’s matinee. I thoroughly enjoyed this one from director Stephen Unwin and his team. For the price and view which despite being right at the back of the stalls and under the overhang of the circle, it wasn’t an issue thanks to the single tier set. I was throughly entertained the entire time and thought this was a worthy 4⭐️ afternoon at the theatre. 

Having seen Operation Epilson at the SWP last year, I thought that Farm Hall was definitely an equally excellent production both in its writing from Katherine Moar and the terrific cast performances (no weak links to be found in this cast). A very well written play that gives the audience plenty to chew over and get the little grey cells a good workout whilst watching it. After watching it I’m certainly going to be doing a bit of further reading around of the actual events. slower Act 1 definitely pays off in Act 2 as the scientists debate the morality of their work and its impacts on the world. The Act 1 closing scene I found to be very effective in helping to set up Act 2 proceedings. Combining both FH/Operation Epilson with Copenhagen to flesh out the subject regarding nuclear research during WW2, it really is an interesting part of both world and scientific history. 

[g3]

I too was there at the matinee yesterday and felt rather smug at sitting on the front row with an amazing view (despite the high stage warning) for considerably less than those sitting behind me. Those seats are a steal.

Act I is a little bland with little more than character setting to digest. Act II does pay off though and I loves the reasoning and rationalisation that took place. It's no Copenhagen, but it's a good watch.

As an aside, also had some septic shouting her opinion at the cast during the bows. She was positive, but even so. Standards, love.