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Post by Steve on May 16, 2023 13:40:08 GMT
Blaming "the government" for you failing to get a ticket is a bit extreme. It was EXACTLY like this during the Sam Mendes/Michael Grandage hot ticket years when "the government" was funding them and all public booking tickets were gone inside 10 minutes (if you could even get into the system - their queueing system now is better). . . There were also under 30s seats available in the stalls at £10 each for a few dates which doesn't support your conclusion that they're simply trying to maximise income. Sorry but 🤣 Blaming the government for you not being able to get a ticket is a new one even for this board. This is more the case of Donmar finally having something that the masses want to see. I did in fact get tickets for myself (Row B of the Circle, same as Mr Nutz), as I had number 10 in the queue. I was able to browse all the dates from the first moment of the Public sale and notice the paucity of tickets available in this sale round, and compare to previous sales by the Donmar, when they did get public funding.
For example, the Public allocation for Hiddleston Coriolanus tickets, McGregor/Ejiofor Othello tickets, Redmayne Richard II tickets and Jacobi Lear tickets were all vastly more plentiful than what was on offer this morning.
That said, now that I know that there are "Daily Donmar" tickets, I can't definitively draw the conclusion I did previously, as, for all I know, that allocation may be large.
That said, if the Donmar chooses to sell some of those tickets at £300 each, that would be their right, now that they have no mandated obligation to be seen to cater to the public, other than for PR reasons.
My moan was not for myself, but for my fellow board members, who would have normally got them with queue numbers in the hundreds.
Big picture, though, Jan is right: David Tennant in the tiny Donmar always meant that tickets would be like hens' teeth, it's just the Public allocation would have taken a few more minutes to sell out, with a few more of us non-members being able to get them in this round.
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Post by Jon on May 16, 2023 13:52:10 GMT
I don't have any issue with the Donmar maximising income, they no longer have ACE funding so they can charge and allocate however they like.
Also, why it is so taboo for theatres to want to maximise their income?
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Post by andbingowashisname on May 16, 2023 13:55:22 GMT
That said, if the Donmar chooses to sell some of those tickets at £300 each, that would be their right, now that they have no mandated obligation to be seen to cater to the public, other than for PR reasons. Big picture; I'd be completely flabbergasted to see the Donmar do anything along these lines - or even contemplate it - as it would be a chronic case of shooting themselves in the foot for future ACE funding decisions. There are opportunities to cash in, but this will not be one of them. If the production is good, and Tennant is happy to proceed, then I'd be confident that this production will be coming to a West End playhouse soon enough. |
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Post by profquatermass on May 16, 2023 14:03:07 GMT
Re the Hiddleston Othello - at that point they'd stopped selling the ordinary £40 membership (now £70 I think) and if you weren't already a member, the only one available was, I think, the fancy £200 one. Which I assume not many of Hiddlestone's fan base were going to buy. Though some must - when I saw it there were only about 5 men in the stalls!
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Post by Jan on May 16, 2023 14:17:04 GMT
That said, now that I know that there are "Daily Donmar" tickets, I can't definitively draw the conclusion I did previously, as, for all I know, that allocation may be large.
Another reason you can't draw that conclusion is that the Donmar are also hinting they may "release" more tickets later (in addition to Daily Donmar) which is a modern marketing affectation they didn't follow for some of the other productions you mention. ACE funding was only 7% of the Donmar's total income, I doubt that has meant their ticket allocation strategy has changed at all. |
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Post by Jan on May 16, 2023 15:02:28 GMT
Big picture; I'd be completely flabbergasted to see the Donmar do anything along these lines - or even contemplate it - as it would be a chronic case of shooting themselves in the foot for future ACE funding decisions. I doubt they'll ever reapply for ACE funding. The cost implication of receiving ACE funding, in terms of meeting and reporting on all their requirements with associated staff costs, offsets a lot of the benefits at their low level of funding (7% of total income). |
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Post by solotheatregoer on May 16, 2023 16:33:40 GMT
Am I the only one who is not a David Tennant fan? I've never really enjoyed his performances and I'm looking forward to Ralph Fiennes's version much more.
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Post by jm25 on May 16, 2023 16:43:58 GMT
Got the on sale time wrong this morning so the queue was several thousand long by the time I joined in. Sounds like it would have been a bit of a long shot anyway. I’m going to be cautiously (and perhaps naively!) optimistic, though, and hope something turns up at some point!
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Post by lichtie on May 16, 2023 16:55:10 GMT
It was several thousand long if you joined at 09:01 as it happens!
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Post by Jan on May 16, 2023 17:09:47 GMT
Am I the only one who is not a David Tennant fan? I've never really enjoyed his performances and I'm looking forward to Ralph Fiennes's version much more. I haven't seen Tennant much but I thought he was poor as Richard II, getting laughs where there shouldn't have been any. However I'm also not much of a fan of old Rigsby either. However, Simon Godwin is by far a better Shakespeare director than Max Webster so I agree that is likely to be the better version and I will make more of an effort to get tickets. |
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Post by theatremiss on May 16, 2023 17:15:36 GMT
I’m so blooming glad I forked out on Donmar membership now as I feel I have been very lucky
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Post by theatrelover97 on May 17, 2023 13:22:33 GMT
Glad I got membership together two row c cifcle seats. Never been there.
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Post by lynette on May 17, 2023 18:15:59 GMT
Got tix for end January, less busy than pre Xmas. It is sold out except for members so I don't know if that’s means you can join up today and then get tix. If you are desperate then try that. And I don’t know the level of membership that will get the tix. Maybe a higher level than the basic. I’m taking two grandsons ( quite experienced Shakespeare young ‘uns) so it had better be good. All the words in the right order please.
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Post by londonpostie on May 17, 2023 20:36:24 GMT
I liked Cush Jumbo's androgynous Hamlet at the Young Vic: a top level, committed performer (I thought let down by Adrian Dunbar, fresh off a telly success).
She's made her money in the US and I slightly wonder if her sights are now more on London-stagey future (south London born, classic path of BRIT school and Central).
She'll more than keep Tennant on his toes. Hopeful for this.
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Post by mrbluesky on May 17, 2023 20:45:33 GMT
Really excited by Cush Jumbo's casting as Lady M!
Also very intrigued to see Tennant's take on Macbeth - very thankful for my Donmar membership now!
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Post by Steve on May 18, 2023 16:58:11 GMT
Am I the only one who is not a David Tennant fan? I've never really enjoyed his performances and I'm looking forward to Ralph Fiennes's version much more. I haven't seen Tennant much but I thought he was poor as Richard II, getting laughs where there shouldn't have been any. I didn't mind the laughs. My problem was that I just found Tennant's Richard so unlikeable, whereas I'd cried buckets over Eddie Redmayne's Richard. But that's just a matter of taste. Tennant's Hamlet, though, had me on the edge of my seat, he was so thrilling and funny, especially when he was adopting his antic disposition. If his Macbeth is unlikeable, that would probably work for me, and if he's anything like his Hamlet, that would really work for me. I'm tentatively very excited lol. |
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Post by David J on May 18, 2023 17:52:46 GMT
I find David Tennant is more comfortable with lighter, more comedic roles than the serious kind. Not that he can’t do tragic but his performances tend to be light weight.
I remember enjoying his hamlet and he was my favourite for a while. But I do think he was bringing out his inner Doctor during his antic disposition and Berowne in Loves Labours Lost later that year suited him more.
And I feel he gives the same light weight performances since. Much ado for one, though with catherine tate what would you expect. I couldn’t take him seriously as the dangerous character of Don Juan in Soho, leaning heavily on the comedy.
He was fine as Richard II but I’ve seen better, and I feel he’s going to be the same in Macbeth
Happy to be surprised. But I’ll take my chances on a possible nt broadcast or day seat
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Post by Jan on May 18, 2023 18:02:24 GMT
I find David Tennant is more comfortable with lighter, more comedic roles than the serious kind. I think part of his audience assume that whatever the role he is in it is light and comedic, hence the laughs he got in Richard II. Simon Russell-Beale has a similar problem, he got laughs as Leontes in Winters Tale partly due to audience expectations and partly due to him not fully suppressing his comedic talent (and, by the way, he was hopeless as Macbeth). |
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Post by Steve on May 18, 2023 18:04:23 GMT
I find David Tennant is more comfortable with lighter, more comedic roles. . . I hear you. But his Dennis Nilson on the telly was so chilling, and really showed me how good he can be even when he isn't using his very considerable comedic skills. I feel he can do anything if he sets his mind to it, basically. My only worry (as suggested by Jan above) is whether the production and vision around him holds up. Fingers crossed.  |
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Post by Jan on May 18, 2023 19:25:15 GMT
I find David Tennant is more comfortable with lighter, more comedic roles. . . I hear you. But his Dennis Nilson on the telly was so chilling, and really showed me how good he can be even when he isn't using his very considerable comedic skills. I feel he can do anything if he sets his mind to it, basically. My only worry (as suggested by Jan above) is whether the production and vision around him holds up. Fingers crossed. Yes on TV the lack of a live audience was in his favour. I think he can probably be good but it will be difficult with Max Webster directing. On Simon R-B who I've seen a lot more than Tennant: There's a story about Jack Lemon in the film of Glengarry Glen Ross. They rehearsed it for weeks like a play and in rehearsal Lemon played the character really cold and bleak and unsympathetic and it was perfect. But then as soon as the cameras were turned on he put a bit of a twinkle into it, like he couldn't help giving his audience what they were expecting. I think SR-B is a bit like that, he can't play wholly wretched unsympathetic characters, not like Fiennes for example who I think is far better suited to Macbeth. Jury is out on Tennant. |
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Post by David J on May 18, 2023 21:08:03 GMT
I find David Tennant is more comfortable with lighter, more comedic roles. . . I hear you. But his Dennis Nilson on the telly was so chilling, and really showed me how good he can be even when he isn't using his very considerable comedic skills. I feel he can do anything if he sets his mind to it, basically. My only worry (as suggested by Jan above) is whether the production and vision around him holds up. Fingers crossed. Sure. I think the right director could get him out of his comfort zone. Maybe growing a beard again will make him throw some more weight in macbeth. |
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Post by David J on May 18, 2023 22:59:02 GMT
I hear you. But his Dennis Nilson on the telly was so chilling, and really showed me how good he can be even when he isn't using his very considerable comedic skills. I feel he can do anything if he sets his mind to it, basically. My only worry (as suggested by Jan above) is whether the production and vision around him holds up. Fingers crossed. Yes on TV the lack of a live audience was in his favour. I think he can probably be good but it will be difficult with Max Webster directing. On Simon R-B who I've seen a lot more than Tennant: There's a story about Jack Lemon in the film of Glengarry Glen Ross. They rehearsed it for weeks like a play and in rehearsal Lemon played the character really cold and bleak and unsympathetic and it was perfect. But then as soon as the cameras were turned on he put a bit of a twinkle into it, like he couldn't help giving his audience what they were expecting. I think SR-B is a bit like that, he can't play wholly wretched unsympathetic characters, not like Fiennes for example who I think is far better suited to Macbeth. Jury is out on Tennant. Yeah, I wish I could have seen SRB in his earlier years but I get the impression he prefers playing over the top, comedic roles like Collaborators and London Assurance. He's fine playing serious roles, though I didn't enjoy his King Lear. Played it too mean spirited for my liking. And when he plays angry he has this tendency to speak the lines sPiTTing The sYLlaBles anD sPeaKing QuicKly, like he has something against the lines themselves |
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Post by Fleance on May 19, 2023 0:32:11 GMT
Yes on TV the lack of a live audience was in his favour. I think he can probably be good but it will be difficult with Max Webster directing. On Simon R-B who I've seen a lot more than Tennant: There's a story about Jack Lemon in the film of Glengarry Glen Ross. They rehearsed it for weeks like a play and in rehearsal Lemon played the character really cold and bleak and unsympathetic and it was perfect. But then as soon as the cameras were turned on he put a bit of a twinkle into it, like he couldn't help giving his audience what they were expecting. I think SR-B is a bit like that, he can't play wholly wretched unsympathetic characters, not like Fiennes for example who I think is far better suited to Macbeth. Jury is out on Tennant. Yeah, I wish I could have seen SRB in his earlier years but I get the impression he prefers playing over the top, comedic roles like Collaborators and London Assurance. He's fine playing serious roles, though I didn't enjoy his King Lear. Played it too mean spirited for my liking. And when he plays angry he has this tendency to speak the lines sPiTTing The sYLlaBles anD sPeaKing QuicKly, like he has something against the lines themselves I saw SRB many times in his early years, mostly with the RSC: Every Man in His Humour, The Art of Success, as Thersites in Troilus and Cressida, The Winter's Tale, and as Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode. I worked with him years later and mentioned that I enjoyed his performance in the latter play. He responded: "Ah, yes, that wonderfully understated role." |
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Post by zahidf on May 19, 2023 5:56:58 GMT
He was very chilling as the Nazi in Good recently I thought.
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Post by theatremiss on May 19, 2023 11:59:24 GMT
He was very chilling as the Nazi in Good recently I thought. He really was |
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