Lyonesse - Harold Pinter Theatre

[mkb]

Oct 17, 2023 12:37:22 GMT Mark said:

Oct 17, 2023 11:59:25 GMT mkb said:

If anyone is going tonight, could you report back on actual coming-out time please? (I have trains to book for Thursday.)

Atg is listing 2.5 hrs

Thanks - very helpful.

How did you find that though? Where the running time should appear, www.atgtickets.com/shows/lyonesse/harold-pinter-theatre/ simply has "This show has an interval". Is there a a different ATG resource I should know about?

[Mark]

Here - help.atgtickets.com/hc/en-gb/articles/13515802508050-What-is-the-running-time-of-Lyonesse-at-the-Harold-Pinter-Theatre

I just typed Lyonesse runtime into Google

[mkb]

Excellent thanks.

[A.Ham]

Rows B and C of the stalls finally put on sale - although they’re pretty pricey (unsurprisingly!).

Think I’ll stick with my standing ticket.

[Rory]

Sorry to be that guy but can anyone who has been say whether it's a high stage or not. Wondering about the new tickets in the first 2 rows which are steep in price.

[sophie92]

Sign outside the theatre tonight says 2 hours 50 including the interval.

[couldileaveyou]

Oct 18, 2023 10:09:43 GMT Rory said:

Sorry to be that guy but can anyone who has been say whether it's a high stage or not. Wondering about the new tickets in the first 2 rows which are steep in price.

You could check on SeatPlan, but if I'm not wrong the stage is a little high. Not Haymarket high, but some neck-craning might be involved

[sophie92]

Oct 18, 2023 10:09:43 GMT Rory said:

Sorry to be that guy but can anyone who has been say whether it's a high stage or not. Wondering about the new tickets in the first 2 rows which are steep in price.

From my seat in row F, it looked like the stage was at about top of the head height for those in the front row. I think there was a bit of a gap between the stage and the front row, so I don’t think it would be too much neck strain.

Regarding my earlier post about the running time, it got out at about 22:30 tonight. Scene changes really added to the length.

[Rory]

Thanks to you both for your replies.

[theatre22]

I’ve just booked an end of front row seat for £25 next week and there are some for £32.50 which are more central. Have the prices of these come down to reflect a more restricted view or were they always this price? I was front row for Dr Semmelweis and the view for that wasn’t too bad as there was a bit of a gap before the stage but seems to change with each production.

[mrbarnaby]

The theatre cafe need to start selling T-shirts saying HOW HIGH IS THE STAGE?

[Mark]

Oct 19, 2023 18:41:11 GMT theatre22 said:

I’ve just booked an end of front row seat for £25 next week and there are some for £32.50 which are more central. Have the prices of these come down to reflect a more restricted view or were they always this price? I was front row for Dr Semmelweis and the view for that wasn’t too bad as there was a bit of a gap before the stage but seems to change with each production.

I think you've just gotten very lucky with the dynamic pricing

[mkb]

Oct 19, 2023 18:41:11 GMT theatre22 said:

I’ve just booked an end of front row seat for £25 next week and there are some for £32.50 which are more central. Have the prices of these come down to reflect a more restricted view or were they always this price? I was front row for Dr Semmelweis and the view for that wasn’t too bad as there was a bit of a gap before the stage but seems to change with each production.

I've just been down to the front row, and, for all but the shortest people, it gives an excellent view. Eyes are just above the slightly sloping plane of the stage floor. Loads of legroom too.

[Rory]

Oct 19, 2023 20:12:16 GMT mkb said:

Oct 19, 2023 18:41:11 GMT theatre22 said:

I’ve just booked an end of front row seat for £25 next week and there are some for £32.50 which are more central. Have the prices of these come down to reflect a more restricted view or were they always this price? I was front row for Dr Semmelweis and the view for that wasn’t too bad as there was a bit of a gap before the stage but seems to change with each production.

I've just been down to the front row, and, for all but the shortest people, it gives an excellent view. Eyes are just above the slightly sloping plane of the stage floor. Loads of legroom too.

That's super! Thanks for checking! Will be interested to hear your thoughts on the play.

[mkb]

Some poor soul decided to throw themselves under a train at Leighton Buzzard earlier today. If it's possible to set that tragedy aside without seeming crass, the attendant knock-on effects meant it was touch-and-go whether we'd make the Pinter for curtain up. Despite an 85-minute arrival delay, we just made it, only to find the usual queue to enter the ATG venue. (Why do this group never employ sufficient staff for the cursory bag checks?, and why do they make those of us without bags queue in the same line?)

SPOILER: Click to show

I say all that to indicate that my mindset, settling down to enjoy Penelope Skinner's latest feminist piece, was of high stress. That probably helped me to appreciate better the mental conflict being endured by Lily James' Kate, working at the all-female Lilith Entertainment, a high-pressure film production company helmed by Doon Mackichan's Sue.

I know Sue. I've seen this type of woman a lot in business. They say all the right things, but they're the principal reason women are held back while men's careers flourish. Whether they are knowingly misogynistic I don't know, but they enable misogyny better than any male. Mackichan absolutely nails Sue and has lines in the opening eight-minute scene that veer between genuinely comic to others that chill in their accuracy of female disempowerment.

In scene two, we meet Kate's husband (James Corrigan, also excellent). He's the counterpoint to Sue, and also a familiar character, that liberal-minded man whose feminist credentials stretch only as far as lip-service if it affects him personally.

Kate is to meet Elaine, a former actress, recently discovered to have been living a reclusive existence in Cornwall for the past thirty years, in a property called Lyonesse (named after a Thomas Hardy poem). Her task is to gain Elaine's trust, find out why she vanished (her suspected #MeToo story), and prepare a treatment for a possible movie deal.

The Lyonesse of the poem is a land in folklore stretching out from Cornwall to the Scilly Isles that was washed away by the sea, and Lyonesse the house is threatened by a similar fate should a sufficiently powerful storm arise.

The set-up so far is quite delicious, and I was looking forward to what was to follow. On to Lyonesse, and enter stage right Kristin Scott Thomas as Norma Desmond, sorry I mean Elaine, (but the parallels are clear). This is where I ran into trouble. Scott Thomas is a superb actress, but I am not sure she has quite found Elaine yet. She's not eccentric enough, and Elaine's performance in the play-within-a-play suggests she, Elaine, was a pretty poor stage actress, which is inconsistent with the narrative. (At least Desmond had the excuse of coming from a bygone era of silent cinema where acting was deliberately overwrought.)

Act 1, during which James barely leaves the stage, is long, and tends to drag at times. Hopefully the remaining previews will see this considerably tightened up. Act 2 had greater momentum but could also do with some pruning.

The stand-out star though is Lily James. I thought her incredible. She completely inhabits this woman, torn on a surface level between career and family, but more deeply between being the person she's expected to be and having the freedom to be her true self. Skinner provides some overdone metaphors involving caged birds to ram home the point.

Once previews have licked the play into better shape, this will be well worth seeing.

Four stars.

Act 1: 19:33-20:55
Act 2: 21:15-22:31

[jm25]

I think this is a play of two halves. Found the first half overly expository, slow and heavy-handed. But the second half had a lot more going for it and I found myself far more emotionally invested. Kristin Scott Thomas seemed to really settle into her performance in the second half too.

There are echoes of Rebecca and more obviously Sunset Boulevard. However, in the case of the latter I’m not entirely sure that works in its favour - Sunset tells a similar(ish) story but in a far more compelling manner. A couple of parts also reminded me of Portrait of a Lady on Fire,

SPOILER: Click to show

not just in the use of fire to represent the stories and conviction burning inside these women, but also in the “jump scare” of a certain character’s arrival in the second half. It’s remarkable how much the dynamic of an all-female “safe space” can shift as soon as a man arrives.

On balance I’d give this a generous three stars but I wouldn’t rush to see it again in its current form. Needs to be at least 20 minutes shorter and the writing needs to be sharpened.

[jaggy]

Wish I could say I loved this. The premise sounded interesting and I adore Kristin Scott Thomas. Unfortunately I found it to be sluggish, unfocused and too long. Ofc this is still in previews so I have to take that into account, however, it feels like this needs several more re-writes. I don't think I'm the only one who felt that as the audience seemed very restless. 

There were aspects of the play I admired like what becomes of Lily James' character - I could see a less "daring" play doing the opposite of what this one does. The problem is that I think only *some* of the parts are good. It's sometimes funny which is a surprise given the subject matter. I think the tone is a little all over the place with elements of satire, being a very serious drama about a serious topic and then a having a scene/ lines straight out of a farce. I'd have preferred if it choose to be a black, satirical comedy with farcical elements but with a message at its core. Idk if that was the aim. If it was I can't say they've succeeded. It just didn't gel.

I thought Lily James was better in the second half. I've never been a fan of hers and always found her to be a weak actor but I thought she showcased her character's emotions in the second act really well. Kristin was very good as always. It was really lovely to see her onstage. I just wish I was seeing her in one of her past theatrical triumphs: Old Times, Betrayal, The Seagull, etc rather than this. 

Also

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
- they just have Thomas' character walk onstage... it's underwhelming. I'd think they'd give her character some kind of entrance after all the talk of her being this mysterious figure.

Maybe they will after previews? I eagerly await to hear thoughts after previews are over to see whether they improve this.

SPOILER: Click to show

[parsley1]

Given the press night is early next week

I think it’s too late to rescue this bloated and overwrought play

The running time is far too long

I cannot see why or how this made it straight to the WE

And I sometimes wish SF would exercise some better judgment with a case of quality over quantity

We must note that as the play itself is basically sold out it is already a success and therefore critical opinion is perhaps irrelevant

But having seen The Village Bike and Linda at the RC

What disappointed me most was that the playwright has neither developed or matured in her writing

In fact I think this is a regressive piece of writing in so many ways

I have never heard so many negative comments from audience members around me both during the interval and at the end

Most criticism was directed at the unbelievable character portrayed on stage and the poor material the actors had to work with

Lily James is quite excellent despite all but I don’t quite know either she or KST wanted to appear in this

The show does capture the frustrations of a working woman and mother with the challenges of careers and family

It also did explore the issues around childbirth being a traumatic experience sharply

And there are several excellent scenes and exchanges here

But it’s not good enough to redeem the bloated padded play

The ending and outcome is probably inevitable but it also drains the audience of any passion or fire and I ended up hating all the characters

To me there is also a repetition in the subject matter Penelope Skinner presents on stage in her work

Not in a good way but in a “samey” manner

This is further reflected in her BBC drama which is currently on iPlayer

It’s a great shame this play quotes the term “#meetoo” so many times

Yet a valuable opportunity to explore and deconstruct is totally wasted for an play filled with cliched and ridiculous characters

[A.Ham]

Noticed they’ve released tickets in the dress circle boxes for a few dates next week - has anyone sat here (for this or previous productions) and can say what the view’s like please?

[thistimetomorrow]

Very lucky to have won the lottery for this today. Didn't think I'd be able to get to see the show given the extortionate prices, but I am glad I paid no more than £30 for it.

It was fairly interesting and the actors were good (big fan of James Corrigan), but I mostly agree with the comments above about the tone being kind of all over the place, the scene changes dragging and the the two halves being somewhat different.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
I definitely thought the set up was very Sunset Boulevard-esque so I kept waiting for the husband character to get killed in the second half lol. I really thought they were going to poison him or push him off a cliff or have the bird cage fall on top of him.
Also, I did not understand the purpose of the final scene in Act 1 at all. Can someone maybe explain if they have more context? Why do we need to see her spilling tea over herself and then accidentally enacting a Play that goes wrong scene?

[parsley1]

Oct 23, 2023 22:30:58 GMT thistimetomorrow said:

Very lucky to have won the lottery for this today. Didn't think I'd be able to get to see the show given the extortionate prices, but I am glad I paid no more than £30 for it.

It was fairly interesting and the actors were good (big fan of James Corrigan), but I mostly agree with the comments above about the tone being kind of all over the place, the scene changes dragging and the the two halves being somewhat different.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
I definitely thought the set up was very Sunset Boulevard-esque so I kept waiting for the husband character to get killed in the second half lol. I really thought they were going to poison him or push him off a cliff or have the bird cage fall on top of him.
Also, I did not understand the purpose of the final scene in Act 1 at all. Can someone maybe explain if they have more context? Why do we need to see her spilling tea over herself and then accidentally enacting a Play that goes wrong scene?

The top prices for this after dynamic systems kicked in are sky high

I feel sorry for those who have forked out over £100 for KST

As you eloquently say

The tone and themes are all over the place

It’s such a clumsy piece of writing

The irony is that the play has been in gestation for 8 years

[Mark]

thistimetomorrow where abouts were your lottery tickets?

[frankubelik]

Oh dear, really couldn't see the point of this at all. I wonder whether the two excellent leading ladies read the play before accepting.......very disappointing.

[A.Ham]

Does the lottery allow you to buy ‘up to’ 2 tickets if you win, or 2 and only 2?

Tempted to try for the day I have a standing ticket booked but I’d only want one seat so don’t want to have to pay for two!

[thistimetomorrow]

Oct 23, 2023 22:42:53 GMT Mark said:

where abouts were your lottery tickets?

Ours were stalls row L, but the person at the box office said there were normally only 6 lottery tickets per show located in the front row and yesterday there was just some kind of promotional deal so there were lots more winners located throughout than just the front row.