A Mirror - Almeida / Trafalgar Theatre

[david]

Just having a look at tickets for this and if you are an ATG+ Card holder, there appear to be some good discounts on offer at the moment. A £65 ticket (front stalls) is £45. A £50 seat is going for £35 when logged into your account.

[aspieandy]

What with the Almeida's original production, watching her stoop to conquer recently at the Orange Tree and now this transfer, it's been a bit of a stagey year for wild-eyed Tanya Reynolds

[jackstage]

Does anyone know why prices have gone up? We've been looking at a date in March, and front row went row £50 to £65. Really feels like its struggling in a bigger theatre, tickets sales look really poor

[Dave B]

Opens tonight, Today Tix have rush tickets (on the app only).

[justafan]

Today Tix have a 24hour sale for this

[partytentdown]

Feb 5, 2024 10:46:11 GMT justafan said:

Today Tix have a 24hour sale for this

Another irritating example of me buying early (£60) instead of waiting for the inevitable discount (£15) a month later.

[jr]

There are offers in different places. I found it quite boring when I saw it at the Almeida.

I am curious about how well will it do at West End. The Almeida is quite easy to sell out even for bad plays.

[happysooz2]

I should probably x-post this to the bad behaviour thread but I’m not sure if the audience were plants so I’ll keep it here until someone who saw it at the Almeida can chime in. All credit to the production’s ability to create a heightened sense of alienation. I still don’t know if a bunch of people in the circle had never been to the theatre before, or if they were poorly behaved teenagers. There was a lot of cat-calling during the ‘sex scene’, raucous laughter in a lot of odd places and gasping when anyone swore. And then cries of ‘free Adem’ at the end. Do they always abort the sex scene? We’ve often found the audience at the Trafaglar to be a bit younger than the typical west end theatre and it was very noticeable this time. But maybe Tania Reynolds being in Sex Education skewed it? Maybe Jonny Lee Miller is far more popular than I would expect with the under-thirties?

I suspect this is going to struggle to find an audience for the duration of the run. I’d be hard-pushed to recommend it to anyone who isn’t a very regular theatre-goer. That said, I found it enjoyable, albeit in a cerebral, rather than emotional way. It’s wonderfully acted; Tania Reynolds is note perfect and I am now even more annoyed with myself for not going to see ‘She Stoops to Conquer.’ But my highlight was a single moment, when Čelik does a little jig as Bax suggests they act the scene out, and JML shows us in seconds, everything that that final (rather hectoring) speech tells us.

SPOILER: Click to show

There was an interaction about casting spoilers on, I think, the Mean Girls thread. Someone said ‘don’t buy a programme, they’re notorious for casting spoilers’ which made me laugh loads. After watching this, I did wonder how they listed the cast of A Mirror in the programme. I never buy one, but if anyone did, could you share the cast list?

SPOILER: Click to show

[solotheatregoer]

Full house this evening and I enjoyed this just as much as the first time. The Trafalgar is small enough so it does retain the same intimacy as the Almeida. JLM is a beast. I see it hasn’t sold that well but definitely worth a watch.

Five stars.

[orchidman]

Perhaps one day soon a playwright will realise which side of the political divide in the West is currently most aggressive in its efforts to suppress free speech and truth. That day is yet to come.

The framing device(s) of this play makes very little sense if you actually think it through but fortunately for all involved in this production the people who are clever enough to do that thinking aren't likely to expend their mental energy attending or pondering a play on this meagre intellectual level.

Most of the greatest artists across human history until very recently would have agreed with the artistic ideals expressed by Celik. It is clear that Sam Holcroft does not want to us agree with him. She is not one of the greatest artists in human history.

[Dr Tom]

I was glad they've worked in some opportunities to stand up and stretch. This a long 2 hour play without an interval (although adding one would not make sense).

I got a Rush ticket yesterday for Dress Circle Row C, which is a perfect view for this (even though I hated the Dress Circle for Jersey Boys). It would have been a premium ticket otherwise. The stage is extended from Jersey Boys, so you're close to the action. I'm not sure how they've done this without losing a few rows of seating, so perhaps the other Stalls seats have reduced legroom?

My feeling here is there's an interesting premise, several levels, a very good final few minutes, lots to analyse. Lots of people near me clearly had no clue what to expect, or thought they were going to see a comedy. A tight 90 minute version would suit me better. Glad I've seen this, but would no doubt have appreciated this more at a matinee rather than after a busy day at work.

I think it's worth seeing at Rush pricing. No desire here to see this again.

[blaxx]

Feb 20, 2024 12:30:30 GMT Dr Tom said:

I was glad they've worked in some opportunities to stand up and stretch. This a long 2 hour play without an interval (although adding one would not make sense).

I got a Rush ticket yesterday for Dress Circle Row C, which is a perfect view for this (even though I hated the Dress Circle for Jersey Boys). It would have been a premium ticket otherwise. The stage is extended from Jersey Boys, so you're close to the action. I'm not sure how they've done this without losing a few rows of seating, so perhaps the other Stalls seats have reduced legroom?

My feeling here is there's an interesting premise, several levels, a very good final few minutes, lots to analyse. Lots of people near me clearly had no clue what to expect, or thought they were going to see a comedy. A tight 90 minute version would suit me better. Glad I've seen this, but would no doubt have appreciated this more at a matinee rather than after a busy day at work.

I think it's worth seeing at Rush pricing. No desire here to see this again.

Caught this tonight and I absolutely agree, it is 30 minutes too long.

A more concise version would have been more impactful towards the end. There is info. in there that may be useful internally but not to us.

Still, worth watching.

[David J]

I'm sorry, I know to agree to disagree, but I have no idea where one can begin to praise this.

Johnny Lee Miller elevates a play that has nothing to say. I can save you money right now and recommend watching 1984 or any dystopia media again over this.

All Sam Holcroft has done is add a premise that is initially interesting and then writes a story that is not compelling, with uninteresting characters and has nothing to say but authoritarian government and censorship is bad. Not even the meta stuff adds anything we've seen before. I'm not even sure why the characters in this play would bother telling this story.

In fact you would barely have a story to begin with because I couldn't take the authoritarian government Johnny Lee Miller's character represented seriously. He's all "I want to elevate artists and give them a chance to speak and la-di-da" and I'm thinking aren't you supposed to be upholding your government's censorship rules? Why the hell do you care about this writer? He should be putting in him in prison, end of story, out in 15 minutes.

The two young actors were good, the bearded chap less so. Sure the twist at the end got my interest, only ruined by actor involved. Couldn't take him seriously.

2 stars

[Snciole]

I thought this was dull and if there had been an interval I would have left.

There is nowhere for anyone to go performance wise. It all feels one note. The ending, which is the most interesting part still fails to be very interesting. The premise doesn't work in this space, either there is a sense of danger or there isn't? I am reluctant to spoil but equally don't think there is much to spoil. I suspect the perceived star power of JLM saw this transfer but it is star that is fading.

It seems to be selling quite poorly. We were upgraded to some rows near the front of the circle.

[prefab]

I know this has gotten mixed reviews, but I saw it this afternoon and loved it. I've lived in a post-Soviet country for the past 8 years, so that might be why for me this didn't seem like an abstract dystopian play about the concept of censorship but rather a play that refers to some very specific histories of Soviet and Eastern European censorship.

[lt]

I thought this was really excellent. Loved the plays within plays and was surprised by how funny it was too, which I wasn't expecting in a satire about a totalitarian state. If I wanted to be supercritical, might argue it's around 10-15 mins too long, but would very definitely recommend.

[bee]

Saw this afternoon's performance. I had a ticket for this at The Almeida but missed it due to a work trip, so glad to get the chance to catch it now. I thought it was fantastic. This sort of subject matter has been covered many times before, and to be frank this doesn't say much that hasn't been said already, but I still thought it was a great bit of theatre, engrossing and often very funny. My first time seeing JLM and he was a joy to watch.

I was worried about the 2 hours without a break but the seats at the Trafalgar Theatre are great, very comfortable with loads of leg room. If this had been at the old Trafalgar Studios it would've been torture.

[david]

I’m here this afternoon and got a front row seat with an order of service leaflet. Is this an audience participation thing?

[Being Alive]

Mar 20, 2024 14:08:43 GMT david said:

I’m here this afternoon and got a front row seat with an order of service leaflet. Is this an audience participation thing?

Everyone got one of these at the Almeida?

[david]

My first trip back to the Trafalgar theatre since it’s refurb and I am really impressed with what the team has done with it. I liked the original 1939s design that they have reinstated in the auditorium. With this particular production I thought decking out the foyer and bar areas as part of the wedding venue setting was a nice idea along with having some posters about state security scattered around the building (I spotted 2 in the gents which was a bit of a shock). I got a front row stalls seat via a ATG sale and whilst I missed cast members feet from my seat, I would certainly sit here again for future productions. My seat also gave me the chance to interact with JLM during one scene which was a nice bonus.

As for the play itself, this was my first viewing so didn’t know really what to expect from this show and after the 2 hr run time which for me flew by this afternoon, I had a really good time watching this one. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be as funny as it was despite the final few scenes that turned the play on its head and was far more darker in tone. I loved the plays within a play concept which certainly got plenty of laughs as the plays were staged. Whilst providing plenty of comical moments, I think the main idea of a dystopia media / society didn't come across as well as say 1984 did.

In respect to the cast, I thought JLM was a joy to watch and Tanya Reynolds the standout with the rest of the cast. 

[bordeaux]

I thought this was excellent from beginning to end. Reminiscent of other works about dictatorial bureaucracies - I thought of Vaclav Havel and Ismail Kadare - but also very funny and cleverly structured. I don't want to give any more away than that. I was pleased to have read so many wildly differing opinions on this site, so my expectations were lowered before going in.

If you wanted to be critical you could argue that this play costs Sam Holcroft nothing - there is no risk as she is writing about free speech issues that don't relate to this country; the fit is more with totalitarian regimes as they existed in eastern Europe before 1989 or perhaps with the Arab world now (see programme note by Lebanese author), Russia and China. If she'd wanted to create a challenging play about free speech issues in the west, she could have written about the hounding out of university jobs of professors who are gender critical feminists, say, or something like the Rushdie affair or something else involving Muslim protest. We all know what side we are in Holcroft's play; no one is going to be offended or outraged by her message.

[Libby]

I have heard good things about this one! I don't think I will be going myself because I have sat through a few too many 2 hr 30 min plays recently but it seems like Trafalgar Theatre is moving in a better direction following their very long Jersey Boys run. Hoping to catch People Places and Things there next as I have heard raving reviews!

[colelarson]

Saw this yesterday afternoon and can't fault the acting. It was gripping and thought provoking but thought it could have been cut by 20-30 minutes.

The cover of the wedding was a fun idea and I liked the touch of the order of service on our seats. We were in the front row to the side and Bax (Geoffrey Streatfeild) started talking to us about how nervous the groom looked and how he hoped the bride will turn up soon!

The twist at the end was good and I didn't expect it, the play within a play within a play idea was an interesting watch. The seats at the Trafalgar are comfortable for the 2hrs straight run through. Overall an interesting watch and surprisingly funny in parts.