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Post by richey on Mar 8, 2024 6:48:01 GMT
I was quite interested to see this when it was announced, but not so sure anymore. I did buy a ticket for Manchester but much like with Branagh’s Lear I was somewhat underwhelmed by the casting announcement. I have to be in the right mood for Shakespeare, so four hours squashed into the Opera House’s horrible seats bookended by a couple of hours on trains that may or may not turn up is really putting me off. I'm feeling the same. I got a cheap seat during the presale, mainly on the premise that I could finally see Mckellan on stage but then saw the running time. Really not looking forward to the prospect of four hours in a cramped seat and will probably forfeit the ticket. |
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Post by rumbledoll on Mar 8, 2024 7:11:59 GMT
Steve, thank you so much for your thoughtful (as ever) review! Makes me wanna see it again after a couple if pages of folk walking out.. 😅
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Post by Jan on Mar 8, 2024 7:24:08 GMT
I was quite interested to see this when it was announced, but not so sure anymore. I did buy a ticket for Manchester but much like with Branagh’s Lear I was somewhat underwhelmed by the casting announcement. I have to be in the right mood for Shakespeare, so four hours squashed into the Opera House’s horrible seats bookended by a couple of hours on trains that may or may not turn up is really putting me off. I'm feeling the same. I got a cheap seat during the presale, mainly on the premise that I could finally see Mckellan on stage but then saw the running time. Really not looking forward to the prospect of four hours in a cramped seat and will probably forfeit the ticket. You should see it. It ran 3:50 yesterday which is not really all that excessive - King Lear, Hamlet and Othello can frequently run that long (or longer) so it's not really unusual. In Wimbledon at least the seats are not cramped (not like those awful Fiennes Macbeth ones) and the view is good and they are sympathetically miked so you can hear. You should see it because McKellen is better than he has been for some time and there are echoes of his great performances - he has thought about every line and gives each one its full value, he gets genuine laughs where there should be laughs, and he has taken a consistent view of the character which is supported by the text. I was pleasantly surprised to be honest, I thought he might be dialling it in like Branagh was in Lear. His interpretation is to make Falstaff slightly cold emotionally and he doesn't actively play to the audience at all to engage our sympathy - this is a valid interpretation but it makes it a little difficult to see why he's quite such the life and soul of the party and it undercuts his eventual rejection. So for me Robert Stephens is still the best I've seen, but this performance is way better than Antony Sher's turn and Simon R-B on TV and several more which were total failures like David Warner (I have seen 7 others) It's pretty much a one man show as regards the acting though. Hal is OK. Henry IV anonymous and underpowered. Shallow OK. Hotspur weak. The tavern people weak but Bardolph a nice vignette amongst them. So, you should see it so you can see McKellen at least once. Right at the end of his career I saw Ralph Richardson on stage. He was struggling with the lines but just now and again you got moments that showed how great he had been so I was glad I had been able to see him. You get a lot more than that with McKellen here. |
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Post by barelyathletic on Mar 8, 2024 10:18:40 GMT
I loved this. A terrific landmark performance from McKellen. I don't think I've ever seen so real and captivating a Falstaff before and, at 85, it's an extraordinary achievement to be the main focus on stage, holding the audience in the palm of his hand, for four hours. One of the best things I've ever seen him do.
He's surrounded by a wonderful group of reliable theatrical stalwarts such as Richard Coyle, Joseph Mydell, Geoffrey Freshwater and Robin Soans and an exciting group of up and coming stars. Toheeb Jimoh is hugely charismatic and a genuine star in the making as Hal, and I particularly liked Clare Perkins raucous Mistress Quickly. The design is minimal but effective and helps the whole thing run smoothly.
It has the feel of the big confident and iconic productions that the National used to do back in the day, in particular McKellen's Richard III and the Adrian Lester/Rory Kinnear Othello. Yes, the early scenes take a little while to settle in and it feels a bit talky, with Samuel Edward-Cook perhaps overcompensating at first with a ferociously aggressive Hotspur, but everyone settles in and when McKellen makes his first appearance in an explosive Cheapside setting the whole thing kicks off.
It's a fantastic evening of theatre all round and will probably only get even better. One not to be missed.
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Post by clarefh on Mar 8, 2024 11:08:45 GMT
( have managed to get a ticket for the Manon at the Royal Ballet which I just can’t resist - and the acts are all less than an hour 😁) Though the curtain call is bound to be longer tomorrow as it's Alexander Campbell's farewell performance. Very true Dawnstar! ( I also saw it last Saturday) |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 8, 2024 11:25:20 GMT
Forgot to add the poll for this when it opened. Done now.
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Post by Dave B on Mar 8, 2024 11:48:03 GMT
Oh also, another play with a good deal of smoking throughout just FYI.
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Post by Distant Dreamer... on Mar 8, 2024 16:48:30 GMT
Forgive me for going off topic for a second, Jan what did you see Ralph Richardson in and where please? |
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Post by Jan on Mar 8, 2024 17:33:19 GMT
Forgive me for going off topic for a second, Jan what did you see Ralph Richardson in and where please? In "Inner Voices" by Eduardo de Filippo. NT Lyttelton 1983. |
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Post by theoracle on Mar 8, 2024 23:11:01 GMT
It’s very well paced and after the first act - one doesn’t feel like going home. When the show resumes though, the feeling of “I’ve been in a theatre for nearly 3 hours” starts to kick in and you begin to wonder whether this should’ve really been presented as a 4hr piece. Whilst the cast are uniformly good, Icke’s direction makes it hard for anyone apart from the 3 men on the poster to really stand out. The set is not well lit and begins to look quite drab pretty quickly. I do think Toheeb Jimoh is a brilliant Shakespeare thespian and I’d like to see him take on more roles after his Romeo set hearts on fire last year. As someone who wasn’t totally familiar with Henry IV though, I can’t help but feel I wasn’t the right audience member for this. I think you need to be a big fan of the material and of Icke to get maximum enjoyment, otherwise I would give it 4* at a push
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Post by zahidf on Mar 9, 2024 7:10:51 GMT
Is there a pause in between the 2nd/3rd act?
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Post by Jan on Mar 9, 2024 8:44:17 GMT
Is there a pause in between the 2nd/3rd act? Yes. You can’t do much more than stand up in it though. I think it came with about 1hr to go. |
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Post by joem on Mar 9, 2024 10:25:51 GMT
Saw this last night. Running time 3.50 but does not feel long, let alone overlong. It's a very busy production, in the right sense of the word, there's always something to see or something going on which demands your attention.
You go to see this because of Mckellen though, and he does not disappoint. It is the performance of a much younger man. In fact if one can criticise "God" I'd say he's a bit too nimble and spry for the weight he is carrying but his concentration and timing are excellent and, more than ever, this play is really misnamed. It's "Falstaff", the Henrys are both makeweights for him.
The acting elsewhere is good without ever threatening to move towards Mckellen's level. The usual daft casting and costuming decision or two, the court is people by drab courtiers and the the drabs' court is not very lively. A fair amount of line stumbles which will hopefully be ironed out.
Odd audience. Very few people left but they were still streaming in half an hour into the play and fifteen minutes after the interval. Reasonably well behaved, I didn't hear the crunching of crisps or pop corn much although there was plenty in evidence. Only the odd can of beer or pop being opened.
Hopefully not but this could be Mckellen's swansong in a major production so do go if you haven't seen him before. I missed out on all the greats despite most of them still having been working when I started theatre-going and regret it bitterly.
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Post by zahidf on Mar 9, 2024 12:02:38 GMT
Is there a pause in between the 2nd/3rd act? Yes. You can’t do much more than stand up in it though. I think it came with about 1hr to go. Thanks! I might have to leave early for family stuff, so leaving at the pause might be better than the interval! |
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Post by Jan on Mar 9, 2024 12:16:46 GMT
Yes. You can’t do much more than stand up in it though. I think it came with about 1hr to go. Thanks! I might have to leave early for family stuff, so leaving at the pause might be better than the interval! Yes that would be a good time to go though as has been mentioned audience members seem to come and go freely throughout. Obviously there is a big influx of people at 7:15 who thought the starting time was 7:30. Also they start absolutely on time at 6:30 even though loads of people are still standing up and moving to their seats, same after the interval. McKellen does a nice solo piece to the audience immediately after the interval which is worth catching - it is a speech extracted from Part 2 |
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Post by idinafanzel on Mar 10, 2024 17:27:33 GMT
This maybe touring after it has shut in london …. With Sir Ian at least
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Post by theatrelover123 on Mar 10, 2024 17:51:26 GMT
Is there a pause in between the 2nd/3rd act? Yes. You can’t do much more than stand up in it though. I think it came with about 1hr to go. Went to the matinee of this yesterday. There was no pause in the second half. It was about 1 hour 50 mins first part and about 1 hour 30 mins second half. Both straight through either side of a 20 min interval. Came down at about 6.17pm after an 2:30pm start. Imagine that will be the same in Manchester and London. They may even keep shedding some minutes off. |
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Post by fiyero on Mar 12, 2024 12:36:30 GMT
Is there a pause in between the 2nd/3rd act? Yes. You can’t do much more than stand up in it though. I think it came with about 1hr to go. I didn't notice a pause on Saturday, not like ones I have seen in the opera anyway. Was it so short it passed me by or had I nodded off in the nice warm theatre by then? |
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Post by Jan on Mar 12, 2024 12:45:04 GMT
Yes. You can’t do much more than stand up in it though. I think it came with about 1hr to go. I didn't notice a pause on Saturday, not like ones I have seen in the opera anyway. Was it so short it passed me by or had I nodded off in the nice warm theatre by then? Sounds like they have eliminated it. You can’t have missed it - in Robert Icke style PAUSE was projected on the set and after five minutes PART 3 (even though Parts 1 & 2 hadn’t been projected.) |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 12, 2024 12:54:15 GMT
Was there applause… at the pause?
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Post by mkb on Mar 12, 2024 15:20:02 GMT
Given that Player Kings is performed no more than once on any given day and is actually two plays back-to-back, I would have appreciated toilet pauses or actual intervals in each half. It's such a faff, not to mention unhealthy and headache-inducing, to have to avoid fluids for a good few hours before the show. The theatre industry seems to be run by those blessed with strong bladders who have zero empathy for those not.
That off my chest, I found Icke's adapation, truncation and updating very accessible and hugely enjoyable. McKellen is still on fine form and there isn't a weak link in the rest of the cast. Worth singling out is Clare Perkins' brilliantly funny Mistress Quickly. Also worthy of note is Samuel Edward-Cook's second-half wig that manages to authentically transform the shaven-headed hunk that is Hotspur into the unrecognisable, toe-curling spiv that is Pistol.
Definitely worth a watch - Four stars.
Act 1: 14:31-16:25
Act 2: 16:48-18:16
(Seen last Saturday)
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Post by Jon on Mar 13, 2024 0:10:03 GMT
I think they should have had the matinee at 1300 or 1330 rather than 1430.
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Post by theatrelover123 on Mar 13, 2024 6:49:27 GMT
I think they should have had the matinee at 1300 or 1330 rather than 1430. Why do you think that? Was fine timing for me . |
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Post by mkb on Mar 13, 2024 12:22:07 GMT
I forgot to mention there was a chap sat on the front row in AA6 next to me. He was following along with the script, so I assume a prompter. He turned on his little torch whenever McKellen had lines. No prompting was required.
It was occasionally distracting, and I was surprised they couldn't put the prompter in the wings or pit.
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Post by avfan on Mar 13, 2024 13:17:28 GMT
Loved this on Saturday! If this is the shape its in when they are still in previews then wow. A mate is in it and said they're working on it daily but I genuinely thought this was a fantastic piece of theatre. Loved the staging, McKellen is the best I've seen him since his one man show and the rest of the cast is fantastic as well. Didn't notice the run time, especially Act 1, couldn't believe it had been two hours.
Only down side was the fact the show went up with still a massive Queue for the Ladies which my plus one was in. The FOH staff were aggressively shouting for people to take their seats, when I pointed out there was still a huge queue for the limited ladies toilets so the FOH Manager shouldn't give clearance until that had been cleared I was told that the Company Manager doesn't listen, doesn't wait for clearance and starts the show regardless. Just something to note for anyone seeing it in Manchester or town. Luckily we made it to our seats just as the house lights went down but the show goes up bang on time with or without clearance it seems.
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