Player Kings - Wimbledon / MCR / Noel Coward / Tour

[creakingstool]

Jan 20, 2024 9:36:57 GMT David J said:

Jan 20, 2024 9:00:07 GMT creakingstool said:

I'm thinking of going to watch this in Manchester. I've only ever watched Shakespeare once a long time ago while doing Alevels (King Lear in Stratford) and am really not familiar with any of the texts.

Will I be ok not really knowing the text? Where is best to sit for something like this? Stalls or circle? I'll be on my own, so I'm hoping I can get a single seat in a good spot.

Difficult to say how easy it will be to follow the story without knowing what Robert Icke has cut, but it’s his job to make the story clear

Personally I’ve never had a problem following the story. If I do have a piece of advise to anyone new to the Henry IV plays is to not set your expectations high for part 2, or in this case the second act

Part 1 is to me one of Shakespeares best with a nice balance between history and comedy. Falstaff is great, there’s lots of banter between him and Hal, a dysfunctional relationship between Hal and his father and an ongoing sub plot of a rebellion represented by Hal’s rival, Hotspur

Part 2 is a more sombre play. Theres reflections of old age and change which if taken in isolation makes part 2 a good play, but coming off part 1 can feel disappointing. There’s less moments where Falstaff and Hal talk to each other, and when they do it’s not on the best of terms especially at the end. The rebellion ends on a whimper with a b-grade antagonist, and there’s this whole sequence of Falstaff in Gloucestershire that has its moments (with a lovely speech from the character Shallow) but one wonders where Shakespeare is going with this. But the resolution between Henry IV and Hal as the latter takes on his responsibilities is touching, certainly the highlight of part 2

The consistent story through these plays is Hal’s coming of age story to becoming the future Henry V

Appreciate the reply and the breakdown. This is really useful.

[creakingstool]

Jan 20, 2024 9:41:51 GMT bordeaux said:

Jan 20, 2024 9:00:07 GMT creakingstool said:

I'm thinking of going to watch this in Manchester. I've only ever watched Shakespeare once a long time ago while doing Alevels (King Lear in Stratford) and am really not familiar with any of the texts.

Will I be ok not really knowing the text? Where is best to sit for something like this? Stalls or circle? I'll be on my own, so I'm hoping I can get a single seat in a good spot.

Everyone will have their own view on this, but I would recommend reading a synopsis, not the whole text.  I'd read the text afterwards.  Seating again is a personal choice.  I always like to be as close as possible because I don't to strain to hear the words - I felt that even in my 20s.  But these days most productions seem to mike the actors so audibility should not be a problem.  And of course if you're an early booker, some theatres have tickets that are cheaper than the top price right up by the stage.

Thanks for your reply. I'll definately read a synopsis, if only to understand who the characters are. I was edging towards a stalls seat, just need to decide on which date now.

[hotspur]

Incredibly excited to see Player Kings! I only wish they would have taken it a step further and included Henry V in this production

Although the promotion material still confuses me. I wonder what sort of approach they'll be taking with adapting the two plays: modern or true to the play?

[Jan]

So no one playing Owen Glendower ? That indicates one of the ways the plays have been cut.

[oxfordsimon]

May well be a lot of doubling beyond the announced roles. The Welsh scenes are great and should be retained.

I recall I had Glendower double with at least two bishops and a rogue or two

[Jan]

Feb 22, 2024 16:40:08 GMT oxfordsimon said:

May well be a lot of doubling beyond the announced roles. The Welsh scenes are great and should be retained.

I recall I had Glendower double with at least two bishops and a rogue or two

Maybe, but some doubling is already indicated in the casting announcement. I quite like the Welsh scenes in Part I but as this is something of a star vehicle for McKellen I'm assuming it will focus mostly on the Falstaff/Hal relationship and dispense with some of the scenes peripheral to that. Nice to see Geoffrey Freshwater in the cast.  

[oxfordsimon]

With a 4 hour run time, you don't need to cut that much.

In my 2.5 hour cut, I still found space for the Welsh sequence. It is good to have some female characters!

[Jon]

The Wimbledon run seems to have sold heavily. It is interesting that they decided to go to Wimbledon for the tryout but I believe it's because the New Wimbledon Theatre was where he did the pre West End run for a play called A Scent of Flowers 60 years ago.

[Jan]

Feb 22, 2024 20:21:59 GMT Jon said:

The Wimbledon run seems to have sold heavily. It is interesting that they decided to go to Wimbledon for the tryout but I believe it's because the New Wimbledon Theatre was where he did the pre West End run for a play called A Scent of Flowers 60 years ago.

How did this production come about ? Was it going to happen anyway and McKellen was cast in the normal way, or was it specifically assembled around McKellen because he wanted to do it ? Or to put it another way did Robert Icke have a role in initiating it or was he simply hired to work on it ? 

[parsley1]

Although this is a lucid interpretation and the verse speaking is universally excellent

The running time got the better of me

And I left after 2 hrs this evening

I did notice the WE run has hardly caused a box office stampede

Loads tickets available

The intentions are perhaps honourable

Probably pretentious too given the director

But I just think 4 hrs of this is way too much

The rush at the interval to empty bladders and wolf down overpriced nutritionally devoid rubbish was horrible

I prefer to be at home

[matty]

I was the same Parsley1! I couldn't face another hour and a hour in there.

I can't remember seeing the New Wimbledon so busy, but it was quite chaotic before it started.

I was in the dress circle and was struggling to hear it at times and had a rather tall, bulky person in front of me blocking a lot of my view.

I was put off by the fact it gave the setting as the year 1403, yet everyone was in modern dress and using guns. And at times they had music playing over the dialogue, which drowned it out.

I'm glad I saw Ian McKellen on stage, but even he didn't blow me away tonight.

[parsley1]

Mar 1, 2024 20:59:08 GMT matty said:

I was the same Parsley1! I couldn't face another hour and a hour in there.

I can't remember seeing the New Wimbledon so busy, but it was quite chaotic before it started.

I was in the dress circle and was struggling to hear it at times and had a rather tall, bulky person in front of me blocking a lot of my view.

I was put off by the fact it gave the setting as the year 1403, yet everyone was in modern dress and using guns. And at times they had music playing over the dialogue, which drowned it out.

I'm glad I saw Ian McKellen on stage, but even he didn't blow me away tonight.

I am a hardcore theatre goer

Happy to sit through and have done

Plenty of Ivo Van Hove 5 hr extravaganzas

At least in the comfort of the Barbican

To have something of this duration in a normal cramped venue

Common sense and dignity have to dictate

[parsley1]

They also sell buckets of popcorn at this venue

Classy to the max

[zahidf]

What was the advertised run time? 4 hours?

2 intervals?

[parsley1]

Mar 1, 2024 21:30:03 GMT zahidf said:

What was the advertised run time? 4 hours?

2 intervals?

One interval

First part is 2 hrs straight

[Jon]

What are the other actors like and also is the set any good, it looked fairly basic from the Instagram stories and does it use all of the New Wimbledon stage or only part of it?

[marob]

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.

[stevemar]

Other than the lack of comfort, how was the actual production? Any unusual “take” from Robert Icke? I really enjoyed his versions of Oresteia and Hamlet at the Almeida. 

I’m front row, so hoping I don’t need to sit on a bucket of popcorn 🍿 to avoid neckache (is the stage high at Wimbledon)?

[theatrefan62]

From the official photo released it looks like Shakespeare as done by Guy Ritchie

[alessia]

Due to see this tonight and now worried I’ll also leave at the interval! I don’t know if I can sit through 4 hours of anything. On the other hand I have just been called by box office telling me they are giving me a better seat because the director needs to sit on my front row seat 🤣 apparently I now have a premium seat.

[parsley1]

The acting is patchy

Better than most other Shakespeare productions of late

By a mile

But still some of the supporting roles have poor diction

Samuel edward Cook is remarkable though

McKellen is always a pleasure to watch as Shakespeare comes to him so naturally and is spoken with ease

Claire Perkins seems to thinks she is in Birds of a Feather

Staging is serviceable
Nothing spectacular though

[altamont]

For anyone daunted by the running time, there is a short pause in the middle of the second half. That may offer a tiny crumb of comfort - it is still a very long night though

[parsley1]

Mar 2, 2024 17:47:16 GMT altamont said:

For anyone daunted by the running time, there is a short pause in the middle of the second half. That may offer a tiny crumb of comfort - it is still a very long night though

The issue is the first “half” is 2 hours

I don’t know how long the main interval was last night

But the rush to get out of the auditorium was palpable and horrible

[altamont]

Mar 2, 2024 18:12:12 GMT parsley1 said:

Mar 2, 2024 17:47:16 GMT altamont said:

For anyone daunted by the running time, there is a short pause in the middle of the second half. That may offer a tiny crumb of comfort - it is still a very long night though

The issue is the first “half” is 2 hours

I don’t know how long the main interval was last night

But the rush to get out of the auditorium was palpable and horrible

The main interval was 20 minutes - barely enough to get to the loo and back, in a venue with apparently 1,600 or so seats. I wonder will major changes be made before the production moves to Manchester and the Noel Coward theatre.

[BurlyBeaR]

I suppose the argument might be if McKellen can manage four hours five times a week then what are audience members complaining about?
I jest of course but the fact that an 84 year old is doing this has to be commended