A View From The Bridge-Ustinov, Bath/Theatre Royal Haymarket

[nash16]

Dominic West heading West Country to give his Eddie Carbone in yet another production of A View From The Bridge; this time at Theatre Royal Bath in Feb. Dir. Lindsay Posner.

Should be intense in the Ustinov Studio, but will it transfer east to London? Maybe the Young Vic? Too soon after Strong?

[Rory]

Theatre Royal Bath only ever seems to transfer Noises Off these days, as far as I can see.

[teamyali]

Wonder what kind of stage will they employ in this production…thrust stage? Could @sohoplace be the West End venue should it transfer? I think it could be configured as a thrust, but the in the round staging is so cool and I think it should stay that way.

It’s been years I believe since the last time Dom performed on stage (the last one was the Donmar production of Les liaisons?), but him playing the now King Charles in The Crown would give more visibility to this production. Although The Crown’s final season is so divisive (as a longtime fan of the show, I felt disappointed with season 5; part 1 of season 6 was ok but they really milked on the Diana saga), but his name sells seats.

[Jan]

Odd that Lindsay Posner would direct this again, he directed the Ken Stott version in the West End in 2009.

[bordeaux]

There are about 100 seats in the Ustinov. In April Posner is directing David Morrissey and Matthew Horne in a Pinter double-bill, The Lover and The Collection, in the same place.

[alessia]

I'd love to see Dominic West in the role. Hope this comes to London...

[mrbarnaby]

Lindsay Posner zzzzzzzz

Pass.

[Jon]

I wasn't impressed with Dominic West when he was in Les Liasons Dangereuses at the Donmar, he stumbled over lines during the play.

[Dave B]

London transfer confirmed Haymarket 23 May to 3 August

www.whatsonstage.com/news/a-view-from-the-bridge-with-dominic-west-kate-fleetwood-and-callum-scott-howells-to-transfer-to-the-west-end_1567208

and already on sale at TRH.

[aspieandy]

I honestly don't think he can act. He managed a decent Fred West impersonation but Monica Dolan still handed him his pick axe and shovel.

[Jan]

Nov 23, 2023 0:15:12 GMT Jon said:

I wasn't impressed with Dominic West when he was in Les Liasons Dangereuses at the Donmar, he stumbled over lines during the play.

Same when I saw him in Life is a Dream at the Donmar.

The Haymarket is a laughably bad venue for this transfer, how can a tiny studio theatre production fill that terrible old cavern without being hopelessly compromised ?

[theoracle]

Expensive too. Most of the stalls is £90+

[adolphus]

He hosts hunts in Ireland where foxes are ripped apart by hounds and die in agony. West and his works can do one

[sf]

Jan 30, 2024 10:13:13 GMT theoracle said:

Expensive too. Most of the stalls is £90+

Very expensive. The royal circle seat that cost me £15 for Accidental Death of an Anarchist - at the back and off to the side, booked in advance, it wasn't an on-the-day special offer - is going for £90 for this.

[aspieandy]

Nov 22, 2023 15:52:57 GMT bordeaux said:

There are about 100 seats in the Ustinov. In April Posner is directing David Morrissey and Matthew Horne in a Pinter double-bill, The Lover and The Collection, in the same place.

The plot thickens! Someone previously mentioned on here that a new - I think West End - production of The Collection was in the offing.

Interesting match ups: v. keen

As for this production, it's more A View from the Double Decker, for me. Ridiculous pricing - half expect to see it papering.

[mkb]

Jan 30, 2024 11:09:17 GMT adolphus said:

He hosts hunts in Ireland where foxes are ripped apart by hounds and die in agony. West and his works can do one

Thanks for the info. I couldn't enjoy the show knowing about that, so not for me.

[Jan]

Jan 30, 2024 12:16:47 GMT aspieandy said:

Nov 22, 2023 15:52:57 GMT bordeaux said:

There are about 100 seats in the Ustinov. In April Posner is directing David Morrissey and Matthew Horne in a Pinter double-bill, The Lover and The Collection, in the same place.

The plot thickens! Someone previously mentioned on here that a new - I think West End - production of The Collection was in the offing.

Interesting match ups: v. keen

As for this production, it's more A View from the Double Decker, for me. Ridiculous pricing - half expect to see it papering.

Only half-expect ? I fully expect papering and lots of offers.

[drmaplewood]

Can't believe the YV Strong one was 10 years ago. Time is ravaging.

[theatreman]

Has anyone seen this? Any reviews out?

[takeabow]

Feb 20, 2024 23:59:32 GMT theatreman said:

Has anyone seen this? Any reviews out?

No press night in Bath - at least nationally - once its transfer to Haymarket was confirmed.

[thistimetomorrow]

In tonight at first preview at the Haymarket. My first time seeing this show and I enjoyed it a lot. I thought the cast generally were very good, but especially Kate Fleetwood as Beatrice and Nia Towle as Catherine. I wasn't the biggest fan of some of the direction though. Thought the scene changes felt kind of clunky and awkward. Will be off to find a video of the Mark Strong version for comparison

[marob]

I think the first night was Wednesday, as I was at today’s matinee. I liked it. A solid, if unremarkable, production of a classic. Nice to finally see Dominic West, having been a fan of The Wire, and to get to see Callum Scott Howells too. He was the standout of It’s a Sin for me, but have missed all the other stage work he’s done recently.

Strange audience to be a part of. Mostly an older crowd, lots of very audible gasping at certain moments. Reminded me more of the midweek matinees back home than a typical London show. And it’s not something I’d normally notice, but the fight work was really good, particularly the sparring between West and Howells.

[Dave B]

We saw the matinee today. I'd been keen to see Dominic West for ages, another big fan of The Wire here.

This was .. alright. West was okay, not as good as I expected and I found Callum Scott Howells' hugely let down by his attempt at an accent, as was Michael Cusick on as Marco.

Really simple staging, just a table and some chairs and not really much else - the payphone hanging in the background. It felt tame and safe. Having seen it in Rose Theatre with Jonathan Slinger last year left a very recent comparison, this lacked the tension, lacked a visceral edge. Eddie never really felt dangerous, there wasn't an edge to him. Almost sanitised but also a lot of gasps and reactions in the audience. I'll echo the fight work between West and Howells being great, I really thought they'd made contact and it's way superior to the later fight.

There are printed slips with some cast changes, the ensemble/covers move around a bit as Michael Cusick is playing Marco in place of Pierro Niel-Mee. I was surprised to find when reading the programme that Niel-Mee is *currently* in Machinal at Old Vic. Seems odd to me that they'd start a run for over 10 days with such a change around.

On the plus side, this was our proper first time back in the gods/cheap seats since the Olivier panel ended. and the front row of the Upper Circle was nothing like as bad as I expected and I'm very happy with the £25 paid for 'em. In fact I slightly regret splurging for stalls for Waiting for Godot later in the year as I'd be happy to sit in the same seat again.

3 stars.

[A.Ham]

Great to see some feedback from the first few performances, exactly what I came to the thread to find!

I’d really like to see this for the play (love Arthur Miller’s writing), West and Scott-Howells. But every time I look at availability I’m put off by the sky high prices. Going to try Rush I think so it’d be great to hear if anyone’s been successful and where the allocated seats are.

Alternatively I might have to chance the £15 restricted upper circle seats - good to hear it’s a simple set so perhaps I won’t miss too much from there.

[marob]

Dave B I saw Pierro Niel-Mee at the matinee the other day. Must be doing this around Machinal.

A.Ham I went on a rush ticket from todaytix and got row J of the stalls.