Till The Stars Come Down - Dorfman NT

[prefab]

Given the good reviews, I'm tempted to book this, but I saw The House of Shades at the Almeida and thought it was rubbish--so melodramatic that many scenes played as unintentional comedy and with such hamfisted politics that I often found myself rooting for the Tory characters. Even when reading Arifa's 5-star rave, I get the sense that I'd have the same problems with Till the Stars Come Down. Is there anyone who's seen both and can compare the two plays?

[meister]

Dynamic pricing in play for this now! Brought a seat last week for £30. The one next to it is now £45!

[parsley1]

Feb 2, 2024 12:43:25 GMT prefab said:

Given the good reviews, I'm tempted to book this, but I saw The House of Shades at the Almeida and thought it was rubbish--so melodramatic that many scenes played as unintentional comedy and with such hamfisted politics that I often found myself rooting for the Tory characters. Even when reading Arifa's 5-star rave, I get the sense that I'd have the same problems with Till the Stars Come Down. Is there anyone who's seen both and can compare the two plays?

YES sister

I can!!!!

I left House Of Shades at interval

The tone of this is much fresher and dialogue punchy

It’s a world apart

Her play at Hampstead about miners was also amazing

So maybe we allow one error

[Being Alive]

Got a Friday rush up in the Gallery - as it's in the round (it seems) I just wanted if anyone could let me know how the view will be (it always says restricted view from up there but thought I'd check!)

[aspieandy]

Feb 2, 2024 13:23:12 GMT meister said:

Dynamic pricing in play for this now! Brought a seat last week for £30. The one next to it is now £45!

If there's dynamic pricing in the Dorfman I haven't seen it - a couple of dozen £20 seats available for Tuesday night when I booked at 11pm last night.

[showgirl]

I think it's true as I checked the performance for which I'd booked a £30 stalls ticket & the remaining handful had risen to £45 each.

[darvsplanet]

Feb 2, 2024 15:05:00 GMT Being Alive said:

Got a Friday rush up in the Gallery - as it's in the round (it seems) I just wanted if anyone could let me know how the view will be (it always says restricted view from up there but thought I'd check!)

I did Friday Rush in the gallery (R69) and the view was fine (for £10) you will need to lean forward if you want to see more than half the stage but I didn’t feel like I missed anything. The main problem I had was the sound wasn’t great from up there when I went. That was the 2nd preview so they may well have improved it since but I missed quite a bit of dialogue.

[Latecomer]

Well, yes, it’s as good as they said…..thanks for the recommend Parsley and Steve (and any others!). As Miranda would say “such fun”! All the actors at the top of their games, enjoying a cracking script and plenty to get their teeth into. You could almost feel their enjoyment from the off and the comic timing and some of the one liners were splendid! As other have said, it’s a bit predictable and not that deep, except that maybe it is at the end there…..as there was definitely a tear in my eye! Excellent staging too…proper in the round with a revolving table for one scene making sure no-one misses out on faces!

[stevemar]

As with Parsley, Steve and others.. I really enjoyed this. The cast are wonderful - timing, rapport and comedy.

I don’t think it is as deep as it could be, but that fine. In a way, the comedy takes over from the deeper messages, and the very cliched plot points. But the energy is magnificent.

Part EastEnders, part Gavin and Stacey, and everything in between. Lorraine Ashbourne was superb - every time she was on stage, you knew Aunty Carol would deliver one of her superb one liners. Were we laughing with her or at her “type” - maybe a bit of both?

4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 for the poll).

Note: Noticed James Graham in the foyer afterwards. I see he’s from Mansfield where the play is probably set and Lorraine Ashbourne was in his BBC series, Sherwood set in that town scarred by division, lack of hope and the Miners’  Strike.

[Latecomer]

I think maybe we’ve all see a bit of Aunty Carol in a relative…my dad was forever embarrassing us by complaining at restaurants! And I felt the laughter was “with” most of the time, hence why it was such a warm piece.

[aspieandy]

Most of us will wryly identify with this EveryFamily. As we can with the classic wedding day centrepiece.

The three sisters are so well drawn, with the orbiting men, community, town and world each impacting on their last/only chance lives. These are not 20-something women working Singles apps. Much is hinted at, but not spoken of.

It felt like a little like a modern BBC Play for Today, though with a non-BBC budget. Much resonated. Time flew. Hugely invested cast did a great job of taking us on their journey.

National's got game.

[drmaplewood]

Feb 2, 2024 12:43:25 GMT prefab said:

Given the good reviews, I'm tempted to book this, but I saw The House of Shades at the Almeida and thought it was rubbish--so melodramatic that many scenes played as unintentional comedy and with such hamfisted politics that I often found myself rooting for the Tory characters. Even when reading Arifa's 5-star rave, I get the sense that I'd have the same problems with Till the Stars Come Down. Is there anyone who's seen both and can compare the two plays?

Now seen both and can confirm this is far superior, so fear not. 

I enjoyed this a lot, give or take a couple of elements (I thought the portrayal of the Polish groom was quite ropey and the accent, eeek) and as mentioned before, some strands aren't dealt with properly (the end of act 1 leads us to a more sci-fi element that never returns again). But the performances are really strong, especially Sinéad Matthews who is tremendous.  

[matildaswinton]

Just scored P1&2 in the circle for later this week, which must have been returns… Can anyone comment on the view from the extreme corners / second row?

[drmaplewood]

Feb 7, 2024 10:06:23 GMT matildaswinton said:

Just scored P1&2 in the circle for later this week, which must have been returns… Can anyone comment on the view from the extreme corners / second row?

The show is in the round so the view will be fine, you may need to lean forward once or twice. 

[zahidf]

I thought this was fantastic. Funny and well acted, with a political undertone

[mrbarnaby]

This was terrific. Laugh out loud funny and brilliant performances, but mainly from the 3 sisters and Lorraine Ashbourne.

Not the best play I’ve ever seen- but brilliantly entertaining.

5 stars from me.

[andrew]

I think I'm settling on 4 stars. The setting of a very normal family preparing for and partying around a wedding as a crucible for some of the ideas it plays with is great, and the different characters are all quite well constructed (particularly the females). What stops me raving about it is just the sense that each time a theme came up and was being explored it felt like the writer held back from getting somewhere really interesting with it. I'm not suggesting the author needs to solve tensions over the miners strikes or immigrant communities but I never felt like any problem brought up really found a conclusion. I'm also not sure I completely supported the magical moments that pepper the play, some of them felt earned and proportionate (Uncle Pete's moment about the mines) and some felt a little misplaced (Leanne's commentary that concludes the first act).

What makes up for this is a cast doing a terrific job with material that feels real and authentic, funny, and continuously engaging. I also never felt like it was making fun of a certain class of people, just like Gavin and Stacey it treads the right line of celebrating a 'normal' British family and avoids a sense of upper-middle-class Londonite judgement. Looking forward to more from the playwright and more work of this quality from an institution that had been struggling to pick the right things to programme for a good few years.

[NeilVHughes]

Was there last night on the love this had garnered here and was not disappointed.

Was also intrigued by the fleeting conflicts in the family, on the whole I think most families have these, how many of us bite our tongues in family gatherings.

These gave an indication of what was to come, on the surface all was jollity and amiability and due to these insights and the fragility of the foundations when the comet struck it did not come as a surprise.

Would I like to be in the company of these sisters again, most definitely, would love to be a fly on the wall in their first Christmas after the wedding.

[foxa]

I like Beth Steel's work, but was hesitating about this. However based on all the positive comments have booked a single matinee seat in March (when they are filming) First row, pit - hope that will be okay. There are still some tix available but not a lot.

[aspieandy]

Feb 11, 2024 13:06:11 GMT foxa said:

I like Beth Steel's work, but was hesitating about this. However based on all the positive comments have booked a single matinee seat in March (when they are filming) First row, pit - hope that will be okay. There are still some tix available but not a lot.

I sat there (without understanding the staging). It's perfect.

[foxa]

Thank you, aspieandy that's good to know!

[parsley1]

Wow

99% sold out now

[aspieandy]

I was pondering the location of the revolve. New to me ..

[aspieandy]

Sorry kit66, I should have been clearer; I didn't know there was a revolve there until this production.

[aspieandy]

How about that! Ultimate flexibility.

You can see why Rufus only spent £20 on Gumtree for the rest of the set.

Dorfman revolve being built:

www.thestage.co.uk/features/how-the-national-theatres-new-in-house-stage-engineers-spun-into-action