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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 14, 2024 9:45:31 GMT
 We don’t seem to have a thread for this, it opens tomorrow 15th |
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19,651 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 14, 2024 9:46:54 GMT
There’s a £25 ticket on the Noticeboard for the first preview.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2024 9:20:18 GMT
Left at interval as did a conspicuous amount of people. It was the first preview so perhaps it can radically improve but oh boy. I really liked the idea of retelling the story from a postcolonial perspective but that's where my respect abruptly stopped.
Sub-am-dram acting from the two lead adults pretending to be the kids. Much better acting from the supporting players. The surrounding venue did way more for my imagination than anything I saw on stage. And I just felt sorry for every child in the audience. Two polite stars.
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Post by ladidah on Jun 17, 2024 10:42:26 GMT
Oh no, was it that bad?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2024 12:39:29 GMT
Worse  They need to hire children to play the children. Cut it down a bit. Jazz up the staging. Show, don't narrate everything. I went with two Americans who felt similarly but I'm intrigued to see how other people respond to it. And would love to hear things have improved. |
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Post by potatopotato on Jun 17, 2024 23:14:09 GMT
Would love to hear anyone else's thoughts if they go, to know whether to risk booking myself a ticket!
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Post by jamb0r on Jun 18, 2024 22:59:18 GMT
I’m afraid I agree this isn’t as good as I was hoping it was going to be. It was an enjoyable enough evening but with quite a few flaws.
The style of the play is similar to that of A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, or even the Curious Case of Benjamin Button with the cast narrating the entire thing, but not done in anywhere near as exciting a way as those other shows. For a fair chunk of this I felt like I was watching a group of people reading for an audiobook.
The performances were very hit and miss, and some of it did feel quite amateur. I also agree that this would have been better with child actors.
Some of the set and props felt very cheap, and I was really waiting for a ‘wow’ moment in the garden and it never really came. Without spoiling anything, I’m really not sure they’ve considered what they’re going to do if it rains, the ‘garden’ will dissolve into a pile of mush. They really could have done so much more, and it made it feel even more disappointing next to the beautiful surrounding landscape of the trees by the stage.
It wasn’t all bad however and my party did all enjoy it overall. Some of the performances were great and the lighting was gorgeous when it got dark.
It seems crazy that this feels like it is aimed at children but starts so late. We didn’t get out until 22:25 tonight.
I’d give it 3 stars (though I think I’m probably being lenient due to how much I paid for my ticket, if I’d paid full price I might be less generous)
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Post by ladidah on Jun 19, 2024 7:15:59 GMT
That is a very late finish!
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 19, 2024 8:52:30 GMT
The Open Air Theatre is a great one of a kind theatre.
That is the issue with the Open Air Theatre and assume this is aimed at children.
I don’t know why they persist with the 7:45 starts, as pointed out this comes down at 10:30, so most people won’t get home until midnight. It is also an awkward venue to get to, so to get home for a lot of people is a walk to the tube, then a 2 seat ride home.
On weekday performances they should do 7pm performances.
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Post by ladidah on Jun 19, 2024 10:53:10 GMT
If it's a younger production, start at 7pm for sure.
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Post by ladidah on Jun 19, 2024 12:11:12 GMT
It's a hard juggling act, because they want the Summer atmosphere, to sell a lot of food and drink - but I'm always aware I have at least a 90m trip home!
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 19, 2024 12:57:07 GMT
And Fiddler on the Roof will be no different, if you time it right there is one song in there that will be glorious in the Open Air - however it comes in at nearly 3 hours, so will finish about 11pm, people who have work the next day do not want to get in at 12am - 1am.
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1,736 posts
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Post by fiyero on Jun 19, 2024 13:18:24 GMT
And Fiddler on the Roof will be no different, if you time it right there is one song in there that will be glorious in the Open Air - however it comes in at nearly 3 hours, so will finish about 11pm, people who have work the next day do not want to get in at 12am - 1am. The only way I could justify an evening trip to Fiddler on the Roof was on a night when I had to stay up anyway! It is tricky though as I'd much prefer any evening performance to afternoon at the Open Air for the atmosphere etc... |
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Post by joem on Jun 19, 2024 14:08:53 GMT
A word of warning for anyone buying tickets from the Open Air Theatre website - read the small print!!! You are not allowed to opt out of the cookies and the cookies they store are not just - as should be - for the purposes of buying a ticket but are passed on to Google, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and goodness knows who else.
I'm sorry but when I buy a full price ticket from a theatre I do not expect to have to give up my private information for it to be sold throughout the internet. This is one of the reasons why people are being scammed right, left and centre.
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Post by ladidah on Jul 10, 2024 14:56:21 GMT
Some good reviews for this, but it's not selling very well.
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Post by ladidah on Jul 18, 2024 12:40:12 GMT
Not sure why this isn't on Rush, it has so many seats free tonight but I don't want to pay £££
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Post by kallyloo on Jul 18, 2024 13:41:42 GMT
Not sure why this isn't on Rush, it has so many seats free tonight but I don't want to pay £££ Tbh, the cheap seats high up are possibly a much nicer place to watch from, on a sunny day. The actors are very audible and everything is visually very clear and understandable. To be level with the tree tops as the sun is setting on a sunny day, with a drink and a nice play. I can’t imagine anything better. |
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Post by lynette on Jul 19, 2024 23:38:59 GMT
And Fiddler on the Roof will be no different, if you time it right there is one song in there that will be glorious in the Open Air - however it comes in at nearly 3 hours, so will finish about 11pm, people who have work the next day do not want to get in at 12am - 1am. ‘Sunrise,sunset’? Way back the very good production of The Crucible there ended with its sun rise scene as the sun went down: perfect timing and very emotional. |
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They need to hire children to play the children. Cut it down a bit. Jazz up the staging. Show, don't narrate everything. I went with two Americans who felt similarly but I'm intrigued to see how other people respond to it. And would love to hear things have improved.
