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Post by max on Aug 18, 2024 22:52:12 GMT
I prefer an interval, but all depends on the piece. Knowledge of whether there will/won't be one changes so much about the relationship with the show, and your fellow audience.
A couple of times I've got caught in a double (or even triple) bluff, when I hadn't checked if there was an interval or not:
There's that natural sense of the shape and pace of a play/show - so you start to feel 'the interval must be coming soon'. But then the Interval doesn't come, leading to an adjustment then acceptance and enjoyment that 'ah, this one's 80 or 90 mins straight through - nice, what shall I do afterwards?'. Then after 90 minutes the lights come up for...the Interval, after all. The horror!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 18, 2024 23:27:28 GMT
How often do we get two interval plays these days?
The once popular three act structure has fallen out of fashion somewhat. I have been present when they give you a full interval and then a five minute pause rather than two full breaks
Five minutes isn't long enough to be useful to an audience or the bar income. So I would prefer something more substantial!
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Post by Jon on Aug 18, 2024 23:55:03 GMT
How often do we get two interval plays these days? The once popular three act structure has fallen out of fashion somewhat. I have been present when they give you a full interval and then a five minute pause rather than two full breaks Five minutes isn't long enough to be useful to an audience or the bar income. So I would prefer something more substantial! A Little Life would have benefitted from two intervals although as a fairly lengthy play, it wouldn't have finished until 11pm which is tight if you have to make transport connections! |
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Post by kit66 on Aug 19, 2024 7:39:51 GMT
Jez Butterworth seems to be keen on the one long interval:one short break in his plays.
The short break seems to be for the cast/technical crew rather than for the audience's behalf as recently watching The Hills of California the last act was constantly interupted by audience members who had made a dash for the loo and back to their seats in the break.Most didn't make it!
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Post by ladidah on Aug 19, 2024 7:59:30 GMT
It's annoying because a 10m interval would be so much better, but impossible because of the toilet queues.
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Post by Talisman on Aug 19, 2024 9:42:16 GMT
When Globe started there were only 5 min pauses resulting in chaos as audience didn’t realise. A particular
problem as in those days there was less cutting and performances were generally much longer.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 19, 2024 10:44:49 GMT
Putting in more toilets would make theatregoing better for so many patrons. But the nature of most theatre buildings is that is just an architectural impossibility.
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 19, 2024 12:15:07 GMT
Seeing all four parts of the ring cycle is challenging, not because of the opera but because of endless intervals! I've never seen a full Ring live partly because I can't face 4 trips to London within a week when each performance would be from 2h45 up to 5-6 hours. How often do we get two interval plays these days? The once popular three act structure has fallen out of fashion somewhat. Not at the Royal Opera House it hasn't! Particularly for ballet. I think the only ballets I saw there last season which only had a single interval rather than two were The Nutcracker & a double bill. Everything else had two intervals. Fortunately I've become acquainted with a number of other regular attendees over the last few years so I can usually find people to chat to during the intervals. |
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Post by lichtie on Aug 19, 2024 12:20:38 GMT
I can't help feeling that someone wrote the basis of that Guardian article two years ago and have been sitting on it ever since! Personally I prefer having the interval there. The comparison with going to the movies doesn't really work - in more modern cinemas it's easy to come and go (and people do) without disturbing the entire audience, and it also doesn't have the obvious situation you would have in the theatre of disturbing the actors.
Keep the interval!
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Post by Talisman on Aug 19, 2024 13:40:01 GMT
Seeing all four parts of the ring cycle is challenging, not because of the opera but because of endless intervals! I've never seen a full Ring live partly because I can't face 4 trips to London within a week when each performance would be from 2h45 up to 5-6 hours. How often do we get two interval plays these days? The once popular three act structure has fallen out of fashion somewhat. Not at the Royal Opera House it hasn't! Particularly for ballet. I think the only ballets I saw there last season which only had a single interval rather than two were The Nutcracker & a double bill. Everything else had two intervals. Fortunately I've become acquainted with a number of other regular attendees over the last few years so I can usually find people to chat to during the intervals. It’s frustrating when at interval at ROH is longer than some of the sections of performance.. Also three act operas given two full intervals really drag out intervals to the extent the finish time is too late for those with long journeys. This has been on occasion helped early Sunday performances and start times but not always the case. |
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Post by n1david on Aug 19, 2024 14:03:21 GMT
It’s frustrating when at interval at ROH is longer than some of the sections of performance.. But how else can you finish your dessert in the Floral Hall if they don't give you half an hour to eat it? |
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Post by Talisman on Aug 19, 2024 14:21:12 GMT
It’s frustrating when at interval at ROH is longer than some of the sections of performance.. But how else can you finish your dessert in the Floral Hall if they don't give you half an hour to eat it? It’s the magnum of champagne that I need time for! |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Aug 19, 2024 14:33:19 GMT
I've never seen a full Ring live partly because I can't face 4 trips to London within a week when each performance would be from 2h45 up to 5-6 hours. Not at the Royal Opera House it hasn't! Particularly for ballet. I think the only ballets I saw there last season which only had a single interval rather than two were The Nutcracker & a double bill. Everything else had two intervals. Fortunately I've become acquainted with a number of other regular attendees over the last few years so I can usually find people to chat to during the intervals. It’s frustrating when at interval at ROH is longer than some of the sections of performance.. Also three act operas given two full intervals really drag out intervals to the extent the finish time is too late for those with long journeys. This has been on occasion helped early Sunday performances and start times but not always the case. Tosca, traviata & rigoletto im looking at you! The current Merry Widow at Glynders has two intervals. totally ridiculous if you ask me Heavens forbid that acts are conjoined or a short pause occurs between them. |
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Post by Jon on Aug 19, 2024 14:35:04 GMT
Have the broadsheets like The Times and The Guardian decided that the interval is only for plebs because both papers have similar articles within a week of each other. The Week has one about it as well.
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Post by Talisman on Aug 19, 2024 14:40:37 GMT
It’s frustrating when at interval at ROH is longer than some of the sections of performance.. Also three act operas given two full intervals really drag out intervals to the extent the finish time is too late for those with long journeys. This has been on occasion helped early Sunday performances and start times but not always the case. Tosca, traviata & rigoletto im looking at you! The current Merry Widow at Glynders has two intervals. totally ridiculous if you ask me Heavens forbid that acts are conjoined or a short pause occurs between them. Puccini and Verdi must have had deals with bar staff. |
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Post by Talisman on Aug 19, 2024 14:47:39 GMT
Have the broadsheets like The Times and The Guardian decided that the interval is only for plebs because both papers have similar articles within a week of each other. The Week has one about it as well. I’m a fully signed up pleb* but I would rather have no interval unless piece is outrageously long or is structured to have one. *Some one once commented that they didn't understand how I could like opera as I was brought up on a council estate! |
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Post by Dawnstar on Aug 19, 2024 15:04:41 GMT
It’s frustrating when at interval at ROH is longer than some of the sections of performance.. Also three act operas given two full intervals really drag out intervals to the extent the finish time is too late for those with long journeys. This has been on occasion helped early Sunday performances and start times but not always the case. Yes, I spend more time than I'd like legging it out of the ROH at 10.30pm in order to make my last fast train home. Cav & Pag was a particular problem this season. It was due to finish at 10.30pm but over-ran so the curtain didn't come down until 10.38pm & I had to scoot out before the curtain calls. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 19, 2024 15:12:16 GMT
Opera developed a tradition of very elaborate staging and set designs. That meant that set changes required more than a few minutes and a lot of crew.
And so composers obviously worked to suit the style of presentation that audiences expected.
And seeing grand opera presented with huge resources can be an incomparable experience. And that often necessitates multiple intervals.
Now, of course, modern stage technology can facilitate big scene changes in moments which reduces time pressures.
And it can be necessary to give singers recovery time when performing big roles so again intervals can help there.
With smaller scale productions, simpler sets and smaller orchestras, the need for additional intervals is reduced if not eliminated.
I think pieces like Don Carlo(s) or La Forza del Destino benefit from having a bit of breathing space. Whilst La Boheme has a four act structure, it plays better with a single interval between acts two and three.
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Post by nicole on Aug 19, 2024 18:06:47 GMT
Intervals are so important.... if you don't have one, you've probably lost the attention of your audience an hour in.
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Post by Talisman on Aug 19, 2024 18:23:22 GMT
This comment is too specific and ignores the variety of play structures out there In all forms of theatre there are pieces that would suffer from being split up. The tense atmosphere in many serious pieces would be destroyed by a break and are not beyond those with a reasonable attention span. Yes, in many pieces an interval is desirable but to state that this is always the case would seem to me a too general comment.
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Post by joem on Aug 20, 2024 18:42:30 GMT
This is a concern. I was forced to drink a bottle of orange wine in twenty minutes at the Donmar the other day because there wasn't an interval.
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Post by nicole on Aug 22, 2024 9:45:54 GMT
This is a concern. I was forced to drink a bottle of orange wine in twenty minutes at the Donmar the other day because there wasn't an interval. Did they not give you the option to take it in with plastic cups at least?! Awful! |
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Post by asfound on Aug 22, 2024 11:30:47 GMT
I really can't stand intervals for the way they break immersion, waste time, and force you to listen to inane chatter and dull opinions of those around you. 3-4 20 min intervals for Met Operas when the last act is 40 minutes just makes me not want to book. I'd say anything up to 2 hours is acceptable without an interval.
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Post by joem on Aug 22, 2024 20:32:35 GMT
This is a concern. I was forced to drink a bottle of orange wine in twenty minutes at the Donmar the other day because there wasn't an interval. Did they not give you the option to take it in with plastic cups at least?! Awful! It was my fault not theirs. |
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Post by mkb on Aug 23, 2024 1:11:11 GMT
How often do we get two interval plays these days? The once popular three act structure has fallen out of fashion somewhat. I have been present when they give you a full interval and then a five minute pause rather than two full breaks Five minutes isn't long enough to be useful to an audience or the bar income. So I would prefer something more substantial! I love a good three-act comedy, 40 minutes per act, with two full intervals, as long as I'm not driving afterwards. They still happen occasionally; used to be more common years ago. Make no mistake, skipping the interval comes at a price. The lost profit on bar/confectionery sales is significant, and that has to recovered somehow. One way or another, we pay. |
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