Floyd Collins

[d'James]

This one and the Dress Circle one didn't work for me. Guess I missed the boat.

[juliem]

Thoroughly enjoyed this - Ashley Robinson in full flow is a joy to behold, as is Rebecca, with fab support from Samuel Thomas, Sarah Ingram, Jack Chissick. Another first time Wilton's visitor, loved the place, staff friendly; and for those to whom these things matter, toilets spotless!

[d'James]

Yeah I got £25 tickets from a different website. It says on the website that they're not restricted so hope they're OK.

Another site was selling £23 tickets for £30 - what a great deal(!)

[synchrony]

I also went to the Saturday matinee!


I didn’t know this musical at all before I went. I hadn’t heard of Floyd either, and deliberately didn’t read up on it because I didn’t want to know the plot in advance.



I really liked:

- Ashley Robinson

- The theatre, which I thought was perfect for this piece and very interesting to see

- The staging and scenery

- The score

- The ending



But:

- I thought the whole thing was MUCH too long. There’s not a lot to the plot. I did enjoy it, but I’d have enjoyed it more had it been half the length.

- Not enough character development for me. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
I spent quite a while trying to work out if Nellie had been in an asylum for real mental health issues or whether it was a euphemism for having a baby. I also found her character rather annoyingly naïve and foolishly optimistic. I was a bit confused about how old she was meant to be.
I also didn't feel that sad when I discovered that Floyd died. Nowhere near crying although I liked the way it was staged.

- Some clunky bits of exposition.



I think the show is flawed, but that this was a good production and I am glad to have seen it - it's completely unlike anything else I've ever seen.



I’d recommend that anyone going checks in advance whether there are engineering works on the Circle Line between Kings Cross and Tower Hill (if that’s relevant to you). It makes an otherwise easy tube journey much more difficult.

[d'James]

I agree with synchrony it was very long. It would be a lot better with some chopping.

Has Ashley Robinson ever played John Thomson's son in anything? If not he should.

The cast were all really good. If some of the accents slipped here and there, it didn't matter because they were acting so well.

The seats weren't very comfortable. They need to make sure their seating plan is the same on all websites. The site I booked from didn't say mine was a restricted view, but it clearly was when I sat down. Luckily there were lots of spare seats.

[d'James]

Forgot to mention, I really liked the set.

[jek]

Really glad we went to see this. My secondary school was a stone's throw away from the venue - so I don't find it difficult to find or get to - but a previous theatrical expedition to Wilton's had left me fuming, making me hesitate slightly before booking this. But I love listening to The Light In the Piazza (and re-reading the novella it is based on) so felt this was an opportunity too good to miss. I thought it was musically really interesting and, being in the balcony, we had a very good view of the band and its pleasingly lively conductor/musical director. A number of the performances were outstanding and the story is an interesting one (I'm going to try to see Billy Wilder's Ace In The Hole, based on the same source material). My only problem with it - as others have mentioned - was that it really did feel long, not helped I guess by the hardness of the church style bench which we were sitting on. I wouldn't want that to put people off though. And it does seem to be a bit churlish to be complaining of discomfort while watching someone trapped in a cave! Would certainly recommend the balcony seats for the view.

[BurlyBeaR]

Book by Saturday 8th for an equivalent £25 offer

www.floydcollinsmusical.com/book-online.html