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Post by Rory on Oct 3, 2017 7:23:27 GMT
The heavy sounding title of the play may put a lot of punters off. I suspect it will get well deserved fab reviews and that sales will significantly increase as a result.
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Post by Jan on Oct 3, 2017 7:37:16 GMT
The heavy sounding title of the play may put a lot of punters off. I suspect it will get well deserved fab reviews and that sales will significantly increase as a result. Probably. I think they have made a mistake on the pricing though, best start with ticket prices medium-low rather than high ones that they then have to discount, that suggests it is failing. I think in a subsidised venue (NT, Almedia, Donmar) with their built-in core audience and established marketing channels this play would have been fine, as a stand-alone commercial production it always looked like a tough sell. |
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Post by kathryn on Oct 3, 2017 9:38:25 GMT
Honestly I didn't see the fuss about the play at all when I saw it in LA. Though I suppose it may well be better with this cast and director (and no jetlag).
On the face of it I'm not that bothered about seeing it again, though.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2017 15:56:06 GMT
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Post by viserys on Oct 3, 2017 16:21:15 GMT
The heavy sounding title of the play may put a lot of punters off. I suspect it will get well deserved fab reviews and that sales will significantly increase as a result. I hope not many will rock up at the theatre expecting a stage version of Breaking Bad... |
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Post by dani on Oct 4, 2017 8:07:47 GMT
This seems like something dreamed up by the theatre cognoscenti Bordeaux mentions, rather than something done with a clear understanding of the commercial outlook. Anne Marie Duff and Kenneth Cranham are both great, but clearly don't have FANS in the same way as, for instance, Martin Freeman and Sarah Lancashire (or for that matter Tamsin Greig). I looked at the prices and thought I would spend my money elsewhere.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Oct 5, 2017 22:06:51 GMT
Is this play good? It sounds kind of dry .. though the production shots have got my intrigued. Slightly scared of seeing Granham on stage after his hideously actory performance In The Father
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Post by theatrefan77 on Oct 6, 2017 8:19:26 GMT
I saw this last night. Very well acted and very simple but effective set. The play itself is a bit meh imho. At only 80 minutes it's very easy to watch, some really interesting ideas but overall it comes across as a tad pretentious and self indulgent.
Theatre only about 60% full. Balcony closed and loads of empty seats in all levels. I don't see this lasting very long. It would've probably been better to stage it in a smaller subsidized house like Royal Court or Almeida
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Post by Peroni on Oct 6, 2017 13:07:00 GMT
I saw this last night. Very well acted and very simple but effective set. The play itself is a bit meh imho. At only 80 minutes it's very easy to watch, some really interesting ideas but overall it comes across as a tad pretentious and self indulgent. Theatre only about 60% full. Balcony closed and loads of empty seats in all levels. I don't see this lasting very long. It would've probably been better to stage it in a smaller subsidized house like Royal Court or Almeida I've also attended yesterday and agree with you - great acting but a bad plot. And I was expecting more from the set tbh, we've seen something similar from the same director in The Curious Incident (...) I was fairly disappointed overall, especially because the first half of the show was pretty compelling and fun - but anything happens after that and nothing changes and the play just turns repetitive and predictable... |
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Post by barbra99 on Oct 6, 2017 15:18:14 GMT
I also saw this last night and if it had had an interval we would have left. I found the female character so annoying, despite a great performance by Anne Marie Duff.
I was less impress with kenneth Cranham who I felt, at times, was struggling with his lines.
Sat end of Row E in re stalls for 19.50, a bargain.
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Post by mallardo on Oct 6, 2017 16:16:17 GMT
There's a moment in Heisenberg when the 75 year old butcher, Alex Priest, tries to explain his love for a Bach sonata to the 42 year old receptionist, Georgie Burns, the woman with whom he has become so strangely involved. What fascinates him, he says, is his inability to predict the next note - Bach keeps crossing him up by veering in unexpected directions. The speech - superbly delivered by Kenneth Cranham - rather sums up the idea of the play. Uncertainty is a fundamental principle not only of particle physics, Heisenberg's field, but of all of life, all the time. Few of us would argue. We want to control our lives but never can. Randomness is built in.
Simon Stephens's play advances this evident truth via a totally unexpected relationship that comes from nowhere and changes everything for its two protagonists. Like the Bach sonata, the relationship moves in uncharted directions. I did not know where it was going and was surprised where it ended up. Not in a big way, mind you. It's a low key play, its plot advancing in hesitant stages.
And, it must be said, the randomness theme is not rigidly adhered to. One of the characters has an agenda which imposes a kind of narrative shape to the story. But, I suppose, one could see this inconsistency as just another aspect of, well, the uncertainty principle.
In any case, Alex and Georgie are two beautifully written and finely played characters. We care about them as people not as illustrations of the author's message. It's not often that we see a convincing love story - that includes sex - involving a 75 year old man, but Cranham and the vibrant Anne-Marie Duff make it work and then some. Duff is always wonderful, even in a catastrophe like Commons, but here she is altogether radiant and life-affirming and, to me at least, absolutely irresistible.
Marianne Elliott's production is simple and elegant and perfectly suits the intimacy and fragility of the piece. There will be those who will not respond to this but to me it was powerful and compelling theatre. I relished every moment of it.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Oct 6, 2017 16:22:58 GMT
Honestly I didn't see the fuss about the play at all when I saw it in LA. Though I suppose it may well be better with this cast and director (and no jetlag). On the face of it I'm not that bothered about seeing it again, though. It was the same cast (including Tony-nominated Denis Arndt) and director as the Off-Broadway and Broadway runs in L.A. But I agree it was underwhelming. It held my interest for the first 20 minutes or so, but then....  Someone said it was less a "play" than an "acting exercise", and that pretty much sums it up. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Oct 6, 2017 19:23:15 GMT
Thank you for these reports.. it has saved me the cost of a ticket , I ain’t going!
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Post by vdcni on Oct 6, 2017 21:18:41 GMT
Saw this tonight and very underwhelmed.
It doesn't have anything to say and it doesn't not say it very well.
Duff was great, Cranham ok. Even at 80 minutes it overstayed its welcome.
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Post by harrietcraig on Oct 6, 2017 21:51:30 GMT
I found the female character so annoying, despite a great performance by Anne Marie Duff. I felt the same way when I saw the play on Broadway (with Mary-Louise Parker as Georgie). One of the reviews of the Broadway production had this to say about her character, which I thought was absolutely spot on: "To enjoy Heisenberg, one must fall in love with Georgie, or at least be able to tolerate her. But, too often, her manner, supposedly defined by a disarming eccentricity and blunt, clarifying honesty, is merely grating and infantile. ... Fishing for compliments, she asks Alex, 'Do you find me exhausting but captivating?' Well, yes and no." |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2017 21:56:19 GMT
Agree with the above. Enjoyed it but it is slight
Very odd choice for a West End production, seemed much more suited for a smaller space (as the original off-Broadway production was). Or a starrier cast.
My £19 stalls seat was good value (as I would have happily paid that to see it at the Almeida or Royal Court) but would have felt differently if I’d paid more
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Post by loureviews on Oct 7, 2017 9:27:54 GMT
Is this play good? It sounds kind of dry .. though the production shots have got my intrigued. Slightly scared of seeing Granham on stage after his hideously actory performance In The Father He was absolutely fantastic in The Father. My husband and I were both in tears by the end. And it's Cranham. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on Oct 7, 2017 10:28:50 GMT
In my opinion, Cranham gave a terrible performance in The Father.
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Post by martin1965 on Oct 7, 2017 12:05:09 GMT
In my opinion, Cranham gave a terrible performance in The Father.  ? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2017 12:18:00 GMT
Could someone advise on where the 19 quid stalls tickets are to be found?
Apols if the answer is 'from the theatre'; have been looking for reduced price ticks for this, am interested but not that interested.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2017 12:46:33 GMT
From the theatre  Go to the Delfont Macintosh website. There were some side seats near the front for £19.50 which I suspect will have gone, but the back few rows of the stalls are still available for that price |
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Post by stefy69 on Oct 7, 2017 14:07:42 GMT
In my opinion, Cranham gave a terrible performance in The Father.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2017 16:48:29 GMT
From the theatre Go to the Delfont Macintosh website. There were some side seats near the front for £19.50 which I suspect will have gone, but the back few rows of the stalls are still available for that price Bless you for not adding 'you muppet' to that! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2017 16:48:47 GMT
From the theatre Go to the Delfont Macintosh website. There were some side seats near the front for £19.50 which I suspect will have gone, but the back few rows of the stalls are still available for that price Bless you for not adding 'you muppet' to that! |
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Post by peggs on Oct 7, 2017 18:48:30 GMT
Here now so will see, so far only cheap end of rows occupied. People behind have sweets, torn between glaring early in case noisy or asking for one now these seats are either getting smaller or I'm getting bigger.
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