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Post by NeilVHughes on Mar 30, 2018 9:03:45 GMT
I believe I read somewhere that the aim was for around 80% capacity to break even, appears to be meeting this in the times I have been.
This under utilisation does give them the opportunity to make real money when they do get the hit and sell, in the meantime at least it makes it easy to get tickets.
Also think this is early days, to me it still feels out of place, not on my standard routes to and between the established Theatres, feels like an effort to get there, which will diminish with time.
While I enjoy Parsleys diatribes, not entierly sure whether it is to elicit a reaction which at least makes you revisit your opinion even only to disagree. Loved this production, seen it twice, once as a Promenader and once seated. We are in agreement on the band, they were atrocious with out of tune guitar solos, a particular bugbear of mine, (if you cannot bend a note in tune, please only play rhythm) took the first five minutes of the play to get over the aural abomination.
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Post by peggs on Mar 31, 2018 20:43:04 GMT
Oh, and did anyone else in the end give in to baser instincts and try and collect the full set of pit stuff - flag, 2 leaflets and a death poster... er, just me then... I hesitated for at least a whole second before I scrambled for a balloon and had been eagerly clutching everything that came my why throughout the production; it went try and make it to front of stage wherever possible whilst making sure not to squash flag! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 8:58:34 GMT
You bunch of kleptomaniacs you  I saw this Sunday. Safely ensconced in the upper gallery. The Mob did look fun, but coming to it after 3 days of theatre and wandering around London I was in no mood to be shoved about and/or stand for 2 hours so I'm glad I was upstairs out of the way. The mob still made for a great atmosphere in there though and I thought used to great effect in the scenes. I really enjoyed this production- it's not really in my top 10 Shakespeare plays, so honestly without the cast and the promise of this different take I probably wouldn't have bothered. But I really enjoyed the contemporary approach. In particular there were gender swaps in this that made a lot of sense/added to the story with a woman playing the part- and not to mention giving a couple of great parts to women in the play (unlike poor Portia...). Is it the most nuanced take on the play? no. Do you lose bits of that from the cuts, sure. But if I wanted to take kids I was teaching or Shakespeare newbies/haters to see a play, I'd take them to this to show them what can be done with the text. And to be honest it was just a fun, engaging 2 hours of political backstabbing for an Easter Sunday. Cast uniformly great. Whishaw and Morrissey were excellent, and worked extremely well as a pairing- especially in the opposite roles to what you might expect. Experience slightly marred by the fact it was utterly freezing in there. I wouldn't normally have minded, but I'd spent 3 days wet and frozen in London and just wanted a nice sit down in the warm! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 17:46:04 GMT
Blimey I didn't think my tweeting that the mob is not for me would be SO controversial. Aparently people take issue with...not wanting to do the same as them?
I loathe crowds and loud noises, I'd been on my feet for 3 days walking around London...a perch in Gallery 2 was just fine!
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Post by rockinrobin on Apr 2, 2018 18:20:45 GMT
Oh, and did anyone else in the end give in to baser instincts and try and collect the full set of pit stuff - flag, 2 leaflets and a death poster... er, just me then... I only got the "tyranny is dead" leaflet. I really wanted a death poster but unfortunately the lady in front of me was quicker. I use this leaflet as a bookmark - and I'm currently reading Machiavelli's biography... |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 8:44:44 GMT
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Post by asfound on Apr 3, 2018 10:48:33 GMT
Hello all - any chance somebody who has been could advise me on the situation in the pit with regards to kids? I'd like to get a mob ticket at some point before it closes but I really don't want to end up in a mosh pit full of school kids. If I tried for a Saturday I'm guessing I might have a higher chance of avoiding them but a few people here have mentioned them (including on a Saturday).
Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 11:03:48 GMT
Hello all - any chance somebody who has been could advise me on the situation in the pit with regards to kids? I'd like to get a mob ticket at some point before it closes but I really don't want to end up in a mosh pit full of school kids. If I tried for a Saturday I'm guessing I might have a higher chance of avoiding them but a few people here have mentioned them (including on a Saturday). Thanks! I was there on a Sunday and there were minimal kids. If you mean avoiding School groups I'd say yes weekends are a better bet! |
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Post by RedRose on Apr 3, 2018 11:04:37 GMT
Blimey I didn't think my tweeting that the mob is not for me would be SO controversial. Aparently people take issue with...not wanting to do the same as them? I loathe crowds and loud noises, I'd been on my feet for 3 days walking around London...a perch in Gallery 2 was just fine! One big advantage of the mob is you will not be cold. It is so bloody cold in the Gallery 2! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 11:11:09 GMT
It's the Easter holidays now, more or less, so it's far less likely for there to be organised school groups in. Can't rule them out all together, obviously, but a weekend during the holiday seems as reasonable time as any to expect fewer groups in attendance.
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Post by Marwood on Apr 3, 2018 13:54:43 GMT
I went last week and from what I remember there were only about half a dozen or so children among the mob, seemingly all with parents/guardians, and all impeccably behaved, so I wouldn't worry too much about hordes of rampaging children (although I would have thought school parties would go in the week rather than the weekend)
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Post by lichtie on Apr 8, 2018 17:11:48 GMT
Went to this again this afternoon (well it's a wet Sunday...) to try out the walking about bit. Really found it a completely different experience. Not sure I'd want to do it too often (first time) but entertaining to be in such close proximity. Quite a few extremely well behaved youngsters present too, some can't have been much over 8 or so.
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Post by showgirl on Apr 9, 2018 3:30:46 GMT
Managed to get a return for the back row of gallery 2 for Saturday's matinee and was amazed to find (though others had said so) how good the view was; I certainly wouldn't hesitate to book for that area in future but am waiting for reports of the next few productions before booking, so may well miss the boat again.
However, as others have also said, it was fearsomely cold up there and 48 hours later I still have severe neck-and-shoulder ache, which is presumably due to savage air conditioning.
Re the production itself, it was interesting and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it live but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. For one thing it was too long for me (2 hours 10, given that the matinee actually finished at 4.40 pm) to sit in those uncomfortable seats without a break, though I appreciate that it was probably appropriate in this case to omit the interval. That did however leave me squirming after an hour or so as the seat depth is so short that it supports only about half your leg length. Also, rather oddly, 2 men next to me briefly left about 30 mins before the end, only to return shortly afterwards, so initially I thought they too had had enough.
The "music" was horrible, monotonous and relentless but probably ideal for rabble-rousing purposes so as with the lack of interval, a case of the production needs trumping my personal preference. All the cast were great apart from David Calder as Julius Caesar, whom I thought was miscast or misdirected. But really the whole thing goes to pot after Mark Antony's funeral oration and the battle scenes dragged on too long for me.
I can see why others would enjoy this and I would still recommend it as a very different theatrical experience to what many believe to be the norm; indeed I'm trying to encourage my OH to catch it in its final week as I think he'd get more from it than I did.
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Post by ceebee on Apr 15, 2018 21:29:09 GMT
Bloody fantastic. Saw today at the final performance - totally relevant, excellent cast and excellent technical team. Watch in cinema if you can or buy the inevitable bluray. Beware the Ides of mosh.
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408 posts
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Post by maggiem on Apr 17, 2018 11:40:00 GMT
Bloody fantastic. Saw today at the final performance - totally relevant, excellent cast and excellent technical team. Watch in cinema if you can or buy the inevitable bluray. Beware the Ides of mosh. I saw the matinee on 14/04. Couldn't agree more with your comments. it was great to be in the "Roman Mob" and really feel in the story. Maybe a bit too much? I nearly went over when we had to move suddenly. One of the"security" asked me if I was alright, which I was. I also got dumped on by the battle debris from the roof. |
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Post by asfound on Apr 17, 2018 18:00:55 GMT
A production for the selfie stick generation. It was fun and exciting being shouted at and shoved around the pit, especially during the transition to the war scenes but overall it was gimmicky, unengaging and lacked subtlety. Acting was fine but nothing spectacular. Despite what people here said had to keep moving to avoid the bored, whispering middle class brats. Sound design and soundtrack was poor. There was nothing that really surprised or astounded - it was exactly as I expected from the descriptions and nothing more.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2018 20:28:32 GMT
"Selfie stick generation"? Men in their 50s determined to make the most of family holiday snaps?
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Post by stevemar on Apr 18, 2018 12:59:17 GMT
Although it has now finished, I loved this last week. As well as being a technical tour de force, the acting particularly from Ben Wishaw, David Morrissey and Michelle Farley was excellent. It was a very exciting and urgent production and enjoyed being part of the mob. The theatre was buzzing with excitement, and it was impressive how they marshalled the audience (and no bad behaviour in sight). I think going at the end of the run helped here. We saw Macbeth at the National the same day - the contrast to the silent audience leaving the theatre for that play couldn't have been starker.
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Post by ceebee on Apr 19, 2018 20:50:08 GMT
Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day.
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Post by nash16 on Apr 19, 2018 21:28:59 GMT
Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day. The Bridge Theatre audience were definitely NOT diverse the night we saw it. Glad to hear it was on your visit though. |
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Post by Ade on Apr 19, 2018 22:27:23 GMT
Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day. The Bridge Theatre audience were definitely NOT diverse the night we saw it. Glad to hear it was on your visit though. It was incredibly diverse when I saw it too. Probably one of the most diverse audiences I have seen. |
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Post by asfound on Apr 23, 2018 10:41:38 GMT
Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day. It was the usual middle-aged Hampstead/Kent sprinkled with a few Japanese tourists mob when I saw it, not sure what your definition of "truly diverse" is. |
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Post by ceebee on Apr 24, 2018 12:43:07 GMT
Truly diverse as in representing many (including Kent and Hampstead). Jeez, some people aren't happy unless they're beefing about something. It's theatre - just 'king enjoy it!
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Post by Jan on Apr 24, 2018 13:19:49 GMT
I couldn't care less how diverse an audience is - obviously it's best not to have school parties there because they make lots of noise and laugh when there's kissing on stage, but my impression of this one was the promenaders looked much like the Globe groundling audience and the seated folk looked like the NT audience and so it was diverse in terms of age but not notably by ethnicity.
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Post by Peach on Apr 24, 2018 19:39:14 GMT
I worked at the Bridge for a while during this show and saw thousands of its audience members (and probably lots of you lot). There was an extremely diverse age range and ethnic mix, although if you came to a weekday or Sunday matinee you probably wouldn't see that so much.
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