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Post by bellboard27 on Feb 17, 2017 20:57:01 GMT
Creating thread on this play but this post is about another!
Those interested in LoG might be interested in Orbits at the Drayton Arms Theatre from 22 Feb to 11 March. It concerns Bertolt Brecht and Charles Laughton negotiating the translation and adaptation of LoG for its American production. No idea how good this is but it might be an interesting companion to LoG.
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Post by Marwood on Apr 27, 2017 13:01:11 GMT
Tom Rowlands from The Chemical Brothers has composed the soundtrack for this : YVI'm going to see this in two weeks time, still haven't received an email confirming where I'll be sitting, had to long into my account on the YV website to find out where I'll be sat, which was a bit of a pain. |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Apr 29, 2017 14:08:49 GMT
Saw a run-through of this the other day, very powerful and with an incredibly charismatic lead. Onstage seats (on cushions on the floor) probably the best if you're up for that kind of thing, and no dreaded audience interaction!
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Post by bellboard27 on May 6, 2017 18:25:17 GMT
Am at first preview. To clarify on seating. The stage is a circle with four areas at cardinal points for further action. Stalls are 4 rows in 4 sections in between these 4 areas. Inside the circle is a padded floor with scattered cushions. This is the stage seating. Will report later on how this works out.
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Post by bellboard27 on May 6, 2017 22:25:29 GMT
So. Got out at 10.45, but we started 10 mins late and interval lasted extra 10 mins - much of that was due to getting people seated.
Note the action does also take place in the central area amongst those sitting on the floor. As a result those there cannot take in coats or bags. For those in the centre inevitably action takes place behind them so there might be a need to shuffle around a bit.
Row A seats are quite low (not the usual YV benches), so are not particularly comfortable.
As to the production - well they have turned the YV into a planetarium. As the sun looms overhead the music shakes your body! I liked the performances, esp Galileo and Andrea. It's Brecht, of course, with music, puppets, comments to the audience, etc.
Finally, for the audience participation phobes, as stated earlier, there really isn't any. Some in the centre circle are spoken to, but it doesn't amount to anything.
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Post by crowblack on May 6, 2017 22:38:47 GMT
Interesting! I booked a stage seat and a lucky dip - as I'm 5'5" and the person I'm going with is 6'2" I presume they'd be better in a proper seat and little me on a cushion?
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Post by mallardo on May 9, 2017 7:49:51 GMT
"Scene Five", announces the actor playing Galileo, "Scene Five has been cut". Yes, we are in Brechtland. Informality is the order of the day. The actors, 11 of them sharing 53 roles, are dressed pretty much as the audience is dressed and when they sit amongst the audience (as they do from time to time) on the circular cushioned floor, they are indistinguishable. The set is as described above by bellboard27, unfinished wood and scaffolding, the foundation for a set yet to be constructed. Overhead hangs a dome-like screen on which, from time to time, the heavens are opened to us to quite breathtaking effect. Those seated on the floor can just lie back and trip out. At other times the house lights are fully up and a kind of carnival atmosphere prevails - songs, parades, puppets - we and the actors all in it together.
Scene changes, as noted, are announced, mainly by Galileo who often adds what seem to be ad libs to remind us that he is just an actor playing a role. It's not pretend life. It's theatre. And it's powerful stuff. Especially for this piece, a very talky argumentative play in which the biggest of issues (astronomical and political) are debated, more or less endlessly. Joe Wright's inventive production works very hard not to bog down in the play's thick catalogue of ideas. And it succeeds.
It helps that Galileo is portrayed by Brendan Cowell, an Australian actor (all the actors use their own accents) remembered from Yerma. A big bearded man, quick witted and funny and seething with a passion to reconfigure the universe and make it right, he's also a deeply human figure with the ability to carry us with him (while carrying the play) on his journey. Really, he couldn't be better and, with his easy conversational manner, he's especially perfect for this production. Billy Howle, as Andrea, his young apprentice, is right up there with him as, in fact, are the whole cast.
It won't be for everyone - we had a few interval deserters in our row - and at 3 hours it's a long evening. If I were to return I think I'd sit on the floor, to be in amongst the action - and amongst the stars. It looked to be an exhilarating experience. But wherever you sit it's quite a show. Brecht was a notoriously difficult guy but one feels that this is a production even he might have approved of.
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Post by foxa on May 11, 2017 19:02:35 GMT
Bellboard - I think I have been at the same performance as you. Were you seated in the centre area near the edge of the circle towards the bit of the stage where some dramatic scaffolding/smoke appeared? I'm only guessing that person might have been you because he looked a bit like you avatar....
We had great value £10 Row D tickets - unlike mallardo, I wasn't envying the cushion dwellers, some seemed to really be struggling to get comfortable: lying, sitting, using multiple cushions....There was also a lot of kerfuffle about if you could bring your coat/bags into the space.
I agree that Brendan Cowell was terrific and there were some great effects: the Planetarium, the 'band', one of the big entrances, but some of the cast were under-whelming. It's a hard configuration to play and some of the actors just seemed to get lost in it, especially vocally. I didn't get a programme, but the actor playing the young man/student did well, I thought, but characters like the daughter didn't really register. However it was an early preview and I thought it might pick up. The audience was very quiet, almost to the point of seeming unresponsive during the show - at one moment there was a tiny bit of applause and Cowell, was like 'Yes, come on, some encouragement...' and then there a bit more.
For me, 3*
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Post by bellboard27 on May 12, 2017 14:37:28 GMT
Bellboard - I think I have been at the same performance as you. Were you seated in the centre area near the edge of the circle towards the bit of the stage where some dramatic scaffolding/smoke appeared? I'm only guessing that person might have been you because he looked a bit like you avatar.... Unfortunately my avatar diverges from reality! I was in row A (the lower, less comfortable seats than the usual benches). I do wonder if being in the centre circle and lying down as the stars, planets, sun, etc., are projected in the planetarium space overhead is the best place to be! |
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Post by rockinrobin on May 14, 2017 9:26:17 GMT
Loved it. It's 3 hours long but you can't really feel it. Brendan Cowell is brilliant, he has the audience at his feet (literally, too - when it comes to the lucky ones seated on stage!). It is visually stunning, as if you were travelling through the Solar System. And the music! I guess they won't release the soundtrack but if by any chance they do, I will be torturing my neighbours with it!
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Post by Marwood on May 15, 2017 11:23:03 GMT
Went on Friday and due to the awful bench seating (not helped by the idiot sat half in my space who made next to no effort to move over) which gave me terrible back ache after half an hour or so and not being able to contemplate a further 90 minutes of that to follow, I left at the interval.
It seemed to be more of an extended TED talk than a proper play, I got the impression that Johnny Ball or Brian Cox could do the same sort of thing far more entertainingly and in a fraction of the time. Best thing about it was the music, but that just seemed to have been put in because Joe Wright is friends with the Chemical Brothers (watching Cowell dad dancing wearing sunglasses made me think more of Ricky Gervais/David Brent than Galileo)
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 17, 2017 21:13:40 GMT
I am lucky dipping (it's like skinny dipping but riskier) at LoG on Saturday matinee. Has anybody done this yet? As I understand it, the lucky dippers wait until the last minute and are then all seated, but I don't know which areas are being set aside for them? I presume it can't be returned tickets and they might have set some aside in advance but I could be wrong. Any thoughts?
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Post by tal on May 17, 2017 21:36:05 GMT
I am lucky dipping (it's like skinny dipping but riskier) at LoG on Saturday matinee. Has anybody done this yet? As I understand it, the lucky dippers wait until the last minute and are then all seated, but I don't know which areas are being set aside for them? I presume it can't be returned tickets and they might have set some aside in advance but I could be wrong. Any thoughts? I saw the show on Monday, and we lucky dip holders had to wait until one minute or so before the show started (the show ended up starting about five minutes late). While waiting, I asked the usher if there was a chance that I would be seated on stage, since I was the first one in the queue waiting to be seated. He said that if there were seats available on stage, I could take one of those. One minute before show time, he took us to seats which were available, none of which was on stage. It was not clear if he knew beforehand which seats were available or not. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 17, 2017 21:40:09 GMT
Thanks. And how were the seats you (and others) ended up in?
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 8:43:34 GMT
I am lucky dipping (it's like skinny dipping but riskier) at LoG on Saturday matinee. Has anybody done this yet? As I understand it, the lucky dippers wait until the last minute and are then all seated, but I don't know which areas are being set aside for them? I presume it can't be returned tickets and they might have set some aside in advance but I could be wrong. Any thoughts? "Lucky Dip Tickets Your ticket location will be revealed as you enter the auditorium. Please note - this may be a standing position or the best seat in the house." |
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Post by tal on May 18, 2017 13:31:10 GMT
Thanks. And how were the seats you (and others) ended up in? I sat on the ground level, in the third row, which happened to be the last row in the section where I was seating. Behind me were only the people who were standing. View was awesome from there. I am not sure where the other lucky dippers sat. |
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Post by Phantom of London on May 20, 2017 22:14:53 GMT
I am lucky dipping (it's like skinny dipping but riskier) at LoG on Saturday matinee. Has anybody done this yet? As I understand it, the lucky dippers wait until the last minute and are then all seated, but I don't know which areas are being set aside for them? I presume it can't be returned tickets and they might have set some aside in advance but I could be wrong. Any thoughts? "Lucky Dip Tickets Your ticket location will be revealed as you enter the auditorium. Please note - this may be a standing position or the best seat in the house." A Metophor for you can have what is unsold. Saw this tonight and run nearly 3 hours, for me an hour too long, could of done with some judicious editing to make the main point stand out, in other words this got crushed by its detail. Great projections though, I thought I was in he IMAX on Waterloo Bridge - but that isn't a reason you go to the theatre though. |
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Post by Jan on Jun 9, 2017 6:26:26 GMT
I thought the production was good - staging and so on - and overall it was better in many ways than the NT/Russell-Beale production in 2006, but this play isn't for me - too much polemic and not enough drama (and the Young Vic's disastrously uncomfortable seats).
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Post by crowblack on Jun 9, 2017 10:06:57 GMT
I saw this last Friday and loved it. We sat in the stage area on cushions, which was fantastic, like being in the centre of a orrery with the action right up close, the actors stepping over and around us and the 'sky' like a canopy overhead. It's a hard configuration to play and some of the actors just seemed to get lost in it, especially vocally. I didn't get a programme, but the actor playing the young man/student did well, I thought If that was the case in preview they must have improved because it was played with great gusto by the whole cast. The young man was Billy Howle, who was very impressive (I was racking my brain to think where I'd seen him - the BBC's Witness for the Prosecution over Christmas). The text could probably have done with a bit of trimming but it was always engaging - I think I've managed to convert a friend back into theatregoing with it. |
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Post by Jan on Jun 9, 2017 10:27:15 GMT
It's a hard configuration to play and some of the actors just seemed to get lost in it, especially vocally. Last night some actors were miked directly but there were also microphones distributed around the set, there was one particular place where their voices would suddenly get very loud when they stood there or walked past. The projections were very clever, during the many longeurs I was looking at the four projectors and trying to work out how it worked. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 9:26:23 GMT
I saw this yesterday afternoon and loved it. I've never been to the Young Vic before, and I don't know much at all about Galileo or Brecht, and I've never seen any of the cast in anything before, so I had no idea what to expect (beyond a pretty basic idea of Brecht) but I just loved how vibrant and alive it was. It felt very relevant and modern, and Brendan Cowell is excellent (HOW can he have so much energy, oh my god!). I couldn't stop thinking how the Inquisitor reminded me of the Toby Jones role in Doctor Who a few years ago, although I couldn't identify what it was that made me think that. There were a few bits where it all felt a bit long and wordy, but overall I really enjoyed it and I loved the Young Vic itself.
I couldn't have sat on the floor though, I'd have been moving around constantly trying to get comfy. I'm old, I want back support!
There were a group of young teenage boys sitting on the floor yesterday - Brendan Cowell got us to sing happy birthday to one of them at the very start of the show, and he got them to introduce scene 9. They stole all the cushions and spent ages playing with the gold confetti, but they did seem to enjoy the show.
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Post by kathryn on Jun 18, 2017 9:43:55 GMT
I was there yesterday afternoon too and agree about Cowall! All in all rather a joyful experience, despite the odd scene that dragged. Lovely to see the young 'uns in.
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Post by crowblack on Jun 18, 2017 10:05:37 GMT
Lovely to see the young 'uns in. And my friend who seems to have been converted back to theatregoing with it has just booked a ticket for her husband. Shame some of the young audience who were going to the disappointing Woyzeck couldn't have been redirected down the road to this - I think it would have won more of them over. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 10:07:27 GMT
Well. It's all very jolly isn't it. Apart from the planetarium bit, I could quite easily see this fitting into Emma Rice's Globe season. It's a shade too long and some bits could do with shaving but all in all it's really rather glorious and very funny. I love how it's all very obviously a play and all of the actors play it as so. It could be so achingly how-clever-are-we but it really isn't at all. A visit should be on the curriculum of any school science department.
Great cast. Brendan Cowell is sensationally charismatic (he sounds strangely like John Hurt at various intervals) and should be Andrew Garfield's main competition at awards season and Billy Howell is just marvellous, probably my favourite performance in the show. I hope we see lots more of him in London's glitzy West End. It's also a shame that Joe Wright spends so much time making films and not so much time in the theatre.
Thank you to the costume designer who decorated Joshua James' deliciously pert behind in the tightest pair of trousers.
Oh and if Chris Chibnall still hasn't decided his new Doctor Who yet. Brendan Cowell is right there.
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Post by showgirl on Jun 20, 2017 6:24:56 GMT
I do know that the seating config in the main house varies according to production but nowhere can I find any info about views for the current layout, other than comments above. Has anyone sat in the circle, please, and if so, how was it?
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