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Post by showgirl on Jul 19, 2017 8:10:24 GMT
Well if they're both at the NT, they should be able to help you out; after all, there was no indication even of an approximate running time in advance of previews. (A constant bugbear of mine as it's so hard to know which things you can combine and in which order.)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2017 8:32:43 GMT
This might improve availability because people like you are more likely to return their tickets.
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Post by wiggymess on Jul 19, 2017 8:38:37 GMT
This might improve availability because people like you are more likely to return their tickets. Based on....? |
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Post by drmaplewood on Jul 19, 2017 8:56:15 GMT
2hr 50 is a pretty standard running time for a play, no?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2017 9:13:19 GMT
It's maybe a *little* on the long side? If someone asked me how long the average show was, I'd probably guess at around 2h30m/2h40m. 2h50m isn't an unusual running time for a show, but it's another 10/20 minutes above what your bum might be able to comfortably deal with, or it's the 10/20 minutes between you getting home the same night and you rolling in at 2am, or it's the 5 minutes overlap that means I'm either going to have to not go on the tour, or see if they'll make an allowance for me tracking them down and joining in partway through.  |
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Post by chameleon on Jul 19, 2017 9:14:21 GMT
NT now giving the running time as 2 hours 50 - and I booked an evening performance - aargh! But no chance of switching to a matinee as it's sold out and it was hard enough to get that ticket. Given last night's preview, it's likely a good deal of cutting will be done. Will probably be down to 2h 15 or so by the time it opens. It's an odd play. An immense amount of energy expended (over nearly three hours), and you end up very close to where you started. So the supercollider metaphor is apt. Characters orbit round each other, in patterns of attraction and repulsion, sometimes closer, sometimes at a distance, but never manage to escape each other.. This is interesting, in theory, but dramatically it can become repetitive. And the endless bickering becomes hard work. And sometimes the scientific metaphors (and the backstory) are awkwardly jammed into the plot. Still, even if the story collapses in on itself, there's plenty to enjoy on the way - the back-and-forth is often hilarious, and there are a couple of perfectly written scenes of excruciating awkwardness.. And it's all held together by a rather brilliant performance (already, in the first preview..) by Olivia Williams, which, alone, is worth the ticket.. |
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Post by crowblack on Jul 19, 2017 10:44:12 GMT
sometimes the scientific metaphors (and the backstory) are awkwardly jammed into the plot. I don't want to know too much about the plot before I go in (I'm seeing it on Saturday), but do I need to mug up on my physics? I did O level but science has progressed in the decades since! |
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Post by chameleon on Jul 19, 2017 10:58:52 GMT
sometimes the scientific metaphors (and the backstory) are awkwardly jammed into the plot. I don't want to know too much about the plot before I go in (I'm seeing it on Saturday), but do I need to mug up on my physics? I did O level but science has progressed in the decades since! Nope. Might be useful to read this, though. |
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Post by crowblack on Jul 19, 2017 11:43:42 GMT
"four particle detectors – ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb."
Ah - and Williams' character's called Alice, and her son Luke?
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Post by jadnoop on Jul 19, 2017 12:19:23 GMT
I'm pretty sure you're quizzed about particle physics in order to get back in after the interval.
It's a cost-cutting measure implemented by the NT to reduce the need for clean up. Plus it reduces the stress for the actors since they don't need to worry too much about learning their lines for the second act, as so few people will pass and be able to see it.
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Post by publius on Jul 19, 2017 14:16:56 GMT
I'm going to see this tomorrow and am looking forward to it but part of me is terrified that I will be left bamboozled as I was by Stoppard's The Hard Problem...
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Post by Rory on Jul 19, 2017 14:26:14 GMT
I'm going to see this tomorrow and am looking forward to it but part of me is terrified that I will be left bamboozled as I was by Stoppard's The Hard Problem... I really disliked The Hard Problem. Hardest problem of all was understanding any of it, despite it having such watchable actors as Damien Molony. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2017 14:26:57 GMT
Lucy Kirkwood is a lot better than Tom Stoppard for not descending into impenetrability because of a desire to show off her intellectualism, if that helps.
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Post by mallardo on Jul 19, 2017 14:32:23 GMT
Lucy Kirkwood is a lot better than Tom Stoppard for not descending into impenetrability because of a desire to show off her intellectualism, if that helps. Really? I thought we'd progressed beyond that tired Stoppard-is-a-showoff stuff. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2017 14:37:50 GMT
It's maybe a *little* on the long side? If someone asked me how long the average show was, I'd probably guess at around 2h30m/2h40m. 2h50m isn't an unusual running time for a show, but it's another 10/20 minutes above what your bum might be able to comfortably deal with, or it's the 10/20 minutes between you getting home the same night and you rolling in at 2am, or it's the 5 minutes overlap that means I'm either going to have to not go on the tour, or see if they'll make an allowance for me tracking them down and joining in partway through. "You like films but as a rule think they should be 10 minutes shorter" |
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Post by showgirl on Jul 19, 2017 15:04:53 GMT
I'd love it if, as chameleon suggests, there was some trimming (ideally at least 30 minutes' worth, please, if anyone's listening?), but I'm seeing it so soon that I don't hold out much hope for my own visit.
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Post by crowblack on Jul 19, 2017 15:25:31 GMT
I'd love it if, as chameleon suggests, there was some trimming With that cast? No! Hamlet was overlong in preview but at least it meant more Andrew Scott. |
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Post by crowblack on Jul 19, 2017 15:39:59 GMT
(Must resist reading comments till I've seen it but I'm so curious about this one!) |
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Post by mikey on Jul 19, 2017 22:15:42 GMT
Saw this tonight. Finished at about 10.30pm, feel it could shave off at least 30 minutes. It felt very long.
Still early previews, so appreciate it's a work in progress, but I found this pretty half baked. It tries to touch on a wide range of issues (grief, jealousy, aging, online bullying, blame), but does so only at a very surface level. I've seen these topics explored in a much in depth, interesting manner in other recent theatre. Perhaps if it had more focus, I would have engaged more with it.
The characters weren't very likeable - which is fine, I like spiky characters. However, they also weren't very interesting, which was my main gripe.
On the plus, I really liked the staging. Having the Dorfman in the round meant the view from side gallery seats was much better than usual!
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jul 19, 2017 23:27:18 GMT
I liked it very much and the 3 hours flew by, but the plot was a bit all over the place. What in any other play would be the entire play, here is one scene. Why over egg the pudding by shoving in half a dozen subplots that are barely touched upon? {Spoiler - click to view}
namely the teen sexting/revenge porn plot, and the aunt in jail because she's taken the fall for him stuff. Jokes felt a bit 90s sitcom. They worked because Colman is so fabulously talented, not sure if a different actress would have gotten so many laughs. Unless it's supposed to be part of the character that she cracks 90s sitcom-style jokes? Not sure if we needed the science lecture but crikey isn't Paul Hilton's David-Tennant-on-acid routine good? |
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Post by drmaplewood on Jul 20, 2017 7:52:38 GMT
Was there last night too. Agreed with a lot of the above.
Thought the first half was excellent & pretty much pinned down already but the second half feels very long and could easily lose 15 minutes. The science bits feel tagged on and don’t add anything to the story, the subplots mentioned above just feel a bit silly and unnecessary whilst Yoli Fuller is, and I know its previews and I should give him a chance, alarmingly wooden (not to mention that his character is pretty much forgotten about in the second half). Joseph Quinn also feels too old to be playing the role he is but he does nail the moody teenager thing quite well.
So yeah, a mixed bag and intrigued to see what they cut, but both Olivias are brilliant and easily worth the admission alone.
Those damn pit seats are uncomfy though!
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Post by chameleon on Jul 20, 2017 8:04:18 GMT
Was there last night too. Agreed with a lot of the above. Thought the first half was excellent & pretty much pinned down already but the second half feels very long and could easily lose 15 minutes. The science bits feel tagged on and don’t add anything to the story, the subplots mentioned above just feel a bit silly and unnecessary whilst Yoli Fuller is, and I know its previews and I should give him a chance, alarmingly wooden (not to mention that his character is pretty much forgotten about in the second half). Joseph Quinn also feels too old to be playing the role he is but he does nail the moody teenager thing quite well. So yeah, a mixed bag and intrigued to see what they cut, but both Olivias are brilliant and easily worth the admission alone. Those damn pit seats are uncomfy though! I wouldn't blame Yoli Fuller here. The writer has given him almost nothing to play (and what she has given isn't really coherent). No surprise he's struggling. |
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Post by wiggymess on Jul 20, 2017 8:20:17 GMT
I also enjoyed it last night. Performances were great. {Spoiler - click to view}
I liked the science-y bits, but as has been mentioned before, I'm not sure if the metaphor (I'm still trying to process it) completely holds up, but I found it entertaining none the less.
The sub-plot with Luke I found quite odd and seems to be from a different play. I think it was at its best when the sisters were together to be honest. I'm not sure how I feel about the LHC launching scene. Very theatrical, but a bit 'meh'. I think by the time the previews are finished, the main issues can be pretty efficiently dealt with. Interval was at 20:45, out by 22:25/30 Shout out to the moron behind me who jabbed me in the back with their foot half way through the second act, causing me to jump in that sort of surprise jolt way, then whacked me with their bag TWICE whilst retrieving their noisy water bottle.  |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jul 20, 2017 11:10:25 GMT
I got jabbed in the back too! The layout is so incredibly poor it seems almost designed for back-jabbing. Who on earth thought it appropriate to design an auditorium so the audience's feet rest on the backs of the chairs in front?
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Post by peggs on Jul 20, 2017 13:50:33 GMT
I got jabbed in the back too! The layout is so incredibly poor it seems almost designed for back-jabbing. Who on earth thought it appropriate to design an auditorium so the audience's feet rest on the backs of the chairs in front? Oh good, I love that kind of situation, thanks for the warning and not even currently capable of giving my best Paddington stare at the moment.
Just realized surely you're only allowed such small bags currently at the national that you should only be able to give people diminished jabs?
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