The Flick (NT)

[Phantom of London]

I booked a £45 seat, thinking I was in last chance saloon, then my dismay that a plethora of tickets went on sale and ones that were a third of the price and a preferable date, as had no trains into Charing Cross this weekend, but I can drive up to the South Bank. So I bought the cheaper ticket and exchanged the more expensive ticket for credits on my account, which I will use no problem.

So maybe a hint there, however I wouldn't do this for the same performance.

[partytentdown]

Apr 20, 2016 11:51:28 GMT Phantom of London said:

I booked a £45 seat, thinking I was in last chance saloon, then my dismay that a plethora of tickets went on sale and ones that were a third of the price and a preferable date, as had no trains into Charing Cross this weekend, but I can drive up to the South Bank. So I bought the cheaper ticket and exchanged the more expensive ticket for credits on my account, which I will use no problem.

So maybe a hint there, however I wouldn't do this for the same performance.

Same for me, grabbed a single ticket when I saw it on sale after buying into the 'sold out' hype. Now there are lots of tickets in the same row for a third of the price... a bit irritating.

[Phantom of London]

Getting great reviews.

The Guardian (5 Stars)
Daily Telegraph (4 Stars)
Evening Standard (3 Stars)
WOS (5 stars)
The Stage (5 Stars)

So if you want to see this, snap up the last remaining tickets, I now expect these to shift fast now.

[Deleted]

Have booked twice more to see it

I was so impressed on Saturday

It really it a masterpiece of characterisation

[Phantom of London]

I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it, I don't understand what all the fuss was, I thought I missed something, so read the reviews to see what I missed and I missed nothing.

I agree earlier what you said about great performances and the senior usher had a cleft palete, which I didn't pick on and you did, must be down to all that medical school, he gave a great performance, but hard to describe why?

I guess I didn't find a play about changing over to digital projection and cleaning up other peoples popcorn riveting. I don't know if I would have had a more favourable reaction, if this didn't win the Pulitzer.

[bordeaux]

Sounds fantastic. It'll have to transfer with reviews like this, won't it? I'm desperate for the Royal Court's Cyprus Avenue to transfer too.

[foxa]

I'm at the matinee tomorrow and very much looking forward to it.

[Deleted]

Apr 20, 2016 19:13:22 GMT bordeaux said:

Sounds fantastic. It'll have to transfer with reviews like this, won't it? I'm desperate for the Royal Court's Cyprus Avenue to transfer too.

I doubt either are transferring anywhere

[Steve]

Saw this tonight, and loved it! Rufus Norris' National is on fire!

"The Flick" features a character Avery, who likes to play "6 Degrees of Separation." One character he must link with another character is Macaulay Culkin. Macaulay Culkin was in "Home Alone," which was written by John Hughes, who wrote and directed "The Breakfast Club."

An easier way of linking "The Flick" to "The Breakfast Club" is simply to point out what kindred spirits Annie Baker and John Hughes are.

Some spoilers follow, including for "The Breakfast Club":-

In John Hughes' movie, 5 teenagers from different cliques are sent to detention, and their minds are expanded as they relate to each other, and discover a common humanity. Romance blossoms, friendships form, and at the end of detention, they go their separate ways, changed and informed by their bonding experience.

In "Circle Mirror Transformation," 4 adults and a teen from different walks of life send themselves to an acting workshop, and their minds are expanded as they relate to each other and . . you get the picture.

"Circle Mirror Transformation" very much felt in the tradition of Hughes, with it's warm approach to our common humanity, the bonding, the revelations, the discoveries, the learning and the moving on.

Then Annie Baker did a wonderful thing. She asked herself, how do I tell this story again, but this time make it even more real, even more human, less melodramatic, more specific, and she wrote "The Flick."

In this play, she reduces the number of characters to their bare minimum, 3 (the least number of characters you can have in a roundelay of romantic attraction, which is also a sufficient number to include different sexes, races and socioeconomic classes), and she ups the running time, so that each character gets more stage time, more time to be defined. Instead of the drama of detention or the crazy emoting of an acting class, we get only mopping and cleaning.

The result is a typically generous examination of human foibles and existence in general, that rings true in every moment, featuring three wonderful performances.

Like Columbo, Matthew Maher's Sam always has one more thing to say. Jaygann Ayeh beautifully expresses the paralysis of his character, Avery's depression. And as Rose, Louisa Krause creates one of the most distinct, instinctive, quirky and loveable female characters I've ever seen on stage. You have got to see her dance lol!

Except for the superficial fact of watching people mop, this play is nothing like "Beyond Caring," which was a lascerating and political critique of how people on the margins are ignored and abused. Alexander Zeldin's play was less John Hughes, more Arnold Wesker.

What Baker has succeeded doing here is to reinvent John Hughes in 2016, for adults. She gives us a funny, realistic, warm take on what it is to be alive today.

5 stars

[lonlad]

The National IS on fire for the most part, but THE SUICIDE and WONDER.LAND - both of which were playing tonight - are as bad as anything they have done in the last 25 years. How either got out of the starting get is beyond me.

[drmaplewood]

Well even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day as I agree with Parsley and completely loved this and was pretty much absorbed from the start. Was dreading the lengthy first half but I was completely taken under its spell and the acting was just wonderful. Matthew Maher especially completely broke my heart in the second half.

We also had some minor excitement as a light bulb fell from the ceiling – I assume it wasn’t part of the play as the ushers looked concerned about it in the interval unless someone can tell me otherwise?

[Phantom of London]

A ceiling Tile falls into the movie house auditorium.

[n1david]

Well I have booked for this based on the reviews and comments here, going to a matinee but not until June. Am really not sure about this but I'm thinking an afternoon matinee, treat it like a novel or DVD box set and settle in for the long run without worrying about getting home or hunger pangs. Only concerned that I could only get the high stools at the back of the Pit which might be a bit uncomfortable for that time! Looking forward to it nonetheless (unless I find a new job before then in which case my ticket will have to go back into the pot...)

[foxa]

Apr 21, 2016 17:54:58 GMT n1david said:

Well I have booked for this based on the reviews and comments here, going to a matinee but not until June. Am really not sure about this but I'm thinking an afternoon matinee, treat it like a novel or DVD box set and settle in for the long run without worrying about getting home or hunger pangs. Only concerned that I could only get the high stools at the back of the Pit which might be a bit uncomfortable for that time! Looking forward to it nonetheless (unless I find a new job before then in which case my ticket will have to go back into the pot...)

I saw the matinee today and loved it.  I think your idea of treating it like a novel and not worrying about meals/getting home, etc. is a good one.  It didn't feel long to me (except for one scene, a phone call in the first act when my mind wandered.)  The dialogue is so fresh, uncliched, I didn't buy a script but I think I may go back to get one.  There were moments that reminded me of Chekhov (having seen the excellent Uncle Vanya at the Almeida not long ago, so that's fresh in mind.  So think of Sam as Sonya and Rose as Astrov. ) I don't want to give too much away, but one of the character's description of love was so beautiful and true.  I highly recommend this, but settle in, give it some time - you will be rewarded.

Disclaimer:  This may have been of special interest to me as I worked two summers in a cinema - my crazy manager sometimes had us do the tearing tickets and selling both halves thing mentioned in the play - but only he profited.  Cinemas are a bit romantic, especially the projection room.  The playwright perfectly caught the odd characters who might be thrown together and the sort of camaraderie that can develop in those sort of jobs.

Seating note:  For a sold out show there were quite a few empty seats.  I was mid-way in Row N, the first row of the Circle on the side and all seven seats to my left both in my row and the row behind me were unsold, as they were on the other side as well.  It may be that they thought the sightlines weren't good enough, but I thought my seat was a bit of a steal at £25, comfortable, only a few moments of restricted view - and, as no one was to my left, it felt very roomy.  There were also a sprinkling of unoccupied seats in the gallery and towards the back of the pit. So if you want to see this, be persistent - it doesn't really seem to be sold out.

[TheatreDust]

I was also at the matinee of this today and I too loved it. Such excellent use of silence and stillness. The pauses (and the facial expressions that accompanied them) were at times exquisite. I didn't find it dragged - it was just so engrossing.

I do understand your point about that phone call where really we only had words (dimly lit scene) and the silences left us to fill in the other half of the conversation which, although the gaps were undoubtedly realisticly timed, felt slow because we think more quickly than people speak (if that makes sense).

[Phantom of London]

Dose anyone know how the Times reviewed this?

[n1david]

Apr 22, 2016 0:56:45 GMT Phantom of London said:

Dose anyone know how the Times reviewed this?

3*

hated the pauses, liked the play - just wished it all happened a bit more quickly. Seriously considered leaving at the interval. This odd last para which suggests to me "I didn't really get it but it supposed to be good so I won't slag it off"

Although I didn’t leave at the interval, others did, victim of the pauses. It’s important to remember that once you surf through the first half, the second, by comparison, is action-packed. By the way, this play won a Pulitzer prize in 2014, not that that is anything to go by.

[popcultureboy]

Apr 21, 2016 15:54:48 GMT Phantom of London said:

A ceiling Tile falls into the movie house auditorium.

This wasn't a ceiling tile, it was a light. It smashed right at the front of the stage during the first scene, several scenes before the ceiling tile is mentioned. 

[partytentdown]

Apr 22, 2016 7:39:40 GMT popcultureboy said:

Apr 21, 2016 15:54:48 GMT Phantom of London said:

A ceiling Tile falls into the movie house auditorium.

This wasn't a ceiling tile, it was a light. It smashed right at the front of the stage during the first scene, several scenes before the ceiling tile is mentioned. 

Didn't happen when I saw it. Also the ceiling tile doesn't actually fall, it's just removed in the scene change.

[Phantom of London]

Apr 22, 2016 7:39:40 GMT popcultureboy said:

Apr 21, 2016 15:54:48 GMT Phantom of London said:

A ceiling Tile falls into the movie house auditorium.

This wasn't a ceiling tile, it was a light. It smashed right at the front of the stage during the first scene, several scenes before the ceiling tile is mentioned. 

This didn't happen when I went, seems unplanned. Surprised the National would very much frown on random falling part of lighting or scenery, under a Health and Safety.

[bordeaux]

Still a handful of seats for many performances (mainly front row, surprisingly cheap). Just bagged one this morning.

[Phantom of London]

I thought the front row., were for the Friday Rush.

[theinvisiblegirl]

I'm going to this on Saturday and I've just received an email saying they've "upgraded" me from row C to row F! Has this happened to anyone else?

[Deleted]

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[Polly1]

May 4, 2016 15:50:08 GMT theinvisiblegirl said:

I'm going to this on Saturday and I've just received an email saying they've "upgraded" me from row C to row F! Has this happened to anyone else?

I have a ticket in row C for next Wednesday evening. Online (on the 'my tickets' page) it is telling me that this is a high seat. I queried this with the Box Office and he assured me that it was a normal seat. Bit puzzled now, if you could post an update after you've been on Sat, that would be great!