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Post by showgirl on Nov 5, 2017 18:54:57 GMT
Honestly, ladies (Latecomer, Polly1 and peggs), no harm done if we didn't know the other party was there, and I don't expect anyone necessarily to read, let alone memorise the content of the "This week " (etc) thread - I probably tend to notice mainly when others are seeing something I'm also seeing, or have already seen. I'm just disappointed, as despite being a keen and regular theatregoer, I've never yet knowingly met a single Theatreboard member, so missing the chance to score a hat-trick seems even more of wasted opportunity. And peggs , I assure you, I would have been extremely interested in any feedback (!) on the catering; possibly, and reprehensibly, more so than in the production itself. As for your inability to identify Nancy Carroll, I think I matched that by wondering who was playing Mrs Marx - I only found out afterwards, having forgotten that NC was in this. In fairness I had only seen her on stage once before and that was 7 years ago - though she did make a huge impression on me at the time. |
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Post by jek on Nov 5, 2017 19:13:56 GMT
We really enjoyed this this afternoon. My teens and I were discussing how it owed something to Horrible HIstories (which they are of an age to have grown up watching) and to the more recent Quacks (which also starred Rory Kinnear). Thought all the cast were excellent and good to see Nancy Carroll as something other than Fr Brown's sidekick (daytime TV viewer here!) Also thought the programme was very good - Francis Wheen's piece on how accurate the history is was fascinating. The free Madeleines weren't a patch on the ones that my daughter makes but we get to eat those super fresh. It's a shame there weren't more people in the theatre - I'm sure lots of people would enjoy it.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Nov 5, 2017 21:04:00 GMT
We really enjoyed this this afternoon. My teens and I were discussing how it owed something to Horrible HIstories (which they are of an age to have grown up watching) and to the more recent Quacks (which also starred Rory Kinnear). Thought all the cast were excellent and good to see Nancy Carroll as something other than Fr Brown's sidekick (daytime TV viewer here!) Also thought the programme was very good - Francis Wheen's piece on how accurate the history is was fascinating. The free Madeleines weren't a patch on the ones that my daughter makes but we get to eat those super fresh. It's a shame there weren't more people in the theatre - I'm sure lots of people would enjoy it. They are free ?! How on earth did I miss that ? I’m a bad Yorkshire man ... |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2017 21:06:48 GMT
They are free to ticketholders on, I believe, two very specific Sundays only. I got an email the other day that was far keener on promoting the madeleines than the play...
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Post by peggs on Nov 5, 2017 21:11:44 GMT
The free Madeleines weren't a patch on the ones that my daughter makes but we get to eat those super fresh. It's a shame there weren't more people in the theatre - I'm sure lots of people would enjoy it. They are free ?! How on earth did I miss that ? I’m a bad Yorkshire man ... Just on a couple of pre advertised sundays I think. Well the theatre is a very doable ten minutes plod from London bridge, has noted has amazing views across the river and should work very well in the warmer months with lots of food places, places to wander nearby. In the colder months you've got to pre-plan a bit more and get there early enough to bag a seat. Big open entrance, free water, lots of toilets, double plus, comfy seats, nowhere looked like it would seem that far away from the stage and like those angled side seats. Play a bit mixed, I do like a bit of revolve action and it was nicely acted with some loud blasts of interconnecting music. The play didn't seem 100% sure what it was after, so mainly comedy, some of it unnecessarily broad but with added serious tones layered on top that sometimes sat better than others. i'd have preferred less laughs (especially from the ecstatic couple behind me) and more serious but that would have been a whole different playwright. No if London bridge could just get finished so there were some trains for me could be great. |
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Post by showgirl on Nov 6, 2017 4:56:05 GMT
Re the play itself: I listened to the review on R4's "Saturday Review" a week before seeing this and happened to check it again the day after, and what really struck me was the presenter's remark that on the evening he went, Tom Stoppard and Michael Frayn were sitting behind him, so he couldn't help wishing he was watching the Stoppard version of the story. He didn't mention MF in this context, oddly, but I'd have thought the same idea applied, i.e. that it would have been a different but perhaps more satisfying play.
On the other hand, had it been by either of the alternative authors, I might not have understood it, and even had either or both been willing to write such a play, it would have been riskier to open with something less populist.
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Post by dani on Nov 6, 2017 13:03:23 GMT
It's a shame there weren't more people in the theatre - I'm sure lots of people would enjoy it. How empty was it? I've been wondering if the lack of a really big name would hurt this. Rory Kinnear, Nancy Carroll and Oliver Chris are big names to me, as I'm sure they are to many people on this board, but I couldn't help wondering how great their general appeal is. A lot of reference has been made to the Bridge Theatre having to offer populist shows, but that will surely only cut through if there is also populist casting. |
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Post by jek on Nov 6, 2017 14:55:50 GMT
We were in Gallery 1 and could see quite a few of the back few rows of the stalls were empty. It wasn't like the embarrassing sort of emptiness there is at St George and the Dragon at the moment but it seemed weird for a matinee and a shame when, in particular, I could see what a good fit it was for history/politics A Level students (in much the same way as The Death of Stalin is). Using a cooked breakfast to explain surplus value was very clever. Am recommending it to my daughter's sixth form teachers (we are a short tube journey from The Bridge) but I can see that they would struggle to with the prices - they might be able to encourage youngsters to go to the live screening though. |
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Post by Marwood on Nov 12, 2017 0:29:24 GMT
I liked this theatre a lot, and found all the staff to be both totally competent and very friendly, alas I thought this play was a mess - it got to the end and I just thought : why bother? It had its moments (not many though)but it just didn't have enough of a plot to carry it through to the end - I can sort of imagine why this was chosen to open a new theatre in London (a new work by a British writer who wrote one of the NTs biggest hits of the last 10 years) but unfortunately thats about it, there just didn't seem to be a point to this, it trundles along for 2 hours and then the lights dim and thats your lot. I'd definitely go to the Bridge again, hopefully next time it'll be something a bit better than this.
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Post by lonlad on Nov 12, 2017 0:40:01 GMT
Saw it last night with two friends who walked out at the half, and I can see why --- not in any way shape or form ready for presentation, and the cast looked vaguely sheepish at the curtain call. What a titanic waste of a lot of talent and the attempts to make "Marx and Engels, Engels and Marx" (as the script puts it) into the Bialystock and Bloom of their day just Do Not Work. Kinnear isn't a farceur so is pushing a metaphoric rock up a very steep hill and poor Ollie Chris is reduced to giving precisely the same line readings he gave in ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (in which he was bliss). Lots of lobby chat after about how poor it is -- "bafflingly bad" as a third friend texted me. Oh well.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2017 10:50:16 GMT
Well, horses for courses, as I had a really nice time seeing this yesterday afternoon – it was just the right weather and the right play for a lovely cosy matinee. I really enjoyed the play, which I thought was perfectly interesting and entertaining. I agree that it’s not doing anything new or ground-breaking but not everything has to. I think I’ve seen a couple of comments about it failing as a farce but I don’t think it’s trying to be that – it’s a comedy with a bit of substance, and as such it worked well for me. My family wanted to see it so I’m taking them over Christmas and I’m quite happy to see it again with them. There was an unexpected talk afterwards with N Hytner and Tristram Hunt, who has written a book about Engels, which was interesting as well.
Front row £25 ticks are a bargain – stage is quite high but you don’t miss anything. Am slightly worried that the front row far side seats that I’ve booked for the family are going to be fairly restricted though – anyone got any experience with those?
The theatre is lovely, though I think it will be nicer in a year’s time when it’s got a few stains and has been bashed about a bit; it’s a bit too shiny at the moment to be able to relax properly! Staff were great and very welcoming, and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into the experience. I actually didn’t find it hard to get out of the stalls at the interval/end as others have mentioned – no worse than getting out of the Olivier from the front stalls (the theatre was mostly full).
Main quibble – the bar is pretty expensive and only serves wine in 175ml (for which the prices START at £6.50 and go up to a massive £11 per glass); however there are a couple of decent-looking beers on tap, so I think that will be my drink of choice here! Even worse (and there are some people who will appreciate my pain more than others) is that the bar couldn’t cope with the number of people wanting an interval drink; I queued through the interval and then finally gave up when they started herding people back into the auditorium. It’s probably good for both my liver and my wallet, but I do like a Sunday afternoon alcohol hit so that was very disappointing…
I also can’t imagine ever eating there – it’s very expensive and there are loads of cheaper places if all you want is a sandwich/snack. But there are people who won’t blink at paying £7 for a glorified egg sandwich and if they want to subsidise the theatre for the rest of us, I’m fine with that.
The location is excellent – it’s a striking bit of river and will be gorgeous in summer to sit outside in the interval with a beer (assuming they’ve sorted the bar out by then).
Overall I really wish this place well – it’s a high quality experience for pretty good value ticket prices, and really deserves to succeed. Will definitely be back for future productions.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2017 16:42:57 GMT
Am slightly worried that the front row far side seats that I’ve booked for the family are going to be fairly restricted though – anyone got any experience with those? If you mean the ends of row AA, @abby , then yes, you are going to lose a fair bit, I think, alas. The balcony 1 seats have a much better angle, being raised, though. Thanks TM - I do mean that - ah well, I'll give the family the seats further in and hope for the best! Thanks for the balcony tip - I might actually see if they'll let me change the booking... |
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Post by n1david on Nov 13, 2017 17:01:24 GMT
Bridge Theatre allows you to change your tickets for £2/ticket as long as it's 48 hours beforehand - given it's the same performance, they might do it for free but as a worst case you should be able to pay £2/ticket to change.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2017 17:16:02 GMT
Thanks both - hopefully if I'm upgrading they'll be accommodating. I just looked at the Christmas Eve matinee which we're going to and it's virtually unbooked so they really should be nice to us!
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Post by littlesally on Nov 13, 2017 18:10:54 GMT
Really enjoyed this yesterday. Such a talented cast and much funnier than I’d expected after reading comments on here.
The theatre is charming and we thought the staff were outstanding! Nothing was too much trouble. Didn’t eat (other than the free Madeleines) but the wines were reasonably priced and great quality.
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Post by londonmzfitz on Nov 19, 2017 23:32:12 GMT
It's a rare, if not unknown, thing for me to leave in the interval, but I really didn't care enough about any of the characters to stay until the end. Few funny lines, but I was bored.
Lovely theatre, great loo's.
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Post by lonlad on Nov 20, 2017 5:40:25 GMT
How did you get the madeleines for free? (Just curious LOL) They were certainly to be bought when I went a few Fridays ago- can't remember the price: £4.50 or something like that? Not that free food would have salvaged an irredeemable evening. The staff are lovely, though -- they should forget about the play and just turn each performance into an impromptu meet 'n' greet.
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Post by showgirl on Nov 20, 2017 6:47:14 GMT
Madeleines were free on specified Sundays, lonlad - I asked the same question and as I went on a Saturday, I'm still none the wiser re how these taste.. |
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Post by dani on Nov 20, 2017 12:12:37 GMT
the wines were reasonably priced and great quality. Any recommendations?! |
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Post by littlesally on Nov 20, 2017 13:33:30 GMT
the wines were reasonably priced and great quality. Any recommendations?! House white was lovely. And the Pineau went perfectly with the madeleines. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2017 10:41:06 GMT
Last night's performance ended at the interval due to technical difficulties, according to their twitter.
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Post by TallPaul on Nov 22, 2017 10:50:20 GMT
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Post by Steve on Nov 22, 2017 11:34:24 GMT
Madeleines were free on specified Sundays, lonlad - I asked the same question and as I went on a Saturday, I'm still none the wiser re how these taste.. They were free on the Sunday I went. You got two for production of a ticket. They tasted like a melt-in-your-mouth sweet sponge cake, with accompanied slightly oily pleasant sugary lingering on your taste buds after each bite, and were substantial and small enough that you could indulgently dip them in your tea or coffee, like a biscuit, if you weren't embarrassed about it. They came in batches of six for £4 or £4.50, if you had to buy them. I thought they were super tasty and could eat a ton of them! As for the play, it was mid-ranking Richard Bean, a sitcom about young Marx, where we were given three episodes: a shaky pilot, which I call "Who stole the silver?" a stonking episode, firing on all comic cylinders, which I call "Who's Your Father?" (free pun included), and the weird episode where everybody acts seriously (which usually comes much later than episode 3 in a real sitcom, as it's designed to deepen our affection for the characters, which I call "Sad Days"). I enjoyed episode 2 very much, but episodes 1 and 3 were middling. More than anything, this expanded my appreciation for Rory Kinnear. I had him down as a "character actor", as his Hamlet, while well-spoken, lacked charisma. By the same token, his Iago was riveting because of his non-descriptness, his oh-so-average London-boy-out-on-the-town type utterly sinister through his recognisability and ordinariness. His Creature in the tv show "Penny Dreadful" showed him to be this character actor extraordinaire, as he bled pathos through his monster make-up, and stole all his scenes. But he really carries this so so sitcom. In comedy, he has, in himself, not as a character, all the charisma needed to carry a show. In the second episode (see above), very funny! 3 and a half stars for the show 4 stars for the Madeleines 4 and a half stars for the theatre |
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Post by kathryn on Nov 25, 2017 17:46:49 GMT
Went this afternoon. LOVED the building itself - I wasn’t expecting it to look so pretty, with all the lights dangling down. Hope they’re long-life bulbs, though, it’ll be murder to change them all.
Also, wahey for plenty of ladies loos! Plenty of time to enjoy interval cake (if so inclined - we didn’t indulge today) because you don’t spend half the interval queuing for the loo!
I know early in this thread people were complaining about it being slow to clear the auditorium, and indeed everyone headed out the main exit slowly today, despite the usher trying to attract attention to the exit at the front side. We followed her directions round to the side and got out in no time.
All the place needs is a proper hit - a hottest-ticket-in-town production - to get the punters in to discover the place.
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Post by tmesis on Nov 26, 2017 17:36:08 GMT
I went for the first time to the matinee yesterday. I love where the theatre is located with beautiful views over Tower Bridge and The Tower of London. Also loved the auditorium, very comfy, excellent sight-lines and has a nice 'feel' to it. I didn't really like the foyer though; all a bit bland and I found the lighting annoying. I sure they've paid some designer squillions to come up with the concept but you could achieve the same effect yourself for very little by tying a few orange hankies round bare light bulbs. I think it's a look that will date quite quickly.
The play was enjoyable and interesting about the Marx/Engels relationship. Great set and slick direction. It's not a play to set the world on fire but it was funny and, at the end, touching and way better than most offerings at NT in recent months.
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