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Post by Jon on Oct 13, 2017 22:48:51 GMT
The theatre isn’t hard to find at all, it’s literally ten minutes from London Bridge station via Tooley Street
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Post by showgirl on Oct 14, 2017 3:28:28 GMT
I assume, lynette, that you have checked the website, as I thought the directions were quite good: bridgetheatre.co.uk/your-visit/how-to-find-us/I'll certainly be re-checking these before my visit - provided the reviews justify me keeping my appointment! Coincidentally, given the above comments about ticket sales, I glimpsed a section on the website saying "What if my chosen performance is sold out?" |
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Post by martin1965 on Oct 14, 2017 6:14:33 GMT
I’d be very grateful if you have visited this theatre if you would give me a few directions if it isn’t obvious. I’m not hot on geography. Ta Its almost right next to Tower Bridge. Part of huge revamp of that part of the riverbank. When i went there i hardly recognised it! |
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Post by lynette on Oct 14, 2017 13:51:44 GMT
Ok thanks! I need a big flashing arrow saying Lynette, this way. I’ll report back. 😂
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Post by peggs on Oct 14, 2017 16:18:27 GMT
I too was wondering how easy it would be to locate and find way back to London bridge, I have a poor sense of direction and invariably go right round the houses to find anything so Lynette if you could sort out that giant arrow it would be most handy.
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Post by Jan on Oct 14, 2017 16:44:08 GMT
I too was wondering how easy it would be to locate and find way back to London bridge, I have a poor sense of direction and invariably go right round the houses to find anything so Lynette if you could sort out that giant arrow it would be most handy. Lynette is still struggling to find the Barbican after it's been open 30+ years. |
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Post by peggs on Oct 14, 2017 18:38:23 GMT
I too was wondering how easy it would be to locate and find way back to London bridge, I have a poor sense of direction and invariably go right round the houses to find anything so Lynette if you could sort out that giant arrow it would be most handy. Lynette is still struggling to find the Barbican after it's been open 30+ years. Well on the basis that I swear I did a mile detour when a quick walk up a 20 metre road would have done the trick last time I went I can share her pain. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 10:20:18 GMT
Well. I rather enjoyed it. It's a bit sitcom-like at times but it takes a bit more of a sad turn in the second half. It's a bit of a romp really. The set is fabulous and dear old Nicky H was obviously attached to the revolve at the Nash because he's put one in here! Hoorah.
Rory Kinnear really is an extraordinary actor I think. This characterisation of Karl Marx is not entirely the 'hero' and he does and says some dreadful things to people but Kinnear plays him so wonderfully that you really do forgive it. The scenes as a family are really warm and rather touching. For me the best performance is by Oliver Chris though. It's a very Oliver Chris performance in all honesty but he has just such an easy and elegant charm about him that's it's a delight to watch. There's a touch of the David Niven about him in that respect.
Crowd loved it. The theatre looks rather smashing especially the foyer with all its Tom Dixon-esque lighting (although there's a hint of the Dorfman about the auditorium). Nicky needs to sort out the bar service though, it was pretty shambolic. I could have brewed my own beer in the time it took to be served. BUT it was the first night so they'll no doubt get better and the staff were DELIGHTFUL. And the programmes are really lovely (very Nash-like).
Oh and if you get the chance to order the interval madeleines you MUST.
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Post by lynette on Oct 15, 2017 12:48:02 GMT
Jan, you are so right.
😳
Thanks for the heads up on the madeleines, Ryan.
Did you by any chance check out the loos? Nick H has promised plenty of them.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Oct 15, 2017 13:54:36 GMT
I enjoyed this too. Act I and II looked like two different plays though. Act one is like a farce and then Act II becomes a serious play. The ending was a bit too cosy for my liking and didn't really fit in with the rest of the play. But overall it was very good imho.
Great set. They had a couple of very clumsy change of scenes but it was only the first preview so totally forgivable.
Both Rory Kinnear and Oliver Chris were excellent. The supporting cast were in general very strong.
The theatre looked amazing but it was all a bit chaotic both at the bar and inside the Auditorium. Staff were nice and pleasant but didn't seem to know what they were doing most of the time. They only opened the Auditorium about 10 minutes before the starting time. Lots of people sat in the wrong seats. It took a long time for everything to get sorted and the play started after 20:00 with a brief introduction by Nicholas Hytner.
Row C in Gallery 1 has not legroom whatsoever which is terrible for a brand new theatre. Not impressed by that and I'm sure our very own Monkey won't be either.
Toilets were great. The gents were quite big.
Lynette, I assume the Ladies were big also. Nobody was queuing outside before the play or during the interval.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 15, 2017 13:57:23 GMT
Approximate running time, those who've seen it, please? I do know this could change but a rough idea would help - thank you.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Oct 15, 2017 14:01:43 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes
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Post by showgirl on Oct 15, 2017 15:31:54 GMT
Thank you, theatrefan77; helpful as though not ideal, I had to book an evening performance in Kingston as that was the only time I could fit in the Northern Broadsides touring production of For Love Or Money. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 15, 2017 16:51:26 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 17:05:32 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. No, it was supposed to start at 7.45 but it was delayed. |
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Post by rumbledoll on Oct 15, 2017 18:48:42 GMT
Wow, has it already started? Or was it some sort of non-ticketed pre-preview? Lucky you, guys! And great to hear that show is entertaining  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 18:58:30 GMT
Approximate running time, those who've seen it, please? I do know this could change but a rough idea would help - thank you. The programme says 2 hours 20 minutes with a 20 minute interval. The show started late and there was a bit of chit-chat from Nicky H beforehand which made it longer. There were a couple of scene changes that seemed to take a bit longer than they should so I imagine that once it starts running properly, they'll tighten up and it'll probably sit at around the 2:20 time. Also for those who were wondering about the directions to the theatre, the route I took was fairly straightforward. Come out of London Bridge at the Tooley Street exit and turn right. Keep walking in a straight line along Tooley Street until you get to LaLit Hotel. Turn left just before the hotel and keep walking straight on, you'll walk past some buildings in your right with a small 'park' to your left. You'll come to a path that winds to your left and you'll see City Hall in front of you and Tower Bridge to your right. The theatre is right in the middle of the two landmarks. Big red sign outside. I'm sure I've made that sound rather complicated but it really isn't. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 19:37:37 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. From years ago, I remember seeing Michael Green doing one of his ‘The Art of Coarse Acting’ shows. If I recall correctly, one of the sections was on how to upstage the performer during ‘Friends, Romans etc.’, his first tip was to repeat every word loudly, another being to wander across the stage apron at opportune moments. I think it’s in the book, can anyone confirm my hazy memory? |
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Post by Jan on Oct 16, 2017 8:38:39 GMT
Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. From years ago, I remember seeing Michael Green doing one of his ‘The Art of Coarse Acting’ shows. If I recall correctly, one of the sections was on how to upstage the performer during ‘Friends, Romans etc.’, his first tip was to repeat every word loudly, another being to wander across the stage apron at opportune moments. I think it’s in the book, can anyone confirm my hazy memory? McKellen said that one reason he didn't like having the audience on stage with him in the NT Coriolanus (participating in the crowd scenes - I perfected my Various Citizens in that) was that friends visiting him in the dressing room after the show would invariably open with "That dress !" and similar. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 9:46:15 GMT
Wow, has it already started? Or was it some sort of non-ticketed pre-preview? Lucky you, guys! And great to hear that show is entertaining I do believe they opened two pre-previews up to members. One on Saturday and one tomorrow (I'm very excited to be going) The whole house was £5 or £7.50. |
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Post by showgirl on Oct 17, 2017 14:19:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2017 9:31:54 GMT
Thoroughly enjoyed this last night. Kinnear & Chris on top form and the supporting cast are equally brilliant. Loved the set, though agree it's a play of two halves. It lost me a bit in Act 2, but enjoyable none the less. It's not One Man, Two Gunners which I think I was expecting given he creative team and artwork.
The Bridge is gorgeous. A 10 minute walk from London Bridge and a variety of restaurants surrounding it, it's a really enjoyable evening out. The stage is huge, Olivier-like in size, while the auditorium reminded me a lot of the Dorfman. Comfortable seats and thankfully legroom where I was sat in the stalls. Will be interesting to see how they reconfigure it. Plentiful gents toilets and surprised by the fact that they are gender-neutral. Got a little bit of shock when a woman emerged from the lavatory that I was queueing outside.
Not a particular bold and brave choice of play to open the theatre with, but it's a great venue and I hope will be a welcome addition to London Theatre.
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Post by andrew on Oct 18, 2017 15:06:00 GMT
I'm not sure what I think about the Bridge Theatre. It's location is lovely, if somewhat out of the way. Something about traipsing to the both too-flashy and kind-of-grotty London Bridge and then walking along to a spot which was until now the preserve of local politicians and American tourists unsettled me somehow. I didn't have enough time to go to a sit down restaurant so I had to have a Pret (No Maccas, BK, KFC within a mile radius, and they call this London?!?!).
The foyer is to die for, appropriately large, lots of doors in, long (and exceptionally busy) bar. Someone's forgotten to take the wrappers off the lightbulbs though, I'm sure they'll get around to it. I love the bar taps dispensing water into plastic cups both on the ground level and the below ground stalls level - including one for sparkling water which caught me off guard. The toilets are very Young Vic in their "men over here, but gosh if you're not exclusively a man you can also come over here, or indeed you could choose to go over there, it's all the same isn't it, we're not judging, but also we don't want to upset anyone by having unisex toilets, just come in and pee for god sake" signage. I didn't try the cakes, I was full, everyone else had a plate of them though.
The auditorium is the Dorfman. I can sort of half see what people are saying about it being Olivier-esque, but it's not an amphitheatre really, it's the Dorfman with a slightly bigger stage and with the sidemost seats pointing helpfully in the right direction. There's nothing wrong with that, it's flexible, it's intimate, it's a proven formula, but I did a double take when I walked in at how Hytnarr (see what I did?) have just copied their lovely plans from the Cottesloe conversion and had another bash at it. How lovely it'll be to have Nick Hytner programming part of the NT again. The seats are quite comfy, we had excellent legroom in the stalls, and sightlines seem pretty preserved from all areas. It turns out, new theatre smell is like the new car smell. I had no phone reception in the auditorium, which is probably a feature rather than a bug.
My biggest gripe was the queue to exit the silly place. Both at the interval and at the end of the show, from row C we were standing around 7 and 10 minutes respectively to get out. There's only two stalls exits, one on either side, and it took ages to get out. People were muttering dramatically, but perhaps not without basis, about what it would be like in a fire. It's too late to fix this unfortunately, so bring a crossword if you're not in a gallery.
The show itself was fine, not my favourite, quite liked the set, particularly the chimneys, especially liked the children. It was a second preview etc etc.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2017 19:40:42 GMT
I'm embarrassed to ask this, but can someone tell me what a madeleine is? I tried to google but it didn't help (and I got some highly disturbing conspiracy theories about Madeleine McCann...)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2017 19:42:25 GMT
I'm embarrassed to ask this, but can someone tell me what a madeleine is? I tried to google but it didn't help (and I got some highly disturbing conspiracy theories about Madeleine McCann...) Small sponge cakes (feeling hungry now).... |
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