1,119 posts
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 10, 2017 19:43:48 GMT
Ooh youre such a Phineas Fogg!☺ Phileas Fogg I assume you mean ? Yes. I am. Sigh! Eye roll |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 21:19:03 GMT
"Commercial success within the building" Does that mean running a shop and a cafe? Is that his job? I thought other people would do that and Mr N be in charge of what plays are put on... call me naive. I was referring to his success in terms of ticket sales, which have been excellent overall. He hasn't had the transfers to the West End though (which is why I phrased it as 'within the building'). |
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Post by lynette on Aug 10, 2017 21:22:02 GMT
"Commercial success within the building" Does that mean running a shop and a cafe? Is that his job? I thought other people would do that and Mr N be in charge of what plays are put on... call me naive. I was referring to his success in terms of ticket sales, which have been excellent overall. He hasn't had the transfers to the West End though (which is why I phrased it as 'within the building'). 😂I obviously need to catch up with the lingo. Sorry! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 3:22:56 GMT
I was referring to his success in terms of ticket sales, which have been excellent overall. He hasn't had the transfers to the West End though (which is why I phrased it as 'within the building'). But UK touring by the NT has mushroomed, and that's all done on a commercial basis, to subsidise the South Bank theatres. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 9:29:42 GMT
I was referring to his success in terms of ticket sales, which have been excellent overall. He hasn't had the transfers to the West End though (which is why I phrased it as 'within the building'). But UK touring by the NT has mushroomed, and that's all done on a commercial basis, to subsidise the South Bank theatres. Touring is a lagging indicator though, with War Horse, Curious Incident and now This House from the Hytner era making up much of that. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 10:53:58 GMT
Jane Eyre is at present on a similar UK tour, wide and lengthy and to large theatres. And Hedda Gabler is about to start on another such. There have been two concurrent such tours for quite a while, and they continue into the new year at least.
And People, Places and Things is on a limited, midscale tour this autumn, in league with Headlong. And of course My Country had a long and successful middle- to small-scale tour this year, following last year's nationwide triumphant we're here because we're here. And there's the forthcoming NT programme of work in selected hard-to-reach localities.
The NT under Rufus Norris has a far greater and strategically plan commitment to national presence than under Nicholas Hytner, when it amounted to NT Live and a handful of windfall successes to exploit.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 11:36:17 GMT
I very much agree on the strategy regarding the greater regional commitment, which is something I hoped to see (especially now that I've returned north). The way that big hits lead to years of touring is what is currently not being fed into that, though. A History Boys, War Horse and Curious Incident is going go make the balance sheet look healthier and takes some pressure off elsewhere, especially with 3% cut from the Arts Council grant over the next few years. I don't know the arrangement with Bristol Old Vic but they originated the production of Jane Eyre.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 11:46:24 GMT
I don't know the arrangement with Bristol Old Vic but they originated the production of Jane Eyre. Yes, Bristol Old Vic sole-produced the original two-part production. Then, the NT and BOV co-produced the revised, one-part production. And lastly, National Theatre Productions produced the tour of this NT/BOV production. (As you know, BOV is not resourced to set up or to risk such a large-scale tour). |
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Post by lynette on Aug 11, 2017 11:47:04 GMT
Great a touring policy and hard to reach places. But what they are touring isn't that marvellous is it? Well, we may agree to differ there. What the NT should be about is the highest quality drama and shows with the highest quality production values and our very best actors. Actors should be begging to play there. Directors queuing up and writers dreaming...with some good studio workouts.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 12:28:52 GMT
But what they are touring isn't that marvellous is it? Well, we may agree to differ there. Yes, we differ! I've seen all the recent NT tours once (One Man Two Guvnors, War Horse, Curious Incident, My Country, Jane Eyre) and they were all excellent productions which worked very well with the audiences. I saw them all in Cardiff and there is no equivalent theatre here, home or touring in, so these NT shows make a genuine enhancement to the wide range of theatre on show here. What the NT should be about is the highest quality drama and shows with the highest quality production values and our very best actors. Actors should be begging to play there. Directors queuing up and writers dreaming...with some good studio workouts. Well, yes to all that. But also, the NT should aspire to be at the forefront of live discussion and exploration of hot issues. Not relying on museum pieces off the shelf. The NT has made huge stridees in this direction under Rufus Norris. Yes, there've been a few recent misfires - probably because of the huge number of new productions which are required to be generated to satisfy the three-plus NT SouthBank stages. By contrast, National Theatre Wales only produces about five shows a year on average and can schedule them as, when and where appropriate. The NT on the SouthBank is, artistically, too much of a sausage factory. Hopefully, the NT will be able to beef up its New Work Department to develop all its future projects to a level more ready for production? |
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1,120 posts
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Aug 11, 2017 14:45:07 GMT
It's a shame, because the NT Studio is doing great work and writers are falling over themselves to be there. At any time the Studio has something like 60+ plays in development. The problem is so few of them make it to one of the main spaces, and almost everyone wants to be in the Dorfman.
The Olivier and to a lesser extent the Lyttleton are fiendish spaces to write for, and one major problem is the lack of training and development opportunities for emerging or early-mid career writers to write for such large spaces. Emerging writers are under pressure to write to the two-person studio model. And yet the industry expects them to be able to make the leap from writing for the Dorfman or Court Upstairs, to writing for the Olivier, by themselves. Most writers struggle do it because all of the training and development has been within the black box hegemony, and when they're given the chance and fail, they fail so publicly and are criticised so harshly it puts others off. So we've ended up with two of the main auditoriums in London actively scaring off writers, which means they end up being programmed with an endless cycle of classics and revivals.
The tide is starting to turn. There is more of a push to encourage emerging writers to write big. But things won't change until there is more investment and more willingness to take risks.
On the other hand the NT are planning a big push to tour more and do more with regional partners and hopefully open up the NT to regional talent.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 15:04:39 GMT
On the other hand the NT are planning a big push to tour more and do more with regional partners and hopefully open up the NT to regional talent. Interesting. Are you referring to the programme to work with six areas of low arts engagement, with funding from ACE's strategic touring fund, announced on 12 July? Or is this more general touring, still to be programmed and announced? |
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Post by lynette on Aug 11, 2017 15:11:30 GMT
Yes HG and samw I 'get' all that. How did we get here? So stick to new stuff in Dorfman with small casts, old stuff in Lyttleton and big stuff, like the odd musical and Shakespeare in the Olivier. Simples
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 15:14:31 GMT
^NOT LIKE!
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Post by Jan on Aug 11, 2017 17:11:25 GMT
Yes HG and samw I 'get' all that. How did we get here? So stick to new stuff in Dorfman with small casts, old stuff in Lyttleton and big stuff, like the odd musical and Shakespeare in the Olivier. Simples That won't work because then you only get the most bland and familiar old stuff and Shakespeares because interesting and unfamiliar old stuff can only fill the Dorfmann. Hence we get Macbeth again instead of Henry VIII. |
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Post by lynette on Aug 11, 2017 21:15:00 GMT
I don't think so. Why not put Henry VIII on in the Olivier? Can't be worse than some of the stuff they have put on. Come on, Jan. What I suggest suits the type of play available for each stage. You can fill all three venues if you put on good productions. End of. Probably not. 😱
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Post by showgirl on Aug 14, 2017 4:03:34 GMT
As I've said before, surely the NT could house successful regional productions, many of which are already co-productions by theatres quite distant from each other geographically? (Eg Lancaster/Stoke/Watford). This includes both revivals and new work. I know some of those well-received productions might work better in smaller spaces and from comments above, the Dorfman is already over-subscribed (shame it's the worst of the 3 NT spaces for many audience members), but some of them must surely be suitable for the Lyttelton and Olivier?
I've lost count of all the brilliant plays or shows I've read about, even in the last year, in places like Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield etc, which I had no hope of seeing at the original venue but would have loved to catch if only they toured or transferred. Why cannot the NT step in here?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2017 11:08:28 GMT
I wish we had the same as Germany's Theatertreffen, where ten productions voted for by a panel, taken from across all Germany, Austria and Switzerland, are presented over a couple of weeks, they also include productions originating from other countries, as long as they were performed there. Alongside it is the Stuckmarkt which focuses on new writing talent. Tickets sell out in hours but it's a great showcase. To be honest, though it has become more like half a festival as demand totally overwhelms supply for the smaller scale productions.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2017 11:28:55 GMT
I've lost count of all the brilliant plays or shows I've read about, even in the last year, in places like Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield etc, which I had no hope of seeing at the original venue but would have loved to catch if only they toured or transferred. Why cannot the NT step in here? The NT SouthBank has programmed Jane Eyre and Peter Pan from Bristol Old Vic, the Young Chekhov trilogy from Chichester Festival Theatre, wonder.land from Manchester International Festival, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour from National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre, and numerous smaller scale shows coming into the Temporary Theatre. And it has also co-produced Husbands & Sons with the Royal Exchange, LOVE with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Barber Shop Chronicles with West Yorkshire Playhouse. |
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Post by peggs on Aug 14, 2017 11:50:53 GMT
Bit of a leap surely Jan? I had to google Mr Stone☺ You ought to get out more Marty. Years ago the NT staged The Wild Duck with an actual duck in it and they had to abandon one performance when it wouldn't stop quacking. Despite that Stone cast an actual duck in his production too. That's the sort of brave convention-defying direction we need. I want a play with a real life duck now! How loud was it's quacking that it derailed a whole performance?
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Post by Jan on Aug 14, 2017 12:25:28 GMT
You ought to get out more Marty. Years ago the NT staged The Wild Duck with an actual duck in it and they had to abandon one performance when it wouldn't stop quacking. Despite that Stone cast an actual duck in his production too. That's the sort of brave convention-defying direction we need. I want a play with a real life duck now! How loud was it's quacking that it derailed a whole performance?
In the old NT production it wasn't so much the volume as the duration, it just wouldn't stop. In the Simon Stone production there was a clear perspex box on stage filled with water - at one point they put the duck in this thing and it went absolutely mad, you could see its little legs paddling away beneath the surface - I don't remember anything about the actual play. |
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Post by lynette on Aug 14, 2017 13:24:21 GMT
Shall we add Duck to the list? Macaroons, dogs, and ducks?
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Aug 14, 2017 15:33:49 GMT
I want a play with a real life duck now! How loud was it's quacking that it derailed a whole performance?
In the old NT production it wasn't so much the volume as the duration, it just wouldn't stop. In the Simon Stone production there was a clear perspex box on stage filled with water - at one point they put the duck in this thing and it went absolutely mad, you could see its little legs paddling away beneath the surface - I don't remember anything about the actual play. I am quite envious but agree that would have made all human interaction redundant. |
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Post by Jan on Aug 23, 2017 19:45:23 GMT
So Angels departs the NT with a Broadway not a West End transfer. My friend who read it for an audition tells me the Rory Mullarkey play isn't ready and will be painfully exposed in the Olivier. He also tells me next year Vanessa Kirby is doing Miss Julie in the Lyttelton with Natalie Abrahami directing. A 3 handed in that space? Oh dear. The National Disaster continues. And also, of the near 100 Strindberg plays available they're doing the same one that we've seen a dozen times before. This is Billington's complaint, they're not exploring the classical repertoire. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2017 20:07:39 GMT
Miss Julie in the Lyttelton with Natalie Abrahami directing. A 3 handed in that space? Oh dear. The National Disaster continues. No need to fret. Ingmar Bergman's production of Miss Julie played marvellously in the Lyttelton, if memory serves. And there've been two-handers there, such as The Island. And didn't Vanessa Redgrave perform there in a monologue? |
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