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Post by foxa on Jul 4, 2018 22:25:19 GMT
Thanks for posting, Nev! I'm seeing this next week, so pleased to read your good review.
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Post by QueerTheatre on Jul 5, 2018 15:26:44 GMT
I'm going tonight and had been slightly dreading it, thanks for giving me a glimmer of hope nev |
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Post by lynette on Jul 5, 2018 15:46:17 GMT
Thanks nev and welcome.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Jul 6, 2018 19:26:20 GMT
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Post by learfan on Jul 6, 2018 21:41:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2018 0:53:45 GMT
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jul 7, 2018 10:53:57 GMT
I enjoyed this very much on Thursday night. It finished at 22:20, so not as long as originally announced.
The three actors are excellent with Simon Russell Beale being truly hilarious when playing the female characters. The story is very interesting. Act I was perfect and it really flew by. Act II was good but slightly boring in parts, a little bit of trimming would certainly help. Act III wraps things nicely although the twist dancing could have been a bit shorter, it was very funny to start with but it goes on and on and on.
Great set too and I love that the piano music was live. It sounded really great. The piano player is in the right hand side of the stage so I'm not sure if it would be distracting if you sit close to the stage in that area. We were in Stalls row P centre and the view was excellent.
I'm sure they will iron a few bits before the opening night and I look forward to seeing it again later in the run.
Highly recommended.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 7:51:53 GMT
Well. Exposition ahoy! I feel like I've spent over three hours watching one of those Channel 5 drama/documentaries. There's so much standing at the front of the stage telling the story (often speaking about their own characters in the third person) that I half expected someone to pull out a projector to demonstrate their point on occasions. Alas, they did not.
There's also a piano player at the side of the stage which for a moment I got excited thinking that she was going to raise up like an old fashioned cinema organ but that excitement was soon stamped out. She got a bit loud at times and started getting distracting but I forgive her, she's sat there for a very long time. She must get bored.
While it's a fascinating story (although they really deal with the beginnings of the bank rather than its 'collapse') and I did enjoy it, I found it all a bit too long myself (although strangely the third act feels really rushed) and it got mildly less interesting as the whole thing went on but the cast are strong and work had for their money. Dame Sir Lord Simon Russell Beale does steal it for the most part and both he and Adam Godley play off each other very well as the 'couples'. If I have a problem with the show I think it's that each act is just a variation on a theme and there's no real drama or any light and shade. What you get in one act is virtually the same as you get in the others really - they look the same, they sound the same, they feel the same, they're performed in the same way. It's almost like a fringe play that's just been given a bigger budget. Although they do move all of the boxes around to different places in each act so that mixes it up a bit. Which is nice.
On the plus side, there's some delightful twisting from Dame Sir Lord Simon Russell Beale and Ben Miles, some nice coats, some funny accents, two men kissing and if you love a revolve, you'll be in heaven. The '80s office chic' set is spinning around more than Kylie in a gold hot pants disco comeback.
Oh and for those interested in those kinds of things, there are gun shots in the third act and some dizzy inducing video screen work too.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 8:34:21 GMT
Was also there last night and agree with Ryan. I enjoyed it but there is no real plot points or drama in the story that really moves it forward and I would say it is a bit more episodic in its structute and let’s be honest banking isn’t the most enthralling thing. All the cast were very good and all had good chemistry making the rhythm of the piece flow as well as made playing all the different characters look quite effortless and I can’t fault them at all. Liked the set and thought it was simple and cleverly used. The projections were very good and did like the live piano playing which added to the atmosphere and feel of the show. At the end of the day however I think one of the problems is that this is a story that isn’t worth telling today about rich successful white men and all their success and power. Also as the cast played multiple characters over 150 years i did get a bit confused and it was hard to remember who was who or empahise with what was happening. Overall i did enjoy it and the show did have many strong elements but it wasn’t really a show that resonated with me.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Jul 8, 2018 8:48:19 GMT
I was there last night and agree with lots of what was said. Really enjoyed it, actors were great, was very long but last act rushed, comedy bits were very funny, the set was brilliant and well used, loved the twist and well, it's got SRB in. I liked the narration style telling of the story, thought that was quite clever.
Nominate myself for bad behaviour thread. I was desperate to say hello to Ryan so shouted out your name in a scene reminiscing 'Dan, Dan, Dan'. The only trouble with that is everybody turns and looks who is shouting and making the commotion. Can't believe I was so close, but so far away. Still probably for the best. Never meet your heroes eh Ryan
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2018 11:59:34 GMT
Nominate myself for bad behaviour thread. I was desperate to say hello to Ryan so shouted out your name in a scene reminiscing 'Dan, Dan, Dan'. The only trouble with that is everybody turns and looks who is shouting and making the commotion. Can't believe I was so close, but so far away. Still probably for the best. Never meet your heroes eh Ryan Oh no! Did you see me or were you just hoping that I would hear your plaintive cries above the tinkle of the ice cubes in my gin? You should have hunted me down, I was looking particularly smashing last night too. You'd have seen me looking my best. There will always be a next time. Unless one of us were to die beforehand of course. But let's live in hope instead. |
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Post by kathryn on Jul 9, 2018 11:16:47 GMT
Dame Sir Lord Simon Russell Beale LOL. From now on I am definitely calling him DSLSRB. |
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Post by crowblack on Jul 9, 2018 11:50:04 GMT
I'm only skimming comments here because of spoilers, but is this really rather in the vein of Ink, This House, Network, that kind of thing? Men in suits plays. I've booked to see it in October mainly for SRB though the subject matter really doesn't grab me.
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Post by popcultureboy on Jul 10, 2018 18:04:46 GMT
I'm only skimming comments here because of spoilers, but is this really rather in the vein of Ink, This House, Network, that kind of thing? Men in suits plays. I've booked to see it in October mainly for SRB though the subject matter really doesn't grab me. No spoilers, but if the subject matter doesn't grab you, then SRB or no SRB, I think you'll be bored to tears. |
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Post by n1david on Jul 10, 2018 23:00:37 GMT
Well I thought this was rather excellent tonight.
I think it is a niche story, it’s pretty dense in terms of characters and family relationships (the family tree in the programme helps). It’s about family and heritage and success and failure. It certainly does help to know the story of Lehman’s downfall beforehand as it is told very allegorically here, so there’s no talk of sub-prime mortgages here.
It probably helps that I have a connection to this world, having worked in the City for a while. I interviewed for Lehman a while back but didn’t like the role and husband was offered a job with them a week before they went bust. So the last act had some resonance for me in terms of the Lehman’s which I knew.
Superbly acted, and for me the characters were clearly delineated and loved the scripting that echoes through the generations. Was very well received tonight - the dancing scene that a previous poster didn’t like got a spontaneous round of applause at the close of the scene, and an almost universal standing ovation at the end tonight. Having said that, a few leavers, mostly at the first interval. 3h20 tonight although there seemed to be some confusion as to whether there were two proper 15 minute intervals, or one longer and then a pause. Seemed to be the former to me but hpguess they might be playing with this.
So, not for everyone I reckon, but I thought this was great and tempted to see again.
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Post by foxa on Jul 12, 2018 11:39:33 GMT
I saw this last night - on my own as I reckoned it might be a bit of a Marmite show. I had very charming people sat next to me - I wonder if people choosing to see an esoteric show like this on the night of an important England football match might be a particularly what-the-hell-devil-may-care group. One of my row comrades said he'd been told there had been 40 cancellations for that night, but it looked very full where we were. The audience was entirely intent during the show but at each interval we were all checking our phones for the results and pretending we knew something about football.
The design for this was fantastic and I don't think I've ever seen projections used more effectively. If you are inclined towards dizziness, the whirling revolve and projections might at times get to you (there is a notice up in the theatre about this) but I liked both.
The performances were all superb. I think this was one of my favourite of Ben Miles' performances - and the costumes and the beard really suit him. He is less overtly comic than the other two actors, but he had an inner drive that made his characters' restless pursuit understandable. I grew a little weary of Adam Godley's 'potato' joke in the first act but he was wonderful as Robert Lehman and that was perhaps my favourite section of the play. The twisting scene really worked for me - Godley provides AMAZING tour de force stuff in it.
I was in P in the stalls - very good view for this production. And compared to the hell of the Grand Circle at the Aldwych Theatre, the seats seemed wildly capacious.
I wasn't enamoured of the first act, which felt a bit cold and over-explanatory, and I think a very few people might have left after that act - but Acts 2 and 3 were compelling and seemed to fly by. Much of my experience mirrors n1david's above and as he says, probably not for everyone, but I would recommend.
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Post by Phantom of London on Jul 13, 2018 11:47:22 GMT
I was there last night for the press night, which wasn’t planned and something I don’t like, but still a £15 ticket popped up.
So where to start 3 scolding performances in a play that wasn’t really a knockout and was rather pedestrian in places and found Simon Russell Beale charachters to be confusing as it jumped over the place too much, but still well acted. The set reminded me of the game show the cube and expected Phillip Schifueld to pop out, perhaps not in a loin cloth though.
I found the pioneerist overbearing and made it hard to hear the actors at times.
The family tree did help.
3 Stars
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Post by TallPaul on Jul 13, 2018 11:54:53 GMT
Pioneerists are always overbearing in my experience. It's in the job description!
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Post by n1david on Jul 13, 2018 12:53:20 GMT
5* Times
5* Guardian
4* WOS
4* Stage
4* Daily Mail
4* Telegraph
4* Standard
3* British Theatre
3* FT
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Post by lonlad on Jul 13, 2018 17:44:39 GMT
3 "scolding" performances? I was there as well and don't recall being scolded in the slightest LOL !
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Post by foxa on Jul 13, 2018 18:33:40 GMT
He doesn't do stars but this got an out and out rave from Ben Brantley in the NY Times.
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Post by peggs on Jul 14, 2018 15:43:54 GMT
I've seen brilliance and it's full of cardboard boxes.
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Post by peggs on Jul 14, 2018 16:24:51 GMT
Loved this, after initial miffed why they've stuck them in a box so have to crane head a bit in front row realised set actually superb, projection, music inspired, acting a wee masterclass of changing characters and all rather wonderful. SRB having predictably a lot of fun playing a succession of women, children and aged men, no sign of the Bullard ball sadly. Ben Miles the best I've seen him in a while and looking so much better with his natural hair colour after the alarming dyed job of villa whatever it was called and a rather nifty twisted. Adam Godley suddenly creepy cos he's put on tinted glasses.
I am puzzled by the boxes though, are they specially reinforced but still nice and light? I fear if I try that at work it will not end well.
@ryan you went on the wrong day, topless young man in very tight shorts wandering the theatre, he clearly hadn't read our what to wear thread.
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Post by jek on Jul 14, 2018 16:44:21 GMT
I went this afternoon too and noted the absence of billiard balls - that must have been cut. Really enjoyed this and it zipped along. Wonderful movement (choreography) and Es Devlin set. And appropriately beautiful tailoring. My only problem with it was that I thought the final act was a bit rushed and whereas the rest had been easy to follow I got lost in the 21st century stuff. Well deserved good reviews.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2018 18:28:27 GMT
@ryan you went on the wrong day, topless young man in very tight shorts wandering the theatre, he clearly hadn't read our what to wear thread. He'd clearly read my what to wear guide, just the wrong day! |
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