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Post by n1david on Oct 19, 2018 10:12:44 GMT
That’s odd... have they added more since the original press night or were some just not ready? It’s not one of these shows where they pick a random six to perform each evening.
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Post by dani on Oct 19, 2018 11:48:38 GMT
That’s odd... have they added more since the original press night or were some just not ready? It’s not one of these shows where they pick a random six to perform each evening. I'm not really sure what the story is. I noticed in the Time Out review when it opened that there was reference to it only accommodating half the writers each night. Pretty rough if you weren't one of the writers selected for the first instalment. |
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Post by lynette on Oct 19, 2018 17:46:19 GMT
Wha?... there is more? The stories kinda mesh so how are they adding or replacing them?
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Post by orchidman on Oct 21, 2018 17:33:57 GMT
Saw it yesterday, seems like there are 12 stories, 8 performed per show, I saw the 4 by the new writers that weren't the 4 the press reviewed. Seems weird to me that they have two different versions, and they don't advertise the difference. Especially because I thought it was a pretty incoherent show as a whole, which kind of makes sense if they have been wasting energy coming up with two different combinations of the short stories which do overlap in places.
Really only thought the James Graham story about the young couple was any good. Was expecting more stories like that, small and personal, instead there were some very fanciful pieces about an East End criminal trying to bring down the internet, and another about a ludicrous secret society, which probably didn't work anyway but definitely didn't work alongside some of the other material.
Surprised James Graham would put his name to this so conspicuously after building up a strong reputation elsewhere, and depressing to think that from hundreds of submissions these were the best.
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Post by lynette on Oct 21, 2018 21:45:15 GMT
I didn’t get that there were two versions of this. I feel a bit short changed, why I didn’t know.
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Post by n1david on Oct 21, 2018 22:20:05 GMT
I'm with Lynette, I just find this bizarre. This wasn't presented as a "multiple versions" show so I thought I was seeing the definitive version of Sketching. There are certainly 12 stores credited in the programme I got but I thought I'd seen all of them, but to be honest I didn't engage with it sufficiently to be certain of that. It feels to me even more than I said above that this should have been presented differently, as a workshop production or new writers' showcase, which would have indicated to people that they were seeing something different. There are cheap tickets available for the rest of the run, but I'm not inclined to make another visit to see if the other stories work better.
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 25, 2018 22:59:33 GMT
This is rather wonderful and clever.
At the start of the show they randomly pick out eight stories out of twelve. The talented cast of five then perform then, seemingly swapping between the stories and characters regularly covering a period of 24 hours in London.
The interlinks are clever too, so you get references that cross between the stories. And the sound, animations etc are all perfectly synchronised.
All the time, there’s a wider meta story. And all the strands come to conclusions celebrating the history and diversity of London, whilst also paying attention to wider issues of politics and smaller issues of love and loss.
Okay, I’m really not naive enough to believe this was random and there are some strands that have to be chosen, but the whole way the show is structured which would allow for a wide choice of which sketches to play each day is clever.
We got:
Arnav The Route Master - Funny, League of Gentlemen style tour of London
Katie and Tom Try To Move On - Didn’t love it, but a great twist at the end
The Keycutters Daughter - Who really runs London? Not my favourite
Peter Piper Has A Plan - A good cyberwarfare tale, but unfortunately didn’t understand how data centres operate and data is replicated
Petra’s Polski Sklep - Nice character piece
The Physisist and the Fortune Teller - An Internet dating tale, a little silly
A Rebellion in Theatreland - A neat short tale
The Widow and the Songbird - A cute look at the history of London and the challenges of aging
We got given a 4 page programme/cast list. Really useful and the only way I remember what was performed. A shame not to have seen some of the others though.
A really excellent cast. Samuel James won out for me with his wide range of accents.
First time I’ve been in the venue. A good feel to it, although I don’t think you’d want to sit too far back. I was third row with a post in view but it was fine. Most of the downstairs seats were sold.
I don’t think this will transfer somehow, but it is worth the trip in its closing days. You’ll appreciate it more if you know London.
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Post by smallperson on Oct 25, 2018 23:31:59 GMT
Dr Tom: These were the stories that Family Smallperson saw at the second preview without any sense that there might be more/other options. We loved them all. However when I read the national reviews a few days later I did have to check that I had not either (a) had a series of senior moments or (b) dozed off. I was calling the children seeking reassurance (drag queen? severed hand in the sewers? sex trafficking? where were the other stories we had loved?). It is all clear to me now but at the time I really did wonder from what planet I had been dropped.
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Post by lynette on Oct 26, 2018 4:59:59 GMT
When we went there was no indication at all of any choice. Nothing about more stories and so on. Nothing, nada, nowt. I do think we should have been informed that a choice had been made. It would have made it more interesting maybe.
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 26, 2018 8:47:20 GMT
When we went there was no indication at all of any choice. Nothing about more stories and so on. Nothing, nada, nowt. I do think we should have been informed that a choice had been made. It would have made it more interesting maybe. Didn't you get the bit at the start, where they talk about the power of story, draw bits of paper and then give the names of eight stories, which are projected a line at a time onto the back of the stage? I don't think you'd have realised why they were doing this unless you knew there were multiple versions. And it does look like they've been performing two versions in rotation from the start (I presume they could offer many more combinations, but there must be logistical reasons why they stick with two). Think I got the better selection based on the comments here. But I'd still have been interested to see the other stories, so it's a pity there was never a schedule published. |
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Post by n1david on Oct 26, 2018 8:57:37 GMT
Didn't you get the bit at the start, where they talk about the power of story, draw bits of paper and then give the names of eight stories, which are projected a line at a time onto the back of the stage? Not at the performance I attended, which was after press night. The story titles only appeared on the back of the stage as the stories happened, as a visual clue to help us set ourselves. "Oh, it's the conceptual artists, I can switch off for the next five minutes". |
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Post by lynette on Oct 26, 2018 21:43:23 GMT
Nope didn’t get that at all. In fact I mentioned in my comments that the beginning needed work so I was obviously right seeing as though I didn’t actually get the beginning.
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