527 posts
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Post by vabbian on Jun 18, 2018 10:51:18 GMT
I enjoyed this. 3/5 Simple staging, but acted well by the two mains. Vanessa Kirby was a joy to watch, especially up close, very charismatic. Predictable play though, incredibly mundane, and forgettable. But if you are fans of The Crown or muscley men, it's not a bad way to spend an evening. You also get an education in an alternative use for blenders! Though don’t expect to see that on any cookery programme anytime soon. I very very sincerely hope not |
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2,480 posts
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Post by zahidf on Jul 23, 2018 22:20:34 GMT
Snore.... This dragged more than the Lehman trilogy at a third of the length
Got a good laugh from the blender scene mind
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923 posts
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Post by Snciole on Aug 3, 2018 10:29:19 GMT
My friend went yesterday and it seems Kirkby has (temporarily) left the production as an understudy was one. As she was the main reason I was going, coupled with dreadful reviews I've decided to exchange my ticket.
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2,743 posts
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Post by n1david on Aug 3, 2018 10:47:42 GMT
Oh damn. I’m going tonight. I wonder if she has time off for Mission Impossible publicity duties. Wasn’t too optimistic about the show but like Snciole was largely going to see her. Not sure it’s worth the trip to the NT in this weather for 75 minutes of an understudy. |
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923 posts
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Post by Snciole on Aug 3, 2018 10:57:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 11:29:50 GMT
Especially as the NT works in rep so could very easily have just not scheduled these performances...
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87 posts
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Post by greenswan on Aug 3, 2018 13:36:53 GMT
I recommend against seeing it. The most boring 90 minutes of theatre I’ve seen in a long time. And I couldn’t leave because I was in the middle of the row. The setting doesn’t work because the stakes are not high enough, the actors don’t connect and the party scenes are interminable. Saw it with the understudy yesterday - 1/5 stars.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 17:56:48 GMT
So ticket duly returned. If Vanessa Kirby can't be faffed to turn up, neither can I. The Queen Mum was still up and about in a golf cart at 100. They just don't have the stamina these days.
I'm going to treat myself to a Negroni instead.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 18:44:14 GMT
She wasn’t in the show
July 24th
Has she been off all this time ??
Weird for the NT
It’s such a sh*t production
Perhaps she left out of boredom
She might be in The Crown
And Mission Impossible
But both her and her agent
Obviously lack any judgment
Appearing in this pile of waste
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 18:45:37 GMT
The best
Was Mies Julie
Yael Farber style
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 20:02:25 GMT
Well, that was truly dreadful. Empty, pointless and clunky. The acting was pretty poor as well, though maybe that's unkind as I don't see how anyone could do much with it.
Do people at the NT go to really weird parties or have they never been to a party but have very odd ideas about them?
Why were there 30 people at the curtain call for a three hander? No wonder ticket prices have rocketed.
Why did people climb into the dishwashers at one point?
So many questions.
I liked her silver skirt though.
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Aug 3, 2018 20:12:45 GMT
Why did people climb into the dishwashers at one point? Is this like the mabeth box question? Are dishwashers now deeply symbolic? Or are these people just not paying the bills if they break them? |
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5,690 posts
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Post by lynette on Aug 3, 2018 20:23:01 GMT
Well, that was truly dreadful. Empty, pointless and clunky. The acting was pretty poor as well, though maybe that's unkind as I don't see how anyone could do much with it. Do people at the NT go to really weird parties or have they never been to a party but have very odd ideas about them? Why were there 30 people at the curtain call for a three hander? No wonder ticket prices have rocketed. Why did people climb into the dishwashers at one point? So many questions. I liked her silver skirt though. I suppose like with the Lehman Bros they were taken on and paid😂 |
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1,217 posts
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Post by nash16 on Aug 3, 2018 23:44:46 GMT
If Orlando Bloom can take time out of his run (for two prolonged periods) to spend time with Katy Perry, Vanessa should be allowed to take time off for/to:
Suggested reasons for absence invited.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2018 8:02:01 GMT
If Orlando Bloom can take time out of his run (for two prolonged periods) to spend time with Katy Perry, Vanessa should be allowed to take time off for/to: Suggested reasons for absence invited. salvage her dignity? I read an interview she gave recently which suggested that she is not enjoying being in this play. |
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Post by dlevi on Aug 5, 2018 4:04:58 GMT
Saw this last night ( Saturday ) and Ms Kirby wasn't in. Nor has she been in for most of the past week. No where on the NT website was this information in evidence, nor on the e-mail reminder of "Your attending an event at the National Theatre this week." Refunds were not offered nor were apologies. The NT is usually pretty great in terms of customer service but not this evening. I bought tickets to this because of Vanessa Kirby and my disappointment in not seeing her was rather profound. Her understudy gave a solid performance but one which did not meet the extravagant larger-than-life demands of the role.
I didn't find the production boring, but that's not to say that its good. By taking away the mystical aspect of it being Midsummer's eve, Ms Stenham's adaptation is really not more than an extended episode of Made in Chelsea or another nighttime soap wherein an entitled-drug using-rich girl plays a power game with a servant. The play became small. The people even smaller, which given the vast scale of the production could not have been the intention.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2018 7:37:52 GMT
According to the notice someone posted on twitter her absence is due to "indisposition" so it does sound like illness rather than a planned absence
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2018 8:29:20 GMT
According to the notice someone posted on twitter her absence is due to "indisposition" so it does sound like illness rather than a planned absence Have you ever seen a handout like that referring to a leading actor which doesn’t say “indisposition” ? They’ve said that in the past when I’ve known for a fact the actor has entirely left the production. |
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 5, 2018 8:38:18 GMT
According to the Oxford English Dictionary - Indisposition can mean "lack of enthusiasm or inclination" as well as "mild illness". So the former interpretation could be truer in this instance?
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2018 8:58:05 GMT
Do people at the NT go to really weird parties or have they never been to a party but have very odd ideas about them?. My assumption has always been that in rehearsal they are asked to improvise a party and they base it on the sort of parties that actors and directors go to - they think it’s normal - one feature at the NT is that open use of cocaine is usually included as a standard party feature. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2018 9:44:44 GMT
Looking at the understudy's twitter feed - twitter.com/cescyknight - she clearly wasn't expecting to go on for Kirby on the 24th (otherwise she probably wouldn't have booked a holiday in Mallorca) and her subsequent tweets indicate her subsequent appearances weren't planned. So I don't see any reason to assume this is anything other than illness. |
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2018 9:58:40 GMT
Looking at the understudy's twitter feed - twitter.com/cescyknight - she clearly wasn't expecting to go on for Kirby on the 24th (otherwise she probably wouldn't have booked a holiday in Mallorca) and her subsequent tweets indicate her subsequent appearances weren't planned. So I don't see any reason to assume this is anything other than illness. Presumably she is usually one of the 30 extras so would have been in the production anyway and booked her holiday in advance accordingly just to fit with the sechedule. |
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294 posts
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Post by dani on Aug 5, 2018 10:55:21 GMT
Do people at the NT go to really weird parties or have they never been to a party but have very odd ideas about them?. My assumption has always been that in rehearsal they are asked to improvise a party and they base it on the sort of parties that actors and directors go to - they think it’s normal - one feature at the NT is that open use of cocaine is usually included as a standard party feature. I've never seen an onstage party scene that wasn't totally embarrassing. They're usually pretty bad in films, too, though I like the party scene in The Great Beauty. Not that it bears any resemblance to parties I've been to. |
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1,502 posts
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Post by foxa on Aug 5, 2018 16:53:28 GMT
I remember liking the staging of the party scene in 'The Revenger's Tragedy' with Rory Kinnear some years ago. Really excellent use of the revolve and that sense you get of wandering into different rooms with different atmospheres/event/ghastly goings-on.
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1,103 posts
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Post by mallardo on Aug 5, 2018 18:06:44 GMT
Party scenes are very hard to stage - clearly. I don't think Joe Hill-Gibbins got enough credit for keeping what was essentially a three hour night club party going in relatively convincing fashion in Absolute Hell.
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