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Post by kathryn on Aug 9, 2018 17:26:40 GMT
That’s the annoying thing about ballots - there’s almost certainly people who are booking tickets just ‘cos they got pulled in the ballot, who wouldn’t have got around to booking otherwise, while people would have loved to go didn’t get the chance.
Maybe they’ll do returns, though? There’s bound to be people who can’t make it on the day. Maybe if you call and ask them they’d put you on a waiting list or something.
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Post by Polly1 on Aug 9, 2018 19:02:31 GMT
I always miss out on such things which is a pity as I would have liked to see this. I am a big fan and love "The Weir" will be interested to hear how this revival compares. I suggest we parade up and down outside the Donmar with a "Where's my ticket" placard.....or possibly just sit at home quietly on the sofa, inwardly fuming! I too would have liked to see this one! , you shall go to the ball! |
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Post by Latecomer on Aug 9, 2018 21:26:48 GMT
I suggest we parade up and down outside the Donmar with a "Where's my ticket" placard.....or possibly just sit at home quietly on the sofa, inwardly fuming! I too would have liked to see this one! , you shall go to the ball! Polly is my ticket Angel......thanks!  Love this forum! |
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Post by lynette on Aug 14, 2018 21:48:05 GMT
You know, far from me to take anything personally, but I’ve not been asked.
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Post by foxa on Aug 15, 2018 8:49:43 GMT
Nor I!
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Post by alnoor on Aug 23, 2018 20:00:55 GMT
There is one ticket on the Donmar website just now for 3rd October.
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Post by n1david on Sept 4, 2018 11:36:11 GMT
I've had to put my 2 tix for Weds 12 Sep up for sale in the Noticeboard - would normally just return to Donmar but would be nice if someone here who didn't win the ballot can use them!
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Post by catcat100 on Sept 12, 2018 0:16:18 GMT
Saw this tonight and actually quite enjoyed it.
Brendan Coyle was an excellent story teller, the slight Irish gravelly tinge in his voice and the haggard look all added to his character which you easily accept.
The story travels along well, its not a face paced play but you are never looking for it to speed up. There's plenty to think about, plenty of questions going around in your head and the ending comes in and adds even more to your list.
I find there are some plays which provoke these questions leave me a bit unfulfilled, as if the play hasn't done its job. But didn't find that here, you get a solid play and some solid questions.
The setting is intimate, probably max of 50 people, but you have loads of room and you feel very close to the actor. The picture on the website is quite accurate.
We were only able to go into the room a couple of minutes before the start and knowing how it begins I wouldn't be surprised if that will be the case for all shows. But there's a bar there so you shouldn't mind waiting too much although it did get a bit warm.
I really want to give this 5 stars but think the audio was just slightly out, you sometimes got sound effects, you sometimes got atmospheric music but just didn't feel constant. Although think its only 2nd show so hopefully they'll tinker a bit.
So 4.5 stars it is and as I only got a ticket at 4.30 today via a random visit to the website hoping for future dates its an unexpected treat.
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Post by bellboard27 on Sept 12, 2018 20:49:25 GMT
Went tonight. Fully echo catcat100 Brendan Coyle makes a great story teller in this intimate setting. I also picked up tickets from the site on the day so it’s good to look out for this if needing something last minute. Advertised run time is 2 hours incl 15 minute interval, but we were out by 9.20 (in case that’s useful for transport home). |
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Post by n1david on Sept 13, 2018 12:17:30 GMT
Also there last night (since none of you lot wanted my tix) and enjoyed it although a bit less than the previous two posters.
Brendan Coyle is excellent and the setting is very well done. You’re on old seats like Found but the seats are spaced widely enough for Coyle to stroll around the audience. My issue was with the story itself and I think it’s that I didn’t engage with the supernatural elements of the story. I wasn’t a fan of The Weir and I just think Conor McPherson isn’t the writer for me. I could see things to think about but I wasn’t profoundly moved - I actually enjoyed the first half, the setup, more than the second.
I also wonder whether this would have worked better straight through - it would be about 90 minutes and, while there was some scene resetting in the interval, I think it would have more impact without the break.
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Post by barelyathletic on Sept 14, 2018 11:40:40 GMT
There are a handful of tickets on the site now for the 26th and 29th if you are quick.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2018 18:02:43 GMT
Glass of wine in the bar - £8.60
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 6:48:55 GMT
Enjoyed this, bit of an MR James style "Ghost Story for Christmas" feel about it. Very intense in the small space with Brendan Coyle wandering around and sitting among the audience at times. A few empty chairs but I did wonder if that's deliberate as some of them are left for Coyle to use. Agree with David it would have worked better straight through. But I guess the interval gives Coyle a rest! No tickets when you arrive, they just tick names off on a list at the entrance. Pile of free cast lists at the entrance, I wasn't offered one but picked one up on the way out. So I hope they were free anyway But my abiding memory is the fact that a glass of wine was £8.60. Or £9.60 for a large one. So I wouldn't suggest getting there early - you are only allowed in the performance space a few minutes before the show, so you'd be fine turning up about 10 minutes before the play starts. And pop to a supermarket beforehand if you want an interval drink. Loos - two cubicles, both unisex. |
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Post by dlevi on Sept 18, 2018 6:54:36 GMT
I saw this last night and had a good time, though it seems like it might be a cut extended monologue left over from "The Weir". Aside from Mr Coyle's command of the space and the play, I was most struck by how beautifully designed the evening is - the subtle lighting, the atmospheric sound and the haunted feeling of the environment itself. A totally worthwhile evening ( and in addition to the two chairs with coats on them which Mr Coyle uses, there were 5 empty seats ( in a room of 40 or so) ; So if you're inclined I think it might be possible to get in at the last minute or "day of". I'm glad I went.
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Post by wannabedirector on Sept 19, 2018 8:34:33 GMT
Saw this last night, didn’t really know what to expect going in but found myself pleasantly surprised.
It’s a very intimate setting and that seems to work really well for the play, monologues don’t really work for me in large settings and the size of the space and the number of people here just right. Although I tend to prefer more realisitc plays, I don’t really go for stuff with subject matters such as this one often, I enjoyed it. Brendan Coyle is a great storyteller, I was able to easily imagine everything that he was describing, and the writing helps that as well.
I was lucky to get tickets through the ballot, and I don’t think many who go will be disappointed.
Also overheard before we went in that this might be transferring over the pond after Dublin, don’t know how likely that is but it’s a good production so it wouldn’t entirely shock me.
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Post by theatrelover123 on Sept 19, 2018 8:58:29 GMT
Saw this last night, didn’t really know what to expect going in but found myself pleasantly surprised. It’s a very intimate setting and that seems to work really well for the play, monologues don’t really work for me in large settings and the size of the space and the number of people here just right. Although I tend to prefer more realisitc plays, I don’t really go for stuff with subject matters such as this one often, I enjoyed it. Brendan Coyle is a great storyteller, I was able to easily imagine everything that he was describing, and the writing helps that as well. I was lucky to get tickets through the ballot, and I don’t think many who go will be disappointed. Also overheard before we went in that this might be transferring over the pond after Dublin, don’t know how likely that is but it’s a good production so it wouldn’t entirely shock me. |
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Post by wannabedirector on Sept 19, 2018 9:14:32 GMT
Saw this last night, didn’t really know what to expect going in but found myself pleasantly surprised. It’s a very intimate setting and that seems to work really well for the play, monologues don’t really work for me in large settings and the size of the space and the number of people here just right. Although I tend to prefer more realisitc plays, I don’t really go for stuff with subject matters such as this one often, I enjoyed it. Brendan Coyle is a great storyteller, I was able to easily imagine everything that he was describing, and the writing helps that as well. I was lucky to get tickets through the ballot, and I don’t think many who go will be disappointed. Also overheard before we went in that this might be transferring over the pond after Dublin, don’t know how likely that is but it’s a good production so it wouldn’t entirely shock me. I meant after it’s run in Dublin, with this potentially going to America. Brooklyn was mentioned if I remeber rightly. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2018 8:51:49 GMT
The Donmar will be releasing tickets for this at 10am every day for that days performance
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Sept 24, 2018 16:48:13 GMT
This is a treat
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Post by NeilVHughes on Sept 26, 2018 21:03:36 GMT
An intimate compelling tale of...........
Wonderful storytelling in an atmospheric environment, as the evening wore on and the charm worked its magic, couldn’t help but feel that I/We were all part of that nights feast.
Only dissapointment was the bar prices, if they provided copious amounts of whisky my belief and fear of William would have been enhanced.
Wasn’t fortunate to get a ticket by ballot, with regular visits to the Donmar website getting a ticket for my preferred evening turned out to be surprisingly easy.
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Post by Steve on Oct 3, 2018 22:09:46 GMT
There is one ticket on the Donmar website just now for 3rd October. I bought it, alnoor, so a belated thank you very much, as I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Some spoilers follow. . . If there's a drawback to the play, it's that the character himself doesn't go through much of a crisis or a change, being very much in the role of a storytelling wizard, dazzling us with his mesmeric skills, taking us on an atmospheric journey through multiple layers of a story about his encounter with vampires. The story ebbs and flows, widens and narrows like a river, as the atmosphere ranges from pitch black to candlelit, with Brendan Coyle's character intimately surrounded by 60 wooden chairs (a set-up exactly like the old Print Room, but with more space between the chairs). Mrs. Bates from Downton, aka Joanne Froggatt, was in the audience tonight, which added a meta element, as her onetime story husband regaled her with stories about stories being as important as reality, the only way we can make sense of anything. Elaine Cassidy was also in the audience. If Brendan Coyle was denied the chance to put himself through the story wringer, he certainly put his audience through a dreamy one, hypnotically moving from his hilarious backstory about being the kind of theatre critic who walks out of plays ten minutes before they end, to his dramatic obsession with a woman, to his mysterious encounter with vampires, to the strange stories he was told by vampires, all the way back to the story of us, the audience. He was a bluff, tough, mischievous storyteller, occasionally rising from his central chair to touch audience members on the shoulder, stare into their eyes, take a spare seat next to them, walk assuredly and calmly among us, a benign predator stalking his victims. Over the course of two hours, he very effectively communicated McPherson's point about storytelling, how compelling it is, as well as how important it is to making sense of the world. During the interval, however, noone could make any sense of the bar prices, with one lady requesting a small wine, then promptly unrequesting it on hearing the £8.60 price, and not at all tempted fir the large at £9.60. She had an ice cream instead. I couldn't help wondering later if all the unbought wine was decanted into the huge tub of water that Brendan Coyle was scooping up in a glass every fifteen minutes or so, as his relish in his own storytelling increased exponentially over the course of the evening. All in all, a spellbinding evening, that could only have been improved if McPherson had thought to write some surprises into the story for his storyteller. 4 stars. And thanks again, alnoor, and theatreboard, for the ticket tip. |
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