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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 9:52:56 GMT
Thanks numtuckety. Is there a real duck in it at all? |
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Post by foxa on Oct 17, 2018 9:53:27 GMT
Welcome to posting on the forum numtuckety - hope we hear much more from you. I've got tickets for this later in the run so am really looking forward to it.
In terms of putting in spoilers (but I don't blame you for taking your time with this - I had been posting for ages before I ventured my first spoiler!) - you need to go to create a post so press the 'reply' button rather than 'quick reply.' Once you do that, a new page opens. At the top of the - what is it? a tool bar? There is a little open-mouth face icon on the far right side. If you press that - it will insert the spoiler for you. (I'm sure there is a better explanation somewhere.)
Re: seating I've never sat in the first couple of rows at the Almeida - I usually opt for the cheap pillar seats in Row F and on back, but I don't recall people at the front straining to see - so I wonder if there has been some change.
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Post by foxa on Oct 17, 2018 9:56:18 GMT
Ooop - ignore everything I said about spoilers - sorry monkey didn't see your post.
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Post by foxa on Oct 17, 2018 9:57:00 GMT
But I like doing spoilers my way :-)
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Post by numtuckety on Oct 17, 2018 10:01:06 GMT
Thanks numtuckety . Is there a real duck in it at all? Yes, there is a real live duck! [/spoiler
]
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 10:09:48 GMT
I always aim for row F at the Almeida and very rarely have a problem seeing over heads. I think row E might be the secret "best" row, as I've seen enough famous people sitting in the middle section of row E to convince me that those are the house seats. It's such a small theatre that it doesn't affect your ability to see faces if you go several rows back.  |
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Post by numtuckety on Oct 17, 2018 11:31:22 GMT
Maybe it's a new seating layout for this show or it's because the action takes place on a stage which isn't raised (the action takes place on the same floor as the first row of seats). If anyone else goes, do post feedback!
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Post by NeilVHughes on Oct 17, 2018 11:51:11 GMT
Fortunately booked middle front row for this, have done for the past few plays, previously booked middle D / E and with no issues.
Good to hear positive feedback, had a feeling this could be one of the plays of the year.
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Post by siteseer on Oct 17, 2018 12:26:31 GMT
Just noticed that seat F23 is ten pounds and is a restricted view seat.
Very strange as I have been to The Almeida many times and can't imagine why.
A clue may be that the seat in front has been removed so maybe they put
something there that restricts the view. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by numtuckety on Oct 17, 2018 12:31:17 GMT
Just noticed that seat F23 is ten pounds and is a restricted view seat. Very strange as I have been to The Almeida many times and can't imagine why. A clue may be that the seat in front has been removed so maybe they put something there that restricts the view. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Hello. I am trying to think why it is restricted and suspect it might be because of staging or a pillar in the way? If they're not normally restricted then maybe because of staging? There is another level on top which might be obscured by the overhang? Agree re Row E and think it is because the rake suddenly goes up quite a bit higher and the increments before Row E are really pithy. |
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Post by crowblack on Oct 17, 2018 12:57:37 GMT
Good to hear positive feedback Yes - Btw, I've just had to reschedule. I had a central row B Sat 10th eve which I've just returned, if anyone's interested. I rebooked for a later matinee and notice there are front row side seats available so I got one of them. |
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Post by crowblack on Oct 17, 2018 13:02:25 GMT
On the rake thing, I'm 5'6" and if I have someone tall in front of me it can be like being behind a pillar in several of the Almeida stalls seats I've been in. The Donmar is really bad, though - and with only 4 rows in the stalls I don't see why they can't just increase the rake or raise the stage.
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Post by numtuckety on Oct 17, 2018 13:19:25 GMT
On the rake thing, I'm 5'6" and if I have someone tall in front of me it can be like being behind a pillar in several of the Almeida stalls seats I've been in. The Donmar is really bad, though - and with only 4 rows in the stalls I don't see why they can't just increase the rake or raise the stage. Oh, that's interesting. I don't know but I am guessing it's to do with the number of rows and there having to be enough headroom in the very last row of the stalls between the person's head and the overhang of the dress circle or the ceiling. An option would be to take a row of seats out so the rake could be more staggered but I guess when faced with this most venues would rather not sacrifice that many seats for overall better visibility. I meant to mention there is a brilliant use of a song - I think it might be Sandy Denny from Fairport Convention singing By the Time it Gets Dark but if anyone furhter down the line knows which version it is I'd love to listen to it again. I thought it sounded like an acoustic demo version I've heard before on the Who Knows where the Time Goes album but was too wrapped up in the action to notice - I think there's another version it might have been that was released later. She also did the song at the end of Jerusalem - also called Who Knows Where the Time Goes when Rooster and Phaedra are dancing so I definitely got reminded of that. Mainly as it's also used when the man and woman characters at the end are dancing together for the first time after the play has had a massive dramatic shift but yeah other than that it is not really like Jerusalem at all |
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Post by Ruby Sue on Oct 17, 2018 14:15:08 GMT
Hello, I'm a lurker but saw the first preview of this last night and thought I'd post to say how incredible I thought it was. Definitely worth getting a ticket for if you haven't - it didn't feel like 3 hours at all and I felt so absorbed throughout and would go back and see it again in a heartbeat. The way it's been deconstructed is absolutely fascinating and all the actors were brilliant. Not sure how to do the spoiler thing so won't say anymore on the show. And of course, the use of songs are beautiful. One thing about the Almeida seating - the first two rows in the stalls have no rake at all and the third/fourth row have such a minimal rake that it makes the stalls seats really hard to see from including if you're of a normal height like I am. Everyone around me was craning to look at the action as the stage wasn't raised and I missed quite a lot of blocking that happened when people sat down onstage. I don't go to every show at the Almeida so I'm not sure how normal this is but I am really surprised how they've managed to get away with having either a) no rake or b) a very minimal rake which could not have been more than about 60mm. A couple of people around me who we were shorter just sort of gave up on trying to see the stage and just listened instead to some scenes. If I was going back, I definitely sit at the front of the dress circle. If anyone else has had any experience of this at the Almeida I'd love to hear it as I'm intrigued about whether it's just for this show or not. The website says it's 2 hours 35 but you mentioned it was 3 hours, what time did you end up getting away? I know it's only 25 minutes but it makes a big difference to what time I end up getting home! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:00:08 GMT
I was about to make a smug remark about how you should always book a matinee for a Robert Icke production just in case, then I remembered I could only get the seat I wanted if I went to an evening performance.  Still, there's a few weeks yet for the running time to sort itself out, so fingers crossed... |
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Post by crowblack on Oct 17, 2018 15:01:11 GMT
They could at least make the back row a bit cheaper - but I think better would be to raise the stage a bit. When characters sat or lay down in Aristocrats I couldn't see them - I wasn't aware one was even on stage, and that was from row D in the centre stalls block. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 17, 2018 15:10:08 GMT
One thing about the Almeida seating - the first two rows in the stalls have no rake at all and the third/fourth row have such a minimal rake that it makes the stalls seats really hard to see from including if you're of a normal height like I am. Everyone around me was craning to look at the action as the stage wasn't raised and I missed quite a lot of blocking that happened when people sat down onstage. Forgive my denseness, but I don't understand. I've been to the Almeida many times. If you are near the front stalls, you are pretty much on level with the action. How could a seat in the front row (which I am about to book) be better if the stage were raised? It seems to be it would be worse! |
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Post by crowblack on Oct 17, 2018 15:37:32 GMT
How could a seat in the front row (which I am about to book) be better if the stage were raised? Front row Almeida would be fine I think (has been the couple of times I've sat on it) - my post was mainly about the Donmar btw. At the NT Olivier, I was debating whether to get row A or row C, all at £15 and after advice here went for A because opinion here was that the rake was so poor there was the heads blocking issue. When I took my seat, I heard the people in row C expressing their annoyance about it. |
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Post by numtuckety on Oct 17, 2018 17:56:47 GMT
Yes front row is fine but the row directly behind that has no rake at all which means it's tricky for people on the second row to see even if you are normal height but have tall people in front of you. I think the rake starts on the 3rd or 4th row but it starts so shallow that it's almost negligible so it means that everything beyond the front row up until Row E has bad sight lines for actors on the floor.
Ruby Sue - I was a bit too excited after to check the time but I think it was 22:34 - this may have been a couple of minutes after it finished. Interval seemed long though so hopefully will be less.
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Post by Fleance on Oct 17, 2018 19:21:04 GMT
Yes front row is fine but the row directly behind that has no rake at all which means it's tricky for people on the second row to see even if you are normal height but have tall people in front of you. I think the rake starts on the 3rd or 4th row but it starts so shallow that it's almost negligible so it means that everything beyond the front row up until Row E has bad sight lines for actors on the floor. Thanks, I just booked A6 for a matinee next month. You never know what the Almeida will do to the configuration. I sat in the first row for Albion (a sort of U-shaped seating) and had actors potting and unpotting plants right in front of me. |
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Post by andrew on Oct 17, 2018 20:24:17 GMT
I’m reading this from the Almeida stalls. I’m on my own with no one beside me and I’m bored. There’s a strange interval going on in front of me, the mother and daughter are both building more set but also hoovering and tidying he existing one. I can hear what they’re saying and they’re earnestly discussing where to place a table right now. The almeida seating is the same as usual as far as I can see. The reduced seats in rear stalls have the normal pillars in place. AA is the front row, I’m in centre A which has slightly less legroom than other rows. Ooh wow an audience member just went up to the little girl with her program and asked her something. That’s not allowed surely?! I’ll post in the bad behaviour thread later. Thoughts on the play later. Gotta go.
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Post by crowblack on Oct 17, 2018 22:34:42 GMT
The side stalls appear to have A as the front row, with AA the front in the centre stalls block. I rebooked earlier and booked row A in what seem to be newly released side stall seats (??) - at any rate, there seems to be a lot of availability there. |
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Post by another100ppl on Oct 18, 2018 2:24:59 GMT
I saw it Wednesday night... can’t say I enjoyed it at all really. Anyone else?
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Post by andrew on Oct 18, 2018 14:11:49 GMT
Ok so the first and most important thing to note, as a big fan of ducks in general is that there is a real duck on stage, but not for nearly long enough. A few measly seconds of actual duck time, a disgrace, I’m writing to the almeida about it. There’s more bird on stage in that incidental bit with the goose in The Ferryman.
No specific plot points but production spoilers below. This has been framed, relatively cleverly, in a sort of meta-theatre fashion, where the actors both portray their characters but at times comment from an outsiders perspective. They use handheld dynamic microphones to indicate that it’s a ‘meta’ line, which I think at first is quite off-putting and obnoxious. What’s especially nauseating at first is how characters will end every scene with “And scene” as the fluorescent house lights come up and they give some kind of commentary on events. A man walked out after 20 minutes, which I thought was a bit premature, but I presume was a reaction to this style. The first act is quite slow, and with the framing device tagged on, quite a bare set, an unclear plot, I can see why a few more people left at the interval. There was an unbearably long “family joy” 5 minutes of dancing which made me almost vomit. I was very unsure.
The second act though was a totally different experience. Suddenly there was drama on stage, an actual set, action, the themes the actors were professorially discussing in the first act actually started to be properly displayed and the explored. And it progressed in a manner I realise is Robert Icke’s “style”. Which I think I like.
The actors, especially Kevin Harvey and the young actress Clara Read were very good. It’s not the simplest child acting experience ever and she was very impressive. The design by the end makes sense, but the desire to appear hip and theatrical in the first act with minimal use of props or set or lighting was irksome.
For the forum readers who can’t stand loud noises: this definitely is not a play for you. Very loud bangs, unexpectedly, more than once. Slightly harrowing themes for anyone not familiar with the play.
But all that said, whilst problematic I enjoyed the evening, and would recommend those curious to get themselves a ticket. The themes of the play were well demonstrated and are rolling around my head today, which I think means the play has done its job. Not the raving review I gave Mary Stuart, but not bad at all. 4 stars.
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Post by mallardo on Oct 18, 2018 14:42:48 GMT
A very nice (and helpful) review, Andrew, but despite the four stars I'm afraid you've made this production sound quite unbearable.
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Still, there's a few weeks yet for the running time to sort itself out, so fingers crossed...
