751 posts
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Post by horton on Mar 22, 2019 16:49:21 GMT
Mods are equipped with them, yes. Very handy to give to people when we chat about the board, and if we meet any board members, we usually give them a supply to hand out too. BurlyBeaR tells us he leaves one on the table when he leaves the bar, but he hasn't yet clarified if he is talking about cards or quite what - and after the week I've had, I just don't have the energy or desire to ask. I've seen those cards in phone boxes... |
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Post by catcat100 on Mar 23, 2019 0:50:31 GMT
Its taken me a few days but I've only just realised the irony that the words quoted between scenes are from depeche mode's enjoy the silence and that probably the thing I disliked most about this production was the very long silences that happened in the first half of the play.
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2,054 posts
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Post by Marwood on Mar 23, 2019 13:37:00 GMT
Highly impressed with last nights performance, Cox and Ashton were both very good, but Hiddles(ton) was on top form, in particular his teary eyed scene was an acting masterclass (although I don’t know how much of that was picked up by those in the audience sitting further back) and his wine drinking skills were in the same league as Burton, O’Toole and Reed 😂
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747 posts
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Post by Latecomer on Mar 23, 2019 16:23:50 GMT
I thought this was ok but I found it a bit dated if I am being truthful. And is it me or is it a bit like watching an old drama on TV...everything moves so much slower years ago and is signalled really clearly....plus one of the characters just reminded me of the annoying guy who worships Kiera Knighlty in Love Actually.....but that’s probably just me! I was glad I had a standing ticket and hadn’t paid too much and thanks for the tip re arrival....got the centre place one that I had bought on line (and wouldn’t have realised they were unallocated spaces unless you said!) On the plus side I liked the staging and the fact that for so much of the time the person not taking part in the action empathised with us standing punters by having to do the same themselves. Fan from Australia standing next to me (she had been at a business trip to Reading and had tacked on an extra day at the end so she could see Hiddles) perfectly behaved and wonderfully excited by it all!  |
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Mar 23, 2019 18:13:48 GMT
Highly impressed with last nights performance, Cox and Ashton were both very good, but Hiddles(ton) was on top form, in particular his teary eyed scene was an acting masterclass (although I don’t know how much of that was picked up by those in the audience sitting further back) and his wine drinking skills were in the same league as Burton, O’Toole and Reed 😂 Yep tears not visible from back of the circle! Which scene was this? And the wine drinking? care to elaborate please? |
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2,054 posts
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Post by Marwood on Mar 23, 2019 18:52:07 GMT
The tears when Robert realises his wife has been having an affair, the wine when him and Jerry are having lunch with the Italian version of Manuel serving them (first time I’ve seen Betrayal , maybe they usually just have a cappuccino or a latte but decided to push the boat out because it was a Friday, but good Lord, Hiddles was pouring large glasses last night)
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Mar 23, 2019 18:57:34 GMT
The tears when Robert realises his wife has been having an affair, the wine when him and Jerry are having lunch with the Italian version of Manuel serving them (first time I’ve seen Betrayal , maybe they usually just have a cappuccino or a latte but decided to push the boat out because it was a Friday, but good Lord, Hiddles was pouring large glasses last night) Thanks and now I get what you mean about the wine, that much was apparent from low distance  . |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2019 10:01:21 GMT
Well. I admit it. I was there in the hope of seeing the Cox out. And I wasn't disappointed. Charlie with his little puppy dog eyes was like a lovely pass-the-parcel. Cute wrapped in delicious wrapped in sexy wrapped in woof-a-rama. No wonder Emma left dull old Robert at home to romp around with Jerry for the best part of a decade.
The rest was all a bit 'meh' as far as I was concerned but what I do love about Pinter is the way he puts in all of those gaps so that you can do other things like nip to the bar, finish your Ocado order, have a power nap, dash through a chapter of the book you're reading and work out just how much of Hiddles' hair you'd cut off. It's very thoughtful of him.
On the plus side, Zawe Ashton shows us how to style out some denim, there's a revolve WITHIN A REVOLVE to lighten the mood and Charlie Cox takes his jacket off, which really should be enough for anyone. At least it distracts you from the dull play about not particularly nice people. The great unwashed loved it, they were howling at every line Hiddles uttered in a manner that can only be described as Noel Coward-esque. Even the lines that weren't funny, like about assaulting his wife. Yikes.
Oh, and the waiter (whose name shamefully escapes me) stole the entire show. He should have been given an individual bow.
And when Charlie took off the jacket to reveal those lovely arms, I almost fell overboard into the stalls.
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4,155 posts
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Post by kathryn on Mar 27, 2019 22:47:42 GMT
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this tonight - despite the fidgety audience in the dress circle making the seats squeak!
Next time I’m in the stalls, so hoping to be less distracted.
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2,054 posts
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Post by Marwood on Mar 27, 2019 23:46:03 GMT
The stalls seats were squeaking when I went last week, so I don’t know if that was intended as a deliberate homage to Pinters heyday or it was just ATG have been too mean to pay for a decent upkeep of this theatre.
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 28, 2019 19:18:39 GMT
I was there as well at the matinee; a Pinter pause morphed into a mobile phone pause, it was more of an interval in the end .. My second visit; it is just terrific in every respect. So pleasing to see the text being done real justice
Only thing about this performance was the closing second didn't happen - the actual moment of physical betrayal failed to happen. The ending just ... ended
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2019 22:21:54 GMT
Saw this tonight...
Not the best Pinter but it has its moments and could have been great with some tidying up.
Loved the minimalist set and it definitely compliments the play.
Was in the balcony and there were a few walk outs and quite a few restless attendees and hushed 'what is happening' and checking of watches.
That's the problem when you cast someone with a cult following and attract patrons who aren't theatre regulars, you risk confusing them sometimes.
As for Hiddlestone... Not a bad actor but far from being great - my first time seeing him tonight - and I suspect if he looked like Iain Dowie you would have a lot less attention thrown at him.
3 1/2 stars for me.
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Post by mathh on Mar 31, 2019 11:28:43 GMT
I've seen the play yesterday matinee. Thanks to the pre-sale I got some "restricted view" royal circle for £25 and this was well worth it.
Being a Marvel fan myself, I might have bought tickets to see Tom H. in the first place and was delighted when Charlie C. was also announced.
The stage was minimalist but enough to understand the different settings and flashbacks (I know nothing about this play and Pinter in general) . The three were amazing and I had a great time.
Bonus point : meeting both Charlie and Tom at the stage door after the play.
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2,327 posts
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Mar 31, 2019 14:02:21 GMT
I've seen the play yesterday matinee. Thanks to the pre-sale I got some "restricted view" royal circle for £25 and this was well worth it. Being a Marvel fan myself, I might have bought tickets to see Tom H. in the first place and was delighted when Charlie C. was also announced. The stage was minimalist but enough to understand the different settings and flashbacks (I know nothing about this play and Pinter in general) . The three were amazing and I had a great time. Bonus point : meeting both Charlie and Tom at the stage door after the play. Saw yesterday matinee. Hated it. Would have been my first one star play, but I love the setting of the play a lot so it managed a two. Probably would have left at the interval but it was ninety minutes straight through. From the first sentence I thought they got this wrong. Became a comedy, never seen the first act, directed in that way. Surely Pinter didn't mean that? Just don't see how they got that from the text. Crowd yesterday matinee laughed when Jerry admitted to beating her, just because he felt like hitting her?? Anyway, lots in this to like. The Ivo Van Hove like stripped back setting, the daughter scene, the third character remaining on stage, the large Hiddleston fan club behaving immaculately enthralled as I was in how good he looked in that suit... but really disliked the direction and acting. |
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2,327 posts
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Mar 31, 2019 14:43:40 GMT
I've seen the play yesterday matinee. Thanks to the pre-sale I got some "restricted view" royal circle for £25 and this was well worth it. Being a Marvel fan myself, I might have bought tickets to see Tom H. in the first place and was delighted when Charlie C. was also announced. The stage was minimalist but enough to understand the different settings and flashbacks (I know nothing about this play and Pinter in general) . The three were amazing and I had a great time. Bonus point : meeting both Charlie and Tom at the stage door after the play. Saw yesterday matinee. Hated it. Would have been my first one star play, but I love the setting of the play a lot so it managed a two. Probably would have left at the interval but it was ninety minutes straight through. From the first sentence I thought they got this wrong. Became a comedy, never seen the first act, directed in that way. Surely Pinter didn't mean that? Just don't see how they got that from the text. Crowd yesterday matinee laughed when Jerry admitted to beating her, just because he felt like hitting her?? Anyway, lots in this to like. The Ivo Van Hove like stripped back setting, the daughter scene, the third character remaining on stage, the large Hiddleston fan club behaving immaculately enthralled as I was in how good he looked in that suit... but really disliked the direction and acting. Just seen who the director was??!! Why am I surprised the director got it wrong |
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4,155 posts
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Post by kathryn on Mar 31, 2019 17:17:08 GMT
No-one laughed at that line when I saw it. A bit of an in-drawn breath, if anything.
Funny how different audiences react in different ways.
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2,389 posts
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Post by peggs on Mar 31, 2019 17:32:38 GMT
No-one laughed at that line when I saw it. A bit of an in-drawn breath, if anything. Funny how different audiences react in different ways. They laughed when I was there, and I metaphorically rolled my eyes. |
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 31, 2019 17:47:00 GMT
Well, I'd say half a dozen did each time I've been. They may have been confused by The Hidd's delivery.
The 1983 BBC film - screenplay by Pinter - begins with a scene not in the play. It's the end of a party and Emma and Richard are waving goodbye to their guests. I think we have to assume it's the party at which Gerry states his infatuation because there is no other party scene let alone one at Emma and Richard's house. It does, however, throw the chronology up in the air. Anyway, there is no dialogue and we observe events from outside, though the window. It looks rather as if Richard accuses Emma of inappropriate behavior because she slap him quite hard. He then slaps her back. And that is pretty much that. Pinter must have felt the addition necessary, though he is careful to not add speech to the original. See the first 4 minutes here: |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 18:03:49 GMT
No-one laughed at that line when I saw it. A bit of an in-drawn breath, if anything. Funny how different audiences react in different ways. They laughed when I was there, and I metaphorically rolled my eyes. They laughed at every line he delivered when I saw it too including that one. I think it's his delivery though, he does say the line like it's a punchline so if they're inclined to just laugh at everything because it's Hiddles, they're not necessarily going to see that line as anything other than something funny. |
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Post by kathryn on Mar 31, 2019 18:27:36 GMT
I think my audience was a little older than perhaps is usual, and less inclined to giggle generally.
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Post by mathh on Mar 31, 2019 18:35:46 GMT
people laughed at that line when I saw it. I found that a little strange to be honest ...
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Post by harrie on Mar 31, 2019 19:04:44 GMT
I didn’t hear any laughing at that line when I saw it
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Post by jess173 on Mar 31, 2019 19:51:53 GMT
Now one laughed at the show I saw either. I didn’t think it was delivered as a punchline. But maybe it has changed by now. However, this is not something one should laugh about at all, no matter how it is delivered.... People are weird sometimes...
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Post by peggs on Mar 31, 2019 21:30:25 GMT
I remembered how uncomfortable the line had made me the first time I saw this and how at one point it seemed very much that you were going to see him hit her, so I was disposed to find the line funny, people do often seem to laugh at the most odd of things including actual/threats of violence (I mean in plays, I fortunately don't have real life experience).
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1,281 posts
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Post by theatrefan77 on Apr 2, 2019 14:13:50 GMT
I love the play and enjoyed this production although I much prefer the version I saw about seven years ago with Kristin Scott Thomas and Douglas Henshall. Yes, it was annoying that fans of Hiddleston thought that every line he spoke was hilarious and they had to laugh really loudly. It was well acted but Hiddleston was at times loosing his voice. He coughed several times and even said 'excuse me' after a coughing fit, but remained in character.
While the actors were taking the bows there was an stampede of people pushing their way out quite rudely, rushing to stage door I guess.
On our way to the theatre we bumped into Dustin Hoffman who was coming out of Pizza Express Panton Street with a female companion. They were also going to the Pinter theatre and sat two rows in front of us. |
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