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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2019 15:10:25 GMT
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. Oh goodness, yes that happened when I saw it too. They were barging through everyone to get to the stage door like a bunch of elephants. Do you recall seeing footage of people storming into Selfridges to be first at the handbags on Boxing Day sale morning? It was like that. But worse. Poor Hiddles. He must have done something really bad in a previous life. First Taylor Swift, then that dreadful Hank Williams film and now the general public at the stage door night after night. And let's not even get started on that hair and beard combo that clearly no-one has the courage to speak to him about. |
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Post by MrsCondomine on Apr 2, 2019 15:17:30 GMT
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. Oh goodness, yes that happened when I saw it too. They were barging through everyone to get to the stage door like a bunch of elephants. Do you recall seeing footage of people storming into Selfridges to be first at the handbags on Boxing Day sale morning? It was like that. But worse. Poor Hiddles. He must have done something really bad in a previous life. First Taylor Swift, then that dreadful Hank Williams film and now the general public at the stage door night after night. And let's not even get started on that hair and beard combo that clearly no-one has the courage to speak to him about. "What's that smell outside?" "Brace yourself, Thomas, it's... THE GREAT UNWASHED." (A Ryan production)I quite like his dodgy hair/beard getup, he looks like a lion that got caught in a downpour. I get to see it soon and I fully anticipate being trodden on by the Hiddlestoners or whatever they call themselves. 'Twas ever thus, an averagely-attractive man off the telly being back in the theatre makes the UK's teenage girls go wild. |
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Post by kathryn on Apr 2, 2019 15:23:59 GMT
Most of 'em (and I can say this, 'cos I'm one of 'em) haven't been teenagers for a long time!
I like the hair/beard combo, personally.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2019 15:26:02 GMT
I REALLY MISS that insane blond mop he had a decade or so back.
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Post by kathryn on Apr 2, 2019 15:30:32 GMT
Cassio or Lvov?
I can't quite decide whether it was dyed then, has been dyed since, or has just gotten darker with age.
You can still see glints of blonde in certain light - he definitely looks blonder in person than he does in pictures.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2019 15:59:40 GMT
Cassio or Lvov? I can't quite decide whether it was dyed then, has been dyed since, or has just gotten darker with age. You can still see glints of blonde in certain light - he definitely looks blonder in person than he does in pictures. Got to be Cassio no? That was the one that made him look like he'd rushed to the theatre from an audition for Little Orphan Annie. |
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 2, 2019 16:34:19 GMT
That's a photo op I'd like to see; Hiddlestone, Hoffman and about 2 feet of air.
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Post by nash16 on Apr 2, 2019 23:41:01 GMT
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. Oh goodness, yes that happened when I saw it too. They were barging through everyone to get to the stage door like a bunch of elephants. Do you recall seeing footage of people storming into Selfridges to be first at the handbags on Boxing Day sale morning? It was like that. But worse. Poor Hiddles. He must have done something really bad in a previous life. First Taylor Swift, then that dreadful Hank Williams film and now the general public at the stage door night after night. And let's not even get started on that hair and beard combo that clearly no-one has the courage to speak to him about. And now the Chinese advert!!!!!!!! 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ |
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Post by mistressjojo on Apr 3, 2019 1:38:09 GMT
Cassio or Lvov? I can't quite decide whether it was dyed then, has been dyed since, or has just gotten darker with age. You can still see glints of blonde in certain light - he definitely looks blonder in person than he does in pictures. Got to be Cassio no? That was the one that made him look like he'd rushed to the theatre from an audition for Little Orphan Annie. I quite liked 'that dreadful Hank Williams film'. But maybe that was because I saw it with Hiddles doing a post show Q & A . In a very tight blue shirt. And if anyone is interested, just look at his hair in Suburban Shootout. He's a bit of a ginger mop! |
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Post by kathryn on Apr 3, 2019 8:17:43 GMT
Got to be Cassio no? That was the one that made him look like he'd rushed to the theatre from an audition for Little Orphan Annie. I quite liked 'that dreadful Hank Williams film'. But maybe that was because I saw it with Hiddles doing a post show Q & A . In a very tight blue shirt. And if anyone is interested, just look at his hair in Suburban Shootout. He's a bit of a ginger mop! He's very good as Hank Williams. The film itself really is terrible, though. One good performance can't save a film that bad unless it also has a Queen soundtrack. I tend to go with 'strawberry blonde' rather than 'ginger' - Damien Lewis is proper ginger. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2019 12:41:25 GMT
I know this is off topic but I saw Damien Lewis on Saturday but couldn’t remember his name so said to Mum “Hot ginger actor man!”
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2019 11:24:20 GMT
Hiddles gets all the headlines but Zawe Ashton has always been a little bit of fabulous and now she's written a book. Which you can buy. And read.  Vod-ka and tonic |
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Post by danielwhit on Apr 6, 2019 21:27:06 GMT
Ended up seeing this tonight - was far from impressed. Not really sure why this missed the mark for me, I've seen the play before and had no gripes with it at all.
I did appreciate their lighting design, some very interesting shadow effects going on.
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Post by indis on Apr 7, 2019 20:54:14 GMT
Oh goodness, yes that happened when I saw it too. They were barging through everyone to get to the stage door like a bunch of elephants. Do you recall seeing footage of people storming into Selfridges to be first at the handbags on Boxing Day sale morning? It was like that. But worse. Poor Hiddles. He must have done something really bad in a previous life. First Taylor Swift, then that dreadful Hank Williams film and now the general public at the stage door night after night. And let's not even get started on that hair and beard combo that clearly no-one has the courage to speak to him about. And now the Chinese advert!!!!!!!! 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ don’t get whats so awful about that’s advert 🤷🏻♀️ |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2019 22:02:12 GMT
Have you not watched it? It's horrible, and he really doesn't look happy about being there, which somehow makes it even worse?
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Post by MrsCondomine on Apr 8, 2019 10:40:54 GMT
Having now seen this, and previously not been interested in having children, if Hiddleston wants to give me beautiful mixed-race daughters I will gladly acquiesce.
I JOKE.
(A bit.)
Never actually expected to find some many lines hilarious but the waiter made me weep with laughter and Hiddleston attacking a slice of melon is going to stay with me for a long time. Perfectly serviceable production with some really outstanding bits. Also Zawe Ashton is beautiful and I love her a bit.
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Post by indis on Apr 19, 2019 11:21:48 GMT
Have you not watched it? It's horrible, and he really doesn't look happy about being there, which somehow makes it even worse? have seen it, still don’t get why it’s called awful 🤷🏻♀️ seen worse |
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Post by missthelma on Apr 23, 2019 17:37:00 GMT
Well that was a waste of my time and money.
Not sure where I should post this as part of the issue today was the worst audience ever. I did note before arriving at theatre that today did seem to be a day out for everybody who is terminally stupid.
A huge amount of them came into the Harold Pinter too. I was surrounded by phones, lighting up, being used, to film the show and also just to have a browse on Wikipedia. Phones to the left, to the right and three in the row behind including one which the person was holding up what appeared to be a door knob on a piece of string. i assume it was a microphone; whether for the purpose of recording the show or providing a translation I know not. Not an usher or member of staff to be seen anywhere. Presumably they don't care as they have bilked the audience to the average tune of £100 a ticket so hey ho.Now in the modern world the occasional screen is almost inevitable but this was constant even after the offenders were told. It's a bit difficult in an show without an interval and which relies on silences so much to find an opportune time to shush people or ask them to stop. Hence the possible need for an usher. At Come From Away a few weeks back they were virtually patrolling.
Meanwhile we have people sleeping, talking, falling off seats, rustling bottles and wrappers to the point it felt like being at a buffet and opening what I assume was a 2 litre bottle of Fanta during a scene to top up your drink.
To add to this I had purchased a 'restricted view' seat', primarily as I want to keep both my kidneys should I ever need them. My ticket said 'may miss certain moments'. Yes that may well be true if the play isn't staged 60% of the time dead centre therefore I missed huge amounts. The same seat for Pinter 7 for example would have been fine. But lets be honest no expense has been spent on this production, minimal set, minimal cast, essentially sweet FA to look at if you can't see the three main people. Dear God they couldn't even give Zawe Ashton a pair of shoes, where did all the budget go? (Sidebar: what is it with all these barefoot productions? It's nasty and unhygenic and needs to be stopped)
The audience seemed to think this was Carry On Pinter, and greeted many lines with hilarity bordering on mania. That wasn't my take. Yes there are humorous parts and gifted thesps can turn a line one way or another but this felt bizarre. It's called 'Betrayal' not 'Whoopsie Vicar, Where's My Pants' and it's quite a serious presentation of a situation.
So given all the foregoing, did I enjoy it? Not really. I liked the minimalism and I thought Charlie Cox was very good. Tom Hiddleston was average to dull and Zawe Ashton seemed incredibly mannered and as if she was in another production altogether ( at times like one of those French & Saunders spoofs from years back). As I have always found her a very natural believable actress this was clearly a director's or actor's choice which for me backfired. I also found the portrayal of the waiter a bit ridiculous. It's a powerful play and yet I felt every minute of the 90 it was on and I shouldn't have.
I did not linger at the end but as I left there was already an enormous queue for the stage door. The audience seemed also to be disproportionately young, female and Japanese/Chinese/Korean. Is this usual?
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Post by londonpostie on Apr 23, 2019 19:42:48 GMT
It's more than a director or actors choice. It is the writers reading of his former lover. I would say, to a considerable extent, it's a fierce, powerful and even savage portrayal, both of someone and something. Pinter was not taking prisoners.
Sorry to hear of the frustrating audience.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Apr 24, 2019 7:45:51 GMT
missthelma I hear your frustration. I had a pretty disgusting audience when I saw it - someone playing a voicemail on their phone. A woman a few seats down having an actual feast in her seat. Someone falling asleep and then talking loudly in their sleep. Girls laughing at the domestic violence line because it's Hiddleston and presumably they would find it really funny if they were being punched by their husband?
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Post by Rory on Apr 24, 2019 8:54:06 GMT
It's at the stage now where a mega-name in the cast actively turns me off booking it (outrageous ticket costs aside) because I know the audience will be a total pain in the arse. The worst I ever experienced was at this same theatre when Ewan McGregor appeared in Little Malcolm. The friend I saw that with regularly bitterly complains about West End audiences. They crack him up. He saw The Price a few weeks ago and said the audience for that was terrible too.
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Post by jess173 on Apr 24, 2019 9:01:25 GMT
That really sounds horrible. I totally get that this can ruin the whole show.
I saw it three times now (yes, I’m a fangirl 🙈) but every time I saw it the audience was very well behaved. Ok, during the last show we had two or three phones going off (and one person that actually answered the phone, I guess? But he was cut off very shortly after...) and a lot of coughing. But no filming, taking pictures or inappropriate laughing (3x absolute silence at the hitting line for me now, thank god).
But I did recognise the absence of ushers and there are a lot of pictures online. Maybe they take it as free publicity now? No idea... I’m just glad I got the chance to witness three undisturbed performances...
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Post by kathryn on Apr 24, 2019 10:18:23 GMT
If you can manage it, midweek matinees can also be good - though saying that you are more likely to have people falling asleep and snoring then!
My Wednesday night performance had a notably older audience - at least in the Dress - though with a fair smattering of Chinese/South Korean Hiddles fans. (He is *really* popular in Asia - that advert everyone took the mickey out of went down incredibly well with its intended Chinese audience).
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Post by kathryn on Apr 24, 2019 10:58:51 GMT
I am going to see it again on what would have been the original final performance - which should be an *interesting* audience experience.
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Post by jess173 on Apr 24, 2019 12:27:50 GMT
The Harold Pinter Theatre just addressed the problem on twitter: sourceThey might need to enforce it in the theatre tho... Just posting that on twitter won’t help much... |
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