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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2018 22:50:32 GMT
LOVED this
Funny thrilling and exciting
An amazing central performance
From Tamara Lawrence
Initially some weeks ago
The NT website stated it was 1h 45m
No interval
It’s now 2h 20m including interval
No director came on to speak today
I suspect as press night is next weds
There ain’t that much they are going to be able to alter
It’s weird and surreal and I found it very engaging
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Post by jadnoop on Dec 8, 2018 1:30:45 GMT
Oof. This is sounding more and more interesting. Slightly nervous that some of the comments make it sound like Very Very Dark Matter, but might give it a go anyway.
For those who have been, how high is the stage? Is the view from the from row likely to be okay?
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Post by terrylondon79 on Dec 8, 2018 23:22:58 GMT
Not sure how this play could have been any worse.
Infantile dialogue. Cheap special effects.
Felt like a scrapped episode of inside number 9 or the twilight zone. Predictable twists signposted a mile off.
"Funny" lines felt like they were written by Hale and Pace.... Ohh she said f**k.. Ohh she talks about pornos...
Seemed to make light of facial disfigurements and encouraged the audience to laugh at the character. Surprisingly for some where as pc as the nt! People next to us, and around the auditorium where laughing at her.
Poor show with a muted round of applause at the end.
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Post by terrylondon79 on Dec 8, 2018 23:25:01 GMT
Oof. This is sounding more and more interesting. Slightly nervous that some of the comments make it sound like Very Very Dark Matter, but might give it a go anyway. For those who have been, how high is the stage? Is the view from the from row likely to be okay? Sat in front row (a 4) Stage not to high. Miss a bit when a prop is at the front. But not bad considering sold as restricted view. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Dec 14, 2018 22:53:09 GMT
An eggstravaganza of unadulterated delight, to say eye enjoyed this would be an understatement.
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Post by catcat100 on Dec 14, 2018 23:15:11 GMT
Well that was all a bit trippy. I like trippy.
Think they must have ironed out a lot of the issues as it felt pretty much complete, a few rough edges but nothing spectacularly bad.
The first half is where a bit of tidying up is needed and I did initially think about the PC nature of facial disfigurement but once you hit the absurdity and the story line of the second half its acceptable.
The second half is a good balance of story, absurdity, gore (if you survived lieutenant of inishmore you'll survive this easily) and a sense of menace. Think there are some comparisons to a very dark matter but this does it much better and found this more enjoyable.
Think this will divide opinions but surely the 3rd stage at the national is a good place to have it.
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Post by gingerB on Dec 15, 2018 15:17:10 GMT
I watching this in two weeks. Can't wait
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2018 10:12:24 GMT
Enjoyed this, glad I didn't book for a preview though! The National has started giving helpfully detailed announcements - before the show "Today's show will finish at 4:50. There will be one 15 minute interval at 3:40", then at the start of the interval announcing again how long the interval would last. Sat in the front row and there was not a restricted view - a few points where if you are sitting on the left hand side (high numbered seats) you don't have a great view of stuff happening in the bathroom on the right of the set, but I'm not sure how much of that was supposed to be visible anyway. And actually if you're squeamish you may be better of on the left hand side. Went for a Fiorentina in Pizza Express afterwards  |
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Post by lichtie on Dec 18, 2018 12:21:37 GMT
For a long time thought this was going off into bizarre surreal territory (should have realised it wasn't as I had spotted the clues laid down) but the whole thing was brought back into a very satistfying whole by the end. Well worth it. And to echo a previous post, if you can avoid, don't sit on the right side upstairs as you face the stage or you'll be missing bits (not absolutely vital as you can guess what is going on but not ideal). Been a decent year in the Dorfman.
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Post by jgblunners on Dec 20, 2018 0:20:28 GMT
I saw the matinee today and absolutely loved it. I had no idea what to expect from the story, but came out very satisfied. It keeps you guessing right up the the end and while some of the ‘horror’ elements are (I hope deliberately) a little tongue-in-cheek, it has some great stage effects and a couple of genuinely edge-of-your-seat moments.
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Post by dlevi on Dec 20, 2018 11:36:48 GMT
I too was at that matinee. The first half was rather dull and the second half rather crazy. I felt as if they now have the outline and a road map for a play and now they need someone with an ear for dialogue and brevity to sit down and write it. Because as it is, it just feels self-indulgent ( and at 2.5 hours it IS self-indulgent). I did enjoy the dig at "Company" and at the Literary Department of the National, but that too is self-indulgent. Ultimately I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. If you have a ticket, it's just wasted evening in the theatre but we all have them and that's fine with me. I just don't know what's going on at the National in general. The mish-mash of stuff on view is distressing.
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Post by zahidf on Dec 20, 2018 14:18:36 GMT
I enjoyed this! its was a little bitty and felt like a collection of weird scenes, but I thought the ending was great, the set was good and the dialogue/acting well done.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 14:57:48 GMT
I too was at that matinee. The first half was rather dull and the second half rather crazy. I felt as if they now have the outline and a road map for a play and now they need someone with an ear for dialogue and brevity to sit down and write it. Because as it is, it just feels self-indulgent ( and at 2.5 hours it IS self-indulgent). I did enjoy the dig at "Company" and at the Literary Department of the National, but that too is self-indulgent. Ultimately I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. If you have a ticket, it's just wasted evening in the theatre but we all have them and that's fine with me. I just don't know what's going on at the National in general. The mish-mash of stuff on view is distressing. Why not send them your latest new play? |
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Post by dlevi on Dec 20, 2018 16:54:30 GMT
I too was at that matinee. The first half was rather dull and the second half rather crazy. I felt as if they now have the outline and a road map for a play and now they need someone with an ear for dialogue and brevity to sit down and write it. Because as it is, it just feels self-indulgent ( and at 2.5 hours it IS self-indulgent). I did enjoy the dig at "Company" and at the Literary Department of the National, but that too is self-indulgent. Ultimately I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. If you have a ticket, it's just wasted evening in the theatre but we all have them and that's fine with me. I just don't know what's going on at the National in general. The mish-mash of stuff on view is distressing. Why not send them your latest new play? Alas, for whatever reason, they're not fans of my plays - but at least they carry one of them in the bookshop. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 17:48:13 GMT
Why not send them your latest new play? Alas, for whatever reason, they're not fans of my plays - but at least they carry one of them in the bookshop. Perhaps we can all pay for it to be staged there?? Theatre forum Angels 👼 |
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Post by Rory on Dec 20, 2018 19:01:41 GMT
Why not send them your latest new play? Alas, for whatever reason, they're not fans of my plays - but at least they carry one of them in the bookshop. Like. Your. Style. |
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Post by nash16 on Dec 20, 2018 19:51:20 GMT
Why not send them your latest new play? Alas, for whatever reason, they're not fans of my plays - but at least they carry one of them in the bookshop. This is brilliant! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 20:17:28 GMT
I never got why "if you don't like the play then you should write a better one!" is something that people honestly think is a sensible thing to say. We're the audience, the plays have been written in an attempt to entertain us, that makes it completely valid for us to therefore have opinions on the plays that we see. Also, why is the person who says it never a playwright themselves? Where are *your* plays being staged, pars? We can have a board outing, maybe you can sign a few posters for us.  |
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Post by dlevi on Dec 21, 2018 13:23:40 GMT
Perhaps we can all pay for it to be staged there?? Theatre forum Angels 👼 T=given that in the programme for Hadestown the commercial producers solicited investment in future productions, I suppose anything is possible. |
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Post by Marwood on Dec 28, 2018 22:10:10 GMT
I left at the interval - I didn’t find the first half particularly tense, horrific or even interesting, just boring and I thought the bug eye was silly rather than disturbing. A waste of an evening to be honest, I now remember why I don’t bother much with the NT these days.
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Post by david on Dec 30, 2018 0:18:26 GMT
Had a great night watching this tonight. Overall, a very funny play rather than being horrifying and gory. I’m not too sure if this was the intention of the writer or not. For me, Imogen Doel was absolutely brilliant in this and was worth the ticket price alone.
Yes it was definitely bonkers in places but for me it worked as a piece of theatre and how it came together at the end was cleverly done. The whole thing definitely had a Twilight Zone feel to it. Though the ending certainly caught me off guard.
The production definitely suited the Dorfman theatre as I think if it had played in the larger theatres I think some of the special effects in the show wouldn’t have been as effective.
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Post by gingerB on Dec 30, 2018 0:46:28 GMT
It was funny, the cast was great. Based on the mixed reviews I didn't know what to expect but I really enjoyed it
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Post by tmesis on Dec 30, 2018 13:40:45 GMT
I really enjoyed this last night. Whatever problems there had been earlier on in preview I found it to be cleverly constructed (faux ending included) and brilliantly performed. The supposed gory scenes were so ironically and humorously done I don't know how anyone could be offended (or repulsed.) Others have noticed similarities with The Twilight Zone but it was interesting to compare this with Richard Jones's tedious and unfunny efforts at The Almeida and this, which was much more humorous and entertaining.
More evidence that the best stuff on at NT currently is in The Dorfman.
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