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Post by samuelwhiskers on Mar 30, 2019 21:26:09 GMT
They're currently casting for a large-ish ensemble to multi-role.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2019 0:18:21 GMT
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Post by MrsCondomine on Apr 1, 2019 14:33:00 GMT
Very loooong. Peter Skint atm, will wait for the reviews ... I did a honk-laugh. I'm going to use that. |
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Post by n1david on Apr 11, 2019 15:36:20 GMT
Bloody hell, is there no-one involved in NT marketing comms that knows that you can't be the "most unique" of anything....
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2019 15:38:24 GMT
Bloody hell, is there no-one involved in NT marketing comms that knows that you can't be the "most unique" of anything.... True. But he is as cute as a button though. |
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Post by TallPaul on Apr 11, 2019 15:46:07 GMT
The most cute! 🙂
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Post by latefortheoverture on Jun 18, 2019 21:34:10 GMT
Is this a musical? I'm genuinely confused- I follow some actors who will be in this and they're all gushing that today is a sitzprobe! Must be a decent amount of singing to have a sitzprobe?
The NT has said there are songs in it but appears to be sold as a play.
Can anyone help!
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Post by nash16 on Jun 18, 2019 23:44:24 GMT
Is this a musical? I'm genuinely confused- I follow some actors who will be in this and they're all gushing that today is a sitzprobe! Must be a decent amount of singing to have a sitzprobe? The NT has said there are songs in it but appears to be sold as a play. Can anyone help! A play, with added songs. Thus the very long running time. I'm not sure I can take this much David Hare... (and the songs sound awful on the rehearsal videos...) |
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Post by a12la on Jun 21, 2019 21:20:21 GMT
Is this a musical? I'm genuinely confused- I follow some actors who will be in this and they're all gushing that today is a sitzprobe! Must be a decent amount of singing to have a sitzprobe? The NT has said there are songs in it but appears to be sold as a play. Can anyone help! I was wondering the same thing. The play that it's adapted from is in verse so I'm assuming it's going to be that verse set to music. |
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Post by kathryn on Jun 23, 2019 8:26:06 GMT
Did they get Elton in to write it?!
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Post by lynette on Jun 24, 2019 18:06:48 GMT
Love this, thanks, kathryn.
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Post by londonpostie on Jun 25, 2019 0:31:18 GMT
I saw a lonely 15-pounder bang in the middle of row C so what was i supposed to do! Next week; going in blind, no idea what to expect.
p.s. Thanks. what a great clip from Youtube!
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Post by tmesis on Jun 25, 2019 6:37:09 GMT
The current quoted length on the NT website is a bum-numbing 3hrs 35mins (with two intervals.) I'm seeing it on Saturday.
Small Island was fabulous and totally justified its length but The Nash do seem to be going in for some long-haul productions of late.
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Post by Jan on Jun 25, 2019 6:51:55 GMT
The current quoted length on the NT website is a bum-numbing 3hrs 35mins (with two intervals.) I'm seeing it on Saturday. Small Island was fabulous and totally justified its length but The Nash do seem to be going in for some long-haul productions of late. The original play runs at least 5 hours if the full text is used so be thankful for small mercies - the NTs indulgence of Sir David Hare in whatever he wants to do stretching back decades is a puzzle. |
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Post by tmesis on Jun 29, 2019 23:37:18 GMT
First of all the running time tonight was down to 3hrs 20mins with two 15min intervals.
I'm not the ideal person to give my thoughts on this since I have never seen a production of the original but having read a synopsis I would say Hare stays pretty close to the events and spirit of the original. I found it all a curiously flat affair. McArdle gives his characteristically spirited and audience-pleasing performance but he doesn't manage to invigorate the piece sufficiently. The first part dragged and the last part failed to pull the strands of this episodic tale together. The best part was the 'capitalist' middle section where Peter is running a golf club and more of Hare's lines hit home.
The songs were fairly entertaining but added nothing but length to the drama.
The Olivier was only two-thirds full and the audience gave pretty muted reception at the end.
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Post by johnnyutah on Jun 30, 2019 19:39:48 GMT
I also saw this last night. Overall, it was an enjoyable adaptation of notoriously tricky play. James Mcardle excelled in his transition from boyhood fantasist to resigned self-aware decrepitude. He employed his trademark tip of the tongue delivery to imbue Peter with a sense of devilment. His Peter Gynt had a well meaning clumsy restlessness instead of just being purely callous. The production hit its stride in a visually dazzling Act 2. Both Oliver Ford Davis and a drole Guy Henry provided excellent support.
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Post by andrew on Jul 4, 2019 21:30:59 GMT
Mid-first-act, I glanced to my right to see some characters entering and realised I was sitting next to Emma Thompson, so there was a period in which I lost track of the play and was just counting through my favourite Emma Thompson films. Nonetheless, I saw enough of the play to find it quite fun, and James McArdle is just brilliant in the very energetic lead role. The first act did feel long, and I wonder if there's more to cut in this section in this very modernised version, but it found pace and kept my interest as it went on and I overall enjoyed the play.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 7:34:32 GMT
What time did it finish last night, andrew? |
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Post by andrew on Jul 6, 2019 8:39:28 GMT
What time did it finish last night, andrew ? About 2220 I think, I didn't look at my watch but thats when I sent a text as I was wandering out |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jul 7, 2019 11:29:47 GMT
The modernisation on the whole works maybe with the exception of the Trolls as maybe could have been interpreted with more of what we now consider trolling.
It is a long play even with the editing and the overall self help, finding yourself, mindfulness themes you come away with the feeling it was too convoluted to get the message across, a bit like the Pain of Salvation (niche Prog Metal band) album B E which I got really into a few years back with similar themes until I finally realised the whole concept is encapsulated in the title.
On the plus McCardle is excellent and manages to keep you engaged in his journey especially as he is often on his own on the vast Olivier stage, not sure if his performance would be dwarfed the further away from the stage you are as I was in Row D which was perfect.
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Post by catcat100 on Jul 7, 2019 13:49:01 GMT
I sat at the back of the circle in one of the cheap seats at the side and can confirm that McCardle's performance is just as good from a long way back.
First time I've seen this play and quite enjoyed it even with the length (never really know what to do with myself in the second interval). Its quite high spirited and has a good message at the end.
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Post by duncan on Jul 11, 2019 16:56:52 GMT
Oooft on the Telegraph review
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Post by learfan on Jul 13, 2019 14:25:34 GMT
Am typing this during second interval, its ok, McArdle is on pretty much the whole time and is quite good. The songs, are awful. Olivier stalls fairly full but the circle where i am is barely half full and a bunch of us moved to the centre at interval one. Shame to see Guy Henry doing an ill conceived song and dance routine. Oliver Ford Davies must be having a lovely nap before his scenes!
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Post by david on Jul 13, 2019 23:05:48 GMT
Got to see this tonight. Having originally bought a £32 ticket up in the Circle as the tickets for the front stalls had sold out when the priority booking period opened, thankfully, with a bit of lurking on the NT site a few weeks ago, I managed to swap it for a £18 stalls front row ticket for this performance. It’s a shame that there were plenty of unsold seats in the auditorium tonight as in my opinion it is a very good production. Having seen a modern take on the original text done last year at the Liverpool Everyman as part of their REP season, I was interested in seeing how the NT would tackle this play.
Certainly I thought this production was very well done and David Hare’s version held my interest for the 3hrs 25 mins tonight. I thought that the first Act running at around 80 mins could of done with having an interval of some sort so that I could stretch my legs.
I thought the use of the musical segments had mixed results. While on the whole I actually enjoyed them as part of the crazy fantasy element to the plot, I think they could of been cut and it wouldn’t have made the production any poorer for their absence. The one I thought that didn’t particularly work well was Guy Henry’s number which I couldn’t buy into.
Casting wise, James McArdle was just brilliant in the role as Gynt. For me, he was at his best during the more emotionally charged scenes, particularly with Anne Louise Ross as his mother and his exchanges with Oliver Ford Davies in the final Act.
Once you strip the fantasy element away ( some patrons I was talking to during the interval, made comparisons to the Life and Times of Walter Mitty film), I thought the philosophical messages came across well at the end.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jul 13, 2019 23:47:50 GMT
I thought this was just ok, not bad, just a bit meh. McArdle is of course excellent, but some parts really dragged. The musical segments are pointless and boring, apart from the wedding part. I give it 3 stars.
Also there were lots of empty seats. Really don't get why the National has this ridiculous policy which stops you from buying more than two of the cheapest tickets. I understand the restrictions when the demand is high but this is not selling at all. I was trying to get three tickets and they wouldn't let me buy them. It worked out well as my friend got four excellent complimentary tickets in Stalls, they are papering it now. So once more I have to thank the National for refusing to sell me the tickets. And it's the 3rd time this happens this year, the two previous times were with Tartuffe and with Rutherford and Sons, for which I then managed to get complimentary tickets too. They obviously prefer to give away the tickets instead of allowing people to buy more than two of the cheap ones. This year the only National production I have paid for is Small Island.
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