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Post by Jon on May 18, 2019 19:44:24 GMT
They’ve changed the interval structure so the first one is 15 minutes but the second is only 5 minutes
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1,217 posts
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Post by nash16 on May 18, 2019 20:22:54 GMT
They’ve changed the interval structure so the first one is 15 minutes but the second is only 5 minutes 🤦🏻♀️ |
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Post by peelee on May 19, 2019 17:40:30 GMT
I saw this on Friday and really liked it. Three hours all in, though they might trim a few minutes once into the run. Whatever, it's a good play, a fine production, and well worth anyone's time in a theatre seat.
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1,133 posts
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Post by Stephen on May 20, 2019 1:16:24 GMT
Why can’t this start at 7pm and have two 15 or 20 minute intervals? More bar sales for the Nash. Must be a creative choice...I don’t know the play. Booked to see it in a month or so...
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Post by cartoonman on May 22, 2019 8:37:24 GMT
Saw this last night, I agree it has similarities to An Inspector Calls, but in my opinion isn't quite as good. A dysfunctional Northern family are ruled over by Roger Allum, in very fine Captain Ahab form, lots of northern accents some better than others. Lots of "nays". The meekest wife of a son finally gets to rule the roost after almost everyone else has left home. Good set, reminded me of an office I worked in back in the 1970s. The play was slow to start and I think could be trimmed. On the whole a good evening out that finished at about 10.20. |
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Post by altamont on May 25, 2019 16:26:40 GMT
Now just one interval - this afternoon part 1 was 55 mins, then 20 minute interval then part two was 1 hour 20
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747 posts
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Post by Latecomer on May 25, 2019 20:45:17 GMT
So, I had seat A19 in stalls. The stage comes forward at the start....the bit that juts out most stops just before my seat, with a small stool placed at the very edge of the stage. Damn, I think, this is going to be bad. A character sits on the stool near the start....I have to crane neck to see her and cannot see anything past her...I am now rather panicking that this is going to be awful....she moves, I try not to be anxious that she will return. Good news is the stool is only sat on once more (briefly) and it is not solid, so some of the play can be seen through the stool when needed, so it wasn’t as bad as I thought....
BUT HONESTLY DID THEY KNOW I HAD BOOKED THAT SEAT? WAS IT AN EVIL JOKE?
Apart from that all good, liked the play, actors great, husband enjoyed it.
I see Peggs also has this prime seat booked.....
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4,155 posts
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Post by kathryn on May 25, 2019 21:05:17 GMT
Saw this wendesday night and honestly the best thing about it was the pre-show/interval singing. Otherwise it was pretty dull.
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1,346 posts
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Post by tmesis on May 25, 2019 21:36:10 GMT
Down to 2hrs 40 this evening.
In the main I enjoyed it but I'm a sucker for a 'It's grim up North' sort of play and it really does start (with hindsight) in Pythonesque cliche land. All the performances were great but Allam was exceptional and it did hang fire a bit when he wasn't on.
Excellent set with a great coup de theatre at the end.
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Post by joem on May 25, 2019 21:49:11 GMT
Sub-Ibsenesque stuff reminiscent of Granville Barker perhaps. A family of northern grotesques is ruled over by an iron fist wielded by chief ogre Roger Allam. In its determination to be a well-written play everything comes to a convenient conclusion, after years of brewing, in the course of the play. Considering some of this play is a critique of capitalism it's mystifying to see each squire has hos own candle. Give me champagne socialism any day.
It's not a bad play but it is quite dated. Lots of exposition, the McGuffin central to the plot is sketchy and really rather incredible. It is stretching credulity to believe that Rutherford is ever going to believe his wastrel son (not that we really see much wastrelling in the play) is capable of inventing something worthwhile, let alone worthwhile going to war over. Nice to see Anjana Vasan notching up another acting credit.
The music was really good.
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3,564 posts
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Post by showgirl on May 26, 2019 4:19:38 GMT
Having seen this before in the relatively recent past (can't recall which production and where but probably the Northern Broadsides version with Barrie Rutter), I didn't think it worth my limited time to book again and so far that's sounding like the right decision. Great to have the opportunity if it's new to you or you wish to compare versions but not one for me to revisit yet, if ever.
Off-topic but lately there seem to have been several repeat productions of this type, eg the Arcola doing The Daughter In Law, which I'd seen in a really good version at the Orange Tree not long before; the Finborough is another theatre where I've seen plays subsequently soon produced elsewhere. Otherwise both plays would have been absolutely my sort of thing.
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Post by Latecomer on May 26, 2019 11:18:41 GMT
I enjoyed this as it created such a good portrait of a family under the clear rule of the father and excellent acting all round meant that it was very believable. As such it still seemed very relevant to me....and well worth my time. It is often difficult when you come from a family where someone is domineering to explain exactly why they are so awful (and how they get you to “go along” with their will) to outsiders. This quite subtle portrait of a family living in fear was excellent.
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Post by sfsusan on May 26, 2019 13:55:46 GMT
This is one of those shows that is 'interesting', which isn't really as damning with faint praise as it sounds. It held my interest (which surprised me as I've been sick for 4 days and almost decided to skip it), Roger Allam's performance was compelling and the staging was clever (dark, but clever). As an American, I have no idea how accurate the Northern accents are, but if I'd been watching this on tv, I would have had closed captioning on! I just had to be satisfied with the gist of some of the speeches (although I did notice the National offers captioning glasses, which I might try in the future). And my ear did mostly attune after a while. The theme reminded me of 'Girl From the North Country' (at the Old Vic a couple of years ago)... a dysfunctional family trapped in a bleak, unforgiving Northern landscape. One flawed family member who is the dominant emotional influence on the others. This had absolutely no moments of love or joy, however. One question... did anyone else think it ended awfully abruptly? I was sure something else was going to happen. In fact... {Spoiler - click to view}
Just before the 'coup de théâtre', I saw a red glow through the windows at the back of the set (by the house's front door). I was sure Janet had run down and set the glass factory on fire in revenge. I was really kind of disappointed that it was apparently a warning that the stage was about to move and not meant to be seen by the audience. |
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Post by nash16 on May 29, 2019 21:04:54 GMT
Saw this last night and left at the interval. It was so slow and lacking on the drama front too much for us.
Can anyone put it a spoiler what the coup de theatre was? (We're hoping it was Roger Allam suddenly breaking out into a tap dance...)
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Post by sfsusan on May 30, 2019 9:06:31 GMT
You did miss the best scene in the show... {Spoiler - click to view}
where the father gets his comeuppance... the curate son leaves for another parish, the daughter runs out into the night (after her suitor jilts her out of guilt for going behind Allam's back), the inventor son leaves for, well, he just leaves, very kindly enabled by his wife.
And the daughter-in-law basically throws herself on the sword and stays for the sake of her son. She bargains with Allam (gaining his grudging respect) that she and the grandson will stay, and he'll take care of them and protect them. In return, in 10 years, he'll get the grandson to train into the business, and when he dies, the grandson will inherit.
Her speech to the father-in-law is wonderful and the emotional highlight of the show. Come to think of it, it's one of the few emotional points of the show, period. But the coup mentioned is when {Spoiler - click to view}
the stage revolves (just after the big scene above), the rain sounds come back, and you see the daughter-in-law and baby bleakly staring out of a window into the dark, rainy night. |
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Post by sfsusan on May 30, 2019 9:13:46 GMT
Can anyone put it a spoiler what the coup de theatre was? (We're hoping it was Roger Allam suddenly breaking out into a tap dance...) Oooh, while singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" ? That would have been awesome! |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on May 30, 2019 14:19:17 GMT
Another who left at the interval. I just found it deadly, deadly dull.
The rain was the best bit.
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1,217 posts
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Post by nash16 on May 30, 2019 21:22:06 GMT
You did miss the best scene in the show... {Spoiler - click to view}
where the father gets his comeuppance... the curate son leaves for another parish, the daughter runs out into the night (after her suitor jilts her out of guilt for going behind Allam's back), the inventor son leaves for, well, he just leaves, very kindly enabled by his wife.
And the daughter-in-law basically throws herself on the sword and stays for the sake of her son. She bargains with Allam (gaining his grudging respect) that she and the grandson will stay, and he'll take care of them and protect them. In return, in 10 years, he'll get the grandson to train into the business, and when he dies, the grandson will inherit.
Her speech to the father-in-law is wonderful and the emotional highlight of the show. Come to think of it, it's one of the few emotional points of the show, period. But the coup mentioned is when {Spoiler - click to view}
the stage revolves (just after the big scene above), the rain sounds come back, and you see the daughter-in-law and baby bleakly staring out of a window into the dark, rainy night. Thank you for this. It sounds like a lovely last image. And scene. A shame it just dragged for us. |
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Post by jek on May 31, 2019 7:42:50 GMT
Went to see this last night and while it wasn't the best thing I'd ever seen at the National I thought it was worth seeing. Woman sitting next to me apologised after the interval for having fallen asleep (I hadn't even noticed) and explained that her friend had now left having had enough but had delegated her to stay and relate the ending. I think I enjoyed it a bit more than I would have had I not been surrounded that afternoon by teenage girls (my daughter and her friends) studying the suffrage movement for A Level History. I thought the review quoted in the programme about how a suffrage newspaper review had claimed it to be a "Suffrage" play was an interesting point.
I'm a bit biased towards Kerry Andrew's music (she teaches on a summer school for young composers - giving state school students the opportunity to get some expert tuition which may be a bit thin on the ground in their schools - which I am familiar with) but I did really enjoy it - and stayed around during the interval to hear it.
And does feature, of course, some really top notch acting which it was a delight to observe from those cheap - if uncomfortable - row D seats in the stalls.
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Post by Polly1 on May 31, 2019 8:13:31 GMT
Definitely worth seeing. Having gone in completely cold, I was quite gripped in the second half (shame some didn't make it that far). The cast did really well to keep on the right side of Monty Python territory and accents mostly held up well, give or take the odd excursion to Scouse, Irish etc. Allam was on great form, does he ever give a bad performance? But I'm curious as to why he wanted to take this part, perhaps just happy to return to the NT. Justine Mitchell is becoming a favourite of mine, superb and really made you pull for her character. Sam Troughton annoyed me at first but by the end I thought his depiction paid off. Coup de theatre good but not quite the spectacle I'd imagined! I can see how the play might have caused quite a stir when first performed and overall a worthwhile afternoon, especially as I struck lucky with my row D seat (purchased only in the morning) - my two neighbours both had empty seats next to them and moved up, leaving me the luxury of three seats to myself! Also Latecomer 's stool, if I may call it that, not too bothersome! |
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Post by lonlad on May 31, 2019 9:52:45 GMT
Was there last night as well, surrounded by people who left at the interval (including eight people further to my left in the stalls). The good in this is REALLY good (Allam, of course, and also Mitchell and the excellent Joe Armstrong, who really is a dead ringer for his dad), the bad bewilderingly so: Susan Rogers has one scene in the second half that is so risibly performed that one wonders if Polly Findlay was even in the room when it was being rehearsed. Disappointed, too, in Troughton, who gives a shouty, external performance that really does in his scenes with Allam. The minute Mitchell comes in to go mano and mano with our leading man, you can see how it should be done. The climactic coup was fine but I was expecting something a lot more dramatic -- remember back in the day when everything Jonathan Kent directed would end with the set collapsing (his MEDEA, for one)? Now those were the days LOL !!
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Post by sfsusan on May 31, 2019 10:20:13 GMT
Thank you for this. It sounds like a lovely last image. And scene. A shame it just dragged for us. I actually felt the scene was interrupted... I expected it to continue {Spoiler - click to view}
after the baby cried, and it just ended. I'm glad I stayed, but I'm not sure it was worth it if staying would have been a struggle. |
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Post by lou105 on May 31, 2019 13:13:24 GMT
Also there last night and agree with a number of lonlad 's points, especially the scene with the visiting mother! I largely forgave Troughton because his character's upbringing left him unsure where he fitted in, and emotionally clumsy. The set was rather lovely I thought. Glad I went, although the longer second half lagged a bit. |
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Post by TallPaul on May 31, 2019 13:34:47 GMT
When I saw the recent Crucible production, sans programme, I was convinced that the mother and aunt were played by the same person, until two different actors came on for the curtain call.
They would be in a commercial production...though I can't imagine there now ever being a commercial production!
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Post by vabbian on May 31, 2019 21:56:47 GMT
I went to press night
Left at the interval
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