Shipwreck, Almeida

[lonlad]

Rave of all raves for it from the NYT
www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/theater/shipwreck-review.html

[theatrelover123]

Booked to see Shipwreck this afternoon. For those people who have seen it.....if I am not feeling it after the first half/interval will I miss much great stuff if I don’t return for the second half? Would hate to leave a show where the second half is amazing/ better than the first.

[theatrelover123]

Bearing in mind I stayed for the whole of Mr Burns and thought that was one of the worst shows I have ever seen

[n1david]

I saw this last night and really enjoyed it. So much so I’m planning to see it again. I enjoyed the portrayal of liberal angst and how that contributed to the rise of Trump. Impossible to watch without considering Brexit too. There’s a lot of depth to the text - it’s a very wordy play but directed to make everything very clear.

As for theatrelover123 above, I would t say that the second act is significantly different in tone from the first, so if you’re not feeling it after Act 1, Act 2 is unlikely to change your mind. There is the payoff to Fisayo Akinade’s story, which ties things together, so there’s a resolution of sorts, but it’s not the sort of play where there’s a significant gearchange at the interval.

[theatrelover123]

Thanks. And does anybody know the timings for both acts please?

[n1david]

Advertised as 1h20, then 20 minute interval, and another 1h20, but first act ran about 1h30 last night. Out after 3h10.

[kathryn]

Not going to make it to this today due to being full of lurgy. Is there any point returning the ticket?

[NeilVHughes]

kathryn See if you can exchange for another date, quick check shows tickets available for today so unlikely anyone looking for returns, always worth a try as nothing lost.

[kathryn]

Thanks for the suggestion - box office very kindly let me exchange for a couple of weeks’ time.

[bingomatic]

Feb 23, 2019 12:37:18 GMT kathryn said:

Thanks for the suggestion - box office very kindly let me exchange for a couple of weeks’ time.

I've found the Almeida box office to be consistently helpful with these sort of requests.

[oldhasbeen]

Great performance by Fisayo Akinade.

Otherwise it was an incoherent 3 hour ordeal, a lot of unengaging characters taking a long time to say not very much of any interest or consequence

Save your money, there are a lot of better plays on in London at the moment.

[Deleted]

☝️I agree, I thought he was absolutely smashing. He's definitely turning into a "go to" actor for me, everything I've seen him in to date I've loved him and he's stolen every single show.

As for the rest of it, heavens it was a slog for not much reward. Although it was almost worth half the ticket price to witness how someone as foxy as Elliot Cowan has somehow morphed into Simon Callow. Nice of Adam James to give us his Adam James performance but with a gay twist this time. I can't believe how completely unprepared they were for guests though. If The Help had left the cupboards as bare as they were here I'd have phoned Sajid Javid myself.

[Deleted]

I enjoyed this but it was self-indulgent and too long. Also seemed odd that a play which relies on some very detailed knowledge of US politics is having its world premiere in London. I could just about remember most of the events and people referenced but it felt a bit like a US audience being expected to know who (eg) Andrea Leadsom and John Bercow are. (Actually I was reminded of a conversation I had with a US colleague a few months ago who had seen news stories about the attempts to remove John Bercow as speaker and didn't realise the speaker in the House of Commons and the US House of Representatives are very different roles. But I digress)

Anyway .. the reaction to the line about Michael Jackson was interesting and I wondered if this has been tweaked or just the audience response has changed following this week's news stories. Would be interesting to hear from people who saw it earlier in the run

SPOILER: Click to show

During the bit about MTV, Fisayo Akinade talks about the fact that the only black performers on MTV were Michael Jackson and Prince. Regarding Jackson he says something like "At the time I thought he was too mainstream. And now ... [pauses and gives sidelong glance at audience] ... well .."

At which point there was a shocked sharp intake of breath from sections of the audience.

[Deleted]

I'm sure the Michael Jackson line was in it when I saw it but I can't be entirely sure, I could have been dozing off at the time.

[ali973]

I can't say I understood it. It felt like watching annoying white Clintonites on CNN ramble on and on and then being interrupted by bad Angels in America. I stole the mask.

[tmesis]

I found this a pointless waste of time. The largely annoying and unlikeable cast spouted entirely predictable views on Trump at mind-numbingly inordinate length.