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Post by lynette on Jan 22, 2020 15:55:59 GMT
I was wondering about squashing ‘em all in at the back.
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Post by Rory on Jan 22, 2020 20:56:18 GMT
I have been in the dressing rooms at the Wyndham's and there's not that much room backstage!
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Post by nash16 on Jan 23, 2020 1:32:55 GMT
Been keeping an eye on this Saturday's performance, however it has now disappeared from the calendar completely not even showing as sold out. Has first preview been cancelled? Yes, meant to open this Saturday. Now all performances until 10th of February (!) have been removed. So Sonia has pulled just over 2 weeks worth of shows. Yikes. What’s going on? |
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Post by Steve on Jan 23, 2020 9:06:25 GMT
Been keeping an eye on this Saturday's performance, however it has now disappeared from the calendar completely not even showing as sold out. Has first preview been cancelled? Yes, meant to open this Saturday. Now all performances until 10th of February (!) have been removed. So Sonia has pulled just over 2 weeks worth of shows. Yikes. What’s going on? I think they are just selling the earlier performances, which are mostly sold out, through a different link. I bought one yesterday:
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Post by theatremad on Jan 23, 2020 9:08:56 GMT
Yes, meant to open this Saturday. Now all performances until 10th of February (!) have been removed. So Sonia has pulled just over 2 weeks worth of shows. Yikes. What’s going on? I think they are just selling the earlier performances, which are mostly sold out, through a different link. I bought one yesterday:
Just clicked through on mobile and that's only showing February but appears if I do it on desktop. |
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Post by nash16 on Jan 23, 2020 10:20:28 GMT
I think they are just selling the earlier performances, which are mostly sold out, through a different link. I bought one yesterday:
Just clicked through on mobile and that's only showing February but appears if I do it on desktop. Thank you and thank goodness. |
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Post by edi on Jan 23, 2020 15:55:53 GMT
Sorry if I've missed this but do we know if there will be a rush or lottery for this, please? I can't do day seats. Thks. Todaytix is going to do rush, it's already showing on the app |
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Post by Polly1 on Jan 23, 2020 16:11:26 GMT
Thanks for this. Will be interested to see where seats are as it looks to be very well sold.
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Post by sweets7 on Jan 24, 2020 18:41:10 GMT
Bought tickets for this for my Mums Birthday. As I thought it was something she would like. I really hope it is good. What have people heard so far?
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Post by Jon on Jan 24, 2020 19:22:12 GMT
Bought tickets for this for my Mums Birthday. As I thought it was something she would like. I really hope it is good. What have people heard so far? Doesn't open until tomorrow so no opinions just yet. |
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Post by sweets7 on Jan 24, 2020 19:51:26 GMT
Bought tickets for this for my Mums Birthday. As I thought it was something she would like. I really hope it is good. What have people heard so far? Doesn't open until tomorrow so no opinions just yet. I have my fingers crossed to hear tomorrow night. It seems in theory something she would lap up but also I am.aware it is right up my street and I would probably take myself to see it alone to focus. So I really hope she enjoys it so I don't feel it was forced on her. |
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Post by lynette on Jan 24, 2020 22:11:20 GMT
Who is going this week? Please post.
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Post by Dave B on Jan 25, 2020 0:11:28 GMT
Who is going this week? Please post. We are going Tuesday night - cheap seats! |
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Post by zahidf on Jan 25, 2020 9:30:30 GMT
Rush tickets now available
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Post by edi on Jan 25, 2020 10:31:20 GMT
Anyone tried the rush this morning? What seats were offered?
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Post by lynette on Jan 25, 2020 19:22:02 GMT
Who is going this week? Please post. We are going Tuesday night - cheap seats! Great. I will be v interested in your comments |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 25, 2020 20:04:14 GMT
Anyone tried the rush this morning? What seats were offered? I gave a look and was offered a seat in row D of the Grand Circle, but hopefully better seats are also available. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 25, 2020 23:03:54 GMT
I had two friends in the audience tonight. They loved it. Moving and funny. Huge cast well deployed.
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Post by youngoffender on Jan 25, 2020 23:41:06 GMT
Saw the first performance tonight thanks to TodayTix rush (Row D of Grand Circle). A very polished show, just a couple of line stumbles, running 2 hours 45 mins (interval comes early).
First impressions. Stoppard has lost none of his erudition or ambition, using the lives of an extended family in Vienna over more than half a century (1899 to 1955) to explore the complexity of Jewish identity, and the competing attractions of assimilation and ethnic/cultural solidarity. The first hour in particular is rich and involving, tracing the disillusionment of Adrian Scarborough’s patriarch that Viennese high society will ever truly accept him, or that the 20th century will be any less dangerous for Jews than the previous one.
The play lost some grip on me after the break, though. With a cast of 25-30, it feels overpopulated and lacking an emotional centre as it works through the decades. You need the family tree in the programme to keep track of who everyone is. Tellingly, the audience mistook the end of the 1938 scene as the end of the show, but there’s another 20 mins to go. Without any really knockout scenes or a compelling dramatic arc, it could have ended anywhere.
A solid 3.5 stars from me. Half a star extra for a great gag involving mistaken identity and a cigar cutter.
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Post by nash16 on Jan 26, 2020 14:16:52 GMT
Saw the first performance tonight thanks to TodayTix rush (Row D of Grand Circle). A very polished show, just a couple of line stumbles, running 2 hours 45 mins (interval comes early). First impressions. Stoppard has lost none of his erudition or ambition, using the lives of an extended family in Vienna over more than half a century (1899 to 1955) to explore the complexity of Jewish identity, and the competing attractions of assimilation and ethnic/cultural solidarity. The first hour in particular is rich and involving, tracing the disillusionment of Adrian Scarborough’s patriarch that Viennese high society will ever truly accept him, or that the 20th century will be any less dangerous for Jews than the previous one. The play lost some grip on me after the break, though. With a cast of 25-30, it feels overpopulated and lacking an emotional centre as it works through the decades. You need the family tree in the programme to keep track of who everyone is. Tellingly, the audience mistook the end of the 1938 scene as the end of the show, but there’s another 20 mins to go. Without any really knockout scenes or a compelling dramatic arc, it could have ended anywhere. A solid 3.5 stars from me. Half a star extra for a great gag involving mistaken identity and a cigar cutter. Think I was sat next to you, youngoffender. Great view from Today Tix seats, although a shame they haven’t offered front row stalls for this. But maybe this is a blessing as it’s quite furniture heavy haha. Agree with above. The first half is a great swirl of history and family, with only a small side order of Stoppardian diversions into mathematical theorem (it’s like he can’t help himself; however, they may reflect something far more important than my brain has connected yet, eg. Cats cradle knots reflecting Jewish movement/identity shifts, etc). Names take a while to attach to people, purely because there are so many on the stage, but we get there eventually. An early interval (just 56mins in) makes way for a longer second half which does have its moments, but the energy of the first half sort of pales away. We begin to lose or see less of the initial characters (owing to the time jumps) and are quickly presented with offspring/newcomers, so, beyond a painting of Faye Castelow, we don’t really have anything or anyone to truly latch onto and invest in. The final act was the most disappointing for me as, although meant to be moving with a recounting of who had been lost, and denials of faith and family, the almost 3-hander ending was too reliant of exposition. Several characters having emotional breakdowns felt too “acted” and placed. Maybe they’ll let go more as it goes on. Or maybe Stoppard will add a bit more so that they’re not made to hurry on to the next revelation/guilt so quickly. There was sniffling around us, so some people were obviously moved, but I’d have preferred a narrative drive to be the source of that, rather than naming the dead. The acting was excellent all round, with only some suffering a first night stiffness in delivery. The much talked about children’s cast don’t do much beyond run about and pull each other’s hair. Biggest laugh came from the aforementioned “cigar cutter” joke. You can probably guess what that’s about... It also gifts a lot of ageing-up acting, especially for Faye Castelow and Adrian Scarborough (who both had to do the same thing when they started together in Time and the Conways at the NT years ago. Faye, of course, just did it again as HMQ in The Audience. She just feel trapped as “actress who can do ageing”) so there are wigs and old-man walks ahoy. Lovers of Luke Thallon get him shirtless and with his feet on show. And playing two characters. But the ambition of the piece can’t be denied, and it fits nicely into the generational family drama genre, and joins the many other plays that have been written about the Jewish experience. I’m just not100% sure it’s saying anything new about it. It does say something that the most moving moment for me was seeing all the characters enter onstage at the very start, complete with soaring Adam Cork score, and just stand there. If I’m honest it never really hit the emotional heights after that for me. But definitely worth seeing as it’s so timely. Just don’t go expecting a revelatory or revolutionary new play. |
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Post by youngoffender on Jan 26, 2020 18:00:31 GMT
Think I was sat next to you, youngoffender. Great view from Today Tix seats, although a shame they haven’t offered front row stalls for this. I shall know to say hello next time! My view from that row would have been fine without the guy leaning forward right in front of me. Even the front of the balcony at the Wyndham's is OK, as it's not really a separate level. As you say, Stoppard always seems to have to get a theorem spliced in somewhere. With the example of the cat's cradle in a box, I wondered if this was an allusion to (Viennese) physicist Schroedinger and his dead/alive feline - the timing would be about right, if that was the 1938 scene. But I can't work out the significance. Agreed about the final section, it just doesn't work and I was left completely unmoved. Not sure if they will do any tweaking/cutting like they might at the National - but they do at least need to find a way to stop the audience trying to clap the show to an end after 1938. Listening to the visiting American and the Jewish couple to my left at the end, I sensed they weren't blown away either. |
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Post by lynette on Jan 27, 2020 13:37:39 GMT
Thanks for all these comments above! I’ll be sure not to clap at the wrong place. I hope they do tweak as it would be a shame to just miss being a good play by a slight overindulgence as it were...
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Post by harry on Jan 27, 2020 19:48:46 GMT
How interesting. I was there too, but felt quite differently about the end and I was one of the many people sobbing away for the final 15mins. Very difficult to talk about what I thought was so effective and affecting without what some might think of a spoilers so I’ll tag the rest. {Spoiler - click to view}
I think the difficulty of the play is that it presents such a large number of characters and familial connections that it’s surely impossible for anyone to stay on top of it. Particularly when the time jumps are of such a long period, and e.g. characters who meet for the first time in one scene have apparently married, had children (I think) and divorced by the time we meet the extended family again. I am certain I missed swathes of apparently significant detail. And I think if you watch the play trying to follow it as a family saga you will find the speed and quantity of information given in the first 3 acts overwhelming. But my hunch is that is not what Stoppard wants us to take from the experience.
What I found so clever and moving was that we are put in the shoes of the Leopold/Leonard character in the final act. Snatches of a half-remembered family history that suddenly take on a huge significance after nobody is there to remember it properly anymore (mirroring the grandmothers speech about forgetting the people photo albums in the opening act). It feels absolutely essential that the last act is a much smaller, more pensive affair. Of the twenty-odd people we’ve met across the years these are the only three who have any hope of passing this broken story forward. The complete decimation of a people seen through the lens of a single vibrant extended family full of people we know, half-know, sort of remember, and the tragedy of the fact they will soon be just names on a piece of paper (this fact underlined by the extraordinary final tableau) is what I think we are supposed to take away - it’s like he’s saying “you spent the whole time trying to keep up with the marriages, infidelities, sibling rivalries, births, illness, and what does that matter now?” |
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Post by lynette on Jan 27, 2020 20:14:17 GMT
Harry, thanks for this. V interesting and what looks like very clever chap our Stoppard.
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Post by jek on Jan 28, 2020 9:58:33 GMT
My partner, who works near Wyndham's, saw Sir Tom outside the theatre yesterday having a smoke.
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