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Post by zahidf on Jan 16, 2020 23:20:16 GMT
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Post by theatrelover123 on Jan 17, 2020 8:28:46 GMT
Could somebody please correct the title of this thread?  |
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Post by bordeaux on Jan 17, 2020 12:12:03 GMT
Great news. One of the funniest plays I've ever seen (the Sam Mendes production at the Donmar with Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Brenda Blethyn, Jason Watkins, Hugh Bonneville, Celia Imrie in the mid-90s). Looking forward to seeing the casting (Alec Guinness in the original 1973 production, a sign of what a reputation Bennett had even relatively early in his playwriting career).
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Post by bordeaux on Jan 17, 2020 12:14:02 GMT
Alex Jennings would be ideal for the doctor.
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Post by Polly1 on Jan 18, 2020 9:46:39 GMT
Hoover Hoover.
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Post by joem on Jan 18, 2020 11:24:14 GMT
Great news. This is one of the few Bennett's I haven't seen and I remember thinking it was very funny when I read it years back. As a bonus I imagine there will be Sunday performances thus filling up the most difficult day to sort out.
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Post by learfan on Jan 18, 2020 12:57:57 GMT
Alex Jennings would be ideal for the doctor. Dont know the play but yes please to Jennings! |
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Post by ceebee on Jan 20, 2020 17:38:18 GMT
Did this play in the final year at drama school. Funny as anything - for cast and audience alike!
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Post by tw on Mar 10, 2020 12:36:54 GMT
At the Menier 14th May - 4th July
Booking Schedule:
Chocoholic & Soufflé supporters - 9th March
Brownie supporters - 11th March
Cupcake supporters - 13th March
General on sale - 16th March
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Post by zahidf on Mar 12, 2020 23:40:00 GMT
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Post by theoracle on Sept 16, 2021 23:49:23 GMT
Cast unveiled
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Post by Phantom of London on Sept 17, 2021 0:35:35 GMT
I’m not familiar with the cast, apart from Ria Jones.
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Post by alicechallice on Sept 17, 2021 7:06:53 GMT
I’m not familiar with the cast, apart from Ria Jones. Jasper Britton is son of Tony & brother of Fern. Matthew Cottle does a lot of Ayckbourn, used to be in BBC2 sitcom Game On, currently reprising his TV role of Prince Edward in The Windsors: Endgame at Prince of Wales. Caroline Langrishe used to be in Lovejoy (if you can remember back that far) |
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Post by schuttep on Sept 17, 2021 10:17:07 GMT
As this is an Alan Bennett play I've never seen, I'm very much looking forward to see it on its final Sunday matinee outing.
And the positive comments here are making me salivate even more!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2021 10:25:29 GMT
Catherine Russell was on Holby city for a very very long time as Serena. A terrific actress.
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Post by Jan on Sept 18, 2021 17:47:46 GMT
Sounds awful - like a Carry On film.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2021 18:07:00 GMT
Catherine Russell was on Holby city for a very very long time as Serena. A terrific actress. She's done loads of theatre as well (Ian Charleston Award nomination) and last seen in WHAT THE BUTLER SAW Leicester Curve/Theatre Royal Bath 2017. Her dad is Nicholas Smith - Mr Rumbold from "Are you being served?" I guess Ria Jones is playing Mrs Swabb, the cleaner "Hoover,Hoover" although I have fond memories of seeing Alan Bennett playing it in drag at the Lyric. Yes! A truly terrific actress. And great lady, too. She played Alice B. Toklas in my play LITTLE WARS which streamed earlier I the pandemic. |
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Post by Jan on Sept 19, 2021 10:25:51 GMT
Sounds awful - like a Carry On film. That's the point.Its a homage of Donald Macgill's saucy seaside postcards of the 30s with a nod to Oscar Wilde and Joe Orton.Perhaps that's why the Menier is quoting " A filthy farce from a less enlightened age" in their publicity. "Homage" gives them a free pass to make jokes about false breasts without the audience feeling guilty I suppose - Bennett's name gives it a veneer of intellectual respectability. I find Joe Orton plays to be similarly unfunny. I think there were two periods in British theatre when naming a character Canon Throbbing amused people and one was around the 1970s and the other was around the 1770s. Whether it's appropriate for the 2020s I don't know. |
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Post by londonpostie on Sept 19, 2021 12:28:14 GMT
made me smile .. mind you we honestly did have a Master Bates.
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Post by tmesis on Sept 19, 2021 15:49:39 GMT
...and I was at university with Dick Standing.
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Post by orchidman on Nov 29, 2021 18:42:30 GMT
Decent seats for £15 on Today Tix Cyber Monday offer, big savings on face value
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Post by bordeaux on Nov 29, 2021 21:53:45 GMT
Alec Guinness played Wicksteed in the original production, so it's safe to say it's a cut above Carry On. Jim Broadbent was the lead in the brilliant Sam Mendes production at the Donmar in the early 90s. I'd put it in my top five funniest plays seen in 30+ years of theatre-going.
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Post by londonpostie on Dec 3, 2021 14:29:21 GMT
Still £15 on TodayTix - what can you do! Next Thursday for moi if anyone want to join.
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Post by david on Dec 6, 2021 23:46:31 GMT
First time back at the MCF tonight and what a fun night it was watching this. With a run time of 2hrs and 15 mins (each Act was approx 1 hr) this really was a slick performance that kept us all throughly entertained. The play might be nearly 50 years old but Alan Bennett’s humour and dry wit still shines as brightly as ever on stage and delivered with plenty of energy by the wonderful cast of 11. Certainly the humour from the writing landed with tonight’s audience keeping us laughing the entire time.
The play is performed with minimal staging with only a coffin on stage the entire time which really didn’t make any sense until the final scene and for some inexplicable reason a stuffed toy dog at the back of the set (there is no reason why it’s there. A pointless presence in my opinion). Though to be honest the absence of any real set didn’t really detract from my enjoyment. Being sat front row tonight provided ample of legroom as the stage isn’t that deep. Though I forgot how cramped that padded bench seating was in the auditorium so you can get up close and personal with the people sitting next to you.
It’s my first time seeing this play and certainly at times it did feel a bit like a Carry On film with people being chased around the stage and the dropping of trousers both myself and the rest of tonight’s audience just lapped it up. Certainly that kind of humour can feel dated but the way it’s presented on stage I thought worked overall. Ria Jones as Mrs Swabb I’m convinced was channelling Acorn Antiques legend Mrs Overall in her performance which does include some singing from her (along with the rest of the cast). Matthew Cottle played a wonderful randy vicar. It was nice to see Dan Starkey in the flesh as I’m more use to seeing him in Dr Who underneath all the Sontaran prosthetics. Overall I thought the entire cast worked well together and the play went straight through without any issues and appeared in great shape tonight.
Thankfully as the restaurant area upstairs is currently closed it provides additional space to mingle pre-show and during the interval as it was pretty cramped as always in the downstairs bar area. Also I’m happy to report that the creative team were making notes during the show without disturbing nearby audience members.
So is this worth a watch? Definitely.
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Post by londonpostie on Dec 9, 2021 23:07:05 GMT
Agree with david : A glorious cast, first class direction from Patrick Marber (pacing around outside like an expectant father), perfect set design - love this light-hearted send up of middle-class Englishness: prime Alan Bennett. Planned before lockdown but still in previews - the cast doesn't miss a beat. Ideal knockabout fun. Big preview crowd - somewhat augmented by TodayTix, some sufficiently moved to stand at the end. Five doctor's appointments out of five. |
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