116 posts
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Post by alexandra on Feb 26, 2020 15:39:34 GMT
thanks noboiscout
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Post by partytentdown on Feb 26, 2020 17:26:26 GMT
Any chance we can fix Mr Spall's name in the subject line?
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Post by Marcus on Feb 26, 2020 18:04:51 GMT
Where do I want to sit for this, please? Pit (short end) or sides? Best seats are what they call the 'bar seats' which are down in by the runway/stage. Unless you are concerned about actor's spit.. Have seen it twice now and wouldn't want to sit elsewhere in the theatre. I saw the second preview in which Rafe fell off the stage during a transition, onto a lady in the bar seat - breaking the chair in the process and leaving the women flat on the floor. Made for a hilarious moment but did feel for the women! |
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Post by Marwood on Feb 28, 2020 22:07:05 GMT
I haven’t really seen that much in the theatre in recent months but I thought this was the best thing I’ve seen in an absolute age: Rafe Spall was indeed exceptional, proceeds were halted halfway through due to the air conditioning making an an unholy racket but after a shaky restart he seemed to then thrive on the edginess of the theatre not really knowing what had just happened: it was indeed too long, 20 minutes or so could have been cut out without doing the play any harm but there were a few really powerful moments which I think will stay with me.
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Post by n1david on Feb 29, 2020 9:22:59 GMT
In case people haven’t noticed, Rafe Spall is talking about the show in a platform at the NT on Monday. 3pm, unfortunately for the 9-5ers amongst us, but they generally release these platforms as podcasts later. I’m thinking it may be one of the more interesting actor platforms.
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Post by theoracle on Mar 1, 2020 0:36:06 GMT
A stellar evening with an exuberant performance from Rafe Spall. The descent from your typical geezer off the street to grown man in crisis was excellently cathartic. I can't imagine anyone else doing a role like this and whilst I've started to grow tired from "political plays", this was something different. All round standing ovation received, even from a handicapped lady sat next to me. It's a shame I won't get to see this again as this, this is what makes theatre theatre.
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Post by n1david on Mar 2, 2020 17:25:05 GMT
Rafe Spall at today's platform said there were talks to bring this to the West End.
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Post by marob on Mar 2, 2020 19:56:33 GMT
I'm seeing this on Thursday and I've got a couple of questions I'm hoping someone can answer
I've had an email that says I need to leave my coat in the cloakroom. I've only been to the Dorfman a couple of times and don't use cloakrooms, so does the Dorfman have it's own cloakroom or does it mean the one in the main building?
How does the pit seating work? Do ou pick your own seat but on a first-come, first-served basis? What sort of time have people been getting there?
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Post by david on Mar 2, 2020 20:09:02 GMT
I'm seeing this on Thursday and I've got a couple of questions I'm hoping someone can answer I've had an email that says I need to leave my coat in the cloakroom. I've only been to the Dorfman a couple of times and don't use cloakrooms, so does the Dorfman have it's own cloakroom or does it mean the one in the main building? How does the pit seating work? Do ou pick your own seat but on a first-come, first-served basis? What sort of time have people been getting there? Regarding the cloakroom, the Dorfman does have its own cloakroom. Not too sure about the seating for this production. |
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Post by meister on Mar 2, 2020 20:19:58 GMT
The pit seating is in one of four sections around the cross shaped stage. The seats themselves (1st come 1st served) are plastic seats (with backs) which swivel. There are about a dozen in each section and they are fixed to the floor. Not quite the ‘bar stools’ described by the National!
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Post by stevemar on Mar 2, 2020 22:37:13 GMT
Your Pit ticket should state if you are sections A-D. We went in around 15 minutes before the show, and there were about 6 people seated in our area already. The seats were comfortable and give you a great close up view of the performance. As you noted, the tickets ask you to deposit your bag and coat in the cloakroom. Not everyone did, but the main thing is that you do not have anything on the floor, which they mentioned twice in our seats. Don’t worry, it not that they will get wet or anything, just to keep the area clear for you to swivel round and Mr Spall to move freely. His performance was wonderful.
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Post by popcultureboy on Mar 2, 2020 23:02:18 GMT
Rafe Spall at today's platform said there were talks to bring this to the West End. Putting this into a West End venue would be a challenge on many levels. First one being there are barely any available. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on Mar 2, 2020 23:09:25 GMT
Rafe Spall at today's platform said there were talks to bring this to the West End. Putting this into a West End venue would be a challenge on many levels. First one being there are barely any available. I don’t think it warrants going into the West End but it’s exactly the sort of thing Sonia Friedman would take into the Ambassadors as part of her new season. |
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 2, 2020 23:33:11 GMT
The current staging eats most of the ground floor seats. Even if you could do it, not sure this configuaration would be commercially viable in the WE.
Slightly surprised this production isn't at least partly *immersive*/standing.
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Post by catcat100 on Mar 2, 2020 23:46:01 GMT
The Jungle at the Playhouse had a similar staging, so could go in there after all the Jamie Lloyd plays finish. or any other medium sized theatre willing to rip its seats out.
Was there at the talk as well, quite enjoyable. Rafe mentioned that it was 14,000 words he had to learn for this. quite staggering really.
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Post by Jon on Mar 3, 2020 23:50:53 GMT
Somewhere like the Trafalgar Studios would work
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Post by popcultureboy on Mar 4, 2020 8:03:56 GMT
The Jungle at the Playhouse had a similar staging, so could go in there after all the Jamie Lloyd plays finish. or any other medium sized theatre willing to rip its seats out. Playhouse has Good directly after the Jamie Lloyd plays, which takes them to the end of 2020. Somewhere like the Trafalgar Studios would work That's actually a really good shout. Trafalgar 1 currently doesn't have anything on sale past On Blueberry Hill and a similar staging would be possible in that space. |
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Post by Rory on Mar 4, 2020 9:58:34 GMT
And Trafalgar Entertainment seems to have a nice co-pro partnership with the NT, after Nine Night and A Taste of Honey, and Trafalgar are co-producing Curious Incident with the NT at Wembley. So my guess would be Trafalgar Studios too.
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Post by alessia on Mar 4, 2020 12:26:28 GMT
went last night, what a performace from Rafe Spall. Absolutely mesmerising. and all the more admirable as he managed to keep his focus despite a drunk audience member shouting at him three times. He dealt with it brilliantly, first and second time asking the man to shut up, then at the third intrusion, asked him to leave-the guy was escorted out. and after all that, Rafe went straight back into the character and carried on as if nothing had happened! Everyone was standing up at the end, for a long time. I urge everyone to go to this if you can (and sit near the stage-I had a high stool to the side and wished I was closer), I feel it will be one of those that will be remembered and referred to in years to come. I do hope it moves to the West End so more people can see it, but at the same time I don't know how Rafe can possibly keep this role for much longer without his health being compromised...
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 5, 2020 22:44:13 GMT
Very hard indeed to get this right, imo. Not convinced the writers hit the marks.
Also wondered how it would play without the mania. Tbh, I also wondered how it would play with Tom Hardy.
As a piece of committed, emphatic theatre it was captivating.
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Post by harry on Mar 5, 2020 23:53:02 GMT
Didn’t do it for me or my friend either. Interesting it stemmed from a 10min short film as it felt like the style and tone kept shifting as if lost of short plays / sketches had been stacked together and ultimately added up to much less than a whole. The audience interaction seemed unclear - at some points near the start it felt like the actor Rafe Spall (as opposed to the character) was talking to someone in a “we’re all here watching a play” kind of way (comments like “nobody’s done that before” etc.) But then that interaction just stopped so it felt like a mistake rather than a device.
I HATED the funeral home set. Why do the whole thing in one in-the-round blank canvas style then build a ludicrously detailed set for 10min of the show? And if you are going to do that, why choose that particular 10min which seemed no more significant than any other bit except that’s the bit they’d made the film of a few years ago?! When they did a similar thing with the set at the Almeida for Our Town it was the most striking coup-de-theatre, completely unexpected and loaded with meaning and emotion. Here it just felt like they went “oh we’ve got a NT budget and all we’ve bought is some swivel chairs, let’s put a great big set in the back”
Rafe is undoubtedly to be admired for his performance and dedication to the material, but ultimately it felt like middle class people watching middle class people imagine “un-pc but ultimately golden-hearted” working class people (like the worst of Mike Leigh).
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Post by Dave B on Mar 6, 2020 9:22:56 GMT
I also saw it yesterday afternoon and I agree with a lot of comments in the thread, a few people touching on it been written by people who have no idea about the idea of the people it portrays rings very true. But Rafe Spall was utterly magnetic and I sat there totally enthralled by his performance. For me, there is an earlier post in this thread which sums the show up perfectly Saw it last night. 5 star performance. 3 star play. |
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Post by londonpostie on Mar 6, 2020 12:55:54 GMT
Not sure if that's the whole story. At least some of his childhood sees to have been spent in south London (he supports Crystal Palace, fwiw)- he was also claiming at the talk on Monday he was in a white minority in his school class - IMDB says he was born in Camberwell.
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Post by alessia on Mar 6, 2020 13:33:46 GMT
Not sure if that's the whole story. At least some of his childhood sees to have been spent in south London (he supports Crystal Palace, fwiw)- he was also claiming at the talk on Monday he was in a white minority in his school class - IMDB says he was born in Camberwell. Dad lives in Forest Hill, ex partner from the area used to say they were neighbours, so yes makes sense if Rafe was born in Camberwell and supports Crystal Palace, he is a South London man. |
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Post by tmesis on Mar 7, 2020 17:46:48 GMT
Hugely enjoyed Rafe's performance but the play leaves a lot to be desired and didn't ring true. The whole thing was very stylised. If you can imagine something that bizarre, it strangely made me think what it would be like if Tony Kushner attempted unsuccessfully to write a play riffing on 'Englishness.'
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