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Post by zahidf on May 27, 2022 11:49:38 GMT
I hope a transfer is on the cards!
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Post by Jon on May 27, 2022 17:09:51 GMT
I hope a transfer is on the cards! I think a transfer is likely but depends on theatre availability, they may be waiting a while. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 27, 2022 17:22:01 GMT
I hope a transfer is on the cards! I think a transfer is likely but depends on theatre availability, they may be waiting a while. Or not…. |
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Post by Jon on May 27, 2022 17:27:14 GMT
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Post by Rory on May 27, 2022 18:05:22 GMT
Yes any early transfer news for this would be great mrbarnaby! |
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Post by Jon on May 27, 2022 18:10:05 GMT
I know Nimax's new theatre is my default answer for any potential transfers but I would imagine Nica Burns would want something to open her new theatre with a bang and The Unfriend is a candidate.
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Post by talkingheads on May 28, 2022 6:41:53 GMT
Yes I'd have thought The Unfriend would automatically transfer. Big name writer's playwriting debut and a fantastic cast. I'm seeing it next Saturday.
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 28, 2022 6:59:38 GMT
Many theatre owners are trying to snag this show, and you’d be surprised at how many theatres are actually available to them. Just because a show hasn’t announced closure yet- doesn’t mean they won’t to make room for this
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 28, 2022 7:00:13 GMT
Many theatre owners are trying to snag this show, and you’d be surprised at how many theatres are actually available to them. Just because a show hasn’t announced closure yet- doesn’t mean they won’t to make room for this (Shows that are struggling of course ) |
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Post by imstillhere on May 29, 2022 13:39:12 GMT
The subpar reviews have not helped the transfer plans.
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Post by Jon on May 29, 2022 14:02:48 GMT
Given how well it's sold, a transfer is a no brainer even with the slightly mixed reviews. They've got plenty of 4 star reviews plus one 5 star which will help with marketing.
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Post by talkingheads on May 30, 2022 6:07:02 GMT
The subpar reviews have not helped the transfer plans. Subpar reviews? Most I've seen have been four star, full of comments about how much the audience laughed all the way through. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 30, 2022 7:53:35 GMT
The subpar reviews have not helped the transfer plans. Subpar reviews? Most I've seen have been four star, full of comments about how much the audience laughed all the way through. 2 stars in both The Times and The Independent. |
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Post by talkingheads on May 30, 2022 8:01:53 GMT
Subpar reviews? Most I've seen have been four star, full of comments about how much the audience laughed all the way through. 2 stars in both The Times and The Independent. 4 stars in both The Guardian and The Telegraph, 5 stars from WhatsOnStage. |
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 30, 2022 8:36:27 GMT
2 stars in both The Times and The Independent. 4 stars in both The Guardian and The Telegraph, 5 stars from WhatsOnStage. Thanks. You weren't sure which ones were 'subpar' though. Which was why they were provided. So it was a mixed bag. Which is likely impacting transfer potential. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on May 30, 2022 18:10:43 GMT
4 stars in both The Guardian and The Telegraph, 5 stars from WhatsOnStage. Thanks. You weren't sure which ones were 'subpar' though. Which was why they were provided. So it was a mixed bag. Which is likely impacting transfer potential. It really isn’t. Every major theatre owner in London has offered it a theatre. So the transfer potential is pretty much guaranteed. |
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Post by Jon on May 30, 2022 18:30:36 GMT
It really isn’t. Every major theatre owner in London has offered it a theatre. So the transfer potential is pretty much guaranteed. I suppose it's a question of when and not if. I still think the new Nimax theatre is a candidate for The Unfriend but obviously it depends on when Nimax is planning on opening it. |
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Post by lynette on May 30, 2022 18:35:17 GMT
I’ll book when it comes. Sounds a good un
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Post by mrnutz on May 30, 2022 18:47:04 GMT
Very excited to see this in July. I booked it in March 2020!
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Post by emsworthian on May 31, 2022 8:19:50 GMT
I saw it on Saturday and enjoyed it on the whole; there were several laugh out loud moments, although I could have done without the toilet humour in the second half. I loved the fact that in the shot of the front door we saw that it was No 9.
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Post by mrnutz on May 31, 2022 9:24:32 GMT
I saw it on Saturday and enjoyed it on the whole; there were several laugh out loud moments, although I could have done without the toilet humour in the second half. I loved the fact that in the shot of the front door we saw that it was No 9. Spoiler tags please! |
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Post by bgarde on Jun 1, 2022 7:27:02 GMT
I was hoping for a witty black comedy and while it offered that to some degree, with a few funny lines and game performances, the sitcom tropes (grumpy teenager screaming "mum" and stomping up and downstairs) and heavy reliance on bodily functions for a laugh were unappealing to me. The actors are let down by a script that has potential with an interesting idea. Frances Barber's performance makes it worthwhile and the audience last night seemed to enjoy it very much.
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Post by Jon on Jun 1, 2022 13:41:16 GMT
I was hoping for a witty black comedy and while it offered that to some degree, with a few funny lines and game performances, the sitcom tropes (grumpy teenager screaming "mum" and stomping up and downstairs) and heavy reliance on bodily functions for a laugh were unappealing to me. The actors are let down by a script that has potential with an interesting idea. Frances Barber's performance makes it worthwhile and the audience last night seemed to enjoy it very much. Out of interest, what's the set like? I assume it can easily transfer to a more traditional theatre without too much issue given many shows at the Minerva have transferred to the West End in the last few years. Given the dearth of comedies in the West End aside from The Play that Goes Wrong, I imagine The Unfriend could do solid business if or when it transfers. |
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Post by bgarde on Jun 1, 2022 14:27:33 GMT
I was hoping for a witty black comedy and while it offered that to some degree, with a few funny lines and game performances, the sitcom tropes (grumpy teenager screaming "mum" and stomping up and downstairs) and heavy reliance on bodily functions for a laugh were unappealing to me. The actors are let down by a script that has potential with an interesting idea. Frances Barber's performance makes it worthwhile and the audience last night seemed to enjoy it very much. Out of interest, what's the set like? I assume it can easily transfer to a more traditional theatre without too much issue given many shows at the Minerva have transferred to the West End in the last few years. Given the dearth of comedies in the West End aside from The Play that Goes Wrong, I imagine The Unfriend could do solid business if or when it transfers. Primarily just a living room. I think it should be fine staging wise. There was also some creative use of video on the screen just above the stage. |
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Post by Steve on Jun 1, 2022 23:06:49 GMT
Saw the matinee, and laughed a lot, though it's not as punchy or as manic or as untamed a comedy as I would have wished, given the premise and superb cast. Some spoilers follow. . Rather, it is a very gentle, Chichester-style comedy about British people being so buttoned up and polite, they can't even be rude to a murderer, a reality that I would have thought died out in the seventies, or at least by the time of Princess Diana's funeral. That's funny, but buttoned up can never be as funny as totally unravelling lol! Consequently, although the principals are all superb, in particular, Frances Barber, all have done funnier work on stage: Barber was riotously unloosed by the caustic script for Musik, Abbington was fiercesomely funny and dangerously edgy in "God Bless the Child," and Shearsmith was hilarious, panicking in any number of things, from Hangmen to Betty Blue Eyes to The Producers. I mean, how can you keep Shearsmith so buttoned up as this!? Anyway, the three are very funny, with what they've got, but it's laughs not belly laughs they are dealt and which they realise, except in one exquisite comic sequence in which Shearsmith has to talk about about the toilet. Now that IS very funny indeed, and it made me yearn for more moments like that. If you've got Shearsmith, put him under MORE pressure, please. The more, the better! 3 and a half stars from me for a funny, but not riotous, "night" out!  |
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