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Post by floorshow on Aug 5, 2017 14:01:02 GMT
If it's any help trying to understand seating I had F16 as a return last night - it's a good rake, and slap bang in the middle of one side of the box.
And it's definitely worth the effort scurrying for tickets although after this and Mosquitoes I think I'm due a change of theme...
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Post by crowblack on Aug 5, 2017 20:58:17 GMT
Just got back from seeing this today and - unusually - I agree with Parsley's comments from last year but not his recent ones. It was a tour de force from Billie Piper and I jumped to my feet for her at the end but as for the play... Bloody hell, what awful people! A lifestyle blogger and her globetrotting husband desperate for a baby to complete their scandi-chic lifestyle in a posh London postcode. Sorry, but they lost me within the first few minutes as they discussed the quality of the champers in their local shops. Their relationship did not convince, and potentially interesting threads - the abortion, the blog about her sister's miscarriage - were not really explored. I just didn't have any empathy with the characters or their mileu - they are not the sort of people I'd want to spend 5 minutes with socially (and I daresay they'd feel the same about me) and I didn't find them interesting enough to care whether they managed to breed or not.
The staging didn't help matters - the fish tank was too seamlessly chic and clinical, creating a disconnect between actors and audience. I felt I might as well have been watching it on TV as live. At the curtain call, from the actors' expressions, I wondered whether they could see us at all, or were they like performers in one of those mirrored sex booths?
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Post by crowblack on Aug 5, 2017 21:10:29 GMT
I must confess it left me completely unmoved. Same here. I saw Mosquitoes a couple of weeks ago and Colman's Jenny was like an open wound and I'm still thinking about that play. I expected Yerma's subject matter to be painful, but - though technically accomplished - it just didn't touch any of the nerves or emotions Mosquitoes did. |
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Post by AddisonMizner on Aug 6, 2017 18:05:04 GMT
This was the last of the shows I saw of my London trip, having seen the matinee yesterday (5th August). I thoroughly enjoyed it, and have none of the issues mentioned above. In fact, I found that the 1 hour 40 minutes absolutely flew by, and I was completely engaged throughout. In fact, it could have been longer for me. I wanted to spend more time in that world.
Bilie Piper's central performance is indeed stunning. I know she has turned into a very successful actress, but who knew she could act like that. I am neither a woman, nor particularly want children, but completely empathised with her plight. I was shocked and emotional, and there were moments I had shivers running down my spine at what she was doing on stage. The rest of the cast complemented her perfectly.
It was a very stylish production, and I loved the use of sudden lighting and blackouts. The episodic nature and use of chapters worked well for me, even though I usually prefer something more "continuous". I liked the use of the "fish tank", even if I didn't understand what it was trying to say.
All that being said, something was still missing for me. I don't know what it was, but I was expecting to be more bowled over than I ultimately was. Whether it was just I went in with unattainable expectations based on most of the reviews on here and elsewhere, I don't know.
Still, a four star production.
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Post by jampot on Aug 6, 2017 18:48:05 GMT
Do you guys think this will be on a dvd somewhere in time? I know it has a screening on the 31st..
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Post by peggs on Aug 13, 2017 20:16:35 GMT
Alas, I'm only just learning my way around an iphone. Btw, I'm not going, but was wondering whether they'll have the glass walls for the NT Live broadcast (might reflections be an issue?). Btw, if they can do a traverse-staged play like Yerma, I don't see why they can't do Mosquitoes, given the demand for tickets - they live broadcast Salome and that got very poor reviews. Glass walls integral to the production so they'll have to do it with them, am sure they can work that. I think from past conversations on here it was thought/known that the productions they are going to screen are decided to advance and announced so they couldn't just be dropped due to poor reviews. I assume there must be some sort of balance to what they choose rather than just what they think will be popular although yes that must be part of it. Equally I assume those involved have to agree to the live screening? Or the leads anyway so that could be another reason. You can see the ntlives at the nt archives and of course the quality is great unlike the usual static videos of all other productions. |
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Post by Rory on Aug 15, 2017 14:53:33 GMT
I've just returned a £38 ticket for Sat 26th Aug @ 2.30 PM.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 15, 2017 23:20:17 GMT
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Post by floorshow on Aug 17, 2017 10:08:28 GMT
There's a ballot just been announced for free tickets on the night of the filming.
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Post by peggs on Aug 25, 2017 21:47:04 GMT
For me just as good second time around with the added bonus that this time round no one ate their evening meal next to me. And play text for £4, what's not to like!
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Post by peggs on Aug 26, 2017 19:04:12 GMT
OK, finally saw it this afternoon. SO worth the wait. Piper totally deserved the award, but so did everyone else in both cast and crew. And the designer who came up with that voyeuristic means of peering into distressed lives, and writer calibrating it with the utter normality of all around... The long returns line is explained to me for certain. Go, if you can. It is a bit special isn't it! In the ladies queue afterwards we all just looked at each other in a sort of haunted wonder. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 21:31:26 GMT
Well. I wonder how they change the scenes in the dark so quickly without tripping over something. It was marvellous. Don't think I'd like to be the person responsible for cleaning those windows every night though. The amount of Windolene they must go through.
Other than that, I hated it. Billie Piper was very good and she certainly Rose to the occasion (I thank you) but oh, the character. I couldn't muster any sympathy for her in the slightest and therefore, I couldn't wait for the tale to end. No wonder Galileo buggered off on trips abroad as much as he did. Brendan Cowell was smashing I thought, in what was probably the more difficult part.
The baby stole the show for me though.
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Post by andrew on Aug 28, 2017 9:53:58 GMT
Well. I wonder how they change the scenes in the dark so quickly without tripping over something. It was marvellous. Don't think I'd like to be the person responsible for cleaning those windows every night though. The amount of Windolene they must go through. Think I was there that night with you Ryan. I was in the front row, Billie vomited in my face. Now that's theatre. I liked this. I liked it a lot. I enjoyed the commitment to the the quasi-religious experience of the theatrical blackout. I kind of want to watch a night vision recording of the stage hands bumbling around shoving gardens and living rooms on and off, rolling up mud, positioning actors. It's also just an example of the 'difficult curtain call' where you have to act out your downfall and tragic emotional ending, then get up and and try to pull yourself out of it again. When BP goes on for her solo bow I thought it was quite touching how the cast, particularly Brendan Cowell, were whooping and hollering from the wings to try and help her along. I'm glad I stressed out 6 months ago in an online queue for tickets, I'd go again if I could. |
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Post by alnoor on Aug 29, 2017 9:49:57 GMT
Just returned a ticket for tomorrow evening -stalls A46.
Someone will get lucky!
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Post by jampot on Aug 29, 2017 11:12:00 GMT
Just returned a ticket for tomorrow evening -stalls A46. Someone will get lucky! Where abouts is that situated? Prob gone now anyway.... |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 31, 2017 12:59:55 GMT
6:45 start at the cinema tonight, I assume there must be preamble?
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 31, 2017 13:53:15 GMT
Billed as a 7.00pm start at my local Odeon. Looking forward to the play - my only chance of seeing this, but not looking forward to the "cinema experience" - expect a huge post in the bad audience behaviour thread later!!!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 31, 2017 15:41:01 GMT
Does the actual play start at 7 then?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 31, 2017 21:11:51 GMT
Hmm, well. I loved the staging, very clever, but I didn't really engage with that. Cant fault the performances, maybe it's just too far away from my own sphere of experience and understanding. I'd have left her as soon as she started with the baby talk, he obviously wasn't into it.
What really spoiled it for me was the 'singing' between the scenes. Do you get that in the theatre? Jeepers creepers it was LOUD in the cinema and quite possibly some of the most unattractive music I've heard in a long time. It made me cringe.
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Post by Rory on Aug 31, 2017 21:56:25 GMT
I know what you mean about the music. The scene changes were ingenious but I grew slightly impatient with the blackouts and the music after a while. Still, Billie played a blinder with a tricky part and I really believed her gradual descent into madness (maybe the final scene apart). I wonder if that is the end of the road for this production?
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 1, 2017 0:00:52 GMT
I am not a fan of NT Live - I liked this production but I know I would have enjoyed the theatricality of it much more in the theatre. The amazing scene changes did not come across in the cinema screening or the purpose of the Perspex box - it just made the voices strange.
Loathed the noise between the scenes which came across very loud in the cinema as opposed to the dialogue which was difficult to catch at times. I thought the performances were all very good although I did not engage with the drama of Yerma - and I found the final scene seemed to come from nowhere after a slow descent previously into madness. A great performance from Billie Piper though.
The audience in my local Odeon were badly behaved as expected....see bad behaviour thread for details, which no doubt affected my engagement with the play.
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Post by popcultureboy on Sept 1, 2017 20:02:22 GMT
I know what you mean about the music. The scene changes were ingenious but I grew slightly impatient with the blackouts and the music after a while. Still, Billie played a blinder with a tricky part and I really believed her gradual descent into madness (maybe the final scene apart). I wonder if that is the end of the road for this production? I don't think it is. Isn't there talk of it doing a limited run next year at St Ann's Warehouse? It's the end of the road for it in London as it's not possible to transfer it due to the set and the staging, plus the fact Billie Piper puts her family ahead of her career (and good for her), so doesn't want to do long runs in theatre. Not that I think you could do long runs of a performance this intense without it taking a toll. I swore, having seen it last year, I wouldn't go back and see it again as once was enough for a performance and a play like this. But a friend offered me his spare ticket and I thought "oh who am I kidding?" so I went the night before the NT Live and it was every bit as phenomenal as the first time around. And even knowing where it was headed didn't make it any easier to watch. The final scenes are just gut punch after gut punch. Really astonishing. |
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Post by crowblack on Sept 2, 2017 10:58:22 GMT
It's the end of the road for it in London as it's not possible to transfer it due to the set and the staging It seems such a very London play anyway - the jokes about postcodes and neighbourhoods, the whole lifestyle and look of the piece, I don't think they'd really resonate with many other places. The performances were very strong, but, as with 'Capital' and 'Fleabag', I just felt these characters inhabited such a different world that they came across as insular and self-centred and I just couldn't empathise. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 11:26:53 GMT
Yes, too few whippets in the production for it to achieve a wider success.
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Post by Rory on Sept 2, 2017 11:40:49 GMT
As a matter of interest, why could the staging not be replicated in the West End if there was a mind to transfer (which seemingly there isn't)? I'm just curious. Would it have to remain in the round or could they adapt it a bit like the transfer for A View from the Bridge?
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