Love Letters - Theatre Royal Haymarket

[Rory]

3 Dec 2020 - 7 Feb 2021

[talkingheads]

That's... extremely optimistic. Looks like a good play though.

[rosie]

Very easy to stage though. This could be the only type of theatre we can realistically expect to see in the next few months.

[theatreian]

I remember seeing this in Lincoln in 1997 with Charlton Heston and his wife Lydia Clarke. It was very moving and I must admit it was great to see a star of his stature in a small regional theatre. The fact they were married anyway added to the depth of feeling they were able to convey.

[Phantom of London]

I had a friend who saw this in Windsor. She told me “If you want to see 2 big names sitting at a desk, reading from a lectern.”

[rosie]

Saw this during its last run on Broadway. It is a lovely moving play and ideal for staging during our current situation. Ticket prices too high though to motivate me to get to the theatre for it though I'm sure these two actors will be wonderful in it.

[schuttep]

I saw this with Charlton Heston, too, and it was at the Haymarket theatre just like this production.

See tickets are selling lots of great seats at £25 until 31 December.

[johartuk]

I saw it in 1990 at Wyndhams Theatre in the West End - Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers were the stars and it was excellent. It really needs a couple with chemistry to make it work, otherwise it would be just two people sitting at a table reading letters out loud!

[andyb1986]

I saw it with Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones, a one night only benefit for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, in 2007. I've been fortunate enough to have many wonderful nights at the theatre, but that one stands out as my favourite.

[lonlad]

I'll never forget Robert Wagner in it -- he seemed to have trouble reading and was following the text with his finger, like you might in grade school. There was a lovely online production of it during lockdown with Sally Field and Bryan Cranston, both of whom were superb. The current pairing is OK but neither actor is really suited to their roles. (Shaw, for instance, couldn't be less WASPy/preppy if he tried.)

[Rory]

[Dr Tom]

Second show, post lockdown, was Love Letters. The first day reopening, but I attended in the evening and I think they had already played a matinee.

This is a new show for me. Two people sat at desks, reading extracts from their letters as they go through their life, with these readings largely timed as interactions.

This is the type of play that lives on the strength of its actors. In this case, one of them made an effort and was very good. The other made little attempt to disguise reading from the script and didn't seem like they wanted to be there. Or, that was the character and it was very good acting. There were a few moments when they came alive.

A few audience members didn't return after the interval, which is a shame, as the second half is much stronger than the first.

Good Covid-19 awareness at the venue, with temperature checks, carefully staggered entrances, scanning the NHS barcode and the audience wearing masks. I got a decent single aisle seat in the Dress Circle, well spaced, clear sound levels, the only occasional distraction being the beeps from someone's phone across the other side of the Dress Circle as notifications arrived (and the occasional bright light when this was checked).

I think I made the right decision by not rushing to this one the last time theatres reopened, but glad the actors are getting a chance to complete their run.

[david]

As the 1st show of my London theatre binge, a bit of a mixed bag really. I couldn’t fault the theatre’s set up with the systems in place for a socially distanced performance and my own experience was very positive in getting into the auditorium with the temperature checks and purchasing a programme. Thankfully everyone managed to follow the face covering rule. Though it’s a shame we couldn’t get even half way into Act 1 before a mobile phone went off.

As for the production itself, certainly I found Act 1 a bit of a slog to get through. I did see at the interval a few people didn’t come back which is a shame really and as Dr Tom has said, Act 2 was certainly more entertaining and engaging to watch. As for Martin Shaw and Jennifer Seagrove’s performances, well JS kept me entertained (her response to the Christmas letter a highlight tonight), however I’m afraid MS really didn’t win me over in his role (I’ve enjoyed his other stage stuff but not in this). There really wasn’t much emotional depth and at times very monotone in his delivery of his lines and at times the didn’t appear to be much on stage chemistry between the two actors.

Having got a £22 Row S stalls ticket, overall it was an ok production, but not one that I’ll be raving about in years to come.

To end on a positive note, walking down Shaftesbury Avenue, it was really heart warming to finally see all the theatres back with the lights on and the hustle and bustle of theatre land back up and running after a very long interval.

[joem]

Oh dear, no. Nothing wrong with the way the theatre and staff were handling the invisible crowds (according to government diktat) and the Theatre Royal of course even boasts decent air-conditioning which was a boon on this hot Sunday afternoon. But well-read though these letters are, and funny and poignant as some of them are they are still..... letters. So you have two actors on stage reading....letters. No movement and only second or third hand drama.

I am naturally in a benevolent mood, events dear boy and all that, but I am very glad I opted for the Upper Circle here. I think if I'd paid stalls prices I would have been slightly peeved. Not to mention £5 for the slimmest programme I have seen this side of amdram. I have a sneaky feeling the virus is finally going to kill these off.

[cavocado]

I don't buy programmes any more. I threw away hundreds when I moved house a few years ago - sad, but what else to do with them? I do often buy a copy of the script if published. I'd rather pay £10 for that than £5 for a few photos, biogs and info I can find online. I wonder why programme sellers don't usually have the scripts too, or why more theatres don't do a script/programme combo.

[cavocado]

Yes, I've bought from those two and I think also the Kiln. Years ago the RSC did script/programme combos for the first few years of the Swan Theatre. No idea if they still do. I think those are the only places I've seen them, but I might just not have noticed. Maybe it's too small a market, and not enough profit if they have to pay royalties to a playwright. But if the play's already in print, they could be missing revenue from people like me who don't buy programmes or interval drinks, but would buy a script.

[cavocado]

(I was replying to a comment about the NT and Royal Court selling scripts, but I can't see that comment now).

[TallPaul]

It's been so long since theatres were open normally, I accept I may be misremembering, but I think Hull Truck used to do a script/programme combo. It was something like £10 for the pair, a considerable saving on buying them separately.

Somewhere in my theatregoing sphere definitely did, with Hull the most likely candidate.


The point I've used rather a lot of words to make is that it isn't only a London-centric thing.