Under Milk Wood - National Theatre

[zahidf]

[lynette]

This might use up some of the credit i have accumulated at the NT. ( don’t ask but I could prob pay for demolition of the building)

[marob]

I would love to see this. Theatr Clwyd did a production a few years back to mark Dylan Thomas’ centenary, and that was wonderful.

I hope they use an all Welsh cast, though I doubt they will.

[princeton]

The National did a production in the Oliver in the mid-1990s which had an all-welsh cast (I remember Nerys Hughes and Rhys Ifans being in it) - so I can't see why that wouldn't be the same this time around.

[Someone in a tree]

Hurrah - one of those plays I've always wanted to see and I do love a bit of MS

[lynette]

Let’s all go down the YOU MUST BE WELSH TO ACT IN UNDER MILK WOOD road, shall we? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO>

[Jan]

Mar 20, 2021 20:59:44 GMT lynette said:

Let’s all go down the YOU MUST BE WELSH TO ACT IN UNDER MILK WOOD road, shall we? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO>

The director Lyndsey Turner isn't Welsh. I find that very disappointing. Who was the last Welsh director who worked at NT ? Peter Gill ? 

[duncan]

It took me years to notice the joke involved in setting it in Llareggub

[andrew]

Booked my tickets for this today, although incredibly trepidatious about ever actually making it to the theatre before restrictions set back in again. I did a very rough count of single seats, seems to be around 60 within the auditorium of 500. A few sets of 3s but the vast majority of sets were pairs of seats. 60 individual seats in different areas and at different prices seems fair to me given that presumably it's more cost effective to fill it with larger groups if possible. Quite a scrum for decent tickets but I got the cheaper front stalls that a few of us like without much issue in previews. Anyone else book today?

[david]

Despite the IT issues this morning, A pain-free booking period this afternoon for both Milk wood and Afterlife. Even with the new seating configuration, I was able to bag a £20 ticket up in the Circle.  It's nice to get back to booking stuff (and get some use of my NT credit). Happy times!

[justinj]

Lots of issues for me booking today. My account still isn't working properly. In the end had to book over the phone.
Whenever I try and book it either says "on sale to members" or I can go in but it won't allow me to put the seats in my basket.

Will see if it is still an issue next week andif so I'll get on to the national as don't want the same issues next time I try and book.

[fiyero]

I booked this on the AMEX sale, glad I did as its sold out the entire run by the look of it!
Not really sure what it is but my friend encouraged me to book! (needing something to replace Phantom of the Opera!)

[firefingers]

Covid be willing, I'm going to first preview. Will likely be my first "traditional" theatre show back which will be nice.

[firefingers]

Saw this tonight.

National Theatre very organised with lots of ushers, set arrival times etc.

The play is lovely. Not a "party" of a show but Sheen excels at Thomas' luting speeches, and it is a real ensemble piece. Dialogue a little tricky to hear, not unusual in the Oliver, particularly with the older strong accented voices but fine once you key into it.

The show features a new framing device that I absolutely loved but my mother, who is a bit of a traditionalist sometimes, didn't think it added anything.

A solid choice to reopen the Ollie with, even if not the kind of show to make you stand and cheer at the end. 4 stars.

[Phantom of London]

What was the running time please? Also wow there an interval?

[firefingers]

Jun 16, 2021 23:15:32 GMT Phantom of London said:

What was the running time please? Also wow there an interval?

About 1hr 50 I reckon (forgot to look at my watch), no interval.

[jennapatchell]

Saw this tonight. 2 hours of my life I'll never get back!

[andrew]

I enjoyed it, and didn't mind the framing device, although my social media addled brain started to drift in the latter third. There's quite a lot of stuff before the actual play gets going as part of the new material, the play could definitely have started from when Michael Sheen walks in instead of the 10-15 minutes (or at least what felt like it) of the stuff before. I thought it was directed wonderfully, I thought Sheen was really excellent, as was the rest of the cast. Not my favourite play, I kind of wish the NT was opening with some complete barnstormers which it's current 2 plays haven't quite turned out to be, but I liked it.

The National's social distancing efforts are quite interesting. I've not been to or done anything that's as complicated as what they're up to with the queue. For stalls seat, I joined what was about a 100 person queue outside the box office entrance, you slowly twist through it, you get your first tickets checked by an usher. Then you get to the main entrance where you get your tickets checked again, and sent towards a bag check, which I think is the real bottleneck in the system as things stand. Then you move onto step 4 which is another usher who watches you check into the Covid-19 app. Then you progress to another usher who checks your ticket again and assigns you a staircase or lift and gives you a free programme. Then you go up the stairs or lift and meet the 6th person who checks your ticket again and asks you if you've pre-ordered a drink.

Somewhat offensively if you haven't pre-ordered drinks (and obviously I booked these tickets months ago, not knowing what sort of mood I'd happen to be in come mid June) you can't have them. I normally at least grab a cup of water, would have happily bought a beverage, no dice. It seems odd given that I can sit without a mask in an actual pub, that I can't socially distance queue or order on one of the myriad of apps a drink in one of the most enormous foyers in the country, but presumably there's a reason.

Anyway you progress then onto the 7th person who once again checks your ticket, and leads you to your seat. A real adventure. Leaving at the end though was just a free for all scrum, weirdly.

[cavocado]

I suppose the large foyer makes people less easy to control? I've only been to 2 West End theatres since reopening, and it's easy to enfore one way systems in those because there's nowhere else to go. One reason I love a trip to the National is that there's so much room to hang around beforehand, meet friends, have a quiet drink, read a book, etc. It will be sad to go there and not to be able to use those spaces. Hope things will relax a bit as they get used to having audiences back.

[lynette]

Andrew, you make the whole experience sound less than appetising. Think I will wait til the rest of the UK is jabbed….not to mention the world.

[joem]

The queue system was certainly "interesting". I honestly think they can do much better than two long, confused queues with a demand to see their confirming email as well as the tickets - this is unnecessary.

As for the play. Again, don't wish to be unkind but what a drag. It took over two hours tonight which was about twenty minutes more than the stated running time. I know much of the problem lies with the text which is kind of impressionistic and episodic but there is nothing in the production, and that includes the framing device, which helps to either understand it better or bring it to life in a more coherent manner. Michael Sheen does a lot of rushing about looked inspired but that, in itself, is not really inspiring.

[theatrelover123]

Could somebody who has seen the show let me know what the framing device is please? With spoiler tags. Thanks.

[edi]

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it. I could hardly hear what was said. My partner who is from Wales couldn't understand/hear it either. So i think it's the acoustic not the accents. We weren't even sitting far from the stage.

Maybe prior knowledge of the prose helps.

[ruperto]

Yes, echoing what others have said here, I found this hard-going, though it did have its moments. Last night it was 2 hours and 2 minutes - it started at 7.35pm, and the clapping finished at 9.37pm. They could really do with chopping 10 to 20 mins - most of the opening chunk should go IMHO. I didn’t like the framing device at all (sorry, I don’t know how to do spoiler tags, so someone else had better do that!) - for me, it was one of those ideas that was clever in theory, but in practice just hobbled the play and added to the distancing effect, thereby making it harder for audiences to engage with it. Though it did get a bit better eventually when the village woke up. And as I say, there were a few little moments that were quite fun. I’ll be interested to hear what others think and see the reviews!

[jennapatchell]

So much wrong with this.

First off, the National have had over a year to figure out the logistics of getting people into the building. I have visited many theatres since the start of the pandemic and this was the absolute worst entry experience I have encountered.

Long long queues wrapping round the exterior of the building, completely bottlenecked by only 2 security bag checkers (despite the enormous size of the box office area). They could easily add extra personnel to speed this up, instead it delays everything AND means the security cannot conduct thorough searches.

Second bottleneck comes when you have to QUEUE TO SCAN THE NHS BARCODE. This completely defeats the point. You have to queue to both scan, and then show you have scanned. Its madness. Then you go to the third bottleneck which is someone directing you to your entrance. Once you reach the entrance, another shows you into the theatre. Then another usher shows you to your seats.

It's beyond madness, and all it did was cause major groups of people clumped together waiting to go in. Which gives even more exposure than if we could just walk in ourselves.

---

The play.

The production is pretty dire. I would like to know why the National decided *this* was the production the world is desperate to see after they have been closed so long. Sadly, it is just boring. I could see many people nodding off. I understand the background, I understand it was a poem, then a radio play etc. I have no issue with the source material. But it does not make for a good production.

Michael Sheen is great, and it's a fantastic accomplishment how he dominates the stage for the whole duration. But the play is just boring - there is no tension, no story, nothing to root for. You cannot connect with anyone on stage. After the first hour every sentence gets interpreted as just random words strung together. I could feel a communal sense of relief when the framing device came back in the finale, as we all knew we could go home.

I also massively dislike the staging. This production is in the round, for no reason. All I can assume is they did this to allow for extra seats in social distancing, but it's clearly an afterthought. All those sat behind the stage are forgotten about for 80% of the play, and occasionally Michael Sheen will turn round to them for a line or two. It's distracting and pointless.

The other disadvantage of being 'in the round' is the limit on the creative team. They cannot use the elements that make the Olivier special; such as the drum resolve, fly tower, and huge stage. Set elements become minimal and repetitive. Items are wheeled on and off stage by the actors, and keep bashing into the temporary barriers.

--

Overall, I cannot understand why this was the choice to reopen the Olivier. No one asked for this. It is not exciting, it is not a 'welcome back' for theatre goers, it is not special. It misses everything that made the Olivier + the National special.

I could *perhaps* see this working in the Dorfman, where it would be far more intimate. But not in the Olivier. It just makes no sense.

Theatre has been gone for nearly a year and a half, I would have hoped the National could come up with something better in that time. Maybe they could have spent it brainstorming some original fresh material.

/rant