5,795 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Aug 5, 2021 22:33:13 GMT
I’m not sure what everyone things it’s such stunt casting. She IS a performer. It’s not like she was in Love Island or TOWIE and now fancies acting.
She probably had drama school training?
Look at Billie Piper. Who’d have thought she would go on to have such a successful acting career.
|
|
1,120 posts
|
Post by samuelwhiskers on Aug 6, 2021 8:19:44 GMT
No, she has no drama school training. Allen dropped out of education completely aged 15 to move to Ibiza.
Comparisons with Piper (who attended stage school for years, took acting classes as an adult, then went on the audition circuit, and started her career in small acting roles) are not really accurate.
|
|
1,470 posts
|
Post by mkb on Aug 7, 2021 1:34:51 GMT
The fifty minutes of act 1 were so dull that barely a quarter of the audience bothered to applaud.
Act 2 offered little improvement, but, inexplicably, generated an ovation and wild applause from most. I can only assume they were diehard Lily Allen fans, as this production lacked any redeeming features.
The concept might have worked well as a 30-minute Inside Number 9 episode, but spun out to two hours, the countdown to 02:22 felt like an eternity. Besides, Reese and Pemberton would have thrown in witty dialogue, engaging characters and some dark humour, none of which we have here. In any case, I suspect the overall conceit would have been vetoed on the grounds of having been done before.
The sound design was woefully bad. A clichéd low background rumble hints at impending danger, but it's so quiet that it's pretty much drowned out by the hum of the AC. Other times, effects go very loud suddenly. I think these are meant to be jump scares, but not one worked; they were simply irritating. There was no nuance or subtlety. The accompanying lighting was similarly ham-fisted.
So, what of the leading lady? I generally prefer to single out good performances rather than criticise the bad, but I'm £60 down on the affair, and feeling a little miffed at being suckered in -- my own fault for being naive, I know -- so I'll make an exception. The kindest thing to say is that Allen's acting isn't terrible. But it's mechanical and unconvincing. Even were this in the provinces at a fraction of the price, I would feel short-changed. On a West End stage, it's taking the proverbial.
If you appreciate good theatre or enjoy a fine horror, I think you'll be disappointed. This one is solely for Allen groupies.
It just scrapes into the two-star category.
Act 1: 19:34-20:23
Act 2: 20:44-21:36
|
|
1,819 posts
|
Post by stevej678 on Aug 12, 2021 7:22:17 GMT
First reviews are in from last night's press night. Four stars from The Telegraph and Evening Standard, with lots of praise for Lily Allen.
|
|
904 posts
|
Post by lonlad on Aug 12, 2021 8:44:03 GMT
I think the critics are cutting the play, and Allen, a LOT of slack. It's a very minor evening, and incredibly overwritten (some of it is laughably pretentious and I don't think real life refugees would much appreciate being compared to ghosts ..... )
That said the audience last night reacted as if if they were at rock concert at the end.
|
|
5,795 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Aug 13, 2021 1:07:52 GMT
According to news reporting that there was (unmasked) crowds at the stage door last night. I’ve seen photos of Lily Allen having photos taken with unmasked fans at stage door. Amazed that this is allowed. |
|
|
|
Post by cavocado on Aug 14, 2021 8:51:35 GMT
There was a mention of this in The Metro yesterday, which said LA "has managed to mostly remember the play's script without the prompter, but added: 'I missed out a significant chunk last night i.e. the plot.'" Setting the bar a bit low perhaps?
|
|
1,132 posts
|
Post by Stephen on Aug 14, 2021 10:29:01 GMT
I have ordered a copy of the playtext. The consensus seems to be that it's fairly entertaining on stage but the writing might not live up to the hype. Interested to read it without seeing it!
|
|
5,795 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Aug 15, 2021 9:42:36 GMT
I wonder what happened to the BRIDGET JONES DIARY musical Lily Allen was writing? It’s a shame it never happened. I saw a recording of the workshop with Sheridan Smith and Michael Xavier and it was great.Some brilliant songs too. |
|
1,132 posts
|
Post by Stephen on Aug 27, 2021 14:23:42 GMT
I'm reading the play text for this at the moment. Just hit the interval. It doesn't read as anything particularly special but is light, fast and entertaining - just as I'd imagine it to be onstage!
|
|
520 posts
|
Post by anthony on Aug 28, 2021 9:21:03 GMT
Just picked up some cheap seats to this on Tuesday. Oddly cheap, actually - they're right next to band 2 seats and from Seat Plan, there doesn't seem to be anything off about them...
|
|
1,476 posts
|
Post by Steve on Aug 28, 2021 10:40:02 GMT
Just picked up some cheap seats to this on Tuesday. Oddly cheap, actually - they're right next to band 2 seats and from Seat Plan, there doesn't seem to be anything off about them... I expect that as they have thus far opted not to do Todaytix Rush, they are filling seats by some pretty aggressive dynamic pricing as the undersold shows approach.
If you were free to take a punt on the Wednesday matinee, there are currently two pairs of £27.50 seats, in the front row, which cost £70 each, booked a month in advance.
Be quick if you fancy them.  |
|
1,081 posts
|
Post by andrew on Aug 28, 2021 23:40:31 GMT
Holding off until more word of mouth reaches me. Very mixed press reviews, no one exactly raving about it, don't want to waste a precious theatre evening on something that this board seems to be labelling "slight".
|
|
520 posts
|
Post by anthony on Aug 31, 2021 22:21:04 GMT
I genuinely really, really enjoyed it - arguably the best thing I've seen since theatres reopened.
Whilst I agree the use of the loud and high pitched scream is overused (in between set/time changes, for seemingly no reason other than to get the audience to jump,) they weren't too bad. The story itself was great, actually. It centres around Jenny, who has just had a baby with her husband Sam. Sam is working away from home and whilst away, Jenny hears footsteps in her baby's room at 2:22am for 4 consecutive nights. Sam believes solely in science; everything can be explained and this comes to a head at a dinner party with their friend Lauren and her new boyfriend Ben when they all decide to stay awake until 2:22am to hear the footsteps for themselves.
I genuinely didn't see the ending coming and I don't think any one in the audience did either - there were audible gasps and chatter as we all became aware at the same time.
It was wonderfully staged and everyone played their part well. I genuinely wouldn't have realised that Allen didn't have acting experience and think a lot of her critique has been because of her name rather than her ability. I wouldn't say it's scary; arguably it's more of a comedy in some places with Jake Wood's Ben getting constant laughs.
Really great. We were in row D in the grand circle (£15 seats, right next to the band C seats - they're currently selling for £50, so might be worth waiting until closer to the date you want to see it)) and they were great. For that price, I honestly can't recommend it enough. I'm tempted to book it again.
|
|
19,656 posts
|
Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 1, 2021 6:13:39 GMT
I’m going to make a wild guess about the denouement of this {Spoiler - click to view}The husband Sam who is all about science is behind it all because he wants Lily Allen to appear unstable, so he can run off with the other woman and the kid. Tell me I’m wrong! |
|
3,528 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Rory on Sept 1, 2021 8:48:00 GMT
|
|
1,132 posts
|
Post by Stephen on Sept 1, 2021 11:25:31 GMT
{Spoiler - click to view} You're not 100 miles away but also not correct  I’m going to make a wild guess about the denouement of this {Spoiler - click to view}The husband Sam who is all about science is behind it all because he wants Lily Allen to appear unstable, so he can run off with the other woman and the kid. Tell me I’m wrong! |
|
1,132 posts
|
Post by Stephen on Sept 1, 2021 11:25:59 GMT
I’m going to make a wild guess about the denouement of this {Spoiler - click to view}The husband Sam who is all about science is behind it all because he wants Lily Allen to appear unstable, so he can run off with the other woman and the kid. Tell me I’m wrong! Keep trying! |
|
1,081 posts
|
Post by andrew on Sept 2, 2021 20:55:53 GMT
I was left fairly unimpressed by this. I ended up going as a result of some positive commentary latterly on here as well as the fairly kind reviews, and I wish I hadn't. I agree that Lily Allen was pretty good, she's not playing the easiest character ever written and she pulls it off. Jake Wood was also surprisingly good, he ends up playing to type as an East End geezer but was comfortable onstage. Hadley Fraser is always a favourite and it's a pleasure to see him on stage again. I also agree that there is some good dialogue, there are some funny lines, there is some nice writing weaving around the ghost story plot, which when the set up is 4 people in one room over several hours needs a lot of work and effort to hold the audiences attention. That's right about where all of my praise ends. To be honest my main criticism is the fact that we just deserved so much more from the play. We deserved more spooks, we deserved more twists and turns, we deserved more of a moral or emotional backbone to the plot. For some reason every single scene ends with a scream sound effect and cheesy flashing lights, which most of the time is non-diegetic, the sole purpose of which is to make the audience jump. I'm happy to be shocked, I love the rush of a good jump scare, but it's really cheap and brainless to create them for absolutely no plot point whatsoever. Meanwhile in the actual context of any scene, there are shockingly few frightening moments. I kept predicting set pieces or character moments they were about to throw at us, and then nothing would happen at all, and the scene would just end with a fake scream sound effect. As a non-spoiler example, towards the rear of the set there are patio doors which are mentioned a few times in the dialogue, and outside is a foggy night with a motion-activated outdoor light. This is used a couple of times to minor effect, but the obvious really spooky thing would be for a dark figure to be illuminated briefly, perhaps only to the main character when the others are turned away. Or perhaps the patio door that keeps being left open would slam shut suddenly when a key bit of dialogue is mentioned. Or a message appears on the glass. Or the glass shatters. Or the light flickers. Anything. There's a moment involving the unseen bathroom which is mildly unsettling, and I thought "oh great, there are going to be escalating moments of unsettlingness that topple the characters off their perch" which ends up being revealed as nothing at all, and no further moments like it really occur. To reveal why I really left with a sour taste in my mouth would be to give the whole game away, but all I will say is that if you'd asked me about 15 minutes into the first act to plot out the most predictable outcome based on what had happened so far, I could have told you it. And not only that, together we'd have come up with something much more creative and interesting instead. If that sin was not great enough, when the entirely predictable conclusion occurs, instead of it being threaded around an interesting commentary on something, or a great moment of emotional breakthrough for a character, it's just left hanging as if the plot point was enough to justify our attendance for the whole evening. News flash, it was not enough for that. Not by half. If you're not intending on going, in spoiler tags at the bottom I'll outline my issues. Overall though I just thought it was weak, it wasn't a bad setup or concept, there were some decent moments in it, but it's almost like the writer just sort of gave up at some stage and decided not to bother creating something complex or meaningful, and figured if we put some star names in it during a desperate time for interesting plays in the West End we can get away with a first draft. It's not 1 star, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone other than fans of occasional loud noises. {Spoiler - click to view}
OK so about 5 minutes in we hear that the returning boyfriend who has been mysteriously uncontactable for days has cold hands. His uncontactability coincides with the low key haunting (footsteps and crying sounds from a second bedroom). Immediately anyones hackles should be up that he is in some way involved in the bumps in the night in this house. We then see that he can't activate the Alexa that is easily activated by Lily Allen. At that moment, not even halfway into Act 1, it is patently clear to anyone with half a brain that he's either a ghost, or a zombie, or a vision, or something, but he is intimately connected to the haunting. Sure, I may not have been able to say exactly why 2:22 was significant or what he was, but now any revelation about him being a ghost, which ends up 2 HOURS LATER being the only plot point in the denouement, is completely unshocking. And because this has no other real emotional or moral significance beyond being shocking for Lily Allen (and not surprising to us at all), it's overwhelmingly unsatisfying. In The Sixth Sense, it's genuinely a twist to discover the main character is actually a ghost, and it was cleverly written such that he never interacted with any character other than the boy. In this, for some reason Hadley Frasers spirit has an entire bleeding dinner party with two annoying guests, even pops out to buy some wine, no effort being taken to separate him out as not being an ethereal human. I thought maybe there would be a little patch of chat after Lily discovers this fact that might actually create something interesting out of the play, but no, she just cries and the play ends. Stupidly predictable, stupidly boring. |
|
167 posts
|
Post by cherokee on Sept 16, 2021 13:31:01 GMT
I rather enjoyed this. As a ghost story, it's no great shakes and relies on a sound effect at the end of each scene to elicit a jump scare from the audience, but I found it witty and entertaining, with a strong cast. Hadley Fraser is always great, and Lily Allen more than holds her own. Jake Woods is very enjoyable too.
Maybe I'm just dense, but I didn't see the twist coming at all, and it was fun reassessing the rest of the play in light of that.
|
|
4,778 posts
|
Post by Mark on Sept 29, 2021 23:06:03 GMT
I'm impressed you picked up on it so soon andrew - my friend and I didn't have a clue until the very end It wasn't until we discussed it afterward that we picked up on everything - the Alexa not responding to him, not eating, not drinking, the only character not to use the bathroom, or open and close the rear doors. The upstairs window not being closed after it had already been closed, and then again after he'd gone to close it again. I'm sure if you were to watch again there'd be many more pointers towards the eventual outcome but clearly it all went right over my head. |
|
1,819 posts
|
Post by stevej678 on Oct 28, 2021 9:08:33 GMT
Returning to the West End at the Gielgud with "all-new star casting" to be announced. Runs from Saturday 4 December 2021 - Saturday 12 February 2022.
|
|
1,086 posts
|
Post by alicechallice on Oct 28, 2021 11:37:16 GMT
Returning to the West End at the Gielgud with "all-new star casting" to be announced. Runs from Saturday 4 December 2021 - Saturday 12 February 2022. I'm thinking Daniel Bedingfield, Kate Nash, Honey G and Clarke Peters. |
|
333 posts
|
Post by stuart on Oct 28, 2021 13:27:47 GMT
Returning to the West End at the Gielgud with "all-new star casting" to be announced. Runs from Saturday 4 December 2021 - Saturday 12 February 2022. I suspect this is a precursor to a tour. I heard it was in the works. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2021 9:22:19 GMT
|
|
