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Post by stagebyte on Apr 11, 2022 16:17:55 GMT
Just got an email
Tomorrow Eve performance cancelled
No explanation.
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Post by mkb on Apr 11, 2022 16:34:32 GMT
Just got an email Tomorrow Eve performance cancelled No explanation. The lack of explanation is downright rude, but not surprising as Punchdrunk have always had appalling customer service. Their front-of-house organisation at Drowned Man and Sleep No More was terrible (based on multiple visits to each). I am booked for Wednesday night at Burnt City. As an LFC fan who goes to most games, with much regret, I gave away my tickets for the Liverpool v Benfica game at Anfield because of the clash with Burnt City, and I'll not be happy if that was for nought. It will be another wasted London hotel and train tickets too, so I hope it goes ahead. |
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Post by mkb on Apr 11, 2022 16:41:24 GMT
Sales for Wednesday and the rest of this week have not been pulled, so I hope this cancellation is tomorrow only, but it's difficult to understand what it could be that affects one night only. Maybe, a plumbing leak or something similar? If it were Covid, the whole week would have gone.
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Post by stagebyte on Apr 11, 2022 17:16:31 GMT
Just got an email Tomorrow Eve performance cancelled No explanation. The lack of explanation is downright rude, but not surprising as Punchdrunk have always had appalling customer service. Their front-of-house organisation at Drowned Man and Sleep No More was terrible (based on multiple visits to each). I am booked for Wednesday night at Burnt City. As an LFC fan who goes to most games, with much regret, I gave away my tickets for the Liverpool v Benfica game at Anfield because of the clash with Burnt City, and I'll not be happy if that was for nought. It will be another wasted London hotel and train tickets too, so I hope it goes ahead. Yes we’d booked a matinee and paid for hotel on the strength of going to it tomorrow. 5pm is very late to be telling people. Is it on tonight? |
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Post by mrnutz on Apr 11, 2022 18:47:23 GMT
The lack of explanation is downright rude, but not surprising as Punchdrunk have always had appalling customer service. Their front-of-house organisation at Drowned Man and Sleep No More was terrible (based on multiple visits to each). I am booked for Wednesday night at Burnt City. As an LFC fan who goes to most games, with much regret, I gave away my tickets for the Liverpool v Benfica game at Anfield because of the clash with Burnt City, and I'll not be happy if that was for nought. It will be another wasted London hotel and train tickets too, so I hope it goes ahead. Yes we’d booked a matinee and paid for hotel on the strength of going to it tomorrow. 5pm is very late to be telling people. Is it on tonight? No shows on Mondays, so tomorrow would have been the first of the week. |
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Post by southstreet on Apr 12, 2022 9:32:48 GMT
Pretty certain it's a logistical issue, e.g. plumbing leak, big set change/implementation that is taking longer than hoped for and can't be done in time for tonight's show.
I have actually always found SNM front of house/reservations super helpful, especially when needing to change tickets to other dates, which I have done many a time, often at relatively short notice. A friend even had an issue where she didn't go to a show she booked as she was stuck on a delayed plane and only got into the city after the show had finished and as they could see her ticket hadn't been used, without any fuss straight away offered to move her ticket to the next performance she could attend when she called up.
Not best pleased they have teamed up with See Tickets for this production, because that will definitely be more hassle with everything. And it already seems to have started, with See tickets implying you need to pay extra for moving the ticket to later performances that aren't at preview prices anymore, which is fine if you ask to move a ticket because you can't make a show, but definitely not when the performance has been cancelled, so it's out of your control.
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Post by stagebyte on Apr 12, 2022 11:55:41 GMT
Pretty certain it's a logistical issue, e.g. plumbing leak, big set change/implementation that is taking longer than hoped for and can't be done in time for tonight's show. I have actually always found SNM front of house/reservations super helpful, especially when needing to change tickets to other dates, which I have done many a time, often at relatively short notice. A friend even had an issue where she didn't go to a show she booked as she was stuck on a delayed plane and only got into the city after the show had finished and as they could see her ticket hadn't been used, without any fuss straight away offered to move her ticket to the next performance she could attend when she called up. Not best pleased they have teamed up with See Tickets for this production, because that will definitely be more hassle with everything. And it already seems to have started, with See tickets implying you need to pay extra for moving the ticket to later performances that aren't at preview prices anymore, which is fine if you ask to move a ticket because you can't make a show, but definitely not when the performance has been cancelled, so it's out of your control. Can you point me to where this is implied please? I haven’t had a follow up email. Just one to say cancelled and they’ll be in touch |
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Post by southstreet on Apr 12, 2022 13:02:45 GMT
I haven't got the email as I didn't have tickets for today. However PD themselves have confirmed that that isn't the case and that original prices will be honoured when changing those cancelled tickets.
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Post by stagebyte on Apr 12, 2022 21:11:27 GMT
Well this is turning into a complete nightmare to get replacement tickets and looking at the PD Facebook page I’m not alone.
No explanation and SEE tickets have given 24 hours to sort, no refunds and there seemingly no tickets of an equivalent value.
Very poor service and a bad impression before my first experience 😢
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Post by southstreet on Apr 13, 2022 8:43:11 GMT
Eurgh, that is annoying, though hardly surprising with See Tickets.
Hopefully the below, taken from Punchdrunk's FB page, will help if you haven't seen it yet?
We are very sorry to hear that the ticket exchange process has been frustrating. If you are a ticket holder for 12th April, we recommend contacting See Ticket’s via their client portal (https://theburntcity.seetickets.com/customerservice). Once logged in, scroll down to the bottom and click ‘Contact Us’. Please select ‘General Enquiry’ and enter a message with your preferred exchange dates. A member of the See Tickets Customer Service Team will get back to you. There is no time limit on how long you have to complete your exchange and the show is now booking until 4 Dec 2022.
For all exchanges we will honour the price you originally paid including for Early Bird and Local Tickets. If you are not able to access the link above or have additional questions, please email boxoffice@punchdrunk.com.
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Post by mkb on Apr 14, 2022 14:41:20 GMT
Wednesday night's show went ahead, to my relief. But what a nightmare trying to reach a venue 35 minutes by train from central London for the ridiculously early start time of 18:30 (if you want the full three loops). Weekday performances of this show are going to require an afternoon's holiday for many working people. I must revise my earlier scathing views on Punchdrunk's front-of-house organisation: for this, they seem to have got their act together. At 18:20, there was a queue of just a dozen people, and my coat was checked and I was past the bar and into the show itself by 18:30. Coats are £1 to check; anything else is £5. I just pretended not to hear the people asking for phones. Provided your mobile is silenced and stays in your pocket, there isn't going to be a problem. It's important to dress light, as it's quite warm inside. Definitely don't skimp on checking your outer garments. Although I was in by 18:30, I missed the first ten minutes of the first of the three loops. What I think was the reset music seemed to happen about 23 minutes after the hour. My partner saw what he thinks was the finale in Troy, and this ended at 21:20. He didn't attempt to then make his way to Mycenae as he assumed that was also complete, except it wasn't. I saw that, and it ended at 21:37. Whether he would have been allowed to make his way through to Mycenae at this point, I can't say. After the show, coat retrieval was fast, and there were various polite and friendly security people in hi-viz outside who tried to direct us right, to avoid upsetting residents in the street ahead. Of course, Woolwich Arsenal station is straight ahead, and we needed that. We promised to be quiet, and there was no objection to us walking by the direct route, not that they can legally stop you going that way; it's a public street after all. (We didn't stop in the bar, as it seemed to be wines and spirits only, and there was no price list, and I couldn't be doing with trying to extract price info from the bar staff in the noisy room.) So, what of The Burnt City itself? Well, my predilection for knowing as little as possible about a film or theatre show before seeing it, backfired big time. I could not work out who the characters were, what they were doing, what the themes were, and what it all meant. My husband, who had gleaned info from fans on Facebook, got a lot more out of it. I didn't even work out that there were two cities, Troy and Mycenae. To me, it was just one big collection of rooms over two floors, each with an eclectic design that bore little relation to anything else. It's not like I'm a Punchdrunk novice. I'm a veteran of Sleep No More (6 visits) and The Drowned Man (a dozen or so). So, I knew what to expect and how to proceed. I think it's fair to say that The Drowned Man is the pinnacle of Punchdrunk's output -- by some margin -- and The Burnt City, in its current state, falls well short of that. Whereas the themes of the other shows instantly resonated, Burnt City just left me scratching my head. The co-creators seem to have run out of new artistic ideas; much of what I saw last night simply echoed ideas I'd seen in the other shows*. They even re-use a little of the music. I recognised one of the tracks from the beautiful score to the film Perfume upstairs in what I now know to be Mycenae, that also featured in The Drowned Man. {Spoiler}* - More of the same-old included scissors, stabbings, lots of theatrical blood, lots of writhing around in fluids, lots of contemporary dance to indicate variously passion/anger/drunkenness/revenge/etc., animal heads, cuddly toys, random scribblings, potions, artefacts, etc. The slow-motion supper from Sleep No More is replicated with a ten-minute descent of a staircase. Luck was not on my side. I must have stumbled across the least interesting character in the whole she-bang, and tracked him for the whole of the first loop, despite his best effort to lose his followers by jumping off a first-floor balcony down to the level below. (This is a regular PD annoyance: characters who take routes that the public cannot, or disappear behind the scenes into locked rooms, so that you cannot complete their loops.) {Spoiler}I wasn't sure if this character was an archaeologist or a sculptor -- he spent some time fashioning objects from clay that may or may not have been tiny phalluses -- and the only interesting thing he did was suspend upside down for a short while. At one stage he reached out his hand, but I let the lady to my left accept the invitation to the one-on-one. I was allowed to stay and watch while he ran his fingers over her hands and then sat next to her while he wrote in a book as the lights went up and down. Quite what he was writing I don't know. I was close enough to see, but the pencil on paper was too faint in the light to be seen. (Another problem is the need to wear contact lenses rather than glasses, which, despite what PD may say, don't really work with their masks, and contact lenses -- for me at least -- are not optimised for close-up vision.) Some white masks were walking around in pairs holding hands. They don't seem to understand how it lessens the experience if you do not do it as an individual. Please can PD publish a rule to disallow hand-holding. Linked people are slow to move, get in the way and are a damned nuisance. Surprisingly, both finales were greeted in complete silence: there was not even polite applause, and certainly not the whooping and hollering that the audience erupted into at the conclusion of The Drowned Man. I think my sense of being underwhelmed was widely shared. Three stars, because I still found the overall experience fascinating, and I wasn't bored. I may venture back once the show is complete and once I have educated myself on what the story is. |
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Post by n1david on Apr 14, 2022 15:12:13 GMT
Wednesday night's show went ahead, to my relief. But what a nightmare trying to reach a venue 35 minutes by train from central London for the ridiculously early start time of 18:30 (if you want the full three loops). Weekday performances of this show are going to require an afternoon's holiday for many working people. I guess they expected/hoped that Crossrail would be open by time this opened - that will put Woolwich Arsenal 15 minutes from Tottenham Court Road. Have to say as someone who enjoyed TDM but isn't a Punchdrunk fanatic, my heart is rather heavy about this one, particularly if Crossrail still hasn't opened but the time I am due to go... |
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Post by mkb on Apr 14, 2022 15:50:36 GMT
I forgot to mention an issue with the policy of asking people to carry their mobile around in a sealed pouch. Judging by last night, some people forget to silence them first, and are then unable to do anything when they ring out loud during the show.
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Post by Steffi on Apr 14, 2022 16:12:56 GMT
I forgot to mention an issue with the policy of asking people to carry their mobile around in a sealed pouch. Judging by last night, some people forget to silence them first, and are then unable to do anything when they ring out loud during the show. The last times I went they explicitly asked people to put phones on silent or turn them off before sealing them in the pouch. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2022 16:34:42 GMT
Obsessed with this thread. Even more convinced than ever that Punchdrunk is not for me. The mention of ‘white masks holding hands’ was the nail in the coffin for me 😹
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Apr 14, 2022 18:07:21 GMT
I forgot to mention an issue with the policy of asking people to carry their mobile around in a sealed pouch. Judging by last night, some people forget to silence them first, and are then unable to do anything when they ring out loud during the show. The last times I went they explicitly asked people to put phones on silent or turn them off before sealing them in the pouch. Same when I went - I just turned mine off.! |
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Post by asfound on Apr 18, 2022 7:05:25 GMT
Spoiler free thoughts after my second visit:
I guess this is still in previews, but unfortunately after my second go I had the same feeling of being underwhelmed as my first. This is the first time I've felt let down by a Punchdrunk show in the 5 productions I've seen (I was even enthralled in parts my Kabeiroi). So to try and be brief:
1) It was very much back to what they do best (so Sleep No More/Drowned Man Part III), which might be a relief to some after Kabeiroi, but to me felt very familiar and almost predictable. There was almost nothing I hadn't already seen before.
2) But unlike former shows the narrative seemed far more incoherent and vague. Once I knew the works SNM and TDM were based on I could more or less follow what was going on, or at the very least the general themes and overall arc. Even after a bunch of reading up before my second visit I still didn't have much of an idea as to what was going on or who was who. With a few exceptions, the characters aren't distinct enough and too many spend too long writing notes or playing with glasses or flowers and not really driving anything forward.
3) There are a few sets in Troy which conjure up the old Punchdrunk magic, but for a lot of it I was painfully aware I was in a warehouse in Woolwich. The set dressings aren't expansive or lush enough, the Mycenae battlefield is essentially a large carpeted warehouse space with curtains and a couple of steel structures. There is nothing as immersive or impressive as the forest, desert, ballroom, locker room etc. of TDM. It reminded me of some of the cheap post-Punchdrunk cash-ins I've been to over the years. Lacking in atmosphere and a true sense of place and time.
4) God, the audience. I guess from other threads here that standards have dropped generally, but I don't really go to big shows or musicals too often so I haven't really noticed until TBC. For one thing, I know they have a bottom line but the experience is not great when the same audience size of TDM is packed into half the space. Even SNM in NY felt less overcrowded. But soooooo many were clearly not into the spirit of the show at all, even with the "go it alone" spiel at the beginning. Maybe 40% were hand-holding, clinging together or in groups. You know, if people are too timid or unadventurous or insecure to spend a few hours alone then whatever. But when this translates to dawdling along blocking the way, talking loudly (a lot of this), or using the sets to take off masks and start making out or chat, then it's a problem. Black masks were oblivious and uninterested, which I haven't seen before at a Punchdrunk show - they're normally on the ball. At least phones weren't a problem, but I'm sure people will start to ignore the bag up your phone rule once word of the Insta-potential gets out.
So I've sold or given away my four remaining tickets in May and June. Going to try again later in the run when I hope they've tightened things up a bit and sorted out a few of these issues, because despite the rather rabid fanbase I doubt I'm the only one that's noticed. It was definitely interesting, it definitely had its moments, and clearly has a lot of potential. But it's not there for me yet.
And I know they won't do it, but it would be great if they sold some of the shows as single tickets only for people that want the proper experience, and then had multiple ticket sales for relaxed shows for the basics and tourists.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Apr 18, 2022 11:17:39 GMT
I’ve never been to a Punchdrunk show which I guess makes me a “basic” (or is it a tourist?) but presumably people find immersive theatre an activity they want to enjoy with others, and that the experience is enhanced by doing it communally, rather than being timid.
I’m going on press night, with low expectations but an open mind.
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Post by mkb on Apr 18, 2022 13:50:41 GMT
Not much of the budget seems to have been spent on costumes, which looked quite cheap. Footwear, in particular, often gave the impression of being "actor's own".
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Post by southstreet on Apr 18, 2022 17:58:26 GMT
I’ve never been to a Punchdrunk show which I guess makes me a “basic” (or is it a tourist?) but presumably people find immersive theatre an activity they want to enjoy with others, and that the experience is enhanced by doing it communally, rather than being timid. I’m going on press night, with low expectations but an open mind. I think it’s also the expectations. It’s not like Secret Cinema, which is definitely something that is most fun as a ‘group activity’, with its food and drinking and encouraging the audience to chat to the characters, etc. Whereas a Punchdrunk show is one where the audience is expected to be quiet and observe like they would (or at the very least SHOULD) in a proscenium arch show. You might be invited to take part in little bits, get taken into 1:1s but it’s not a show that’s interactive in as much as you can change the way the show or narratives go, go up to characters and start engaging in conversation etc. And it genuinely is best done alone, not as in going there on your own, but splitting up from your group as soon as you get into the space. But I guess lots of people will have done the more ‘secret cinema’ and Immersive Gatsby type of immersive theatre recently, so will go to a Punchdrunk show with the same expectations and behaviours. |
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Post by lolalou on Apr 18, 2022 19:03:34 GMT
How do the time slots work?
If you go earlier can you wander round till it closes?
What times do regular PD recommend to get the full story arc?
Thanks
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Post by digne on Apr 18, 2022 19:57:47 GMT
I've got to say, reading this thread makes me feel a lot better about seeing this show. I never saw Sleep No More because it sounded so anxiety-inducing - in my mind's eye I guess I was imagining a labyrinth of terrifying, empty rooms you find yourself getting lost in with no idea of where you are or how you get out, with actors jumping out at you every now and then to drag you away for scary 1 on 1 experiences. It's quite a relief to hear that you can just follow an actor around to experience some of the story and not get lost, and that there will be other people around to hopefully jump on those 1 on 1 chances.  |
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Post by craig on Apr 18, 2022 20:27:54 GMT
I loved The Drowned Man and have been so excited by this, but I'll be holding off based on all the reviews on here.
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Post by Steffi on Apr 19, 2022 9:40:58 GMT
How do the time slots work? If you go earlier can you wander round till it closes? What times do regular PD recommend to get the full story arc? Thanks They haven't been enforcing the time slots so far. You get in on a first come, first serve basis (premium and vip ticket holders have a separate entrance). The show runs in loops that are roughly 1 hour long and repeat 3 times. You will never get the full story arc in one visit though. If you're strategical you can follow 3 characters for their one hour narrative in one show. Considering there are 20+ characters in the show you will still only see a fraction of the whole show. But Punchdrunk shows are not meant to be seen in full in one visit. The idea is that each visitor has their own experience. At the end of the evening no one will have had exactly the same show. |
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Post by Steffi on Apr 19, 2022 9:43:34 GMT
I've got to say, reading this thread makes me feel a lot better about seeing this show. I never saw Sleep No More because it sounded so anxiety-inducing - in my mind's eye I guess I was imagining a labyrinth of terrifying, empty rooms you find yourself getting lost in with no idea of where you are or how you get out, with actors jumping out at you every now and then to drag you away for scary 1 on 1 experiences. It's quite a relief to hear that you can just follow an actor around to experience some of the story and not get lost, and that there will be other people around to hopefully jump on those 1 on 1 chances.  There are definitely no jump scares. I hate those, too. Also the one on ones are always voluntary. No performer will ever force you into them. Just don't take the performer's hand if they hold it out to you. |
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