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Post by andrew on Apr 16, 2022 17:21:07 GMT
I think the point is more whether the understudy would go on if Jodie fell sick before the show and couldn't go on at all, or was out for several days. Yes, that's what I was wondering. It's not the first time I've come across the concept of an understudy!  I was trying to resolve the previous claim of there being no understudy with there being a page for one in the programme. It might be that somewhere along the way 'no alternate' became 'no understudy', but given that it's a new play with one actress who happens to be one of the UK's hottest talents right now, most people will have booked based on the desire to see her. Hopefully we won't have to find out their policy if she does fall sick before a show. Stage door scrummage aside, I'd like to think that being a one woman show might offer her some protection from COVID along with the other bugs that spread through companies. I think it's worth saying that whilst Jodie is a very popular and successful actress who appeals to people who don't normally go to the theatre, a lot of occasional and regular theatre goers will think she's great and want to see what she can do too. Of course if Jodie promoted her appearance in the play via social media then it would give her fans a head start to buying tickets over theatre fans who happen to think she's great, but I would argue that the most hardcore of them would want to be there for opening night, while the more theatre experienced fans would know the benefits of giving it a few days. My bad, I got the wrong end of the stick. Bearing in mind you can't rebook it anyway, I'd so much rather see an understudy do this than nothing. But TheatreBoard has very divergent and strongly held opinions on both sides about what should happen when the star is out, so I don't want to poke that beast. |
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Post by jojo on Apr 16, 2022 18:46:20 GMT
Easily done on the internet!
Personally speaking, I'd rather have the option of seeing an understudy, even if the only reason I'd gone to the effort of booking a show is because I wanted to see it performed by the famous person.
I can't think that I'd not go ahead with watching a show in those circumstances, especially if I'd made it as far as London. I might want to swap dates, but it looks like that would be out of the question for this run. There's bound to be COVID related returns and some house seats would be released, but not enough to cover everyone who wants to switch.
Hopefully this is all academic. There's no reason to think Jodie won't manage the full run.
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Post by jampot on Apr 16, 2022 21:39:48 GMT
Was at the Pinter this evening and I have to say this was excellent in every regard. Boy can this lady act..The brilliant book and staging really helps Jodie to showcase all her talents..Every emotion is on display. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Absolutely command's the stage. So confident. I didn't see any weakness in the production and didn't want it to end..Music is added throughout with heavy base at times that could annoy some.
Audience on the whole were well behaved. I noticed what I believe to be some kind of security guy amongst the ushers keeping an eye for potential problems..I really hope it doesn't get spoiled by a minority of fans as it deserves the upmost of respect.
Awards galore i would imagine and wouldn't surprise me a run on Broadway if scheduals work..
Bravo..if I could give it 6 out of 5 I would...
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Post by Dave B on Apr 16, 2022 22:18:45 GMT
I was there this evening. Started 19.36 and over at 21.14.
I was standing at the back of the Royal Circle. They don't pack too many people into the space so easy to pick a spot and lean on the rails, a reasonably comfortable stand and I'd suggest a way better standing option than the balcony. The usual amount of people confusing dress/royal/balcony and having to move seats. 3 seats left empty though the performance was listed as fully sold out.
Essentially, Jodie Comer knocks it out of the park, she is fantastic throughout. For the second (maybe third?) preview of her stage debut... she owns the stage from the second she steps foot on it - not a hint of nerves. I know it's early in the season but her performance has awards written all over it.
The play itself is excellent and sharp and hits hard. The staging is good, there are some slight timing issues with lights and music (and too loud music at the start that mostly settles down) but I imagine that'll be nailed down in the next couple of days.
A very young audience, reminded me very much of Tom Hiddleston in the same venue a few years ago, I'm not sure I've seen a crowd as invested in a single performer since then - massive rush of people on exit (a young man tried to push me on the stairs... that did not go well for him!) with people running to the stage door.
Poster, t-shirt, playtext and a reasonably decent programme on sale.
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Post by Jon on Apr 16, 2022 23:00:53 GMT
What accent does Jodie use for the role?
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Post by jampot on Apr 16, 2022 23:25:39 GMT
What accent does Jodie use for the role? Numerous accents depending on whom she is at the time..This very much a talking heads kind of production. You do get plenty of her scouse accent (watered down I would say) |
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Post by Jon on Apr 16, 2022 23:30:15 GMT
Numerous accents depending on whom she is at the time..This very much a talking heads kind of production. You do get plenty of her scouse accent (watered down I would say) Thanks, for some reason I thought because it's by an Australian playwright, that Jodie Comer might play the character(s) in an Australian accent but I assume they've made changes so that it makes sense to a British audience. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2022 13:29:25 GMT
It did look as if they had put a barriered area up for Jodie to go around so she wouldn't get mobbed but lots of pushing. Also with theatres there are other staff using the SD so if there is a crowd they either have to fight through it or they or star uses different entrance. When Tom Hiddlestone was there I think they queued everyone up and he came out a door further up possibly one of the Stalls exit doors and they had a crash barrier and a security guy by him so he could just work through the queue. That idea was certainly the best way to control it IMO.
At the Pinter I've known performers to sign at SD and then leave via a door out onto the bottom road behind the theatre and they have had numerous big names there over the years so seem to know how to handle crowds pretty well.
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Post by shady23 on Apr 18, 2022 22:08:38 GMT
Yeah I hope she doesn't do stage door. I've been seeing a lot of entitlement on Twitter from people demanding stage door, I thought the pandemic might have made people more courteous about this stuff, evidently not Let's also not forget that lots of people who are going to this have never been to the theatre before. She's bringing in people who want to see her and couldn't give a monkeys about the show. It's a one woman show. Let's be honest. We are all going for her. Nobody is going for the show. |
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Post by mjh on Apr 19, 2022 10:46:12 GMT
Has anyone tried for 'on the day' standing tickets? Just wondering if there's been much of a queue and if they're Royal Circle or Balcony standing?
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Post by dm913 on Apr 19, 2022 13:50:26 GMT
Has anyone tried for 'on the day' standing tickets? Just wondering if there's been much of a queue and if they're Royal Circle or Balcony standing? Haven't tried myself but overheard somebody saying they started queuing at 6 and were joined by other people around 9. They received standing tickets at the back of Balcony. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 20, 2022 16:16:34 GMT
At cinemas 21st July.
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Post by zahidf on Apr 22, 2022 20:28:12 GMT
Well this was brilliant! 1 hour 45 mins flew by. Amazing lead performance, she will definitely win an award
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Post by properjob on Apr 22, 2022 21:22:07 GMT
It is absolutely amazing. Looking back at the thread there was talk of lighting issues in the early previews and it still isn't perfect but that is the most minor of quibbles.
I was slightly annoyed before I went as I got a very expensive return before it was announced as an NTlive but now I've seen it I don't regret the money one bit.
To take on an 1h40m one woman show as your first pro stage gig might appear ambitious but she will need to make space on her mantle piece come award season.
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Post by mkb on Apr 22, 2022 22:03:41 GMT
I've seen a few one-woman plays over the years. I think my last was Carey Mulligan in Girls and Boys at The Royal Court, which set a useful benchmark for tour-de-force performance standards and the power of stage drama. By comparison, Prima Facie, with all its advance hype, disappoints. The subject of women rape victims unable to get justice has been dealt with better and more compellingly before. The novelty here is that the woman seeking justice is the person who, in her job as a defence barrister, has successfully fought countless other women who alleged rape. The course of the narrative is predictable; there are no unexpected twists along the way. Moreover, if Suzie Miller's script is the case against the established legal system, it does not require much thought to counter it. It is quite right in my view, that in a case of one person's word against another, the courts should find in favour of the defendant, unless there is compelling evidence to support the plaintiff. That will continue to mean that many rape victims will not get justice, but there is no reasonable alternative, unless we want to start locking up people purely on someone's say-so. Certainly, Miller offers no solutions. In fact, the real problem with the police and with the legal system is their underfunding. I know from a barrister friend that the hours Miller affords her protagonist to prepare and fight and win cases, is entirely fanciful. Criminal defence barristers, unless their clients are exceptionally wealthy, rarely get papers well in advance. It's common to have to prepare for the following day's cases only the evening before. As for Jodie Comer's performance, she has a lot of almost non-stop dialogue, and she rattles through it at quite a pace. There were times when I felt a more experienced actor would know where to pause for effect. A pause can often share more about what a character is thinking than the words spoken. Of course, this may also be due to bad direction. The opening scene, where Comer's barrister climbs on to a table to recount a past court victory, is written, acted and directed badly. I feared a car crash lay ahead, but, by the next scene, Comer settles into the dialogue, and delivers what is a competent performance, no more. She has her moments though, particularly in the scenes with her mother, and during the latter parts of Act 2. There is an intermittent ambient music score that does little to enhance the piece. As an aficionado of film music, I intensely disliked the styles chosen here and felt they jarred with the scene they overlaid. Whether it would have worked better with different music or with none at all, I am not sure. I suspect the latter. Miriam Buether's set design is tone perfect: they always seem to have brilliant sets at the Pinter. The dramatic crescendo at the end of Act 1 demands time to take in and process. That we plough straight on to Act 2, set over two years later, after a two-minute pause while Comer changes costume off-stage, felt entirely inappropriate to me. An interval at this point would have been an improvement. The audience was impeccably behaved, save for the man directly behind Stalls seat C9 who thought it was fine to tell his companion what he thought several times. Three stars. Act 1: 19:36-20:22 Act 2: 20:24-21:17 |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2022 22:20:44 GMT
I haven't had any takers for my ticket for tomorrow night (23rd) - now free to a good home, so if anyone wants it please let me know ASAP as I'm travelling so might not see messages immediately.
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Post by dip on Apr 23, 2022 23:19:00 GMT
Absolutely breathtaking. Never had an experience like it in a theatre.
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Post by jampot on Apr 24, 2022 5:49:15 GMT
Absolutely breathtaking. Never had an experience like it in a theatre. I know..Its been a week since ive seen it. Cant stop thinking about it. |
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Post by musicalcritical on Apr 26, 2022 2:37:27 GMT
I can't wait to see Jodie Comer live
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Post by Mark on Apr 27, 2022 9:27:13 GMT
Failed on lottery tickets this week. This is turning into a very difficult ticket!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 27, 2022 9:48:47 GMT
Failed on lottery tickets this week. This is turning into a very difficult ticket! There’s one on the Noticeboard for 25 quid. |
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Post by Mark on Apr 27, 2022 10:14:27 GMT
Failed on lottery tickets this week. This is turning into a very difficult ticket! There’s one on the Noticeboard for 25 quid. Wish I could take it but away with work. |
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Post by foxglove on Apr 27, 2022 18:45:43 GMT
Absolutely breathtaking. Never had an experience like it in a theatre. I echo this. Caught it a few days ago and the audience response was rapturous, to say the least. I can't quite believe it's Comer's stage debut - a challenging performance on multiple levels that she absolutely owns. Feels like tickets are becoming like gold dust. |
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Post by adamk on Apr 27, 2022 22:13:59 GMT
1000/1000
Unmissable
Unforgettable
Genius.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Apr 27, 2022 22:52:56 GMT
Jodie Comer is quite sensational in this.
To give that kind of performance with so little stage experience is astonishing.
Fully expecting her to walk away with the Olivier and Evening Standard Award for this (and for once them awarding it to the most famous person in the line up will be absolutely justified)
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