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Post by theoracle on Feb 2, 2022 21:20:57 GMT
I'm starting to see more ads for this and it seems like an interesting concept. I had a look at the seating plan in the Dorfman, is this going to be in the round as a lot of seats seem to be behind the stage or is this a fairly standard layout in there? Haven't been in that auditorium since 2020 but would be keen to know what the view would be like from some of the side seats in the pit.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 2, 2022 21:22:01 GMT
Just be ready for the 3hr 45min run time
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Post by theatrelover123 on Feb 2, 2022 21:28:25 GMT
No show should be that long. Not even Shakespeare  |
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Post by imstillhere on Feb 3, 2022 0:35:03 GMT
I'll take 3 hour and 45 minutes over five years
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Post by lonlad on Feb 3, 2022 0:36:47 GMT
Five years? Huh? Even Taylor Mac isn't THAT long LOL!
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 3, 2022 8:41:01 GMT
It's tranferring to Chichester in the main theatre. I can't see the typical elderly Chichester audience being interested in nearly 4 hours of teenage angst.
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Post by mrnutz on Feb 3, 2022 9:31:00 GMT
I would have been very interested in this with a 2 hour runtime. 3:45? No way.
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Post by Mark on Feb 3, 2022 9:37:49 GMT
Seems to have sold rather well though. I only wish there were more matinees or earlier evening performance (maybe a 6pm start).
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Post by alicechallice on Feb 3, 2022 9:55:46 GMT
It's tranferring to Chichester in the main theatre. I can't see the typical elderly Chichester audience being interested in nearly 4 hours of teenage angst. It’s in the Minerva, thankfully. |
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Post by mrnutz on Feb 3, 2022 10:09:00 GMT
Seems to have sold rather well though. I only wish there were more matinees or earlier evening performance (maybe a 6pm start). But did they know how long it was going to be when they booked? 😂 |
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Post by Mark on Feb 3, 2022 10:10:56 GMT
Seems to have sold rather well though. I only wish there were more matinees or earlier evening performance (maybe a 6pm start). But did they know how long it was going to be when they booked? 😂 Probably not, will be a nice surprise for some I'm sure. |
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 3, 2022 12:22:59 GMT
It's tranferring to Chichester in the main theatre. I can't see the typical elderly Chichester audience being interested in nearly 4 hours of teenage angst. It’s in the Minerva, thankfully. Apologies. I misread the CFT Spring brochure. I just hope for the audience's sake there are plenty of intervals. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2022 12:36:56 GMT
A friend is in it and says it’s “getting shorter” thanks to cuts.
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Post by highonahill on Feb 4, 2022 22:29:57 GMT
Seems to have sold rather well though. I only wish there were more matinees or earlier evening performance (maybe a 6pm start). But did they know how long it was going to be when they booked? 😂 Nope! I have a ticket for the first preview at CFT - a friend has just alerted me to the running time! I did wonder why the start time was 6.30pm 🤣 |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 8, 2022 11:31:19 GMT
This play only has 254 scenes
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 14, 2022 23:51:33 GMT
5 stars. Didn’t want it to end! And all over in a speedy 3 hours and 55 minutes (one interval, one pause).
I only booked today, with some trepidation at the running time, but no need. Three differently styled acts, a cast of 15 darting through all the main characters (and playing various others), the script also darting through the timeframes while you mentally pull together an image of what stage of their personal timeline each character is talking about.
The director did announce at the start that one actor was indisposed with Covid, so her part was played by two covers, one actor with script-in-hand for the spoken parts, another for the dance and movement based scenes. It worked, anyway.
It is a play where you can get very invested in the characters and all their ups and downs. They are, of course, based on real people, so I hope they have overcome their personal demons.
Very happy with my £10 front row centre seat too. Some audience interaction required, but the food didn’t make it to me. Can’t say the same about the drink as one lady did manage to (unintentionally) throw her drink towards me at the end of the interval, but I escaped the worst of it.
Pretty full too. I hope others enjoy this as much as I did.
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Post by theoracle on Feb 15, 2022 16:41:39 GMT
What’s the layout like inside? Would you reccomend sitting in the side blocks in the pit? Thanks
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 15, 2022 21:08:19 GMT
What’s the layout like inside? Would you reccomend sitting in the side blocks in the pit? Thanks You’d have a side view, but not otherwise a problem. I’d definitely take those over the upper levels and leaning seats, which would be very uncomfortable for such a long show. |
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Post by Steve on Feb 16, 2022 23:56:27 GMT
Absolutely loved the third preview tonight. Brilliant verbatim theatre. Less of a throughline than you got with London Road in the same theatre, but the 12 young people's individual stories amount to the story of a whole generation.
Some spoilers follow. . .
This generation are much more likeable and relatable than the middle class vampires of London Road, making for a much more appealing and touching night of theatre, with the climactic last third moving into the Covid age, reflecting not only a generation back at us but also the recent history of us all.
This preview thankfully was not cancelled on account of the actor, who plays Mia, coming down with Covid, and another actor filled in with a terrific performance on book, with yet another actor performing dance sequences.
The greatest triumph of Alecky Blythe's verbatim method is in producing characters on stage who are more vibrant, relatable and real than we are used to in dramas. The same teen issues that you would see in teen dramas (of self image, peer pressure, becoming an individual, differentiating from parents) are covered, but without any clichés. The characters really pop and convince, and the actors are vibrant and electric.
While there isn't a weak link in the cast, some performances are really memorable and special, in particular, Gavi Singh Chera's wide-eyed excitable Ali, who is incandescent on stage, Anna Burnett's indefatigably tough but tender Scottish Robyn, Joe Bolland's posh, spoilt, yet thoroughly loveable, nervy, cheeky, effervescent and honest Lucas, Rachel Diedericks's ultra vulnerable, quirky and body-conscious Ierum, Hélder Fernandes's focused, funny and overconfident London wideboy basketballer, by way of Kosovo, Luan and Poppy Shepherd's disarming, frank and hilariously blunt Emily.
To have these many magnificent and compelling characters in one show is really rare, and Alecky Blythe and Daniel Evans have created a truly rare and terrific show out of them.
Unmissable. 5 stars. 🥰🙏🔥
PS: Runtime was 3 hours 40 minutes, including 2 intervals. Finished at 10:40pm.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2022 0:21:46 GMT
Would anyone mind telling me how much of a part Debbie Chazen's got? Love her.
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Post by jennapatchell on Feb 17, 2022 8:41:13 GMT
Sadly have to disagree with the other posters. 2 stars from me.
I've seen better writing and performance in GCSE drama performances, probably because this feels like a 4 hour cringy GCSE performance. The characters are boring and uninteresting. 4 hours of repeating the same overused phrase and tropes. The final act was almost unbearable.
I really just do not understand the point of this play. Is it just to "honour" the words of these teenagers? The story is not interesting at all. No tension or drama, just moans for 4 hours.
Verbatim theatre does not need to be a night of LBC call ins. London Road at least had a story and was interesting, this delivers nothing new.
The NT website says it is "Often too extraordinary to be fiction" - what? No, there is really nothing of the sort. This is all boring surface level teenage drama.
Maybe I'm alone on this one.
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 17, 2022 13:30:25 GMT
Sadly have to disagree with the other posters. 2 stars from me. I don't know. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the reviews very either very positive or very negative for this one. I find programmes like the 7-Up series fascinating, but we all know they are a snapshot of people's lives and we won't see a resolution. I could also see so much of people I know in the characters, along with the very real individual challenges that they have faced over the past few years (and continue to face), including working in some of the same communities, so to see that from a sample of just 12 people and to consider what this means for the population as a whole is fascinating. But I can totally see how the whole concept would just not work for many and I can picture this being a hard sell for Chichester. |
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Post by Dave B on Feb 17, 2022 13:55:39 GMT
We are due to the NT for Wuthering Heights tonight so hoping not to get a notification about that any minute now...
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Post by jennapatchell on Feb 17, 2022 15:23:54 GMT
Sadly have to disagree with the other posters. 2 stars from me. I don't know. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the reviews very either very positive or very negative for this one. I find programmes like the 7-Up series fascinating, but we all know they are a snapshot of people's lives and we won't see a resolution. I could also see so much of people I know in the characters, along with the very real individual challenges that they have faced over the past few years (and continue to face), including working in some of the same communities, so to see that from a sample of just 12 people and to consider what this means for the population as a whole is fascinating. But I can totally see how the whole concept would just not work for many and I can picture this being a hard sell for Chichester. I think the feeling of "I can relate" quickly wears off. This is a 4 hour play, and the only actual emotion or reaction possible to the scenes are "I can relate". Not enough to sustain for the duration. |
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Post by mkb on Feb 17, 2022 17:09:04 GMT
Already had last Friday's show cancelled on me. Switched to tomorrow. Just had that cancelled, 30 minutes after the deadline for cancelling my hotel, who are insisting I stay or lose the money.
And, as usual, the NT have automatically generated a credit note rather than offer a full refund. (I'd take the credit note, but it's the presumption that stinks.)
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