546 posts
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Post by drmaplewood on Aug 18, 2022 13:02:13 GMT
Saw this on press night, a fair few Heartstopper alumni in the audience. I thought this was OK but was distracted by the varying pedigree of the acting from the young cast. Perhaps unkind given for a fair few of them this is their first major production but its still west end pricing going on.
Don't think the very last scene worked, not only for the awkward curtain call, and could be done away with all together.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Aug 18, 2022 15:25:22 GMT
Semi-random question, is there a standard Donmar programme available for this? The things to know email before our visit has a £2 digital programme linked and says the book is £7.50 which seems to suggest there might not be? Thank you! I've just been and confirmed with a member of staff that there's no physical programme. |
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Post by Mark on Aug 18, 2022 15:45:45 GMT
Enjoyed this much more than I thought I was going to having only booked off the back of the Heartstoppers in the cast. The three adults were excellent in particular. As for the piece I liked it, it flowed well, and a great opportunity for these young actors.
I do agree with an earlier comment - why are they wearing so much thick clothing when it’s so hot inside?
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1,828 posts
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Post by Dave B on Aug 18, 2022 16:40:42 GMT
Semi-random question, is there a standard Donmar programme available for this? The things to know email before our visit has a £2 digital programme linked and says the book is £7.50 which seems to suggest there might not be? Thank you! I've just been and confirmed with a member of staff that there's no physical programme. Very kind of you, thank you!
So a book on the way out if I really enjoy it. Fine by me  |
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Post by NorthernAlien on Aug 18, 2022 18:29:43 GMT
Semi-random question, is there a standard Donmar programme available for this? The things to know email before our visit has a £2 digital programme linked and says the book is £7.50 which seems to suggest there might not be? Thank you! They're charging £2 for a digital programme?  I appreciate that this might be my inner Northerner being appalled, but GOOD GRIEF!!!! |
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Post by jamb0r on Aug 19, 2022 14:24:29 GMT
I really loved this! It felt almost like watching an episode of Black Mirror and I was pretty gripped throughout. Thought the vast majority of the cast were strong, though I am sure some of those with less experience will improve their projection over time (struggled to hear from row B of the circle a few times). We had a show stop for around 10 minutes near the beginning last night, looked like a lighting issue.
Was especially impressed with Joe Locke - would definitely love to see him on stage again.
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Post by NorthernAlien on Aug 27, 2022 10:45:33 GMT
I finally saw this on Thursday! I think this is one of those where the cast was stronger than the script, which felt like it needed another edit, just to focus in on precisely what story it was telling. I agree with jamb0r above about projection - I was also in Row B of the circle, and some of the cast were a tad quiet at points. I was expecting this to be a bit different to how it was - I thought that the defendants would have bigger roles, and be more involved in ongoing dialogue, and that the jurors would all have more or less evenly sized roles. In fact, there was almost a hierarchy of jurors, with Noah (Joe Locke), Ren (Honor Kneafsey) and Mohammad (Francis Dourado) having the obviously biggest roles, and then a couple of them just behind them, and some who didn't really have much to do at all - which I suppose is one of the hazards of trying to write something with that many people, where you've built a mechanism into the plot that limits how long any of the jury discussions are going to be. Indeed, in one of the scenes, Xander (Will Gao), had so little to do that he sat in the front row of the audience for much of it! I'd previously speculated that Joe Locke's agent had been quite astute in getting him this - and now I think the agent has done very well. As others have commented, the character is a complete 180 from Charlie Spring in Heartstopper, and my word, Locke is going to be a talent to be reckoned with if he and his agent can continue to steer his career as well as they have so far. |
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Aug 27, 2022 11:12:17 GMT
I really liked the concept of this, but I wasn't massively keen on the execution. I don't know if that's down to some of the younger actors who looked kind of awkward on stage or the way it's been directed or the script itself, but a lot of the juror deliberation scenes felt kind of stilted and like 'I'm waiting for you to say your line so I can say my line' and 'now I stomp off here'. There were definitely some very good acting in there (especially from the 3 defendants) and I know for a lot of the jurors this is their first professional production, so I might be being a little harsh. I look forward to seeing what they do in the future |
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Post by NorthernAlien on Jan 23, 2023 18:42:33 GMT
I realise that It Has Been Some Time, but is there any chance that this could transfer? A two week run seems very short (especially given that the rehearsal period was longer than that). And the themes seem to be becoming ever more relevant.
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170 posts
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Post by paplazaroo on Jan 23, 2023 20:08:02 GMT
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Post by TallPaul on Nov 13, 2023 13:59:18 GMT
I wonder if they'll do this in more cities Nottingham Playhouse in August 2024. |
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Post by marob on Nov 13, 2023 14:05:12 GMT
I didn’t see it, but the youth theatre group at Storyhouse in Chester did it over the summer too.
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I appreciate that this might be my inner Northerner being appalled, but GOOD GRIEF!!!! 
