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Post by lynette on Aug 10, 2018 17:10:34 GMT
I’d like to see this play again so hope it comes into London.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Aug 25, 2018 19:46:44 GMT
An enthralling afternoons theatre, a difficult subject matter made eloquently simple.
Who’d have thought quantum physics could be so entertaining, three actors on top form interacting like electrons never entirely sure of their position until observed by the other two.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2018 20:06:07 GMT
A good science play is always a great afternoon/evening out, even if you're the least scientific person in the world.
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Post by david on Aug 25, 2018 20:14:15 GMT
A good science play is always a great afternoon/evening out Definitely agree with you on this. I’ve booked for the last show so I’m glad it’s getting a positive review. It’s one of those plays I’ve always wanted to see, but never seemed to see it when it gets done. |
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Post by learfan on Aug 25, 2018 21:06:16 GMT
A good science play is always a great afternoon/evening out Definitely agree with you on this. I’ve booked for the last show so I’m glad it’s getting a positive review. It’s one of those plays I’ve always wanted to see, but never seemed to see it when it gets done. Snap, im going on 21st September and looking forward to it. |
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Post by joem on Aug 27, 2018 23:49:55 GMT
Seriously over-rated play with disturbing rewriting of historical facts.
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Post by lynette on Aug 28, 2018 11:51:52 GMT
Seriously over-rated play with disturbing rewriting of historical facts. Like Shakespeare's Henry plays then? Come on, since when did historical facts get in the way of a play? And since we're talking, I thought one of the themes of this play is the 'fact' that we can never know what was actually said at the meetings of the two guys. So we are being challenged to weigh up endless possibilities and this reflects our personal prejudices. No? |
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Post by basi1faw1ty on Sept 12, 2018 6:23:05 GMT
So I saw this last week and have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually is. Granted, seeing it twice helped a lot (and skimming thru YT videos on Uranium 235 and 238) but yeah it was like half drama, half science lesson.
Everybody was fantastic, no fluffed lines or anything. The Minerva is one of those rare theatres where there are technically no bad seats/restricted view, so the actors felt very close. It was very dramatic and moving in places (and even funny, partly thanks to Patricia Hodge), especially at the end when Charlie Edwards recounted his return to war-torn Berlin and having to walk past starving children etc and his voice begins to break.
I also attended the Q&A later, which was highly fascinating, and at one point Patricia described Michael Blakemore as the human form of Eeyore, which got a tremendous laugh from the audience.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2018 7:47:39 GMT
Unrelated to this production directly, but it's funny how your real life associations colour a play. A few years back I fell quite badly while away at a friend's birthday in a country cottage. It wasn't serious enough to warrant the long trip to the nearest hospital but I was in considerable pain. So I spent all night up on the sofa, nursing my leg. To distract myself I was listening to anything I could get my hands on via iplayer. This play being one. So it is forever associated with excruciating pain in my leg.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2018 8:04:11 GMT
Unrelated to this production directly, but it's funny how your real life associations colour a play. A few years back I fell quite badly while away at a friend's birthday in a country cottage. It wasn't serious enough to warrant the long trip to the nearest hospital but I was in considerable pain. So I spent all night up on the sofa, nursing my leg. To distract myself I was listening to anything I could get my hands on via iplayer. This play being one. So it is forever associated with excruciating pain in my leg. At least it wasn't a pain in the a***! I would take your theory even further to extend it to the whole audience whose collective mood has such a bearing on performance. The nature of theatre means that every single night of a performance is different depending on the audience response. i've experienced this time and time again and I would love to find out if anyone has written about this. I sometimes think that's why you get such different experiences of shows recounted on here. To all intents and purposes we've all seen a different show. For example, when I saw Home, I'm Darling the performances were quite flat. The first night will always be unique and heightened, which explains why our views are sometimes so different to the critics' - we've seen a different show to them because the performers "pull out all the stops" on the first night and settle into the play thereafter. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2018 8:09:17 GMT
Unrelated to this production directly, but it's funny how your real life associations colour a play. A few years back I fell quite badly while away at a friend's birthday in a country cottage. It wasn't serious enough to warrant the long trip to the nearest hospital but I was in considerable pain. So I spent all night up on the sofa, nursing my leg. To distract myself I was listening to anything I could get my hands on via iplayer. This play being one. So it is forever associated with excruciating pain in my leg. At least it wasn't a pain in the a***! I would take your theory even further to extend it to the whole audience whose collective mood has such a bearing on performance. The nature of theatre means that every single night of a performance is different depending on the audience response. i've experienced this time and time again and I would love to find out if anyone has written about this. I sometimes think that's why you get such different experiences of shows recounted on here. To all intents and purposes we've all seen a different show. For example, when I saw Home, I'm Darling the performances were quite flat. The first night will always be unique and heightened, which explains why our views are sometimes so different to the critics' - we've seen a different show to them because the performers "pull out all the stops" on the first night and settle into the play thereafter. Oh 100% there's so many tales of woe I can recount for an audience affecting how I perceive a play from the 'bad behviour' side to the 'everyone is laughing but me' side to that feeling where everyone is really rooting for the play. All those things. It's fascinating...ohh I may start a thread on this!! |
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Post by lynette on Sept 12, 2018 12:08:13 GMT
Yes, at Hamilton there was a buzz of self congratulation for getting the tix!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2018 13:13:51 GMT
I honestly think I'd've enjoyed Heathers a lot more if the rest of the audience hadn't been SO raring to go and loving every second. If we all go into a theatre as blank slates and warm up to the show together, then it can be a wonderful communal experience, but if you're the only person who didn't go from 0-60 from the moment the lights dimmed, you can't help but realise your enjoyment level is lower than everyone else's enjoyment level, and then you can't fairly judge if your enjoyment level is just "lower than everyone else's", or if it's low generally.
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Sept 16, 2018 7:49:47 GMT
Really good this one, brilliantly acted and a fine use of the Minerva floor and back wall space
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Post by learfan on Sept 21, 2018 22:11:57 GMT
Saw this tonight. Really good proper grown up drama. All three actors superb. Raymond Coulthard and Jenna Russell sat across the aisle from me. Bit of a sea change tomorrow afternoon with Flowers for Mrs Harris!
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Post by david on Sept 22, 2018 21:55:12 GMT
After, the complete failure of spending 75 mind numbing minutes of my life last night at the NT watching the Prisoner, watching the final performance of Copenhagen at the CFT was what the Dr ordered. 2.5hrs of scintillating scientific and philosophical debate to give those little grey cells a good workout.
While we will never truly know what was discussed at that meeting between those 2 great scientists, what this play does is allow us to discuss the implications of science beyond the lab and it’s true impact on the wider world. For me this was an absolutely mesmerising and absorbing piece of theatre with 3 great performances. Charles Edwards and and Paul Jesson as the 2 scientists verbal sparring was brilliant as they discussed their work in nuclear science while Patricia Hodge brilliantly playing the referee between them.
The fact that it played in such an intimate theatre really helped with the atmosphere and the use of the backwall of the stage cleverly used as various points throughout the night.
A great night out with much to chew over with the subject matter.
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Post by emsworthian on Sept 23, 2018 6:51:43 GMT
I caught the final matinee. I feel that I should now read the script to completely understand the scientific points being made; I think I got the general gist. However, the ethical dimensions were fully explored.
I was surprised how humorous it was in parts, given the subject matter. Patricia Hodge's acerbic put downs were great - in fact, all three actors were superb.
It was a play I really had to concentrate to follow but I felt at the end it had been worth it.
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Post by altamont on Sept 23, 2018 8:37:17 GMT
We were there last night and I concur with the comments above - a serious and entertaining evening at the theatre, with much to think about afterwards. The Minerva really is a marvellous, intimate theatre, and even if some of its plays transfer (I wonder if this will), it is worth the effort to get there from deepest Somerset.
Mr Frayn was in attendance and I have to admit to approaching him after the performance and asking him to sign my programme - he seemed genuinely pleased to be doing so for those who asked.
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5,690 posts
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Post by lynette on Oct 3, 2018 11:23:12 GMT
Anyone know if this is coming into London? Likely?
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