18 replies to this topic

[Dawnstar]

freckles, on 08 December 2012 - 10:58 AM, said:

There do seem to be some odd nominations here.

I personally am sulking because one of my favourites Mack & Mabel wasn't included at all.

Seconded. I was suprised at various nominations/omissions but this most of all.

[MrBarnaby]

Was Cate Blanchett eligible for her incredible performance on Gross Und Klein? If she was I despair at her absence.

[emkay]

I think it's a fun coincidence that Best Actress in a Play features both Sheridan Smith for an Ibsen revival at the Old Vic and Hattie Morahan for an Ibsen revival at the Young Vic!

[KevinUK]

Voted and whilst I hadn't seen everything, I certain saw enough I feel to have made an informed decision this time around. She'll never win, but I thought Jill Halfpenny was brilliant and absolutely deserves the best actress award - I wanted more from Sheridan, couldn't warm to Julie and thought Billie was just terrible. Aside from lighting and stage design, I think Curious Dog deserves every award it's nominated for. I found the Mel C inclusion odd, but to an extent deserving. I'd like Loserville to win best new musical, as it would be great for them to bow out on a deserving win.

What I don't get is how the hell they expect someone London based to be able to vote for a regional production award! Next year they need to stream a performance of each to help us make up our minds lol.

[zyx123]

KevinUK, on 08 December 2012 - 10:51 PM, said:

What I don't get is how the hell they expect someone London based to be able to vote for a regional production award! Next year they need to stream a performance of each to help us make up our minds lol.

All of the regional nominees were on at venues a reasonable distance from London. Most of the population don't have theatres on their doorsteps.

[Titan]

kevin thats such a londoner comment, you ever heard of traveling? by that logic people outside of london couldnt be voting for west end shows and that the awards should be only for people who live in london

[KevinUK]

Firstly I'm not a Londoner per say, and secondly it's completely different - millions travel into London for a weekend away, see the sites, shop and see show from a large selection - a very, very small number of Londoners leave London purely to see a specific show (and at 25 I'm not going anywhere to see a regional production when I've a mass of theatre on my doorstep here).

I don't see Sheffield as a reasonable distance from London either, based on the fact it's over 150 miles away - coming from Newcastle that's half way home (which is a 6/7 hour drive!). That said, I'm a huge fan of Sheffield as its such a beautiful city (shame about the hills).

My point is however, for those interested in west end theatre, there is a reasonable chance to have seen 2 or 3 of the shows nominated. Yet regional shows, my guess is a tiny number of people made the effort to travel out of London and see 2 or 3 of the ones mentioned. I find it extremely hard to believe someone from say Newcastle decided to go to Leicester just because Gypsy was on.

However ask yourselves - who on earth makes a trip to Newcastle or Sunderland to see a regional production? No one. And I promise no one from there want to make a trip to Salford to see one either. So it just seems like a strange category - who exactly can legitimately vote? The chances are the show most people travelled to see would be closest to London - and my guess is those that make the short list (from an office in London - I assume) are very unlikely to have travelled much further north than Sheffield to generate a legitimate shortlist.

That said, I don't rate the Newcastle theatre scene - best I ever saw was a strange thing called "Jeff's dead - disco for sale", which was about Iraq. An hour into the show a member of the audience started shouting at the actors - they get into a huge argument, seemingly stop the show (much to the annoyance of the audience) and it turns out he was part if the cast and it was all staged. I think it lasted 5 performances.

[zyx123]

Sheffield is two hours on a train from London. I travel there from the north west and it takes me longer than that.

I have seen 4 of the 6 in the regional category, and will probably vote for Wonderful Town. However, the two best regional productions I saw this year were in Liverpool. The Norman Conquests and The Matchbox both at the playhouse and Leanne Best's performance in the later was the best I saw on stage anywhere this year.

[Matthew Winn]

KevinUK, on 09 December 2012 - 12:28 AM, said:

However ask yourselves - who on earth makes a trip to Newcastle or Sunderland to see a regional production?

People who want to see a show playing in Newcastle or Sunderland?

I haven't been to either of those - there's no easy train from where I am and I've only recently learnt to drive - but I have been on theatre day trips to places like Birmingham, Blackpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Chichester, Colchester, Derby, Edinburgh, Hereford, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Sheffield, Tunbridge Wells, Woking and Worthing, and a couple of times when I've been willing to stay overnight I've been further. I've been to the cinema in places as far apart as Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield. I enjoy travelling so it's no imposition. In fact I enjoy travelling so much I'd rather go a long distance than see something just up the road because it adds to the adventure.

Once you're used to travelling around these places don't seem a long distance away any more. (There have been times when I've been sitting at home, bored, and decided to go for a walk in the country. And the country I've been for a walk in is Wales. If I can get home the same day it's not a long journey.)

So yes, there are people who travel to see regional productions. Sometimes it's because they enjoy the experience of travel itself. Sometimes it's because they love visiting towns they've never visited before. Sometimes it's because they like to sit in audiences made mainly of regular theatregoers instead of the ooh-it's-him-off-that-sitcom-why-isn't-he-being-funny crowd in the West End. Whatever the reason, they exist.