98 replies to this topic

[RH1234]

NB: I queued for the advertised "£10 day seats" which, when the box office opened, I was informed was " a misprint, yeah, we don't do those. Our day seats are restricted view in the circle at £40". GULP. Very annoyed. Ended up back of the back (back row of the balcony), but actually fine (when people on the front row weren't leaning, inevitably, forward! lol)

Seems very unfair but can't blame them really. They must be making an absolute killing with premium seats at £65 and £85 selling fast!

[Mark_E]

Hmm the leaflet I have says £25 day seats.

[paultheatre]

Hmm the leaflet I have says £25 day seats.

Hi Mark,

yeah, it was in the Evening Standard on Friday night.  Another guy at the box office who showed up just as it opened had also come for the "£10" ones, and said "can you add my name to the complaints list too please".  Sin.  £20 for back row were not SO bad, if you're ok with heights.  It's not the Palace, thank goodness.

[AnnieInTheStalls]

It's a cute theatre, the Comedy, so I doubt even the back is too far away.

I saw the second preview last night, and I'm a bit "hmmm" about it. It's in modern verse, and really, the rhyming is quite distracting, particularly at first. I don't know if it ever works, never having seen a play done with it before.

A bit disappointed with both Damien Lewis and Keira Knightly. Damien is 2 hours of vein-bulging, spitting anger. It may be purely the fault of the part he's playing, but it's a bit one-dimentional. Why any of the other characters would associate with him, or anyone in the audience care what happens to him, is beyond me.

Keira is fine, and does good American. She was noticeably quieter than the others. Not a problem for me at the front, but maybe at the back (although the previous poster suggests it wasn't). I was expecting a bit more sparkle from her, or at least charisma, but to me she was merely competent. Certainly not a disaster and I'm sure her fans will love it. I just thought the play was better when she wasn't onstage (not necessarily her fault).

On the plus side, I thought Dominic Rowan, Tara Fitzgerald and Tim McMullin were excellent, it had some laughs, and wasn't too boring. Maybe I just don't really like this sort of thing, but it all felt a bit pointless.

Annie

[greenswan]

Saw it last night. It's a perfectly adequate play, competently executed. I felt however that due to the change in setting perhaps some of the meaning got lost... The rhyming is a bit odd at first but its ignorable (it does not anything to the dialogue for me aside from presumably unintentional comedy).

I agree with the previous poster in that the main character and Knightley were competent but not spellbinding. Knightley is not a theatre actor for me (lack of projection and charisma). Also the American accent was incredibly inconsistent and she seemed to lose it completely for some scenes. All the characters come across as a bit one note. Dominic Rowan for me was a disappointment, liked him a lot at the Globe this summer but here he felt stagey.

Regarding the circle, we had last row for 20 and that was a bit dear I felt. Certainly for anyone over 5'5 your knees will be hovering around your shoulders as the seats are incredibly low and there is no adequate legroom. View is distant but hardly restricted.

I wouldn't recommend against going, it was a nice evening altogether if not exactly theatre that made me think or left a lasting impression. And it could always get better after previews anyway..

[Alexandra]

Oh yes, it would, what a pity.

[seanaydon]

Could I just say before anyone else damns it with faint praise (or worse) that Le Misanthrope is a fabulous play and that, for example, Tony Harrison's is a brilliantly witty version.  Martin Crimp's however is not - or at least the first few pages, which I read when deciding whether to see it when it was last produced, lead me to suspect it isn't.  It really doesn't need all that swearing.  It is a shame that this is on in that the Old Vic had, according to rumour, asked Harrison to update his version with a view to putting it on there, which is possibly less likely now that there has been a major West End production of it.  Alceste and Célimène are wonderful roles, the former would be ideal for Spacy himself, or Alex Jennings.

Unfounded opinions based on a play you haven't read - nice one

Having seen the play a few weeks ago (my drama school put it on) I thought it was a truly excellent piece. I soon found I stopped noticing the rhyme and found it not only added to the comedy but swept the play along at a great pace and the audience with it. I also found both Moliere's original plot and Crimp's adaptations amazingly relevant and in the last few weeks have been reminded of it nearly every time I look in a paper. I even occasionally find myself feeling like Alceste...