Lynette

Not a splutter out of place. Great performance from all of them. Amazing how something written in 1958 comes up so fresh. I suppose because it is 'out' of normal everyday living. Anyway, worth the outrageous price I paid.

The Forbidden Planet - brilliant. Bring it back.

Is Letts a theatre critic? I thought he was a gossip columnist.

Marvellous. Damp [ a downpour at one point] and chilly tonight but the first time I've been really moved by this play. They play it for laughs where possible, broad but not crude comedy and well, Roger Allam, what can one say? It seems that with his Falstaff and now this , he has found his stage. Gone all that usual pompous aloofness, but he was a man with a daughter, serious issues with his family and special powers...which he gives up! Jessie Buckley as Miranda a very modern lass. Good support all round. Joshua James's Ferdinand less of a wimp than usual. The theme of good governance came through strongly I think, both of one's own character and then of a state.

Theatre development: new staircase which is good as I was always a bit worried about falling down the old curvy one, a cafe space on ground floor, usual baked goods, still hoarding round the new theatre and obviously a way into from the Globe spaces that is boarded up still. The Swan cafe very buzzy, pricey but quite nice food. So many places to eat round there; Globe snacks expensive too. But then they don't get a subsidy.

I think I know from whence you cometh wickedgrin. One or two semi pro bloggers have crept onto the board lately. They clearly have an agenda, to develop a site , get ads etc: they have a different tone. But it is hard to moderate this stuff. Some of the members do have blogs but only link when relevant. Actually I like to read the blog if it about a show I've seen. And I don't mind reading about Sharon's theatre trip! Isn't that what the board is for?  But Sharon feels that some of her friends won't read WOS so she blogs and then for us, the discerning fellow punters she identifies with, she links for us here.
When someone links for everything to a professional site or in one case links someone else's blog on the same site, then mods will prob delete or at least comment.

I'm posting this here because I don't know what it is, a full blown leg kicking glossy musical or one of those hard gritty pieces with faux jazz music. So as it is at The Almeida and is its showpiece production over Xmas by the' new' guy Rupert, I thought fellow Almeida goers might enlighten me.

You know me. Do I book for this?

Welcome EmiCardiff to the Board. Keep posting.

Seeing this soon, the comments here whetting my appetite. From my experience, Othello does have a history of giggling in the wrong places. It is so highly emotional and , let us say, sexy. But it is meant to be funny in places. Iago uses us, the onlookers just as a stand up comedian does these days. . We know! This is the genius of Shakespeare. We are complicit and stay silent. Can't wait.
ps will try not to drool over the leads, both of whom I love.

Quentin Letts reads this thread: mentions the Trafalgar studios drunken lady debacle in Daily Mail. Go Quentin, thanks for the acknowledgement but get your own stories.

Lots of fun. I think they will excavate the rest of this Lonsdale's work though he sounds to have been a bit of prat personally from the proggie note. Sort of sub Noel Coward.
Nice performances. Pity they couldn't afford really swish clothes for the gals who were supposed to be rolling in it. The coat had holes in it. But for a small space it was well presented and very well directed. A few ciggie fumblings. People who really smoked used to light up in a flash.

Thinking: seen really nice stuff at small venues recently: St James, The Print Room and now this at Jermyn St. Entertaining and heartfelt. Long time since I came out of the Olivier/Lyttleton thinking I had enjoyed myself. And it isn't the money.

Was sitting next to Charles Spencer of The Telegraph this evening who took notes diligently throughout. Nice guy, didn't mind being spoken to!

I vaguely remember the old movie of this story but had never seen the play. It is an interesting one if you don't mind a lot of talky talky and some staginess which I don't. One set which frankly was a bit of a disappointment as it is supposed to be the Edwardian home of a retired bank person and there wasn't a bit of either Edwardian stain glass or arts and craft stuff anywhere to be seen. I kept thinking of what they would have done at the Donmar or the Lyttleton [ which I hate but am prepared to admit they do good sets at] They tried to vary things with the lighting and a few sound effects.

The play has a contemporary resonance as it is about doing the 'right ' thing against the conventions, prejudices and priorities of the time. It is about family loyalty, integrity and above all about the law! The central character of the lawyer who takes the case of the boy is dynamic and powerful. Nicely played by Peter Sullivan. I felt that the heart and soul of the play was in the character of the older sister, played by Naomi Frederick, impressive as ever, who is a suffragette, the most intelligent of the three children, bursting with integrity and so on... as if Rattigan has set out to write a play about the boy's case but found his sister more interesting.

Henry Goodman whom I had expected to shine slightly disappointed me. I thought he should have been colder and more truly the scary 'Victorian' style father at the beginning. There should be some ambiguity about why he pursues the case. But he played it as a loving father from the off. 'Spose it worked ok.

I notice in the proggie it says the play was first on in 1946 so comparison possible with Priestly's An Inspector Calls which of course had a such a radical renewal of life with the 'no such thing as society' production. This is also about what we should hold as important to our society and to humanity but though based on a real life story has less theatrical punch. Nice end to Act One though, a real show stopper.

Don't start me off on the cafe space. Ok I will start. Here is a space, maybe one of the most desirable in Europe if not the world, next to a river, with nice views, more tourists than you can desire in your wildest dreams, guaranteed punters who are stuck there pre theatre ( and ) post and what do you put there? A pokey cafe with very limited food and hardly enough seating for an OAPs' outing on a wet Wednesday. What a missed opportunity. They could triple the cafe, serve fab food ( there are loads of Midland caterers with great grub) and have entertainment and theatre related decor and events. OMG what they could do. I predict that just as every other venue has done in living memory, they will be altering the space for ever trying to make more money which, if they had thought about it, they could have printed.

I missed this last year , am told they have made improvements. But some of you may have already seen this.
A very enjoyable evening, a whole evening with stuff going on front of house from about 6.30 and then the interval a rockin charleston with loads of people on the stage and then you can carry on the party after the show. ( Unlike other venues where you get chucked out asap, National please note) So brilliant for an outing, a date or taking grandma. I reckon about a good third or more of the audience dressed for the occasion, DJs, twenties suits, lovely dresses, lots of head bands and feathers.

The main parts good and they do the singing chorus too, with clever use of round black spectacles to denote the difference. Plenty of good support. Special mention to the mobster otherwise known as  Laughingmonsta.

The show gives us the tension between the very upbeat, optimistic pop songs of the day and the tragic plot. No attempt at huge depth here about the American psyche or state of nation but the story is still powerful.

If you still haven't been to Wilton's then do go. They are not far off the target for all over refurbishment, having done a lot of the infrastructure already. It is a unique venue. This show would be a good introduction to the place.

I hate it when coughs come from all sides in quiet bits. But I've had this cough ( a virus or similar to Matthew, cold legacy) for ages and continued to go the theatre cept when I felt truly ill. I take as many precautions - stop laughing - as I can. Before the show, I take decongestants. I always have water, ready opened in small plastic bottle to hand. I have either peppermints or cough sweets, unwrapped so no crinkly noise or usually both and a hankie to stuff in my mouth. For niggly cough you can perfect a breathing technique which I use. Diff to explain but it involves stomach muscles. This can stave off a cough.

Then if all this fails I cough.

"Most people who go to the theatre are sort of beyond salvation - a lot of them are annoying middle-class wankers who don't want to work.” from Guardian's interview with author.

I see what you mean HG