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Post by Jon on Sept 8, 2016 22:31:22 GMT
Has anyone seen this play? I've not seen any of Terry Johnson's work apart from Mrs Henderson Presents so curious to know what it's like, it's got a good cast with Katherine Parkinson, Ralf Little, Rufus Jones, Steve Pemberton and Emily Berrington.
Funny that the League of Gentlemen are all doing plays at the same time with Reese Shearsmith in The Dresser, Mark Gatiss in The Boys in the Band and now Steve Pemberton in Dead Funny
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Post by gazzaw13 on Sept 9, 2016 7:32:07 GMT
I saw the original production 20 years ago. I remember (but have spent 20 years trying to forget) David Haig's full frontal, a brilliant Niall Buggy and lots of Frankie Howard and Benny Hill. It's a kind of Alan Ayckbourn/Ray Cooney mash-up - funny but not quite as funny as you think it will be.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2016 8:43:46 GMT
Well I'm booking for this. Katherine Parkinson is one of my "book anything" actors. I don't think I've ever seen her be anything less than utterly glorious.
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834 posts
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Post by bordeaux on Sept 9, 2016 9:18:00 GMT
Has anyone seen this play? I've not seen any of Terry Johnson's work apart from Mrs Henderson Presents so curious to know what it's like, it's got a good cast with Katherine Parkinson, Ralf Little, Rufus Jones, Steve Pemberton and Emily Berrington. Funny that the League of Gentlemen are all doing plays at the same time with Reese Shearsmith in The Dresser, Mark Gatiss in The Boys in the Band and now Steve Pemberton in Dead Funny It's one of the funniest things I've seen in 30 years of theatre-going. The original production at the Hampstead Theatre with David Haig and Zoë Wannamaker was bliss.
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Post by Polly1 on Sept 9, 2016 10:29:50 GMT
Yes, not seeing the original production is one of my big regrets so delighted to have the chance to see the play at long last. Off to book!
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Post by theatreliker on Sept 9, 2016 11:15:38 GMT
Have read the play, it's a dark comedy I suppose. Would've also liked to have seen the original production.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 9, 2016 13:59:08 GMT
I don't want to spoiler it for anyone, but when Zoe Wanamaker delivered her killer line she focused her gaze on me!
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Post by profquatermass on Sept 9, 2016 17:11:15 GMT
It's terrific though I'm not sure how well it would work if you're not really well up on 1960s and 70s comedy. There's a killer joke about Carry on Doctor that might not make sense to the internet generation.
BTW it's not the first time all the League of Gentlemen have been on the town - happened with Seasons Greetings, Betty Blue Eyes and Putnam County Spelling Bee
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Post by duncan on Sept 9, 2016 17:43:07 GMT
...but unless Jeremy Dyson is around as well then its not all of the League of Gentlemen.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2016 19:39:11 GMT
I do agree that the cast for this is very good
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Post by crabtree on Sept 10, 2016 9:13:48 GMT
Yes, a tremendous play, and brave for the main actor. There did seem to many themes going on. It reminded me of a less highbrow version of Travesties but with sex, or rather no sex.
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Post by showgirl on Sept 10, 2016 16:18:56 GMT
I did see the original production but can't at this remove recall any particular impression. However, I think that in general I don't find Terry Johnson's work as funny as he and others do. Perhaps because it's more farce than comedy and whilst I like the latter, the former leaves me cold.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 10, 2016 16:46:49 GMT
Dead Funny is comedy, and not farce at all.
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3,458 posts
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Post by showgirl on Sept 11, 2016 4:13:04 GMT
Dead Funny is comedy, and not farce at all. I think to qualify as comedy it would have to be funny. Just my own, personal, humble opinion, as usual, and not presented as an incontrovertible fact.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Sept 11, 2016 10:43:51 GMT
It's one of the funniest things I've seen in 30 years of theatre-going. The original production at the Hampstead Theatre with David Haig and Zoë Wannamaker was bliss. I agree.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2016 21:37:20 GMT
www.lastminute.com/theatre/Offer on lastminute.com for front row seats at 10 pounds. Lots of dates available - I've booked for early December!
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Post by djdan14 on Sept 22, 2016 17:55:38 GMT
Was pondering this for my January trip, but couldn't pass up that offer! Even if I change my mind nearer the time.
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Post by wiggymess on Sept 23, 2016 9:17:02 GMT
Can't resist that cast for £10
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Post by Baemax on Sept 23, 2016 9:59:31 GMT
Oh wow! Thanks! I wasn't sure about the play, but the cast are great, and that's an unbeatable price!
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Post by Marwood on Sept 23, 2016 10:39:44 GMT
Also just booked - first week in December, was thinking of paying £37 through Nimax's site so thanks for revealing that deal.
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 23, 2016 13:52:10 GMT
Booked for the first night through lastminute for £10 front row. Bargain! Row AY 10 and 11 - just checked with theatremonkey.com and seat 11 doesn't seem to exist on the front row of the plan for the Vaudeville Theatre - I might be sat on the floor!!!
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Post by Polly1 on Sept 24, 2016 0:10:04 GMT
Unless they are adding a seat 11, which has never happened before... Checking back over years, there has only ever been 10 on that row, though there may be space. That's interesting - when I was trying to get the system to give me a more central seat (instead of AY1 which it kept offering me), I requested 8 tickets and it offered AY9 to AY16 - most of which don't seem to exist!
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Post by wickedgrin on Sept 24, 2016 9:52:03 GMT
Well it will be dead funny if there are no actual seats!
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Post by David J on Nov 5, 2016 15:45:53 GMT
Good so far
Not laugh a minute but it was picking up by the interval
There are a few minutes of Rufus Jones naked (keep thinking he sounds like a young Roger Allam)
Despite her characters lack of humour, Katherine Jenkins is getting the big laughs from her snarky comments
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Post by bingomatic on Nov 6, 2016 9:51:30 GMT
Any idea what the view from the cheap seats - those in the lastminute £10 offer, right at the front of the stalls - would be like ? Any projection on the stage or have they kept it quite low ?
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Post by lou105 on Nov 6, 2016 10:42:16 GMT
Despite her characters lack of humour, Katherine Jenkins is getting the big laughs from her snarky comments Now that would be interesting to see..
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3,458 posts
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Post by showgirl on Nov 6, 2016 15:35:48 GMT
Any idea what the view from the cheap seats - those in the lastminute £10 offer, right at the front of the stalls - would be like ? Any projection on the stage or have they kept it quite low ? Theatremonkey rates them, which is more than good enough for me. (Now the play itself might be another matter...!)
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Post by lynette on Nov 7, 2016 10:38:19 GMT
I sat row C but this isn't third row, they have two rows in front of A. You might have to look up a bit but if it is cheap, go for it.. Puzzling play, in that I wonder why reprise it now. I suppose they felt that How the Other Half Loves is going well, similar era though here we do have a mobile phone which actually does nothing in the plot and could have been used if slight alterations had been allowed. The underlying idea of wanting a child is outdated ( I'm not spoiling, all v obvious) as nowadays you can become pregnant as a single woman if you want to. But the Idea of needing love is timeless I suppose. Behind me sat a chap about my age explaining who all the comedians were who were being referenced in the text. His younger companion, son maybe, didn't know about them at all. I guess most of the audience did know something but heaven help tourists. It is well acted, in fact brilliantly by a couple of them, the leading lady and Brian ( sorry, no programme and have forgotten names...shoot me) The set and the direction ok though somewhat unimaginative and v false looking bookshelves and no concept of real space with doors into kitchen area and from hall imagined awkwardly. The slapstick done ok but one of the daftest and funniest and possibly metaphoric moment done too far back of stage. Left with odd feeling that this is one step away from an Ayckbourn and two steps from an Osborne but worth seeing.
some food, no dogs and yes, nudity of the male variety.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2016 11:52:17 GMT
Despite her characters lack of humour, Katherine Jenkins is getting the big laughs from her snarky comments I think you mean Katherine Parkinson. And quite right that she's getting the laughs, she's one of our very best actresses in my opinion. She'll be the new Dame Maggie Smith in the years to come, mark my words.
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Post by mallardo on Nov 24, 2016 11:31:10 GMT
I found this to be a surprisingly and rewardingly serious piece, despite the pretty much non-stop belly laughs. Although, as Lynette noted above, it borders on territory mined to death by Alan Ayckbourn - marriages and friendships coming apart in a night of suddenly revealed and shattering truths - Terry Johnson's play is much better than that. It has a unique premise that allows for all kinds of humour, from droll sit-com to out and out slapstick, yet it never loses its way dramatically. The desperation of its characters is fully acknowledged and realized.
The five person cast is terrific. The three men - Rufus Jones, Steve Pemberton and Ralf Little - are called upon to do extended impressions of Benny Hill, Frankie Howard, Morecombe and Wise (especially well done) and even Sid James as they recreate some classic routines - and they do it wonderfully. Jones also has one of the riskier nude scenes I've seen on a stage and he deals with it like a pro.
The women are even better. Emily Berrington, last seen by me jumping naked into an onstage swimming pool at the Almeida, turns out to be a first class comedienne who nails all of her many laughs, and Katherine Parkinson is, well, sublime. It is her character that is the pivot of the plot, her anguish that underpins the show, and she's quite magnificent. Lots of laughs, lots of tears. A great actress.
Lynette also raised the point about just who the intended audience for this might be. Yes, it's about a group of staunch fans mourning the passing of Benny Hill on an evening in 1992, in the course of which many other comics of the era are brought up and mimicked. So is it just for Brits of a certain age? What will the tourists make of it? Personally I think the play is strong enough to transcend that but, also, let's remember that Benny Hill became a worldwide phenomenon for a while and, as for the others, well, speaking as an American raised in Canada, I knew (or knew of) all of them except Max Miller. Who he?
Judging from the response in the theatre yesterday this production is going to do just fine.
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