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Post by showgirl on Oct 15, 2017 13:57:23 GMT
Approximate running time, those who've seen it, please? I do know this could change but a rough idea would help - thank you.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Oct 15, 2017 14:01:43 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes
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Post by showgirl on Oct 15, 2017 15:31:54 GMT
Thank you, theatrefan77; helpful as though not ideal, I had to book an evening performance in Kingston as that was the only time I could fit in the Northern Broadsides touring production of For Love Or Money.
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Post by Jan on Oct 15, 2017 16:51:26 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 17:05:32 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. No, it was supposed to start at 7.45 but it was delayed.
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Post by rumbledoll on Oct 15, 2017 18:48:42 GMT
Wow, has it already started? Or was it some sort of non-ticketed pre-preview? Lucky you, guys! And great to hear that show is entertaining
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 18:58:30 GMT
Approximate running time, those who've seen it, please? I do know this could change but a rough idea would help - thank you. The programme says 2 hours 20 minutes with a 20 minute interval. The show started late and there was a bit of chit-chat from Nicky H beforehand which made it longer. There were a couple of scene changes that seemed to take a bit longer than they should so I imagine that once it starts running properly, they'll tighten up and it'll probably sit at around the 2:20 time. Also for those who were wondering about the directions to the theatre, the route I took was fairly straightforward. Come out of London Bridge at the Tooley Street exit and turn right. Keep walking in a straight line along Tooley Street until you get to LaLit Hotel. Turn left just before the hotel and keep walking straight on, you'll walk past some buildings in your right with a small 'park' to your left. You'll come to a path that winds to your left and you'll see City Hall in front of you and Tower Bridge to your right. The theatre is right in the middle of the two landmarks. Big red sign outside. I'm sure I've made that sound rather complicated but it really isn't.
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Oct 15, 2017 19:37:37 GMT
Started about 20:05 and we were out at 22:35. Interval 20 minutes Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. From years ago, I remember seeing Michael Green doing one of his ‘The Art of Coarse Acting’ shows. If I recall correctly, one of the sections was on how to upstage the performer during ‘Friends, Romans etc.’, his first tip was to repeat every word loudly, another being to wander across the stage apron at opportune moments. I think it’s in the book, can anyone confirm my hazy memory?
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Post by Jan on Oct 16, 2017 8:38:39 GMT
Oh no, is it 20:00 start at that place ? I really hate that - it is defeatist of them too, acknowledging it is a hard place to get to. Years ago the Almeida always used to be 20:00 also. I'm not seeing this one but I will be appearing in Julius Caesar later in the season playing Various Citizens. From years ago, I remember seeing Michael Green doing one of his ‘The Art of Coarse Acting’ shows. If I recall correctly, one of the sections was on how to upstage the performer during ‘Friends, Romans etc.’, his first tip was to repeat every word loudly, another being to wander across the stage apron at opportune moments. I think it’s in the book, can anyone confirm my hazy memory? McKellen said that one reason he didn't like having the audience on stage with him in the NT Coriolanus (participating in the crowd scenes - I perfected my Various Citizens in that) was that friends visiting him in the dressing room after the show would invariably open with "That dress !" and similar.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 9:46:15 GMT
Wow, has it already started? Or was it some sort of non-ticketed pre-preview? Lucky you, guys! And great to hear that show is entertaining I do believe they opened two pre-previews up to members. One on Saturday and one tomorrow (I'm very excited to be going) The whole house was £5 or £7.50.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 17, 2017 14:19:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2017 9:31:54 GMT
Thoroughly enjoyed this last night. Kinnear & Chris on top form and the supporting cast are equally brilliant. Loved the set, though agree it's a play of two halves. It lost me a bit in Act 2, but enjoyable none the less. It's not One Man, Two Gunners which I think I was expecting given he creative team and artwork.
The Bridge is gorgeous. A 10 minute walk from London Bridge and a variety of restaurants surrounding it, it's a really enjoyable evening out. The stage is huge, Olivier-like in size, while the auditorium reminded me a lot of the Dorfman. Comfortable seats and thankfully legroom where I was sat in the stalls. Will be interesting to see how they reconfigure it. Plentiful gents toilets and surprised by the fact that they are gender-neutral. Got a little bit of shock when a woman emerged from the lavatory that I was queueing outside.
Not a particular bold and brave choice of play to open the theatre with, but it's a great venue and I hope will be a welcome addition to London Theatre.
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Post by andrew on Oct 18, 2017 15:06:00 GMT
I'm not sure what I think about the Bridge Theatre. It's location is lovely, if somewhat out of the way. Something about traipsing to the both too-flashy and kind-of-grotty London Bridge and then walking along to a spot which was until now the preserve of local politicians and American tourists unsettled me somehow. I didn't have enough time to go to a sit down restaurant so I had to have a Pret (No Maccas, BK, KFC within a mile radius, and they call this London?!?!).
The foyer is to die for, appropriately large, lots of doors in, long (and exceptionally busy) bar. Someone's forgotten to take the wrappers off the lightbulbs though, I'm sure they'll get around to it. I love the bar taps dispensing water into plastic cups both on the ground level and the below ground stalls level - including one for sparkling water which caught me off guard. The toilets are very Young Vic in their "men over here, but gosh if you're not exclusively a man you can also come over here, or indeed you could choose to go over there, it's all the same isn't it, we're not judging, but also we don't want to upset anyone by having unisex toilets, just come in and pee for god sake" signage. I didn't try the cakes, I was full, everyone else had a plate of them though.
The auditorium is the Dorfman. I can sort of half see what people are saying about it being Olivier-esque, but it's not an amphitheatre really, it's the Dorfman with a slightly bigger stage and with the sidemost seats pointing helpfully in the right direction. There's nothing wrong with that, it's flexible, it's intimate, it's a proven formula, but I did a double take when I walked in at how Hytnarr (see what I did?) have just copied their lovely plans from the Cottesloe conversion and had another bash at it. How lovely it'll be to have Nick Hytner programming part of the NT again. The seats are quite comfy, we had excellent legroom in the stalls, and sightlines seem pretty preserved from all areas. It turns out, new theatre smell is like the new car smell. I had no phone reception in the auditorium, which is probably a feature rather than a bug.
My biggest gripe was the queue to exit the silly place. Both at the interval and at the end of the show, from row C we were standing around 7 and 10 minutes respectively to get out. There's only two stalls exits, one on either side, and it took ages to get out. People were muttering dramatically, but perhaps not without basis, about what it would be like in a fire. It's too late to fix this unfortunately, so bring a crossword if you're not in a gallery.
The show itself was fine, not my favourite, quite liked the set, particularly the chimneys, especially liked the children. It was a second preview etc etc.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2017 19:40:42 GMT
I'm embarrassed to ask this, but can someone tell me what a madeleine is? I tried to google but it didn't help (and I got some highly disturbing conspiracy theories about Madeleine McCann...)
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Oct 18, 2017 19:42:25 GMT
I'm embarrassed to ask this, but can someone tell me what a madeleine is? I tried to google but it didn't help (and I got some highly disturbing conspiracy theories about Madeleine McCann...) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_(cake)Small sponge cakes (feeling hungry now)....
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Post by foxa on Oct 18, 2017 19:50:57 GMT
And Madeleines are associated with Proust: www.finedininglovers.com/stories/proust-madeleine/I knew a French professor who was trying to describe to an American friend what a Madeleine was. The American friend said, 'Ah, ya mean like a Bear Claw?' (A large, slightly gross, overly sweet American style pastry) which positively enraged the professor. For a long time.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2017 20:18:31 GMT
Thanks! I'm not really getting why they're so special but I'm willing to use the excuse to experiment.
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Post by mallardo on Oct 19, 2017 6:57:05 GMT
In Proust's multi-volume novel they were something his beloved grandmother served up at tea time when he was a boy. The lemony scent and taste of them, years later, brings back the past to him in a profound way. It's not an exaggeration to say that the entire enormous cycle of books - the 20th century's greatest work of fiction - is generated by those madeleine cakes.
With that in mind, though, they seem disappointing to the taste now. Proust got a lot from very little.
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Post by crabtree on Oct 19, 2017 7:37:20 GMT
I feel our replies as to what a madeleine cake is should be at least several pages long and refer back to our earlier lives and loves lost.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2017 14:51:41 GMT
Thanks! I'm not really getting why they're so special but I'm willing to use the excuse to experiment. Because it's cake. And it's cake. It's cake! Seriously the Bridge Theatre ones were rather lovely when I had them. And warm too. They're quite small, two bites and they're gone. You could only eat, say, half a dozen at once.
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Post by lynette on Oct 19, 2017 15:48:27 GMT
Def start a trend. Macaroons?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2017 15:56:29 GMT
Def start a trend. Macaroons?
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Post by partytentdown on Oct 19, 2017 19:01:18 GMT
Saw this the other night from one of the side seats in the Stalls - bit packed in but at least the stools face the right way. View cut off these chimneys you speak of though.
Theatre is gorgeous and smells lovely, giant queue to collect tickets but I imagine this is because it was a last-minute preview show so everybody in the house was collecting. Couldn't get near the bars to sample the famous madeleines sadly.
Toilets are capacious. Took a long time to get in as the ushers were scanning every individual ticket instead of just quickly glancing, which took about 10 secs per person.
Quite enjoyed the wartime spirit of everyone asking everyone else if they were using the right door, on the right row etc.
Play was entertaining but not life-changing... some funny moments and an interesting story.
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Post by paddy72 on Oct 19, 2017 22:41:20 GMT
The smell of the warm Madeleine's that greets you at interval time is indeed the highlight of the entire evening upstaging what should have been a great play in a new (rather cheap looking) theatre. Disappointing all round but I am sure that with such a lovely front of House team things will get in to their stride. If this venture is going to stand a chance of surviving in frontier land SE1 I'd urge the two Nicks to pop round the corner to Southwark Playhouse and see how thrilling theatre really can be.
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Post by lynette on Oct 20, 2017 11:51:14 GMT
Is the baking smell of the madeleines to disguise the drains, being so near the river?
Wartime spirit? 😂😂
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Post by TallPaul on Oct 20, 2017 12:38:19 GMT
Thanks! I'm not really getting why they're so special but I'm willing to use the excuse to experiment. Because it's cake. And it's cake. It's cake! Seriously the Bridge Theatre ones were rather lovely when I had them. And warm too. They're quite small, two bites and they're gone. You could only eat, say, half a dozen at once. I don't know where you found that photo, Ryan, but those madeleines are most definitely burnt. As my old mum would say, "Get them eaten, they'll make your hair curl."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2017 13:46:24 GMT
I don't know where you found that photo, Ryan, but those madeleines are most definitely burnt. As my old mum would say, "Get them eaten, they'll make your hair curl." The Bridge Theatre website! You need to start writing to Nicky H right now. To be fair, the ones I had last week weren't burnt at all. They were delicious.
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Post by TallPaul on Oct 20, 2017 13:56:55 GMT
I shall, but to Nick Starr. Surely madeleines don't cross the AD's desk. If there's one thing I can do well, it's write a good letter of complaint!
(I've just been looking at a different photo on Time Out, and they were burnt on that one too.)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2017 14:18:00 GMT
Or perhaps that's what they want you to think. Lord knows I've eaten a madeleine or two in my time, and none that brown.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 20, 2017 14:52:56 GMT
Those don't look like cake to me- weeny, fiddly and not worth the bother. Proper cake comes by the (generous) slice - says she, currently consuming one of the chocolate variety as it was all there was.
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