Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
|
Post by Xanderl on Oct 1, 2018 10:17:29 GMT
Has anyone ever exchanged tickets through Nimax? I’ve booked for True West but ideally would like to exchange for the following week. I’ve seen online that the exact same seats are available on the new date so there’d be no price difference, but my confirmation email says ‘tickets cannot be exhanged or refunded’. I've exchanged tickets booked through Nimax for the Branagh season a few years ago - booked online but did the swap in person at the theatre box office. They were very helpful, even to the extent of swapping two cheap tickets for one more expensive one rather than doing a direct exchange.
|
|
53 posts
|
Post by harrie on Oct 1, 2018 12:36:09 GMT
Thanks both! I’ll give them a ring later today
|
|
1,848 posts
|
Post by NeilVHughes on Nov 12, 2018 17:40:15 GMT
Excellent taster for this today at the Royal Court Sam Shepard gala, Kit and Johnny showed enough to make me happy I booked.
A great afternoon, all the actors were exceptional and made the material come to life from nothing. As always in the Royal Court most hung around in the bar afterwards, us Courtiers only making slight eye contact of acknowledgement, whilst never lowering ourselves to disturb their conversations.
Obviously, in a few years (months) time the stories of the afternoon shared with Indira Varma, Miranda Richardson, Kate Fleetwood Stephen Rea, Toby Jones, Kit Harrington et all will be legendary.
|
|
1,465 posts
|
Post by foxa on Nov 12, 2018 19:32:17 GMT
I was there too NeilVHughes, but didn't go to bar afterwards. It was a wonderful afternoon. Agree, great taster for True West and I loved Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Rea, Joe Penhall and, especially O-lan Jones and their reminiscences. A great afternoon.
|
|
1,115 posts
|
Post by Stephen on Nov 14, 2018 2:57:42 GMT
I have to admit when I served Kit Harrington at the bar afterwards I went a bit weak at the knees. Was so glad that all of the people listed above are genuinely friendly and lovely people!
|
|
401 posts
|
Post by maggiem on Nov 14, 2018 12:42:02 GMT
Excellent taster for this today at the Royal Court Sam Shepard gala, Kit and Johnny showed enough to make me happy I booked. Glad to hear this, as I'm going for the first performance on 23rd. November.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 14:05:22 GMT
I have to admit when I served Kit Harrington at the bar afterwards I went a bit weak at the knees. I do hope he was undecided as to what he wanted to drink and you were able to say "you know nothing Kit-off!".
|
|
158 posts
|
Post by broadwaylover99 on Nov 27, 2018 14:12:22 GMT
Has anyone seen this yet? What were your thoughts?
|
|
1,214 posts
|
Post by Steve on Nov 28, 2018 14:35:03 GMT
Has anyone seen this yet? What were your thoughts? Loved it. Don't expect too much of the plot, and hopefully you'll love the characters, actors, humour and themes as much as I did. Harington and Flynn are great together, amusingly bouncing off each other, evolving their characters in tandem, with a loveable lived-in chemistry that climaxes wonderfully. A must-see of the season, for me. Some spoilers follow. . . I love this play, but I do warn that Sam Shepard doesn't tend to tie off his plots with a ribbon, because quite a few in the audience didn't seem to realise it was over when it was over, with only a directorial flourish cuing them that it had ended. I think that's the point, as Shepard didn't really like endings, only new beginnings, I recall him saying. So, like life, the show is about the ride, and in this play, it's also about the chemistry of the actors, the evolution of their characters, and Shepard's exploration of authenticity, the "True" part of the title. There is a very meta element to this play, as Kit Harington plays a screenwriter, and Johnny Flynn is a wannabe screenwriter, and their discussions about writing, about character and place, apply as much to themselves, as characters in a play, as to life itself. The question of who or what is ever "authentic" elevates the play from being merely about sibling rivalry, into an existential search for whether there is any there there in anyone or anything. To digress, at the Sam Shepard Celebration at the Royal Court two weeks ago, it dawned on me just how much this quest for authenticity preoccupied Shepard. My favourite sketch of that afternoon was Shepard's short piece, "Gary Cooper or the Landscape," in which Miranda Richardson's Swedish woman, who loves Westerns for their primitive authenticity, was challenged by Toby Jones (standing in for Shepard himself) which she preferred, Gary Cooper or the Landscape? Of course, both the "vulnerable" persona of Gary Cooper and the Western movie backdrops are fictitious to a degree, so the whole back and forth between Jones and Richardson about which is more authentic was highly comedic. Kenneth Cranham reminisced how Shepard looked for the essence of character in song, giving himself and Bob Hoskins and Stephen Rea a defining song each in "Geography of a Horse Dreamer" at the Royal Court. Cranham spoke with wonder at the ease with which Hoskins assumed the role of an American gangster, while he himself futzed around with giant eyebrows, looking fir his character, only to be accused by Hoskins of looking more like Dracula. Much less funny was Shepard's first wife, O-Lan Jones detailing how Shepard's quest for his essential artistic self led him to drop her suddenly, without warning, like a ton of bricks. She sang the song "I miss the Mississippi and you" in Shepard's memory, which seemed to put both Gary Cooper and the Landscape on equal footing, both indefinable, both precious. In "True West," Shepard's quest for authenticity in both people and places continues. Both Harington and Flynn capture the fluidity of Shepard's characters, their essential inessentialness. Disproving his naysayers, Harington discards Jon Snow's stoicism, and embraces the role of a wound-up neurotic, hiding frustration and fear behind glasses and a moustache. Flynn comes on in denim and boots, a cowboy version of the dick in "Hangmen," which for my money is his most essential performance, hilariously uncontained and needling. And from there, both characters interact beautifully, a marvellously entertaining double act, in which each pushes the others' buttons, evolving as they do. These are essential, memorable and funny performances. This is in early previews, and will only get better as the actors become even more comfortable with the most physical parts of their performances. But even as it is right now, I think Shepard would love this. It is dramatic, funny, and searches desperately for the essence of people and places. 4 and a half stars.
|
|
1,465 posts
|
Post by foxa on Nov 28, 2018 17:01:16 GMT
Glad to hear your liked it - I was thinking of getting tickets for this for my son when he's in London for Christmas - he's a Shephard fan.
While I know it makes me sound like Old Mother Time, I saw the John Malkovich/Gary Sinese/Steppenwoolf version off-Broadway (when I was very young.) It was exciting. You can get a little taste of that production (without the excitement of the two actors riffing off a NYC audience feeling like they'd discovered them) in this televised version:
|
|
1,189 posts
|
Post by theatrelover123 on Nov 28, 2018 17:29:59 GMT
Glad to hear your liked it - I was thinking of getting tickets for this for my son when he's in London for Christmas - he's a Shephard fan. While I know it makes me sound like Old Mother Time, I saw the John Malkovich/Gary Sinese/Steppenwoolf version off-Broadway (when I was very young.) It was exciting. You can get a little taste of that production (without the excitement of the two actors riffing off a NYC audience feeling like they'd discovered them) in this televised version: All 10 parts here:
|
|
2,349 posts
|
Post by zahidf on Nov 28, 2018 22:43:46 GMT
What's the running time for this please?
|
|
371 posts
|
Post by popcultureboy on Nov 28, 2018 23:28:55 GMT
What's the running time for this please? Nimax website says 2 hours, including interval.
|
|
2,349 posts
|
Post by zahidf on Nov 28, 2018 23:54:06 GMT
What's the running time for this please? Nimax website says 2 hours, including interval. Thanks
|
|
|
Post by jojo on Nov 29, 2018 20:01:49 GMT
I've been hearing good things about this and the relationship between the leads. I have especially enjoyed seeing photos from the set in its full 1979 colour pallet. Top marks to the person who dressed the set, but I am going to have to check next time I go to my parents' house to see if anything has gone missing.
|
|
543 posts
|
Post by andrew on Nov 29, 2018 21:38:31 GMT
Any reports on dayseats?
|
|
401 posts
|
Post by maggiem on Nov 30, 2018 9:42:12 GMT
Has anyone seen this yet? What were your thoughts? Loved it. Don't expect too much of the plot, and hopefully you'll love the characters, actors, humour and themes as much as I did. Harington and Flynn are great together, amusingly bouncing off each other, evolving their characters in tandem, with a loveable lived-in chemistry that climaxes wonderfully. A must-see of the season, for me. Some spoilers follow. . . I love this play, but I do warn that Sam Shepard doesn't tend to tie off his plots with a ribbon, because quite a few in the audience didn't seem to realise it was over when it was over, with only a directorial flourish cuing them that it had ended. I think that's the point, as Shepard didn't really like endings, only new beginnings, I recall him saying. So, like life, the show is about the ride, and in this play, it's also about the chemistry of the actors, the evolution of their characters, and Shepard's exploration of authenticity, the "True" part of the title. There is a very meta element to this play, as Kit Harington plays a screenwriter, and Johnny Flynn is a wannabe screenwriter, and their discussions about writing, about character and place, apply as much to themselves, as characters in a play, as to life itself. The question of who or what is ever "authentic" elevates the play from being merely about sibling rivalry, into an existential search for whether there is any there there in anyone or anything. To digress, at the Sam Shepard Celebration at the Royal Court two weeks ago, it dawned on me just how much this quest for authenticity preoccupied Shepard. My favourite sketch of that afternoon was Shepard's short piece, "Gary Cooper or the Landscape," in which Miranda Richardson's Swedish woman, who loves Westerns for their primitive authenticity, was challenged by Toby Jones (standing in for Shepard himself) which she preferred, Gary Cooper or the Landscape? Of course, both the "vulnerable" persona of Gary Cooper and the Western movie backdrops are fictitious to a degree, so the whole back and forth between Jones and Richardson about which is more authentic was highly comedic. Kenneth Cranham reminisced how Shepard looked for the essence of character in song, giving himself and Bob Hoskins and Stephen Rea a defining song each in "Geography of a Horse Dreamer" at the Royal Court. Cranham spoke with wonder at the ease with which Hoskins assumed the role of an American gangster, while he himself futzed around with giant eyebrows, looking fir his character, only to be accused by Hoskins of looking more like Dracula. Much less funny was Shepard's first wife, O-Lan Jones detailing how Shepard's quest for his essential artistic self led him to drop her suddenly, without warning, like a ton of bricks. She sang the song "I miss the Mississippi and you" in Shepard's memory, which seemed to put both Gary Cooper and the Landscape on equal footing, both indefinable, both precious. In "True West," Shepard's quest for authenticity in both people and places continues. Both Harington and Flynn capture the fluidity of Shepard's characters, their essential inessentialness. Disproving his naysayers, Harington discards Jon Snow's stoicism, and embraces the role of a wound-up neurotic, hiding frustration and fear behind glasses and a moustache. Flynn comes on in denim and boots, a cowboy version of the dick in "Hangmen," which for my money is his most essential performance, hilariously uncontained and needling. And from there, both characters interact beautifully, a marvellously entertaining double act, in which each pushes the others' buttons, evolving as they do. These are essential, memorable and funny performances. This is in early previews, and will only get better as the actors become even more comfortable with the most physical parts of their performances. But even as it is right now, I think Shepard would love this. It is dramatic, funny, and searches desperately for the essence of people and places. 4 and a half stars. I don't think I could add anything else to this assessment. I loved the double act between Kit and Johnny. One thing though... I had a look at the play text before I went to see it, and the stage set instructions say "NOTE ON SET AND COSTUME: The set should be constructed realistically with no attempt to distort its dimensions, shapes, objects, or colors." The house set was somewhat skew-whiff, and I thought the desert background reveal was a bit gimmicky. Maybe that's just me, though.
|
|
|
Post by jaqs on Nov 30, 2018 22:16:51 GMT
Probably avoid the front row if you’re a celiac.
I quite enjoyed it but it was also super weird.
|
|
|
Post by jaqs on Dec 1, 2018 22:37:27 GMT
I was on the end of row A, which is the third row, tonnes of leg room as no one in front but restricted view of the set due to the funny alignment, would think all high numbered stalls seats to be similarly restricted. Didn't miss any action though as that was almost all up front.
Having had a day to think about it, my view hasn't changed much. I did like the thick carpet and always enjoy actors cooking real food on stage.
|
|
543 posts
|
Post by andrew on Dec 1, 2018 23:31:59 GMT
They have them, and todaytix. No reports. Saw it this afternoon. Can't say much, but the stage is very low. Front row is excellent and loads of legroom, but don't go for the row behind if short, as you may not see with a tall person in front. I won the TodayTix lottery for the evening performance and I got a terrible Dress Circle seat (it didn't mention the seat until I paid and even then it only said H18 so I assumed it was at the stalls) so if day seats are front row I would be willing to go back eventually.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2018 1:48:13 GMT
Based on Instagram photos, does Kit appear onstage pre-show like he did in Doctor Faustus? Just interesting that both of his more recent West End runs, he begins on stage before the play. Is that just a coincidence thing or is that maybe a thing to do with producers making an active choice to remove crazy fans going nuts once the play starts, so it's better for him to be on prior so the crazies can have their moment?
|
|
543 posts
|
Post by andrew on Dec 2, 2018 1:53:58 GMT
Based on Instagram photos, does Kit appear onstage pre-show like he did in Doctor Faustus? Just interesting that both of his more recent West End runs, he begins on stage before the play. Is that just a coincidence thing or is that maybe a thing to do with producers making an active choice to remove crazy fans going nuts once the play starts, so it's better for him to be on prior so the crazies can have their moment? He does. I think the reason is mainly Instagram marketing though.
|
|
|
Post by jojo on Dec 2, 2018 10:04:04 GMT
According to an interview in Time Out, the Faustus thing was all planned to let the crazies get it out of their system before the show proper starts, but there's no denying the convenient bonus of extra Instagram coverage, especially from those who wouldn't dream of taking photos during a show or bother with the stage door. You always see people taking photos of an empty stage, or even the curtain, so if the show allows this and your star actor doesn't mind starting work a few minutes early, why not? www.timeout.com/london/theatre/kit-harrington-i-f***ing-hate-snootiness-in-the-theatreI won't say which show or which star (who did an excellent job), but my friend, who is a regular theatre goer, let out an involuntary yelp of excitement when she spotted her favourite as he first appeared on stage, which led to me letting out an involuntary laugh. Thankfully, it was a musical and the music was loud, so I don't think we disturbed anyone, but I also noticed a sudden increase in the use of the binoculars for the next five minutes or so. There is sometimes a discernible frisson in the audience when the star name appears, and sometimes that's OK, but it's bad if it pulls you out of a dramatic moment. I welcome directors finding ways to manage those moments. The added benefit is that it encourages fans to take their seats early, so a better chance of starting on time.
|
|
2,206 posts
|
Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 2, 2018 10:41:06 GMT
Yesterdays matinee also. Wouldn't go as lavish as Steve in my praise but a solid three stars. Thought Johnny Flynn was excellent, a good role for him
|
|
81 posts
|
Post by addictedtotheatre on Dec 2, 2018 13:23:02 GMT
I did have tickets for this, but gave them to a friend after losing all respect for Johnny Flynn after having watched him in this multiple times waiting for my film to start
|
|
2 posts
|
Post by willonthebill on Dec 3, 2018 13:35:17 GMT
Anyone have a specific running time - Act 1 and Act 2?
|
|
401 posts
|
Post by maggiem on Dec 3, 2018 16:45:21 GMT
I did have tickets for this, but gave them to a friend after losing all respect for Johnny Flynn after having watched him in this multiple times waiting for my film to start So... you don't "do it all again", then?
|
|
2,536 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by n1david on Dec 5, 2018 9:01:35 GMT
|
|
578 posts
|
Post by michalnowicki on Dec 5, 2018 9:07:21 GMT
I know nothing about this play, but I do wonder how 1* for this, compares to 4* for Magic Mike.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2018 9:12:41 GMT
I'm very much wondering where the critics are coming from. The 1* review in particular sounds like the reviewer has a keen idea of how Shepard plays should work and that this production doesn't fit that mould, though I don't know if that means she's "right" just because she's coming from a strongly pro-Shepard background.
|
|