5,582 posts
|
Post by lynette on Apr 6, 2018 17:30:43 GMT
With the production of Pressure and Photograph 51 at the Noel Coward a few years ago along with Quiz, it got me thinking about what other real life events would it be nice to see on stage or a stage adaption of films based on real life situations. A few spring to mind The last few days of Maggie T at No 10 The Cuban MIssile Crisis The discovery of the AIDS virus - could use the film And The Band Played On as the source material Brilliant ideas.
|
|
167 posts
|
Post by paplazaroo on Apr 6, 2018 17:47:24 GMT
With the production of Pressure and Photograph 51 at the Noel Coward a few years ago along with Quiz, it got me thinking about what other real life events would it be nice to see on stage or a stage adaption of films based on real life situations. A few spring to mind The last few days of Maggie T at No 10 The Cuban MIssile Crisis The discovery of the AIDS virus - could use the film And The Band Played On as the source material Brilliant ideas. Ask and ye shall receive - 13 days - the Cuban Misile crisis musical
|
|
3,072 posts
|
Post by david on Apr 6, 2018 18:21:40 GMT
Ask and ye shall receive - 13 days - the Cuban Misile crisis musical Thanks!
|
|
5,582 posts
|
Post by lynette on Apr 7, 2018 22:08:06 GMT
Sorry to have missed you David..and Polly..but the Board was well represented this evening by Neil and me. I really enjoyed this play and would recommend trying to see it before it goes to the West End where it might lose its intimacy. What a clever bloke David Haig is to recognise this moment's dramatic potential and to give it its full worth. Not to mention a juicy part for himself. Everyone v good and a simple set which works so well. I’ve read that some think it goes on ten minutes too long but I don’t think so, the calm ending is required to balance the frantic moments and to enable the reveal of character and to foresee the future for these characters. Some rather good mini monolgues and excellent funny bits.
When people have obviously worked hard to create this piece and bring it to life in an unassuming way but with such belief and talent it makes me even more annoyed to see how wasteful the NT is with its resources and the talent available to it. Rufus (Macbeth) I’m looking at you!
|
|
3,072 posts
|
Post by david on Apr 7, 2018 22:19:59 GMT
Sorry to have missed you David..and Polly..but the Board was well represented this evening by Neil and me. I really enjoyed this play and would recommend trying to see it before it goes to the West End where it might lose its intimacy. What a clever bloke David Haig is to recognise this moment's dramatic potential and to give it its full worth. Not to mention a juicy part for himself. Everyone v good and a simple set which works so well. I’ve read that some think it goes on ten minutes too long but I don’t think so, the calm ending is required to balance the frantic moments and to enable the reveal of character and to foresee the future for these characters. Some rather good mini monolgues and excellent funny bits. When people have obviously worked hard to create this piece and bring it to life in an unassuming way but with such belief and talent it makes me even more annoyed to see how wasteful the NT is with its resources and the talent available to it. Rufus (Macbeth) I’m looking at you! It does make you wonder if there are/have been little gems like this play that have been passed around producers but not picked up because maybe they haven’t been seen as being attractive enough to stage. Surely this would have been great at the NT’s Dorfmann?
|
|
1,846 posts
|
Post by NeilVHughes on Apr 7, 2018 22:34:30 GMT
Initially what appears to be a 2D meteorological centric view on the impact of the weather on the D Day landings becomes a 3D tour de force on the intense burden on the decisions that have to be made made in war. David Haig inhabits James Stagg completely, his integrity and convictions shine through along with the impossible pressure to make the right forecast despite the opposite view of his trusted adversary, the impact of cancellation on the war and the distraction of his home life. The true heart of the play for me was the intense strain that Eisenhower brilliantly played by Malcolm Sinclair is under to make ‘the decision’, the moments after the decision is made and the whisky filled discussion is captivating, the description of the meeting with his beloved Airborne Division a true eulogy to the ones we send to war. Well deserves its transfer to the West End, my advice is see it in the intimacy of the Park where you are able to inhabit and feel the tension in the room. It was good to catch up with lynette who was equally appreciative when we caught up afterwards.
|
|
382 posts
|
Post by stevemar on Apr 13, 2018 10:20:38 GMT
Thumbs up for this play also. As a fan of the weather (and isobars, not geeky at all!), this was a refreshing subject matter and not at all dry . Fascinating in fact, in combining the clash of personalities and views and calming down (not meteorologically) in the second half with good focus on Stagg, Eisenhower and Kay, with the overall picture as to the sacrifices of the war and the personal (Stagg's forthcoming baby, and Kay's tenderness). Personally, I thought there were some longeurs in the second half, so I would go with the comment it is 10 minutes too long, but that was not a major issue. The opposing view of course would be you get to know the characters more during the long night they spend together, and what makes them tick in such extraordinary circumstances. Very good performances from these three - have only seen David Haig "do" comedy, and the Scottish accent helped a lot in ensuring I didn't feel I was just watching David Haig. Yes, I know he was acting, but I think I have found him quite OTT in the past. Malcolm Sinclair and Laura Rogers excellent. Bert Hughes as Andrew lovely. This is a very traditional play in some ways, but simply staged, well acted, OK it's not challenging, but the story is very well told.
|
|
1,330 posts
|
Post by CG on the loose on Apr 14, 2018 12:49:45 GMT
Thanks to those up thread who advised trying to catch this at the Park before it transfers... turns out I'm in town on the only day there was a ticket left! Must be fate. Now sold out.
|
|
343 posts
|
Post by Jonnyboy on Apr 19, 2018 22:34:58 GMT
Saw tonight. Brilliant and for £20 a bargain! How David Haig does this twice a day on matinée days I have no idea.
Cast uniformly good. Real tension and emotion even if we know the outcome. Quite remarkable and well deserving of its transfer.
|
|
397 posts
|
Post by maggiem on Jul 2, 2018 15:40:20 GMT
I'm going in about 2 weeks' time. I decided I could squeeze in an extra play on Thursday afternoon 19/07. Anyone else seeing it the WE?
|
|
397 posts
|
Post by maggiem on Jul 24, 2018 13:44:33 GMT
Initially what appears to be a 2D meteorological centric view on the impact of the weather on the D Day landings becomes a 3D tour de force on the intense burden on the decisions that have to be made made in war. David Haig inhabits James Stagg completely, his integrity and convictions shine through along with the impossible pressure to make the right forecast despite the opposite view of his trusted adversary, the impact of cancellation on the war and the distraction of his home life. The true heart of the play for me was the intense strain that Eisenhower brilliantly played by Malcolm Sinclair is under to make ‘the decision’, the moments after the decision is made and the whisky filled discussion is captivating, the description of the meeting with his beloved Airborne Division a true eulogy to the ones we send to war. Well deserves its transfer to the West End, my advice is see it in the intimacy of the Park where you are able to inhabit and feel the tension in the room. It was good to catch up with lynette who was equally appreciative when we caught up afterwards. I saw this last week. It's a wonderful production of a hidden gem of a story that was well worth telling. Moments of note:- Stagg's skullduggery in leaving Krick out of the meeting and then telling Ike they both agree; his near collapse with Kay Summersby having to calm him down; Kay and Ike's scene with the orange; the whole rugby/american football discussion (I was expecting "The Ins and Outs of Cricket" next!), etc... There are no out and out villains in this play, just a set of flawed, but ultimately principled people in a situation that nobody should ever have to be in. You can understand that their anger and not always civil behaviour came from the passionate desire to do right by all of the young men being sent into the biggest battle they would ever fight. David Haig's play is about the journey, not the destination. It is well-researched, everything is clearly explained without coming across as overt info-dumping (the changing charts are brilliant, and I could follow the science with no problem), and above all, beautifully human. All of this overcomes the fact that you know how it all ended in reality. I could go on, but suffice it to say that this play touched my heart. I'm going back on 11th August to be moved all over again.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2018 7:31:44 GMT
I'm going in about 2 weeks' time. I decided I could squeeze in an extra play on Thursday afternoon 19/07. Anyone else seeing it the WE? Theresa May(be, maybe not) seemed to enjoy it recently. Whether the cast were thrilled to see her is another matter.
|
|
2,389 posts
|
Post by peggs on Aug 15, 2018 15:22:07 GMT
I'm not persuaded that Churchill would have ever fitted into that boiler suit but apart from that this was rather nice, I found I was more engaged by the second half and I wasn't sure about some of the accents but I do like a play where I feel I'm learning something even if I really have no more idea about weather predictions today than I did yesterday it was nice to kid myself that next time a forecaster mentioned an area of low pressure I'd go 'ahh now I know what may now happen'. Good script, some lovely acting and perhaps my favourite of all lots of merlin engine sound effects, i'm the sort of person who runs outside when they hear a spitfire coming so the soundscape was great and I do like a nice thunderstorm. Small character moments that seemed earnt by the time we'd spent getting to know the characters and a sort of bittersweet ending. Tick from me.
|
|
Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
|
Post by Xanderl on Aug 19, 2018 8:34:30 GMT
I thought this was OK but very old-fashioned and clunky - lots of scenes with people standing in a line facing the audience, motionless waiting for someone to finish their line so they could say theirs. Reminded me of the kind of thing I used to see in rep theatre in the 70s. And did the cast have to be entirely white? Presumably all the real-life characters were white but that's no excuse. Plus the way the events were presented bore little resemblace to what actually happened (see for instance www.lrb.co.uk/v16/n10/lawrence-hogben/diary, written by someone who was present). For a start there were six forecasters, one of whom was Norwegian (the inclusion of this would have made the evening feel a little less brexity). Lawrence Hogben who wrote the above article was born in New Zealand, was at Oxford University when war broke out and joined the Royal Navy. After the war... Also it would have been nice if the women had anything to do other than come in with cups of tea and do typing (although the scene with the carbon paper was very impressive). Again this probably reflects the time, but since the play was historically bollocks, make something up. If I've not managed to put you off ... I sat in row P which is I think the front row of lower price stalls tickets. There is a 50% off TodayTix offer so this was £15. View is OK from P as long as you don't have a tall person in front of you - the people in the two rows behind me had more of an issue.
|
|