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Post by Jon on Jun 2, 2022 11:36:52 GMT
For anyone who has seen it, do you think it could work in a more traditional theatre? The show's going to Bath next week so we'll likely find out how it looks like if it does transfer to the West End.
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3,478 posts
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Post by showgirl on Jun 2, 2022 13:54:53 GMT
I saw the matinee yesterday though unlike Steve, I've given up trying to do 2 shows in one day at CFT so am going 8 or 9 times this year, next trip to see The Unfriend. I can see that MOTOE has been done very well (apart from one wavering accent) and that Henry Goodman, always worth seeing in anything, makes a good Poirot, but it still seems an odd choice of production for the time of year and on what eventually turned out to be quite a fine day. It's set in the dead of winter, all dark and gloomy; the train gets marooned in a snowdrift and there's lots of sombre, portentous music. So maybe that was why I wasn't really in the mood for this and felt I could have taken it or left it.
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154 posts
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Post by cherokee on Jun 2, 2022 16:16:04 GMT
I found this very ordinary. Goodman does a good job as Poirot, but other than him, the cast is full of weak links. Mary Debenham & Colonel Arbuthnot are particularly appalling, although Mrs Hubbard and the Princess are not much better. Greta is about the only suspect who makes any kind of impression. All of which is a real hostage to fortune when you have the likes of Lauren Bacall, Wendy Hiller & Sean Connery in your mind...
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252 posts
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Post by gmoneyoutlaw on Jun 3, 2022 14:38:44 GMT
I saw this script in New Jersey's McCarther Theatre many years ago and enjoyed it immensely. Looks from images I've seen that it's an entirely different physical production/setting. This may be why some think it ordinary when I found it to be very unique. That production went on to Hartford Connecticut but never came into Broadway. Is there a play to have it on the West End in the fall so there will be three Christie shows on for the 70th anniversary of The Mousetrap?
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1,179 posts
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Post by joem on Jun 3, 2022 22:49:00 GMT
Harmless guff but must admit I ended up slightly disappointed. The premise was promising and Henry Goodman was a tolerable Poirot, although it felt at time like aping David Suchet rather than working out the character from the novels.
The staging was pretty good and largely solved the problem of how to bring a play set on a moving train through snowy mountains onto the stage without too much dumb-show and painted backdrops.
However... the director oscillated between playing it for laughs and as a serious murder mystery and ended up I think getting it wrong. The audience may expect "little grey cells" and jokes about moustaches when Poirot is around but then they're going to laugh, and once they start laughing the chance of building dramatic tension and suspense is going to recede into the distance. Further, if Poirot starts corpsing to the audience with a newspaper then you're into breaking fourth wall territory - not just to bookend the play but within the action as well. Not good.
Also have to say that the supporting performances were mostly stereotyped and lack-lustre with the honourable exception of Patrick Robinson as the rail company manager turned into Poirot sidekick for the story.
This could still make it to the West End with some tighter and more focused direction - the effects and look of the production certainly merit it - but it still needs some work.
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5,288 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 4, 2022 12:57:44 GMT
I saw this last night and enjoyed it very much,
I don’t have an issue with the amount of humour in it- am surprised people are objecting so much. How dull it would be with no laughs.
Henry Goodman- excellent. In fact the best Poirot I’ve ever seen. Incredibly loving and fully committed to the role and accent.
Sara Stewart and Joanna Van Kampen the best of the supporting performances, but lord above Mary Debenham is absolutely shocking. If this transfers into London she needs to go.
Wonderful lighting, movement, music and scenic design. A very tricky piece to put on that stage but they have done an admiral job.
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3,086 posts
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Post by Rory on Jul 20, 2022 14:41:20 GMT
Any word on a transfer for this?
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966 posts
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Post by alicechallice on Jul 20, 2022 15:36:55 GMT
Any word on a transfer for this? I'd be surprised if it did, it didn't sell well in either Chichester or Bath.
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5,288 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 21, 2022 21:23:39 GMT
Any word on a transfer for this? I'd be surprised if it did, it didn't sell well in either Chichester or Bath. Yes agree. Would be quite the gamble if they decided to transfer.
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3,086 posts
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Post by Rory on Jul 21, 2022 22:08:20 GMT
I'd be surprised if it did, it didn't sell well in either Chichester or Bath. Yes agree. Would be quite the gamble if they decided to transfer. I just thought if Arturo Ui transferred with Henry Goodman, then this popular title could too! The ones from CFT I'm waiting for are The Unfriend and hopefully, Crazy for You.
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5,288 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 21, 2022 22:17:57 GMT
Yes agree. Would be quite the gamble if they decided to transfer. I just thought if Arturo Ui transferred with Henry Goodman, then this popular title could too! The ones from CFT I'm waiting for are The Unfriend and hopefully, Crazy for You. You are definitely in luck with The Unfriend , and very likely with Crazy!
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3,086 posts
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Post by Rory on Jul 21, 2022 22:21:32 GMT
I just thought if Arturo Ui transferred with Henry Goodman, then this popular title could too! The ones from CFT I'm waiting for are The Unfriend and hopefully, Crazy for You. You are definitely in luck with The Unfriend , and very likely with Crazy! Yes, my bet is the Unfriend ends up in the Criterion.
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5,288 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 21, 2022 22:31:59 GMT
You are definitely in luck with The Unfriend , and very likely with Crazy! Yes, my bet is the Unfriend ends up in the Criterion. Nailed it
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3,086 posts
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Post by Rory on Jul 21, 2022 22:42:00 GMT
Yes, my bet is the Unfriend ends up in the Criterion. Nailed it Got there in the end lol!
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Post by Wilf on Feb 19, 2024 11:57:05 GMT
This is touring towards the end of the year and early next year, it’s at The Alex 28 Jan to 1 Feb 2025, it will be interesting to see who’s cast as Poirot
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966 posts
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Post by alicechallice on Feb 19, 2024 12:34:57 GMT
This is touring towards the end of the year and early next year, it’s at The Alex 28 Jan to 1 Feb 2025, it will be interesting to see who’s cast as Poirot It's using the same adaptation but it's a different production - Lucy Bailey directing, as she has just done the 'And Then There Were None' tour. Jonathan Church directed the Henry Goodman CFT/TRB one. Does that mean we should have a new thread?
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