|
|
Post by jobrodie on Jul 2, 2016 7:47:26 GMT -5
Public tickets are now on sale for performances from 22 September until 19 November. Press night (4 October) is sold out. The play is in preview performances from 22 Sep to 3 October and the first non-preview night is 5 Oct.  The full cast is below. Written by Tom Stoppard, directed by Patrick Marber.  Tom Stoppard wrote the screenplay for Tulip Fever (in which Tom Hollander plays Dr Sorgh, and that's coming out in the US on 15 July) and they've worked together before... " Some of that largeness of soul goes into [Stoppard's] role as president of the London Library. That’s how he and I [the interviewer] came to meet some years ago. It is clear that this Piccadilly institution, founded in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle, is a place dear to his heart. He presides with warmth over its annual Christmas party, persuading the likes of Vanessa Redgrave and Tom Hollander to read seasonal verses to the assembled guests." Source. Knowing nothing about theatre I asked someone who does to explain what all the 'preview' business is about. Once a play has been rehearsed and ready to perform there are still things that might need to be ironed out and it's helpful to have an audience there. This lets you get a better sense of timing (eg if an audience does or doesn't laugh at a particular bit you might have to adjust that) and generally see how things work, with people in the room who aren't necessarily as invested in the production as those directly involved. So things might go a bit wrong or take longer on preview nights, as things get tweaked, and hopefully after a few preview performances everything's ironed out and it's all marvellous. Press night is pretty fun (I've been to one, for Made in Dagenham, awesome) and things are generally pretty polished by then and reviewers will be there to comment on it and award it five stars etc  Jo |
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Jul 2, 2016 7:48:56 GMT -5
I slightly dislike the emoticon / smiley faces on this system as it makes everything look more sarcastic than intended haha. That was meant to be a big beaming approving grin at the end of my post, and not someone doubled up in helpless laughter.
|
|
|
|
Post by OpheliaProserpina on Jul 4, 2016 16:28:08 GMT -5
Thank you for posting it here! Otherwise it would have passed my attention that you can now buy tickets! I'll go on one of the preview nights because it is a Saturday and my birthday and I thought 'Naaw, why not?'  Maybe if some of you decide to go there you could tell the others when you go? Maybe another person is going on exactly the same date so there is time for real life chat? ♥ |
|
lintu
Dragon
mikä ei tapa, vain pitkittää tuskaa
Posts: 70 
|
Post by lintu on Jul 6, 2016 22:03:09 GMT -5
I wish I could go to this but do not live in UK  I have some friends in UK I will tell them to go . Please post pics and reviews of show . I will go see Tulip Fever though |
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Aug 21, 2016 15:01:58 GMT -5
Well this appears to be entirely sold out now! However if you've not managed to get a ticket don't be too discouraged, particularly if you're based in London. I think it's worth contacting the box office on the day or even an hour or two before a performance to see if there are any returns (when people are unable to use their tickets and make them available to others) - and people in a group might have a last-minute spare ticket on the night if a friend's unable to join them. I don't know if ticket touts do much trade in theatre tickets, but watch out as they can be overpriced and the venue may have strict rules about ticket resales. Often people use Twitter to advertise spare tickets so keep an eye open / search running for obvious keywords like 'tickets', 'Travesties', 'Menier', 'spare'! There are third party services like Twickets which broker ticket exchanges between people where tickets are sold at face value. There are all sorts of 'cut-price ticket deals' available and even little ticket booths around London - I have to say I know nothing about them and have always thought them a bit dodgy but possibly that's another route for getting tickets. I'd be surprised if one of the newspapers or online news sources didn't have a competition to 'win two tickets for...' at some point, if I come across anything I'll post it here. Also by strange coincidence my friend actually works occasionally at the Menier box office so I'll ask her if she knows of anything. Jo
|
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Sept 21, 2016 18:20:40 GMT -5
Break a leg Tom! Travesties opens in previews tomorrow, I'm there on Friday and again in November. For anyone not familiar with the phrase 'break a leg' Wikipedia has a helpful more-than-you-wanted-to-know-about-theatrical-superstitions guide here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_a_leg. It's sold out I think but see my earlier post in this thread about some strategies for getting tickets to apparently sold-out things if you're after one. Jo |
|
|
|
Post by Ale Smallbone on Sept 21, 2016 21:24:01 GMT -5
How exciting! Keep us updated
|
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Sept 23, 2016 5:20:04 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Sept 25, 2016 17:12:38 GMT -5
Well the play is quite amazing. Also fairly bonkers (singing and dancing from all members of the cast, very funny). I am not very familiar with Tom Stoppard's work, other than his (co-written with Marc Norman) screenplay for Shakespeare in Love which has always struck me as a very clever thing. In that the writers use phrases and ideas found in Shakespeare's writings and present them as part of the film's story (see Shakespeare in Love: References to Elizabethan literature). I got a similar sense with Travesties where there are plays within plays, reordered poems (the Tristan Tzara character cuts up poems into a hat, recreating them by pulling bits of paper from the hat) and very amusing word-play. I laughed a lot. I'm sure I'll have missed a lot of allusions though as I'm quite ignorant of the lives of the people mentioned in the play. Tom was fantastic (everyone was fantastic!). It was pleasantly strange seeing him on stage and recognising his face but not quite recognising his voice or mannerisms. Not sure I can really describe it (other than Corky from The Night Manager being a completely different person from Adam Smallbone in Rev.) but it reminded me of the first time I met the identical twin sister of my best friend at university. I was talking to someone who, of course, looked exactly like her sister but she was clearly a different person and it was a slightly odd experience. What a strange thing acting is :) The theatre is gorgeous (never been before) and cosy. You have to clamber through the restaurant and up and down stairs to get to the theatre space. Someone spotted me looking very puzzled wondering where the entrance was and they explained it all to me. Loved the stage design too, I could quite happily live in the on-stage room which doubles as a living room and library. It's all dark painted panelling and nice lighting. You're not allowed to take photos and I didn't want to risk being ejected! Outside at the end of the play someone took a photo of them and their friend meeting Tom, I'm actually in the photo on the opposite side waiting at the bus stop. An unintentional photobomb! I'd have been standing on the same side of the road had I not realised I was at the wrong bus stop (I have no sense of direction). Why yes I have been showing this to all my friends this weekend haha. Jo |
|
lintu
Dragon
mikä ei tapa, vain pitkittää tuskaa
Posts: 70
|
Post by lintu on Sept 30, 2016 13:28:00 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Oct 2, 2016 18:41:11 GMT -5
Haha thanks Lintu - I started laughing when I looked at these cos I remembered bits of the play. It's been nice reading all the lovely tweets about it. I've also written a blog post about How to get tickets for something that might be sold out. It's not specifically related to Travesties but might be useful to anyone looking to get tickets for sold out things. |
|
|
|
Post by jobrodie on Oct 4, 2016 18:31:24 GMT -5
Woohoo, 5 stars from the excellent and discerning Dominic Cavendish writing for The Telegraph :-D  |
|
lintu
Dragon
mikä ei tapa, vain pitkittää tuskaa
Posts: 70
|
Post by lintu on Oct 4, 2016 21:53:12 GMT -5
|
|
lintu
Dragon
mikä ei tapa, vain pitkittää tuskaa
Posts: 70
|
Post by lintu on Oct 5, 2016 12:14:10 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Ale Smallbone on Oct 9, 2016 18:35:54 GMT -5
How wonderful all these reviews  5 stars
|
|
Maybe if some of you decide to go there you could tell the others when you go? Maybe another person is going on exactly the same date so there is time for real life chat?
How are you doing? Still rockin' around the crazy world?