Viewing 38 posts - 1 through 38 (of 38 total)
  • The theatre…
  • loddrik
    Free Member

    I’ll be there first to admit that I’m a philistine. I don’t understand the appeal of going to see a play at the theatre. I like movies at the cinema. But the idea of sitting through a play fills me with dread. What’s the appeal?

    eltonerino
    Full Member

    It’s about the only live event where the performers pretend you don’t exist.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    are you for real? you’re asking why do people go to the Theatre!?

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    Stoatsbrother
    Free Member

    Actually I get this. A bit.

    I have seen a lot of theatre over the years, and still like comedy theatre stuff, and even opera (off there on saturday) but now find the few bits of “straight” non-musical theatre I go to each year, ever more and more a poor way, visually and artistically, of communicating compared to high quality film and TV. So I go to a lot of more serious stand-up (long form shows rather than comedy club sets).

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    Give it a go, it’s so different to TV and movies. In TV and movies there is rarely a scene longer than three minutes, a shot longer than a minute. It means the actors are doing a quite different skill, being convincingly in character for upwards of an hour, developing the story. It’s hard work for them, and very involving, especially if you’re sitting close. Amazing to see how physically demanding dance numbers are, or how shouty and nasty it gets in something violent like Macbeth. In some ways seeing an energetic show is more akin to watching sport than watching a film. Must be plenty to choose from to go and see in Liverpool too. Go.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    [video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j9GCHxJ3FWM[/video]

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    I’ll be there first to admit that I’m a philistine. I don’t understand the appeal of going to see a play at the theatre. I like movies at the cinema. But the idea of sitting through a play fills me with dread. What’s the appeal?

    I was the exact same and a trip down to London where the wife had forced me into going to the theatre. In my head I’d made it out to be another dreadful school play but with bigger names in it. I came out of the theatre having had a great time. We have since been to the theatre at least annually and some times 3 or 4 times in a year.
    I’m not sure what the appeal is. It could be that they manage to pack so much onto just a stage creating many different detailed scenes and taking you from laughter to sadness at their whim. Every performance is live, right there in front of you. Quite a few big name actors favour the stage to film and you can see why, no retakes or waiting to get into the mood yet delivering great performances. Everyone behind the scenes as well as one stage bringing that one performance, seamlessly live right before your eyes.
    My only gripe is the prices when buying the tickets but it always worth it afterwards.

    SaxonRider
    Full Member

    I can’t imagine life without the theatre!

    The immediacy of the experience… the use of space and light… the rawness of any emotion…

    It really can be a sublime experience.

    zippykona
    Full Member

    After being dragged along to see Hairspray with Phil Jupitus I told mrs zip ..NEVER AGAIN.
    She could see my point, it was dire.
    It’s expensive, the seats are uncomfortable and you can’t fast forward to the end to see what happened.
    The 39 steps done by 4 people was good though.

    sweepy
    Free Member

    I have been to the theatre, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it and all that, but it wasn’t for me. It was worse than the pictures and I don’t like that.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    I find it really creepy. Unlike other stage performances like comedy it’s just weird that people are up on stage pretending that you’re not there. It’s all a lie- they’re lying, they know that you know that you’re lying but they carry on lying anyway.

    I’m sure it’s all very admirable but I just can’t get past the discomfort.

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    OP
    A well delivered play on stage is mesmerizing .
    The skills and hard work that go in to a good production make it look effortless, it never ,ever is. Even if the subject matter is maybe not what you would choose ,take a moment to watch how people move on stage , how all the set changes work, how they position themselves without blocking each other ,or the amazing lengths of dialogue used. It makes film acting look like kids play. Then there’s Shakespeare at places like the Globe or outdoors, where the audience are part of the set and you realize just how different it is to the stuff they tortured you with at school.

    eviljoe
    Free Member

    I work in theatre.

    A good 80% of it I don’t like.

    At it’s best it’s like being in the same space as people going through life changing events.

    At it’s worst it’s sitting in a room filled with sycophants and being charged through the nose for the privilege

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    Are we disparaging all events at the theatre or just plays?
    What about Panto?
    We have a small theatre in Stoke that’s in the round, it’s great. You can sit on the front row and the actors are just in front of you. I love musical theatre too. People singing well with live music, what’s not to like?!

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    What about Panto?

    It’s behind you

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    *looks behind*

    No it isn’t.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    Sorry, my mistake

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    I hate panto, yet love a musical* – Perhaps because it generally involves a nice meal, wine, a beer or two and a bit of how’s your father in a nice hotel afterwards.

    *With the exception of Wicked – dreadful stuff.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    In my head I’d made it out to be another dreadful school play but with bigger names in it.

    how different it is to the stuff they tortured you with at school.

    Then you need to go and see a school play sometime soon. They are not like the plays you might remember from your childhood. We went to see Harrogate Grammar School’s version of Les Mis at Harrogate Theatre last year and it was stunning – a proper production with actors from Year 10 > . I was almost moved to tears (quite literally) at seeing the skills and dedication shown by them all.

    As for the OP comment, I have seen lots of proper productions over the years too (initially dragged along by my wife but I soon realised how amazing they can be). I have seen opera, ballet (Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lane was mesmerising), pantos, plays, comedies, musicals and pretty much everything I have seen has been amazing. Apart from Cats. Cats was shocking. Utterly rubbish.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    I used to think the same about Dance. Then I went along with friends to see Dracula at Wilton’s Music Hall. Utterly amazing – genuinely the best live entertainment I’ve ever seen.

    Rachel (almost civilised)

    [video]https://vimeo.com/129079675[/video]

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Pure theatre I can live with, big stage shows I detest.
    For the simple reasoning that the pure intimate plays are invariably about the storyline and character test the stage shows about bling and lights with a large slice of vapid commercialism.

    Opera, yes indeed I love. I’m a member of the ROA and have had many a jolly evening eating and watching in fabulous surroundings.. take that same opera out into the wilds and i’m less inclined to go.. For me its all about the Drama, the Music and the intimate surroundings. Outdoor Opera has its place, the old Glyndourne setup once was a fabulous evening out, but these days its full of campers and pig pen gated enclosures for the ‘Ya boo Sucks” types who didn’t really come to see the performance more get pissed and be outed for being a pratt.. some of their performances are more hilarious that those on stage.

    Dance theatre is my thing though. Saddlers is epic, a true pioneer of all things Dance and Theatre and a heady mix of the two. We go there a lot, seen a variety in more sense than one.. it never ceases to entertain..
    The Pet Shop Boys undertook an Epic in its truest sense The Most Incredible Thing, if you are bored one evening watch it on Youtube of follow the link.. best Dance Theatre Ive ever seen..
    The Most Incredible Thing – Pet Shop Boys

    NigE5
    Free Member

    I work in the Theatre, in fact we have had a hand in the some of the stuff that bikebouy has seen (Most Incredible Thing) for one.
    I only really see a production that we are involved in.
    I find Opera really enjoyable, Porgy & Bess With Wilard White was just amazing made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and that was just a dress rehearsal.
    If you can go and see a play that’s so involving and immersed in the story that you forget that you forget where you are then its hit the mark.
    But there are some right stinkers out there, been involved with them as well.

    doris5000
    Full Member

    it’s just weird that people are up on stage pretending

    that’s kind of the point

    johndoh
    Free Member

    it’s just weird that people are up on stage pretending

    As opposed to being in front of a camera pretending in order to make a movie?

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    jekkyl – Member
    *looks behind*

    No it isn’t.

    Oh yes it is

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    Oh yes it is

    Look – I made a mistake. Just drop it.

    False alarm everyone. Theres nothing behind him

    we have had a hand in the some of the stuff that bikebouy has seen

    You’re puppeteers?

    seosamh77
    Free Member

    The theatre is great when you get a good show, can be a bit grim when it’s not mind. Read plenty of reviews before you go to something.

    But aye, find a good show and you’ll love it I reckon.

    cbike
    Free Member

    All genres of theatre have good and bad presentations. I’m afraid I have a Scottish bias here but I suggest you seek out stuff by Vox Motus for high quality cutting edge. Look for trailers of Dragon. No text is spoken through the whole show but it’s amazing. English touring Theatre do high production value popular classics. Slava Snow show is also touring at the moment if you want to get kids enthused. Scottish pantomime is also much higher quality writing than in England. Tron Theatre at Christmas and The Oran mor summer/winter pantos hilarious and satirical. Other notable companies that do stuff that excites rather than bore or you can even take part in are Frantic assembly, vanishing point, citizens Theatre glasgow.
    Utter Theatre did a great show at ed fest called “standby” which was a police comedy/drama. All the audience got police earpieces which helped tell parts of the story. Clever and involving and very cool.

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    I’m not a great theatre goer but have enjoyed what I’ve been to (very selectively), similarly opera. There is an immediacy which you don’t get from film/TV/recordings.

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    One thing in life that becoming a parent has put paid to is going to the theatre*. And I miss it.

    I grew up near Stratford and saw many plays at the RSC. I’ve seen amazing things in the West End and at the Globe. And I always loved the intimacy of the Royal Exchange in Manchester.

    Go to the Everyman. It’s rightly a superb place to watch a play.

    It’s about the only live event where the performers pretend you don’t exist.

    Wrong. They both play the part and know exactly what the engagement is with the audience. That’s the point of it.

    *inlaws do loads of wrap around care, so no babysitting at the weekend & daughter now v busy with dancing and drama.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    It’s about the only live event where the performers pretend you don’t exist.

    [quote]
    Wrong. They both play the part and know exactly what the engagement is with the audience. That’s the point of it.[/quote]

    Its not a judgemental thing – for me its almost a phobic response. Actors acting, in the room with you, really unsettles me. I thought it was the room (theatres) or having an audience around me that I found uncomfortable but I’m happy watching all sorts of other live performances (even though they’re often an ‘act’ too), just not drama.

    eviljoe
    Free Member

    maccruiskeen- you’re not the only one, it is a common response. A lot of people can’t get used to the idea of a ‘Fourth wall’ between performer and audience, it seems unnatural.
    The last 10 years I have mainly been involved in shows outside of theatre spaces, which acknowledge the audience and to a degree put them in the play. We get totally different kinds of people coming to these shows than ‘black box’ spaces or traditional venues.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    and to a degree put them in the play.

    Runs away screaming!@@@!@@W@!!

    Evil by name Evil by nature

    eviljoe
    Free Member

    Runs away screaming!@@@!@@W@!!

    😈 😈

    ‘to a degree’ is the most important bit here, and’them’ as a collective group, not as individuals dragged out of the audience to be the butt of a joke (I HATE that) A lot of ‘theatre’ or ‘performance’ companies are realising that they have to capitalise on live performances unique qualities to make it different from going to a film/watching a video at home- that unique quality is a shared place and time with other people.

    [shamelessplug] Come and see a show next week and see what I mean [/shamelessplug]

    sadmadalan
    Full Member

    I’ve been to c**p films at the cinema and piss poor theatre productions. Equally I’ve been to cinema that has really sunk into my soul (Sophie’s Choice as one example) and theatre productions that have left me stunned (Guys & Dolls, The Ferryman as a couple of examples). Theatre is not a film, it is a different performance art, in the same way that film and TV are related but different. Add in dance and opera and life is much richer.

    If you think it is a ‘lie’ then films and TV are lies as well but live productions have a intimacy all of their own. They look more real

    In same way why bother going to see live music – when you can listen to it from you phone with tiny speakers plugged into your ears.

    kennyp
    Free Member

    Remember that “theatre” isn’t just one generic thing. There are loads of variations, from high brow to low brow, serious to funny, thought provoking to trivial and all shades in-between. And like anything there’s good and bad out there.

    Definitely worth doing though. We go quite often, though living in Edinburgh we’re spoiled for choice. It’s generally a far more immersive experience than watching a film. I remember going to see a production of 12 Angry Men. Two hours just flew by, and by the end I realised quite literally where the expression “on the edge of your seat” comes from. I also love panto. Really is one of the highlights of the year and totally contradicts those people posting about how the actors ignore the audience.

    Live theatre is a far better experience than sitting watching TV. Mind you, I’d say the same for live concerts, live sport etc. Despite this digital age we live in, there’s still something special about actually “being there” for an event. Some theatre you do admittedly have to put in a bit of effort to get the most out of it, but it’s worth it. And if you just want a sing-a-long then being part of a big crowd jumping around to the Time Warp is a great night out.

    Give it a try, indeed give it a few tries. If it’s not for you then fair enough, but you may find you love it.

    pondo
    Full Member

    I do a bit of Am Dram and I love it – the time it takes up, however, is a bit of a block to getting Mrs Pondo to the theatre to watch as many shows as I’d like… At its best, it’s utterly absorbing, although the flipside is true, too – but even then, even on a bad night, you’ve had an utterly unique experience, because no two shows are ever the same. A big part of that is down to the folks sitting out front – we know if you’re enjoying it, you know. 🙂

    aracer
    Free Member

    +1 – though now I just have nobody to go with. Apart from shows with the kids (which are great in their own way) it’s over 10 years since I’ve been.

    I wonder if what some people are missing is that it’s not the same as a film or TV where it seems real – you have to use a lot more of your own imagination. As pointed out above, the best stage actors do also engage with their audience, despite that 4th wall, that’s part of the whole joy of it.

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