Looks like I'm going to get the chance to be on the same stage as Ben Whishaw after all...
Thank you for booking to see Cock here at the Royal Court.
As you may know, the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs is an adaptable studio space that can be configured in many different ways. At the time of going on sale we had not agreed the design for this production, so were unaware of the exact seating arrangements. We can now confirm the seating layout for Cock. As always we have endeavoured to make the seating as comfortable as possible, however the unique design of this production has meant that a proportion of the seats are without back rests. There is also no space underneath the seating for coats and bags. We would therefore ask that you deposit all such items, free of charge, in the theatre’s Cloakroom, which is located downstairs in the Stalls foyer area.
Rehearsals are going well, with a current running time of 1 hour, 45 minutes without interval. The production’s design means that all seating is accessed by crossing the stage. We are therefore not able to admit latecomers or readmit anyone who leaves during the performance. We would kindly ask that you arrive in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in good time before the performance is due to start in order to deposit bags at the cloakroom and make your way to the auditorium.
If you have any concerns with the above information, please do feel free to contact our team who will be happy to discuss these with you. We are contactable on 020 7565 5050, or via email at boxoffice@royalcourttheatre.com.
I do hope you enjoy the performance of Cock and we look forward to welcoming you to the Royal Court.
Best wishes
Dan Alicandro
Deputy Sales Manager
Just over a week ago I wrote about a week in prospect that would take in two plays and two eagerly anticipated films. Did it live up to its cultural and entertainment potential?
I've already written about Bright Star which was certainly the highlight but there was much else to be enjoyed.
The play's writer Pedro Calderon de la Barca was sort of a Spanish Shakespeare and was writing at a time when Spain's golden age of discovery and the wealth and culture it brought with it had be frittered away.
Life is a Dream captures that feeling of having had something so good it was like a dream. It tells the story of Prince Seigusmundo (West) who is secretly imprisoned at birth by his father after hearing a prophesy that he'll be a tyrant. Grown up, his father releases him as a test of his character but having had a closeted life he behaves badly and is taken back to prison having been convinced his time of freedom was in fact a dream.
His existence now known of by the people of his father's kingdom he is broken out of prison and embarks on getting what is rightfully his but this time in constant fear that he is living a dream and is therefore determined to behave better.
It is both comedic and philosophical something some of my fellow theatre-goers had problems but I think the two are inextricably linked.
West put in a stirling performance and I've now ordered first series of The Wire by way of a contrast.
It was an enjoyable play, easy to follow with the language updated in its translation and entertaining enough that the two and half hours flew by.
Next up was The Habit of Art a new Alan Bennett play at the National Theatre. And what a contrast.
It is a play about a play about a fictitious meeting between poet W H Auden and composer Benjamin Britten. On one level it is about two talented men reflecting on their careers at a time when their creativity is dwindling.
On another it is a behind the scenes expose of theatre life: the ego's, the tantrums and again the creative process.
It was very funny with some typically brilliant Bennett one-liners, none of which I can remember. Richard Griffiths as the dial-a-rent-boy loving Auden commands the stage and sparks off the wonderful Frances de la Tour who plays the production manager.
A highly amusing evening all round.
It you try and explain it, it sounds ridiculous: Psychic spies.
The cast is formidable with Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey all doing wonderful turns at comedy something which is refreshing to see.
I know it's had mixed reviews but I think it worked really well and perfect Sunday afternoon silliness.
Oh and you get to see McGregor and Clooney walking away from the camera with their bums hanging out of hospital gowns. Perfect.
- 20:58 Am watching X Factor half an hour behind so I can fast forward through the crap bits. Will catch up v. quickly no doubt. #
- 14:43 Time for a bit of george and ewan. #
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Slightly disturbed by what appears to be Prince Harry and also Daniel Radcliffe included among these. Do you think there is something subliminal going on which makes certain faces stand out the most? Mine was Jake Gyllenhaal.
- 22:06 Blubbed all the way through Bright Star. Walked past Edgar Wright on way to Leicester Square. #
- 22:10 @adders Hope you got to Guildford OK and had a nice dinner. #
- 22:43 Off to bed. Exhausted by all the excitement #
- 08:44 Right, Bright Star blog post written, pancakes for breakfast I think. #
- 17:30 Good Bye Lenin! is on BBC 4 tonight. It's a fab film, you should watch it. #
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Woke up this morning to bright blue skies so I just had to make the most of it. I've been meaning to try and take some nice Autumnal shots so I walked up to Green Park to see what there was by way of subject matter.
Just a few of my favourites the rest are on Flickr
Leicester Square reflection, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.
I'll always remember taking this picture. Not because of the picture itself - Leicester Square after a heavy, Autumnal downpour - but because of what happened leading up to taking it.
I'd just cried my way through Bright Star at the Curzon and was on my way to the bus stop, hat pulled down low to try and cover my face, trying to compose myself and I passed Edgar Wright in the street and then I came upon this scene.
OK so Bright Star was in a win-win situation:
John Keats: check
Jane Campion: check
Ben Whishaw: check
The trailers were promising. Campion was going to have to do something pretty stupid for me not to like this film, for me not to love this film.
For those who don't know the story, it is told through the eyes of Fanny Brawne, the neighbour and object of romantic poet John Keats' affection and some would say muse. The two were unable to marry because Keats didn't have any money as his poetry was yet to gain mass market appeal and then his life was cut short by TB.
Keats wrote beautiful poetry and this is a beautiful film. The setting, showcasing the simple beauty of English nature is like a third character next to Brawne and Keats.
The script is kept simple almost with the attitude that less says more leaving Abbie Cornish who plays Brawne and Whishaw who plays Keats to showcase a more subtle side to their acting abilities.
There is one particular scene which cements Cornish as such a talent, I find it hard to believe that she could have produced such overwhelming emotion for more than one take. It is when Brawne finds out from Keats' friend Charles Brown that he has died in Rome, where he had traveled to for the good of his health to avoid the British winter.
The performance touches on such grief and heartbreak that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. And it is up there with Juliet Stephenson in Truly Madly Deeply.
If I was to judge this film on tears alone, my tears that is, not the actors, it would get a very damp 10 out of 10 as blubbed the whole way through. And I wasn't the only one in the cinema.
Not that I particularly care but here are what some of the professionals thought:
Daily Telegraph "It’s by some measure the best film she’s ever made. It feels special without being at all precious. Eloquent, too, but not self-consciously lyrical or florid."
Time Out "A combination of unstuffy dialogue, wise casting, unselfconscious performances and sensuous but never pretty photography makes Campion’s version of the nineteenth century feel current but not anachronistic."
- 17:29 At curzon sitting on comfy sofa with a glass of red waiting for my bright star #
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- 21:06 Shhhh...Spooks is on. #
- 07:31 More theatre tonight. This time a bit of Alan Bennett at the National. Lovely. #
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Recent Comments
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BobbieBlogs said:
[this is good]I forgot to tell you that Bright Star was shown at a Korean film festival in Busan. I was planning... read more
on That was the week... -
Rev Stan said:
You are quite right. I was hoping the pelican would go for him but it's obviously very well mannered despite... read more
on A sunny day -
Yes, definately. I think it's because he's posh, thick and a bit naughty. And I've always had a thing about... read more
on One for the girls (or boys if that's your thing)