anyone else using the $25 seats for Jude's HAMLET?

Perhaps a very old topic (sorry), but I was so appalled by the disparity -- either $116 for every seat, except the $25 seats for students. And then I was told that the 25 bucks seats are for us all, inthe last 3 rows. So what the hell, I bought some. And gleefully left knowing people only 3 rows in front of me paid 116. Good deal. And the Brodhurst isn't so big -- we're not talking the Minskoff.

Anyone else using them? I hear they are still available, mid-run on.

---

Got mine for the second preview on Sept. 13th. My friend and I are in the last row, dead center. Love it. The view from there is fantastic (sat there for EQUUS).

Hamlet is not selling as strongly right now as the producers hoped/thought it would. The $25 seats are available as are a lot of others.

Forget the nunnery and get thee to the box office. I think it is the last 3 rows upstairs. I am in J 1-3 for 11/11.

---

Absolutely. I'm not a huge fan of Jude Law, but I LOVE the Donmar, so why not.

Now if only A Steady Rain had $25 tix.

---

Updated On: 8/19/09 at 11:55 PM

Jesus, imagine how hard it will be to get those, if they even actually do it.

Damn you, BWW. I just got one. I can hear my bank account cursing from here.

My friend got us tickets with her AmEx card for 10/7. I'm stokedddddddddddddd.

Also, I really hope the rush for A Steady Rain isn't too bad. Or that I can get tickets through work. lol

Pretty sure you can get them online, but they'll end up being about twice as much with the fees.

---

I wouldn't pay more than $25 for this production. It's painfully dull with no character nuances, terrible costumes and a lack of understanding of the text.

Fair enough - we're all entitled to our own opinions. But I felt he didn't get anything BUT the anger. There was no nuance to his characterisation - and the cast brought out none of the comedic elements of the play, which are actually really prevalent. I think I've been spoilt by seeing the RSC production, though, which was completely stunning and ensemble-tastic. I found Polonius particularly guilty of this lack of comedy in this one. On the plus side, Kevin McNally was quite good, and Gugu was a massive improvement on Mariah Gale.

^I think you'll be fine, they won't all sell out for every single performance right away, unless you need a lot of seats or are strict about what dates or something like that. You could keep checking online for the dates you want just in case up until you are in the seat, but I don't think they'll all be gone.

Lucid and dramatic, I'll definitely agree there. It's a very straight-forward production that completely trusts the text. And I'm in love with the design; set, lighting, sound. There's one bit where I just couldn't take my eyes off Hamlet's *shadow*, that's how brilliant the design is (and I wouldn't expect anything less from the breathtaking Oram, Austin, and Cork).

But it was let down more than a little by the actors. Law was a competent enough charismatic leading man, let down only by being unconvincing as a ditherer. His Hamlet knew what he wanted to do, which doesn't exactly gel with the character as written. The rest of them though... they are all fine actors and I've enjoyed at least half of them a great deal in other productions, but they brought very little to the stage for this one. No distinguishable personality, no connection as an ensemble, no character arcs. And I will ABSOLUTELY dispute the claim that Ron Cook - FABULOUS in Twelfth Night, CHILLING in The Seafarer - "nailed the humor" of Polonius. A failing of ALL the cast was their apparent decision to not bother making the jokes very funny. If I hadn't already seen the sublime Oliver Ford Davies in the role, I would have been completely unable to tell that Polonius was meant to be funny.

I feel kinda mean banging on about the faults, but I really was so disappointed by this production when I really wanted it to be at least rather enjoyable. I blame Kenneth Branagh. It's nice to have such a scapegoat; it means I can wonder what might have been instead of inappropriately directing my anger towards the fabulous Michael Grandage. In my mind, Grandage didn't have time to direct this as thoroughly as he ordinarily would have liked, thanks to Branagh dropping out of directing, and even though his natural brilliance led to some wonderful individual moments, we're just not getting a fully-realised Hamlet from him. I wonder relentlessly just how different the production would have been under Branagh's direction, and I kinda hope Grandage will do it properly one day (perhaps when he's taken over the National, assuming Hytner never gets round to the one he's been banging on about for years).

Damn, I'm rambly today. Sorry. O_O

---

I didn't mind the Laertes that much, but I have to agree with Weez. The RSC production was my 'first' Hamlet and try as I might not to compare, I can't help it - it was so above and beyond this terribly pedestrian version. I think I smiled literally once during this - and I didn't go in with any preconceptions, I tried to clear my mind, but I was so bored I actually considered leaving at the interval (something I've never yet done) but I always feel too guilty to in the end!

I don't know what to say, Smaxie, but I really didn't get anything but anger from Law's Hamlet. I hated the way they staged the bedroom scene - whoever thought it was a good idea to obscure the actors behind a massive expanse of white cloth? - and thought the fights and deaths were thoroughly unconvincing. Law got laughs on the obvious lines but like Weez says, the cast were very much guilty of not making the amusing things... well, amusing.

It seemed like the audience really WANTED to laugh but didn't get the opportunity to! I have to have a brief rave about the RSC production, if you guys were getting that I would be so insanely jealous. Every single person bar Mariah Gale outclassed the Donmar production by an absolute mile. I know we shouldn't compare, but the productions were so close together it's hard to not, particularly when the first was so good and the second so... well.

Updated On: 8/22/09 at 10:02 AM