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| front row at The Ferryman yesterday matinee (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) | |
| Last Edit: mikem 12:40 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
| Posted by: mikem 12:39 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
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| (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) I sat in the front row at The Ferryman at yesterday's matinee. There had been questions about the view from those seats, so I thought I'd give some detail. The seats generally are a great choice. The stage is about chest/shoulder height, and, in general, the actors are not very close to the lip of the stage. The row also curves, with the farthest point being the center, and if you are sitting there, you will have no real problems at all. I don't think you would at the ends of the row in center orchestra, either. There are a couple of cautions. One is that, during the dinner-table scene featured in the artwork, you will not be able to see all of the actors well. I could see at least part of almost everyone's face, but not the entire face in all circumstances. The very nice guy sitting next to me and I were talking during the break that we were worried during that scene that we would be missing significant parts of the show, but the scene is actually fairly brief -- probably less than 10 minutes -- and nothing of significance is missed. I was envisioning an August-Osage-County-type of dinner scene, but that's not what happens here. The other caution is that if you are sitting in A2 or A4, there are reports that the view is significantly blocked. A wheelchair is parked there for much of the show and blocks much of the view. In fairness to the production, I believe these seats are being sold as partial view or rush. There are only 2 seats in the side orchestra on each side, and they are all being sold as partial view. If I were going to see the show again, I would sit in the front row in a second. Because the actors are not on top of you, you are not craning your neck, and it's always great to be so close for facial expressions. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOWING) I really enjoyed the show in general, and I was engrossed throughout. But I found the climax to be really rapid. From the time that Tom Kettle shows up until the final blackout is only about 2 minutes, maybe 3 at most. In particular, after Quinn does what he does, the show literally ends a minute later. It seemed very abrupt to me, although I understand that is what the playwright was after. But we basically spend 3 hours and 10 minutes building up to a climax, which is over in a flash. But I still really enjoyed it. Very tiny quibbles: it seemed that some of the actors pronounced the last name as "kar-nee," while others pronounced it as "kyar-nee," which I found distracting. How is the name supposed to be pronounced? I also thought that the actor playing Muldoon was almost speaking with an American accent, although the actor is not American. I was very confused as to the exact relationships and ages of the family members in the first act, and I was wondering why there wasn't a family tree in the Playbill as you often see in circumstances like this. Then, of course, it became obvious why there isn't one, so that it wouldn't be as clear that Quinn and Caitlin are not married. |
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| re: front row at The Ferryman yesterday matinee (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) | |
| Last Edit: writerkev 02:02 pm EST 11/29/18 | |
| Posted by: writerkev 02:01 pm EST 11/29/18 | |
| In reply to: front row at The Ferryman yesterday matinee (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) - mikem 12:39 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
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| I noticed that when they made reference to cars (seeing the priest's car from the window, etc.), the actors generally pronounced it "kyar," so "Kyar-nee" made sense. | |
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| re: front row at The Ferryman yesterday matinee (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) | |
| Posted by: danr 10:39 pm EST 11/26/18 | |
| In reply to: front row at The Ferryman yesterday matinee (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) - mikem 12:39 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
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| I remember the same issue with Once, where I think it was a vacuum or something that significantly blocked the view for Orchestra Right seats, to the point where people were complaining to the box office about it. And same thing with The Color Purple, where there baskets in Act 2 right at downstage left blocked some views in Orchestra Right again. | |
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| I sat center block front row, one seat in | |
| Last Edit: Leon_W 02:42 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
| Posted by: Leon_W 02:41 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
| In reply to: front row at The Ferryman yesterday matinee (mild spoilers in beginning, then major spoilers after a warning) - mikem 12:39 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
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| On the house left and the view was fantastic apart from that one scene as you say. I had the same thoughts as you that I would’t want to be front row in either of the small side blocks. Not unless they were the $40 rush seats. On your point about why it was better not to publish a family tree, I was annoyed to see many reviews spoiling this and several even saying you should understand this before you try to see the play, absolutely absolutely against the ambiguity that the playwright was going for I believe. |
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| re: I sat center block front row, one seat in (SPOILERS) | |
| Posted by: mikem 04:10 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
| In reply to: I sat center block front row, one seat in - Leon_W 02:41 pm EST 11/25/18 | |
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| (MAJOR SPOILERS) I stayed away from reading reviews, and I'm glad I did, because there is no way that the audience aren't supposed to think that Quinn and Caitlin are a couple during the opening blindfold game. Part of what made things confusing was realizing part-way through the first act that they weren't in fact married, and then having to re-calibrate. But I think there's no question that the playwright's intent is for the two of them to interact as a couple would during that scene, and for the audience to see them interact that way. I'm kind of surprised that reviewers would feel the need to divulge that relationship. Another tiny quibble: unless we are supposed to believe that Quinn and Caitlin do the blindfold thing regularly, they are way too comfortable walking around and drinking without being able to see. Obviously, the actors have done it literally a hundred times, so Paddy Considine and Laura Donnelly are very comfortable with not being able to see, but the characters shouldn't be. And one last tiny quibble: I'm not a big fan of dramatic music underscoring scenes in plays. It shouldn't be necessary IMO. There's a lot of it here. |
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