Why yes, I am a fangirl.

[teyla]

So I just decided I'm going to Sheffield to see John Simm as Hamlet. Because it's only about £50, including tickets and trip, and I want to have the geek cred points it would get me to have seen both DT and JS doing Hamlet.

I'm aiming for the 7:15 performance on Saturday, Sep 25. Who wants to come with? Tickets are £20. wihluta?

ETA: Just bought my ticket. There was only a single one left for Sep 25, so I am going on my own. SORRY EVERYONE. I shall Report, when I get back.

Comments

[sirdoctoroftardis]

Wow, 14 hours. :O Even if the UK is relatively small, that's a long bus trip. I imagine it'll be completely worth it once you get there, though!

It really was. I feel so lucky to have actually seen him since I saw it in London on, I think, his second day back after the injury. But that's quite awesome that you saw the Stratford version and one of the nights with the understudy. I've always wondered how exactly the Stratford version differed (if at all).

How was that one? It seems like it would've been incredible to see him in LLL. :D

I'm going to stay for a little bit longer. I'm hoping to spend a couple of days in London, too, because I hate to go all the way to the UK and only do one thing (even if that one thing is awesome).

[teyla]

Well, it's 14 hours in all. 7 hours there, 7 hours back. Still long, but not quite as crazy-ass long as that. ;)

Stratford has a different theater layout than the Novello--it's more circular, more open at the ceiling, and the stage is down in the center. So it was more three-dimensional than it was in the Novello. I was sitting in one of the really cheap seats way up in a corner, which was actually kind of great, though, since it let you see the entire stage set-up really clearly. I found my recap, in case you're interested. It's got a (crappy) picture of the stage design of Love's Labour's Lost, which might give you an idea of what the theater looks like.

I can't actually say if they did any script changes for the Novello run, since the understudy version had a bunch of scenes taken out that were just entirely Tennant and wouldn't have worked with the understudy. So yeah, the play I saw at the Novello was different, but that might have been because it didn't have Tennant in it.

LLL was INCREDIBLY HILARIOUS. It's in my recap as well. I'd read the play beforehand, and laughed my ass off, but it was nothing compared to seeing Tennant doing the lines. It was pretty mind-blowing.

I am going to be a creep now and say that WE SHOULD MEET. At least for a cup of coffee. Who knows when you're going to be in the UK next. I can come to London and we can be awkward at one another. Or you can come down to Southampton and get free coffee at the place where I work. Or you can tell me to shove off; I won't take that the wrong way, either. (Seriously, not trying to be creepy. I just love to actually meet the people I talk to on my journal, so I usually take every opportunity I can get to do so. But if you're uncomfortable with that, I absolutely understand.)

[sirdoctoroftardis]

Ah, okay. That's slightly less bad, then, but 7 hours is still quite a journey! ;D

I was wondering about the stage - in the photos I've seen, it looked like it might've been a thrust stage, so that's interesting to hear that it was and how that affected your experience. And I would definitely like to read your recap, so thanks for the link! :) And just from glancing at it, I noticed that you saw both plays in one day? That must have been absolutely amazing. Wow.

It sounds like a lot of fun! I'm going to read your recap of it all the way through in a minute (and it looks like a very nice recap, by the way, so kudos on that. My recap of Hamlet was basically a lot of flailing and capslocking XD ).

That's not being a creep at all! We should, actually, if you'd be up to going to London (since I don't think I'd end up with enough time for another train trip while I'm there), because I agree, it's nice to actually meet internet people. I rarely have the opportunity to do so. So yeah, basically - we should try that? :)

[teyla]

Yeah, I saw them both in the same day. Which I initially thought would sort of kill me, but it really, really didn't. I loved every second of it and didn't want it to be over. And afterwards, I took the bus straight back home, in the middle of the night, so that was a sort of a crazy day. xD

I think I wrote that recap trying to pin down what exactly I enjoyed so much about the plays, so I would be able to go back and remember it. Because those plays were really well done, and Tennant being in them made them amazing. :3

Awesome! We should. When exactly are you going to be in London? I'll probably have to try and do a weekend, since uni's starting up again next week. Or not. I don't have my timetable yet. But if you let me know when you're in London, I'll figure something out. :)

[sirdoctoroftardis]

It sounds wonderful, actually. XD Aside from the bus ride in the middle of the night. I guess there'd be the problem of running out of energy, but I imagine the excitement/adrenaline would help that, with any luck!

True. :D I actually took a crazy amount of notes at the time so that I could remember it later, so I can relate to wanting to do that.

I'd have to double-check, but since I'll be seeing the play near the very end of the run, I'm thinking it's going to be the weekend of Oct. 23rd that I'm in London. So if I'm right, it'll be at least that Friday and Saturday, which should help. :)

[teyla]

HELLO. Late comment is late. I was busy seeing Simm as Hamlet. xD And sitting on buses late at night. I think I will always associate the sharp gasoline smell of bus stations with Hamlet, from now on.

I need to make a post about it. IT WAS FUN. The staging and direction weren't as good as the RSC version, at least I thought so, but Simm was awesome. Also, soooo unhappy about having to come out after the play and sign programs. That man, he does not love his fans. He did sign quite a few programs, though, and grimaced at quite a few cameras. Poor man.

Oct 23 sounds awesome! This is very convenient, in fact, since I was planning to go to London around that time anyway to visit a friend. We could meet Friday night, and then I could crash at her place for the night and hang out with her on Saturday. Or something like that.

[sirdoctoroftardis]

Hello! I thought of that on Saturday, actually - wondering if you were enjoying the play. XD

You should most definitely do a post! I'd love to hear all about it. I'm glad that it was fun! :D I'd be surprised if everything about it was as good as the RSC production (considering the staging, the entire cast, etc. was basically wonderful in that), but I'm very pleased that you liked Simm's take on it, since the reviews have been so mixed. And was he really? XD I'm not surprised to hear that he was grumpy about that. What did surprise me was reading a few people say that he was "so nice, and signed things for twenty minutes, etc." Much more in-character for him to be unhappy about it! I wonder if I can work up the nerve to bother him when the time comes.

Friday night sounds just about perfect for that, since I'll be getting the train from Sheffield to London that morning and will definitely be there by the evening! So yes, unless anything changes for either of us, something like that should work quite well, I think. :)