The Olivier Award-nominated revival of Long Day’s Journey into Night is now available to watch on Digital Theatre. David Suchet stars as James Tyrone, returning to the West End following the sell-out 2010 production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons – which was also captured by Digital Theatre. He appears alongside Laurie Metcalf, the three-time Emmy Award-winning star of Roseanne, who made her West End debut in the production. Long Day’s Journey into Night also stars Trevor White, Rosie Sansom and Kyle Soller, who also receives a 2013 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance. Directed by Tony Award winner Anthony Page and with designs by Lez Brotherston, Long Day’s Journey into Night is a riveting view of the life of James and Mary Tyrone and their sons Jamie and Edmund on one fateful summer’s day.

Use a PC? Got an iPad or a Samsung SmartTV? Want to watch some of the best of British Theatre at home?

Digital Theatre makes all this possible. Partners to the project include; Gate Theatre Notting Hill, Almeida Theatre, Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Regent’s Park Open Air, Young Vic and the Unicorn as well as producers such as Sonia Friedman Productions, English Touring Theatre, Stanhope Productions, the RSC and Frantic Assembly. These Partners are committed to providing high quality recordings of some of their best productions for you to rent or buy. The system also includes the Routledge Performance Archive and the Gulf Stage collection.

Prices vary from a £2.99 rental to a £10.99 HD download to keep depending on the show and the catalogue currently includes;

• A Doll’s House (Ibsen) by Simon Stephens (Young Vic)
• Lovesong by Frantic Assembley
• Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate
• Henry VIII with Dominic Rowan and Miranda Raison
• Henry IV parts 1 and 2 from The Globe
• Billy the Kid (Morpurgo)
• Macbeth with David Morrissey (Liverpool Everyman)
• All My Sons with David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker
• Into the Woods (Sondheim)
• Over There (Mark Ravenhill)
• Kafka’s Monkey with Kathryn Hunter
• Parlour Song (Jez Butterworth) with Amanda Drew, Toby Jones and Andrew Lincoln
• and more …… and more to come …

Drama UK was formed in 2012 following the merger of the Conference of Drama Schools and the National Council for Drama Training and sets out to be a champion for quality drama training in the UK through Advocacy, Assurance and Advice. The new Drama UK website is the first major development for the organisation and includes information for students interested in studying drama and drama related subjects as well as the opportunity to compare courses run by drama schools that have courses ‘accredited’ and ‘recognised’ by the Drama UK quality assurance programme.

Details can be found on the website: www.writeaplay.co.uk

Theatregoers can read in-depth guides written by Seat Plan’s team of professional theatre gurus as well as reviews of individual seats. After seeing a show, users can post their own reviews and comment on the seat’s view, legroom, and comfort. Top reviewers will move up the site’s leaderboard, affirming their expert status. With more than 49,000 seats already listed, the site aims to provide the most comprehensive theatre seating guide in London.

The site launches officially on 9th Jan 2013 but is available now …

I have to say, if the audience were indicative of West End musical audiences in general, I shall not be going again, not even for free. Why? Well, a catalogue of behaviours from a wide range of audience members that were rude almsot beyond belief to both the cast and the rest of the paying public.

Sadly, unlike some recent incidents, it was not just the odd one who was spoiling it, it appears that the general level of behaviour has become selfish, boorish and rude.

We entered the auditorium to find our seats, Dress Circle, middle, nice. So nice that the people along the row had decided to have dinner there, a couple of trays, some chopsticks, glass of wine … they did at least put their meals away when the lights went down.

Probably 25% or more of the Dress Circle decided to take pictures before the show and throughout the interval – I am not sure what part of “photography is strictly forbidden” they don’t understand, or perhaps they simply think it does not apply to them for some reason, but there was no subtlety to it; cameras, iPads, phones, all were used, with and without flash, People standing up with large SLRs, holding up their tablet computers, doing, essentially, whatever they liked. From the flashes going on I assume that the stalls were equally as bad.

I lost count of the number of phones in use throughout the show, iPads too – are owners of these devices too stupid to realise how disruptive it is? If you cannot be out of contact for an hour at a time then do not go to the theatre. Its quite simple. One woman, just in front of us, had two Blackberries on the go almost continuously and made no attempt to mask the screens. People were receiving texts and then sharing them with their neighbours, one woman was even browsing the web on her iPad.

Fortunately, the young boy in front of us who kept moving around, even standing up, was clearly so bored that his parents did not return for the second half … that cut down some of the conversation. However, the general level of chat was quite ridiculous, even through songs like “castle in the clouds” – no wonder the techies have wound the amplification right up! Absolutely no respect was shown for the performers or other audience members, long conversations, unrelated to the show, were being held all over the place – even the woman singing along sibbilently under her breathe had to ask someone to shut up in the end.

I simply do not understand why people who have no intention of watching the show pay so much for tickets to go – here’s a tip, save money, stay at home and do us all a favour!

Last night’s performance had the rudest and most selfish audience I have experienced to date … I think I need to return to good drama for a while, the audiences there seem to know how to behave somewhat better. Does that sound elitist? Maybe, but unless and until audiences learn to treat their fellows, and more importantly the performers, with some basic courtesy then I’d rather stay away – they ruin any pleasure I can get from the show.

And what a fabulous job has been done resulting in cleaner, more flexible spaces including two new areas suitable for performance, greatly improved rehearsal and development capabilities and much more access to, and visibility for, the original features of this amazing building. Audience members will benefit immediately from the greatly improved seating and airflow and the front-of house and Studio will get their make-overs over the coming 3 or 4 years.

The building feels alive again and the converted spaces are quite beautiful – go and enjoy and if you get a chance then take a tour, there’s a lot to see back there and it is truly fascinating.

We have also recently been to the Hippodrome where they have completely changed the Piano Bar and made it much more audience friendly. The toilets are not now a long trek away, the floor is more open and level, the bar is more approachable and the cocktails are a real treat.

Feeling good Bristol

Please turn off all mobiles
This announcement, usually given before every show, is fairly simple to interpret. It means to take your mobile phone (or cell phone if you’re a visitor to our fair country) and turn it off. Curious though it may seem, having it on vibrate is not the same (hence spoiled poignant moment at recent show) and having it on silent but continuing to text is also not the same (there’s a reason some people use their mobile screen as a torch).

Amateur Theatre
Jokingly, if the people on stage know all the people in the audience then its ‘amateur’. If the people in the audience know the people on stage its ‘professional’. A note to potential audience members; ‘amateur’ does not necessarily mean ‘bad’, it means ‘not earning a living at it’, when an amateur actor turns pro he doesn’t get better, he gets paid. A note to amateur companies; ‘amateur’ doesn’t mean ‘I only have to be adequate’, just saying, that’s all.

No photographs
This applies to you. All of you. And to cameras, video cameras, mobile phones and any other photo-taking equipment you might have about your person.

You see, theatre is really easy when you know the terminology ….

With big traditional shows like Les Mis, Phantom and Lion King, fabulous Shakespeares, a wealth of opera and dance, world class comedy and the BBC Proms visitors are going to have trouble deciding what to see.

London has always been a world capital for theatre and this summer is showing off some of its best – how fabulous! All visitors need to remember is that, in London particularly, it pays to shop around both to make sure you get the tickets you want and to make sure you get the deals – some of which only run for 48hours! Let us take the stress out of finding the right ticket at the right price – its what we do best!