A hard watch: half the room stands to applaud, the other half leaves
Since press night every performance has produced the same scene at the same moment.
The ten minutes at the centre of the second act produce the same result every night: part of the audience gets to its feet, part collects a coat and goes. There is very little in between.
The director refuses to cut the scene, arguing that the whole weight of the play sits there.
Ticket sales are moving regardless of the row. In live performance those two things usually pull in the same direction.
What happens in that scene
The institution’s statement is short and carefully written. Between the lines you can read the effort not to feed the story.
Someone in the room and someone watching a screen are not seeing the same work. That difference explains most of the argument on its own.
How the room reacts
The point the critics split on is not the work itself, but which tradition it belongs to.
Sales have risen every week since press night. The row has not worn the production down; it has put it on the map.
The festival rewrites its rules: this year the jury will not watch behind closed doors
Organisers are defending the contested decision as a step towards transparency.
PremiumSold out in 48 hours: the album nobody was waiting for
Released without any announcement, it cleared the tour tickets in its first week.
Open again after thirty years: the museum’s back gallery returns
The restoration took nine years; the ceiling can be seen whole for the first time.