Theatre Visits: October-November-so-far
Nov. 22nd, 2021 06:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grondficTheatregoing continues to be a nerve-wracking experience in many ways. We make it even MORE interesting for ourselves by NEVER HAVING POSSESSED ANY FORM OF MOBILE PHONE (yup, Luddite and proud) .... cue lots of home-printing of tickets and special arrangements for getting various COVID-related proof-of documents.
Undaunted, we continue to dice with Shakespeare, Coward, Hilary Mantel and COVID.
Hamlet (Young Vic)
There have been several 'theatrical high-points of the season' so far; and sadly we missed out on THE one - Saoirse Ronan's Lady Macbeth (plus a very interesting rest-of-the-cast) at the Almeida. By the time we'd heard about it, there was just one one chance to get tickets, at midday on a specified date. By the time we'd got through we were something like 7,998th in the queue. (SOB!)
The Young Vic did the same spiel about Cush Jumbo's Hamlet; but we managed to get in with comparative ease. So, given the buzz around this production, that was one high-point ticked off.
In fact, it was a rather strange experience. This wasn't anything to do with Cush; who offered us a refreshingly adolescent prince, very agile but given to moodiness. The 'madness' I thought, was at least half-genuine, even if hormonal ('growing pains') rather than depressive or psychotic. 'Gender' just didn't occur to me throughout - which constitutes a triumph in my opinion.
There were two other performances that really stood out. Norah Lopez Holden's sweet, feisty Ophelia; danced beautifully with her prince (but clearly only in her memory or indeed, imagination) and later disintegrated into anger as well as madness. Joseph Marcell's upright, authoritarian, but fiercely familial Polonius also showed flashes of pompous comedy. Leo Wringer put in a great turn too, as the gravedigger.
Less happily, Adrian Dunbar doubled Claudius and the Ghost in an oddly disengaged manner; and Tara Fitzgerald's Gertrude was so passive that one suspected that she'd simply failed to distinguish Claudius from his deceased brother. The scenery also, didn't help (and sometimes actively hindered) the action, the three translucent, triangular columns whirling about and impeding the flow.
So - altogether, a rather mixed bag; but with a pleasing and attractive Prince.
The Memory of Water (Hampstead)
A family drama, wherein three daughters gather for their mother's funeral, is made complicated by the fact that said mother is still hanging around in (kinda) ghostly form. A number of family secrets come out. A bit meh tbh.
Blithe Spirit (Harold Pinter)
Ohhhh - Noel Coward! I blame HIM for this muddle of a play. It featured Jennifer Saunders as Madame Arcati the medium; and very funny she was too, as would be expected. Geoffrey Streatfeild was the main work-horse Charles, whose deceased wife suddenly intrudes into his second marriage. Never having seen this farrago before, I was outraged at the chaotic ending. High point? Nul-points!
The Mirror and the Light (Gielgud)
Hilary Mantel, together with her leading man, Ben Miles adapted this, her third and final account of Thomas Cromwell. Frankly they would have done better to stay with Jeremy Herrin who adapted the first two plays. This one sagged something rotten toward the end of the first half. Of course, we all know how it was going to culminate (and the execution - onstage! - was really done shockingly well); so the rest was just a load of interchangeable 'Tudor Lords' plotting Cromwell's downfall and schmoozing Henry VIII (Nathaniel Parker, unleashing his inner manchild).
The smallish cast worked their socks off; and props to both Ben Miles as the quietly-disintegrating Cromwell, and to Parker's increasingly monstrous monarch (who stole the show IMHO). But ... a trifle underwhelming candidate for a high point.
The Cat and the Canary (Churchill Bromley)
Ghostly farrago within a stately home; lifted by the presence of BRITT EKLAND (Wicker Man anyone?) as sinister housekeeper Mrs Pleasant. The production was distinguished by NOT HAVING ANY FORM OF PROGRAMME either onsale or even just a free listing-sheet. A mighty BOOOOOO! to Bill Kenwright, who should know better than this.
I shall be reviewing Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in the Playhouse Theatre as a separate entry.
Undaunted, we continue to dice with Shakespeare, Coward, Hilary Mantel and COVID.
Hamlet (Young Vic)
There have been several 'theatrical high-points of the season' so far; and sadly we missed out on THE one - Saoirse Ronan's Lady Macbeth (plus a very interesting rest-of-the-cast) at the Almeida. By the time we'd heard about it, there was just one one chance to get tickets, at midday on a specified date. By the time we'd got through we were something like 7,998th in the queue. (SOB!)
The Young Vic did the same spiel about Cush Jumbo's Hamlet; but we managed to get in with comparative ease. So, given the buzz around this production, that was one high-point ticked off.
In fact, it was a rather strange experience. This wasn't anything to do with Cush; who offered us a refreshingly adolescent prince, very agile but given to moodiness. The 'madness' I thought, was at least half-genuine, even if hormonal ('growing pains') rather than depressive or psychotic. 'Gender' just didn't occur to me throughout - which constitutes a triumph in my opinion.
There were two other performances that really stood out. Norah Lopez Holden's sweet, feisty Ophelia; danced beautifully with her prince (but clearly only in her memory or indeed, imagination) and later disintegrated into anger as well as madness. Joseph Marcell's upright, authoritarian, but fiercely familial Polonius also showed flashes of pompous comedy. Leo Wringer put in a great turn too, as the gravedigger.
Less happily, Adrian Dunbar doubled Claudius and the Ghost in an oddly disengaged manner; and Tara Fitzgerald's Gertrude was so passive that one suspected that she'd simply failed to distinguish Claudius from his deceased brother. The scenery also, didn't help (and sometimes actively hindered) the action, the three translucent, triangular columns whirling about and impeding the flow.
So - altogether, a rather mixed bag; but with a pleasing and attractive Prince.
The Memory of Water (Hampstead)
A family drama, wherein three daughters gather for their mother's funeral, is made complicated by the fact that said mother is still hanging around in (kinda) ghostly form. A number of family secrets come out. A bit meh tbh.
Blithe Spirit (Harold Pinter)
Ohhhh - Noel Coward! I blame HIM for this muddle of a play. It featured Jennifer Saunders as Madame Arcati the medium; and very funny she was too, as would be expected. Geoffrey Streatfeild was the main work-horse Charles, whose deceased wife suddenly intrudes into his second marriage. Never having seen this farrago before, I was outraged at the chaotic ending. High point? Nul-points!
The Mirror and the Light (Gielgud)
Hilary Mantel, together with her leading man, Ben Miles adapted this, her third and final account of Thomas Cromwell. Frankly they would have done better to stay with Jeremy Herrin who adapted the first two plays. This one sagged something rotten toward the end of the first half. Of course, we all know how it was going to culminate (and the execution - onstage! - was really done shockingly well); so the rest was just a load of interchangeable 'Tudor Lords' plotting Cromwell's downfall and schmoozing Henry VIII (Nathaniel Parker, unleashing his inner manchild).
The smallish cast worked their socks off; and props to both Ben Miles as the quietly-disintegrating Cromwell, and to Parker's increasingly monstrous monarch (who stole the show IMHO). But ... a trifle underwhelming candidate for a high point.
The Cat and the Canary (Churchill Bromley)
Ghostly farrago within a stately home; lifted by the presence of BRITT EKLAND (Wicker Man anyone?) as sinister housekeeper Mrs Pleasant. The production was distinguished by NOT HAVING ANY FORM OF PROGRAMME either onsale or even just a free listing-sheet. A mighty BOOOOOO! to Bill Kenwright, who should know better than this.
I shall be reviewing Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in the Playhouse Theatre as a separate entry.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-22 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-22 07:42 pm (UTC)Generally speaking, mask-wearing (or not), and the size of the audience are both still slightly concerning factors in London theatres.
We've just booked for Mark Gatiss's Christmas Carol at the Ally Pally - hoping it will be worth the trip!
no subject
Date: 2021-11-22 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-22 10:41 pm (UTC)The acting troupe was full of talent; and the whole thing could have been so much sharper!