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grondficOur theatre viewing recently has exhibited some wacky and/or fun tendencies, as Christmas approaches. So here are three quite disparate, yet somehow concept-related experiences:
Dinner with Groucho (Arcola)
This new play by Frank McGuinness is outrageously surreal. It posits a dinner-date with Groucho Marx (played by Ian Bartholomew) and T S Eliot (Greg Hicks) in a very singular cafe, presided-over by the mysterious Proprietor (Ingrid Craigie). Just for the record, all three were brilliant.
All is definitely not what it seems.
Bones, rest quietly.
Earth, lie Lightly.
But now - rise, rise - she says .... and there are the two, just finishing their soup.
The ensuing conversation is zig-zag, crazily-funny, and very slippery. They hop from thought to thought using words as stepping stones - markers that take the two speakers apparently-randomly exactly where they will. It's a hilarious, and yet arduous job for the audience to follow it all. Here's a small sample from near the end, which says much more by what is NOT said than what is:
Groucho: Would you drink champagne from the state of Israel?
Tom: That would depend.
G: On what?
T: Not on what but on who,
Who was pouring.
And so it goes, until the bill is due and the Proprietor banishes them back. So who is She? Are they both dead? Or did one or other of them die during the dinner? The audience leaves the theatre with more questions than answers.
A Sherlock Carol (Marylebone Theatre)
Whilst Dinner with Groucho dealt with versions of real people, American author Mark Shanahan's play is a literary fusion of two iconic English characters.
The venue here is important. The Marylebone Theatre (formerly the Steiner Hall) is a 'new' drama venue within ten minutes' walk of Baker Street, and the Sherlock Holmes statue outside the underground station. The audience is therefore somewhat 'in the zone' before the play even begins.
It begins with the thrilling words - Moriarty was dead, to begin with! - thus announcing a thorough Christmas mashup of the worlds of Dickens and Doyle.
So - yes - Moriarty is dead and his nemesis, Holmes (Ben Caplan), is in thrall to an extreme mix of weltschmerz and PTSD. He feels that, with the departure of the 'Napoleon of Crime' he will have no further 'worthy' opponents, and will no longer be validated as the 'greatest detective'. Consequently, he alienates his only friend Watson (Richard James) and rudely refuses an invitation to spend Christmas with him and Mary.
However - enter at this point, one Dr Timothy Cratchit (Damian Lynch {hint; he walks with a stick}), with an urgent request - will The Great Detective please look into the possibly-suspicious death of his friend and benefactor Ebeneezer Scrooge?
Of course, Holmes ends up taking the case. A parade of familiar names now appears, from 'The Countess' (alias Irene Adler; Rosie Armstrong), through Emma Wiggins (daughter of the original Baker Street Irregular; Gemma Laurie), the Blue Carbuncle (plus goose), to Ebeneezer himself (in spirit form; Kammy Darweish).
To tell truth, the plotline sags a little as Act 1 progresses; but Act 2, with its triumphant mystery-resolution, a dramatic arrest by Inspector Lestrade (Gemma Laurie again, diminutive and moustachioed), and the robust rendition of a carol by the company; ends everything satisfactorily and with style. Bravo to all the cast!
The Further Adventures of Peter Pan - The Return of Captain Hook (Ashcroft Theatre, Fairfield Halls, Croydon)
This was a relatively straightforward modern-day sequel to J M Barrie's original; but, since it was panto the plotline was adorned with lots of song and dance, the help of two local dance schools, some gymnastics, audience participation, and a quite criminal amount of (unoriginal) filth and double entendres, slipped in for the benefit of anyone over the age of eight. Even I was a bit shocked to hear about 'Seaman Staines on the poop deck' and doing 'breast-stroke with a mermaid' (mainly - it has to be said - because of the extreme age of the stuff, although in a show led by strong female roles, the sexism was a bit disappointing).
But mainly we were there to see if Ricky Champ's resurrected Captain Hook equalled his turn as Stuart Highway in Eastenders in villainy. (Actually, because, in true Eastenders style, Stuart got rehabilitated and made cuddly before his exit, Captain Hook won out)
The rest of the cast starred a number of actors well known to all the kids from CBbeebies and the like. So we enjoyed the show, and laughed at the topical references to Boy George on I'm a Celebrity, Holly Willoughy's queue-jumping and (at very short notice!) Harry Kane's spectacular, career-defining penalty-miss which had taken place the day before. Most props, though, to the kids from the local dance-schools, who did the elves and mermaids very proud.
Next up - Christmas, obviously; but after that, we open 2023 with a visit to the latest in new theatres - SohoPlace - to see Leah Harvey, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Alfred Enoch (I may swoon) in As You Like It. Yays!
Dinner with Groucho (Arcola)
This new play by Frank McGuinness is outrageously surreal. It posits a dinner-date with Groucho Marx (played by Ian Bartholomew) and T S Eliot (Greg Hicks) in a very singular cafe, presided-over by the mysterious Proprietor (Ingrid Craigie). Just for the record, all three were brilliant.
All is definitely not what it seems.
Bones, rest quietly.
Earth, lie Lightly.
But now - rise, rise - she says .... and there are the two, just finishing their soup.
The ensuing conversation is zig-zag, crazily-funny, and very slippery. They hop from thought to thought using words as stepping stones - markers that take the two speakers apparently-randomly exactly where they will. It's a hilarious, and yet arduous job for the audience to follow it all. Here's a small sample from near the end, which says much more by what is NOT said than what is:
Groucho: Would you drink champagne from the state of Israel?
Tom: That would depend.
G: On what?
T: Not on what but on who,
Who was pouring.
And so it goes, until the bill is due and the Proprietor banishes them back. So who is She? Are they both dead? Or did one or other of them die during the dinner? The audience leaves the theatre with more questions than answers.
A Sherlock Carol (Marylebone Theatre)
Whilst Dinner with Groucho dealt with versions of real people, American author Mark Shanahan's play is a literary fusion of two iconic English characters.
The venue here is important. The Marylebone Theatre (formerly the Steiner Hall) is a 'new' drama venue within ten minutes' walk of Baker Street, and the Sherlock Holmes statue outside the underground station. The audience is therefore somewhat 'in the zone' before the play even begins.
It begins with the thrilling words - Moriarty was dead, to begin with! - thus announcing a thorough Christmas mashup of the worlds of Dickens and Doyle.
So - yes - Moriarty is dead and his nemesis, Holmes (Ben Caplan), is in thrall to an extreme mix of weltschmerz and PTSD. He feels that, with the departure of the 'Napoleon of Crime' he will have no further 'worthy' opponents, and will no longer be validated as the 'greatest detective'. Consequently, he alienates his only friend Watson (Richard James) and rudely refuses an invitation to spend Christmas with him and Mary.
However - enter at this point, one Dr Timothy Cratchit (Damian Lynch {hint; he walks with a stick}), with an urgent request - will The Great Detective please look into the possibly-suspicious death of his friend and benefactor Ebeneezer Scrooge?
Of course, Holmes ends up taking the case. A parade of familiar names now appears, from 'The Countess' (alias Irene Adler; Rosie Armstrong), through Emma Wiggins (daughter of the original Baker Street Irregular; Gemma Laurie), the Blue Carbuncle (plus goose), to Ebeneezer himself (in spirit form; Kammy Darweish).
To tell truth, the plotline sags a little as Act 1 progresses; but Act 2, with its triumphant mystery-resolution, a dramatic arrest by Inspector Lestrade (Gemma Laurie again, diminutive and moustachioed), and the robust rendition of a carol by the company; ends everything satisfactorily and with style. Bravo to all the cast!
The Further Adventures of Peter Pan - The Return of Captain Hook (Ashcroft Theatre, Fairfield Halls, Croydon)
This was a relatively straightforward modern-day sequel to J M Barrie's original; but, since it was panto the plotline was adorned with lots of song and dance, the help of two local dance schools, some gymnastics, audience participation, and a quite criminal amount of (unoriginal) filth and double entendres, slipped in for the benefit of anyone over the age of eight. Even I was a bit shocked to hear about 'Seaman Staines on the poop deck' and doing 'breast-stroke with a mermaid' (mainly - it has to be said - because of the extreme age of the stuff, although in a show led by strong female roles, the sexism was a bit disappointing).
But mainly we were there to see if Ricky Champ's resurrected Captain Hook equalled his turn as Stuart Highway in Eastenders in villainy. (Actually, because, in true Eastenders style, Stuart got rehabilitated and made cuddly before his exit, Captain Hook won out)
The rest of the cast starred a number of actors well known to all the kids from CBbeebies and the like. So we enjoyed the show, and laughed at the topical references to Boy George on I'm a Celebrity, Holly Willoughy's queue-jumping and (at very short notice!) Harry Kane's spectacular, career-defining penalty-miss which had taken place the day before. Most props, though, to the kids from the local dance-schools, who did the elves and mermaids very proud.
Next up - Christmas, obviously; but after that, we open 2023 with a visit to the latest in new theatres - SohoPlace - to see Leah Harvey, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Alfred Enoch (I may swoon) in As You Like It. Yays!
