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Do you believe in the West World?
In the first few weeks or so or last year, ChrisC and I realised that we already had been to (a) the cinema, (b) the theatre, (c) a gig and (d) a sporting event[*]. Which seemed pretty successful for so early in January, and we made a vague resolution to go to the theatre once a month[**] during 2014.
We didn't quite manage that, but it was a creditable attempt:
Strangers on a Train, Gielgud Theatre
I've never seen the film Strangers on a Train, so went along to see the stage production without any idea of the plot (which apparently differed slightly from the film).
The staging of this was absolutely beautiful, with both set and costumes in black and white, often with flickering footage providing backdrop or detail. The opening scenes, in a 1920s carriage, really evoked the glamour of the railway boom.
Sadly, despite truly impressive special effects at the end, the actual play left me a bit underwhelmed and rather unable to care much what happened to any of the characters.
Shadowlands, Questors
Shadowlands is another film I've not seen, so again I met this adaption of a part of CS Lewis' life without much prior knowledge.
Incidentally, if you're wondering, Questors is Ealing's local theatre. It has various amateur companies, a bewildering array of youth theatre, and gets touring productions as well. Also it has an an exceedingly good CAMRA-approved real ale bar. Questors is great.
This production was in the studio (actually, all the Questors productions we saw this year were in there rather than the main theatre). It's a small, rectangular room with raked seating; it probably holds around a hundred, I'd guess.
The set was a hugely complicated, purpose-built affair with a wardrobe in one corner, and generic interior stuff that could be various rooms as required. The acting was amazing, and I enjoyed this immensely.
(Let the Right One In, Apollo Theatre)
So, there was a special offer on big West End shows. But, as is the way of the tthings, the tickets went like shit off a shovel. While we were trying to book. There was some panicking. There was a slightly frantic purchase.
And then there was a quiet period of reflection where it was revealed that that Thursday show was, in fact, a matinee.
ChrisC took time off work to see it, I didn't. I don't think he liked the play all that much.
The Balcony, Questors
Around now, I realised that the first three plays had all been popularised as films, and thought we ought to try something a little less populist and more avant garde. We booked tickets for The Balcony on a whim, knowing very little about it.
And... err. Right. Well. Populist it ain't. Watching it, I was aware that it was probably going to be one of those scripts for which the Wikipedia page will include references to several important academics' analysis of the themes implies (it is). Bluntly speaking, I didn't really understand it.
I quite enjoyed it, it was a diverting couple of hours, and in so far as I could tell it was well done. I just... yeah. Maybe I should stick to films.
The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, a disused building near Paddington
This wasn't a play in the strictest sense, it was a "theatre installation" by the extremely highly-thought-of Punchdrunk theatre company.
I spent a couple of hours ambling wide-eyed around a three-storey building, opening doors, rummaging through drawers, peering through windows, going cautiously round corners, and (every so often) happening upon a clutch of actors.
In response (apparently) to customer feedback, they provided small slips of paper giving a hint to the story that was going to unfold. I'm glad they did, although I don't think that piecing the story together was really my main goal. I was quite happy just exploring, marvelling at the things I found, and watching whatever happened by.
There was virtually no dialogue, occasional shouts and half-sentences. The way the actors moved in some scenes was amazing - clearly choreographed, and halfway to dancing. We were allowed to move around the building at will until the very end of the production, when we were subtly but determinedly herded towards the set-piece ending.
I really enjoyed this and, given Punchdrunk's reputation, would be keen to meet other things they do.
Squirrels/The After Dinner Joke, Orange Tree Theatre
Two one-act plays, at Richmond's Orange Tree Theatre. I can't quite remember what prodded us into going to this. I think it might be that ChrisC likes squirrels :)
Anyway, Squirrels turned out to be about a rather odd author, trying deperately to write and re-write a story, aided, abetted and inconvenienced by his secretary and his cleaner. It involved a lot of very volatile emotion, and a lot of people saying things that were clearly Very Significant. I lost patience with it a bit.
The After Dinner Joke revealed itself to be a satire about charitable giving, featuring an idealistic young girl who wants to Do Good and not get bogged down in the politics of overseas charity work. A smallish cast of persons, but a largeish cast of characters, people constantly turned up in different roles, shunting various bits of scenrey about with them as they went, and using all the space the theate could rustle up. After the vary static and ponderous first play, this was really very entertaining.
NSFW, Questors
I think it was about this time that we realised you can go to the first night of most Questors productions for half-price. At £6.50, we figured we might as well take a punt on anything.
What we got was a two-act play, the first act set in the offices of a lads' mag, and the second set in the offices of a women's fashion magazine; various characters from the first half also turn up in the second.
The play's goal was to question who is more exploitative of women, the overt "lads' culture" or the insidious fashion industry. Which it did, although I think it could have done it rather more quickly and subtly ;) I enjoyed this, and thought there was some really good acting in it, but the script was a bit flabby in places.
It also gets points for the 90s soundtrack (we were pretty much on board when they lights went out and they started playing Elastica very loud) and for the excellent changeover from the first set to the second, which was beautifully choreographed and done by champagne-swilling "party girls".
Futures/I Am The Walrus, Questors
Another £6.50 special, these two plays were the winner and runner-up of a writing prize the theatre ran over the year. Both were one-act, two-person plays of around an hour (the rules of the competition required a one-hour play, I'm not sure if the number of actors was also specified).
Futures was set exclusively on a park bench, covering the interactions between a city trader and a homeless girl. I Am The Walrus was set exclusively on a rock in a non-specific desert, covering the interactions between a traveller, and a man who has gone into the desert for a quiet think.
Both of them were... I'm not sure how to say this... low on plot and action. Very little actually happened in view of the audience - in the former case, some things happened off stage and were reported in dialogue, in the latter, virtually nothing happened at all. The former told a story, the latter was much more about philosophical debate (and included one of the characters making it clear he was quite aware he was in a theatre, and mocking the other for not realising). All in all, two pretty excellent, intriguing plays given that (I think) they were both written by new writers.
The Mousetrap, St Martin's Theatre
Well, how else do you end a year of London theatre? The hoary old Mousetrap, still running after 63 years.
This is kind of exactly what you'd expect of an Agatha Christie play: characters which verge on stereotype, a murder or two, a rather vague 40s-50s setting, and a plot which resolves in the last ten minutes in a tidy way. The acting is all rather mannered, and (although I'm aware they change the cast yearly) it does feel slightly like a production which has been going through the motions for 50 years.
I managed to get to see this without having been spoilered (ChrisC did not). I don't actually think that the play itself is all that strong, and the value is mostly in the dénoument. If you're ever likely to see it, do not go and read the Wikipedia plot summary. (It is indeed true that the audience are reminded as the curtain comes down that they should keep the ending to themselves.)
[*] Snooker, obviously.
[**] By contrast, I made it to the cinema a whole one other time during the year. Or three times in total if I count the work jolly to Secret Cinema.
We didn't quite manage that, but it was a creditable attempt:
Strangers on a Train, Gielgud Theatre
I've never seen the film Strangers on a Train, so went along to see the stage production without any idea of the plot (which apparently differed slightly from the film).
The staging of this was absolutely beautiful, with both set and costumes in black and white, often with flickering footage providing backdrop or detail. The opening scenes, in a 1920s carriage, really evoked the glamour of the railway boom.
Sadly, despite truly impressive special effects at the end, the actual play left me a bit underwhelmed and rather unable to care much what happened to any of the characters.
Shadowlands, Questors
Shadowlands is another film I've not seen, so again I met this adaption of a part of CS Lewis' life without much prior knowledge.
Incidentally, if you're wondering, Questors is Ealing's local theatre. It has various amateur companies, a bewildering array of youth theatre, and gets touring productions as well. Also it has an an exceedingly good CAMRA-approved real ale bar. Questors is great.
This production was in the studio (actually, all the Questors productions we saw this year were in there rather than the main theatre). It's a small, rectangular room with raked seating; it probably holds around a hundred, I'd guess.
The set was a hugely complicated, purpose-built affair with a wardrobe in one corner, and generic interior stuff that could be various rooms as required. The acting was amazing, and I enjoyed this immensely.
(Let the Right One In, Apollo Theatre)
So, there was a special offer on big West End shows. But, as is the way of the tthings, the tickets went like shit off a shovel. While we were trying to book. There was some panicking. There was a slightly frantic purchase.
And then there was a quiet period of reflection where it was revealed that that Thursday show was, in fact, a matinee.
ChrisC took time off work to see it, I didn't. I don't think he liked the play all that much.
The Balcony, Questors
Around now, I realised that the first three plays had all been popularised as films, and thought we ought to try something a little less populist and more avant garde. We booked tickets for The Balcony on a whim, knowing very little about it.
And... err. Right. Well. Populist it ain't. Watching it, I was aware that it was probably going to be one of those scripts for which the Wikipedia page will include references to several important academics' analysis of the themes implies (it is). Bluntly speaking, I didn't really understand it.
I quite enjoyed it, it was a diverting couple of hours, and in so far as I could tell it was well done. I just... yeah. Maybe I should stick to films.
The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, a disused building near Paddington
This wasn't a play in the strictest sense, it was a "theatre installation" by the extremely highly-thought-of Punchdrunk theatre company.
I spent a couple of hours ambling wide-eyed around a three-storey building, opening doors, rummaging through drawers, peering through windows, going cautiously round corners, and (every so often) happening upon a clutch of actors.
In response (apparently) to customer feedback, they provided small slips of paper giving a hint to the story that was going to unfold. I'm glad they did, although I don't think that piecing the story together was really my main goal. I was quite happy just exploring, marvelling at the things I found, and watching whatever happened by.
There was virtually no dialogue, occasional shouts and half-sentences. The way the actors moved in some scenes was amazing - clearly choreographed, and halfway to dancing. We were allowed to move around the building at will until the very end of the production, when we were subtly but determinedly herded towards the set-piece ending.
I really enjoyed this and, given Punchdrunk's reputation, would be keen to meet other things they do.
Squirrels/The After Dinner Joke, Orange Tree Theatre
Two one-act plays, at Richmond's Orange Tree Theatre. I can't quite remember what prodded us into going to this. I think it might be that ChrisC likes squirrels :)
Anyway, Squirrels turned out to be about a rather odd author, trying deperately to write and re-write a story, aided, abetted and inconvenienced by his secretary and his cleaner. It involved a lot of very volatile emotion, and a lot of people saying things that were clearly Very Significant. I lost patience with it a bit.
The After Dinner Joke revealed itself to be a satire about charitable giving, featuring an idealistic young girl who wants to Do Good and not get bogged down in the politics of overseas charity work. A smallish cast of persons, but a largeish cast of characters, people constantly turned up in different roles, shunting various bits of scenrey about with them as they went, and using all the space the theate could rustle up. After the vary static and ponderous first play, this was really very entertaining.
NSFW, Questors
I think it was about this time that we realised you can go to the first night of most Questors productions for half-price. At £6.50, we figured we might as well take a punt on anything.
What we got was a two-act play, the first act set in the offices of a lads' mag, and the second set in the offices of a women's fashion magazine; various characters from the first half also turn up in the second.
The play's goal was to question who is more exploitative of women, the overt "lads' culture" or the insidious fashion industry. Which it did, although I think it could have done it rather more quickly and subtly ;) I enjoyed this, and thought there was some really good acting in it, but the script was a bit flabby in places.
It also gets points for the 90s soundtrack (we were pretty much on board when they lights went out and they started playing Elastica very loud) and for the excellent changeover from the first set to the second, which was beautifully choreographed and done by champagne-swilling "party girls".
Futures/I Am The Walrus, Questors
Another £6.50 special, these two plays were the winner and runner-up of a writing prize the theatre ran over the year. Both were one-act, two-person plays of around an hour (the rules of the competition required a one-hour play, I'm not sure if the number of actors was also specified).
Futures was set exclusively on a park bench, covering the interactions between a city trader and a homeless girl. I Am The Walrus was set exclusively on a rock in a non-specific desert, covering the interactions between a traveller, and a man who has gone into the desert for a quiet think.
Both of them were... I'm not sure how to say this... low on plot and action. Very little actually happened in view of the audience - in the former case, some things happened off stage and were reported in dialogue, in the latter, virtually nothing happened at all. The former told a story, the latter was much more about philosophical debate (and included one of the characters making it clear he was quite aware he was in a theatre, and mocking the other for not realising). All in all, two pretty excellent, intriguing plays given that (I think) they were both written by new writers.
The Mousetrap, St Martin's Theatre
Well, how else do you end a year of London theatre? The hoary old Mousetrap, still running after 63 years.
This is kind of exactly what you'd expect of an Agatha Christie play: characters which verge on stereotype, a murder or two, a rather vague 40s-50s setting, and a plot which resolves in the last ten minutes in a tidy way. The acting is all rather mannered, and (although I'm aware they change the cast yearly) it does feel slightly like a production which has been going through the motions for 50 years.
I managed to get to see this without having been spoilered (ChrisC did not). I don't actually think that the play itself is all that strong, and the value is mostly in the dénoument. If you're ever likely to see it, do not go and read the Wikipedia plot summary. (It is indeed true that the audience are reminded as the curtain comes down that they should keep the ending to themselves.)
[*] Snooker, obviously.
[**] By contrast, I made it to the cinema a whole one other time during the year. Or three times in total if I count the work jolly to Secret Cinema.
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Yes, I was really disappointed that their "no photography" rule extended to the architecture, not just the players. Hell of a rake if you sit in the gods, though!
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(Anonymous) 2015-01-08 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)