See some plays: Spring Storm

Website: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Last night ABJ and I went to see the Tennessee Williams play Spring Storm at the National Theatre. The play was in the smaller Cottesloe Theatre which we had to hunt around to find.

Apparently the play was written when the young Tennessee Williams was in a writing class but the teachers and students were so negative about it that he put it away and it was only rediscovered after his death.

While I was waiting for ABJ I saw a "Watch This Space" performance by a troupe of jugglers in the area outside the theatre:
The play showed hints of Tennessee Williams' later works and was a story about a love triangle in the American South. The actors all spoke with a southern accent which made it fun to imagine what their real accents were.

The set and the set changes were very impressive - the set was a kind of squashed house and the set changers involved energetic people running in and restructuring the debris into a library or a living room.Summary: Good early Tennessee Williams.

See some plays: The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Website:
http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=65
http://www.vaudeville-theatre.co.uk

On Monday night ABJ and I went to see The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre. We both enjoyed it immensely.

The play starred Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl as Mel and Edna, a couple living on the 14th floor of an apartment block in New York City. Mel is anxious and neurotic about living in New York - the noise, the pollution, the faulty apartment - and during the play he has a nervous breakdown. In the end Edna and Mel realise what's important in life and end up somewhat happy again.

The play was laugh-out-loud funny and the performances were excellent. ABJ especially enjoyed the portrayal of Mel's Jewish New Yorker family.

Sometime during the first act Mel went berserk and threw things around the stage. A pillow he threw landed up on the lighting and during the interval someone had to come out with a grabbing arm and retrieve it:
After the show we wanted to find something to eat and as we walked around trying to find a restaurant we stumbled upon the theatre's stage door. There was a crowd of people waiting there for Jeff Goldblum's autograph. We decided to wait to see what would happen. After about 10 minutes the actors started to come out. When Jeff came out he was mobbed by the fans but he was a very nice guy - he took time to sign everyone's tickets/flyers/hands and even posed for photos with people. One person said "You inspired me to go to acting school!" to which he replied "Oh, acting school?... I think I'm still in acting school...". ABJ managed to get one of our tickets signed.
Summary: Great play with great performances...

See some plays: Dandy of the Underworld

Website: http://www.sohotheatre.com

About a week and a half ago ABJ and I went to see a play called "Dandy in the Underworld" at the Soho Theatre. It was based on the memoir of Sebastian Horsley - a man who lived an extravagant life in the heart of Soho. The play had been in the news because a day after it opened Horsley was found dead at his home from a suspected drugs overdose. ABJ and I didn't know much about him when we booked into see the play but but the end we felt much more knowledgeable.

The play was a single-act that lasted something over an hour. The one actor played Horsley as he hung around his Soho flat getting ready to go out for lunch. He talked about his life, his past and his experiences with sex and drugs. The script was funny and poignant in turns.

The actor managed to keep everyone's attention for the whole play, whether he was getting dressed in a bright-red suit with bright-red top hat, or shouting out the window at noisy drug dealers or prostitutes...

We both enjoyed the show so much that when we left ABJ bought the book that's it's based on.Summary: An enjoyable night out...

See some plays: Sweet Charity

Websites:
http://www.trh.co.uk
http://www.sweetcharitywestend.com

Last night ABJ and I went to see the musical Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. We bought our tickets around 6pm ready for the 7.30pm show time.

Our seats were in the gallery - the highest part of the theatre. As the musical started we found we had a whole row to ourselves. The people sitting in the gallery rows in front of us were packed shoulder to shoulder whereas we had plenty of room. During the interval the audience shuffled around and a few people came to join the empty rows around us. I enjoyed seeing the spot lights just behind us shining all the way down to the stage...The show itself was fun - I particular liked a scene in which the two characters are trapped in a lift. They did a good job at making you believe they really were trapped in this small space...Summary: Short and sweet charity

See some plays: The Real Thing

Website: http://www.oldvictheatre.com

Last night ABJ and I went to see a Tom Stoppard play called The Real Thing at the Old Vic. She had bought tickets which, although high up on the "Lilian Baylis Upper Circle", were exactly in the centre so offered a very good view of the stage.

The lobby of the theatre was packed full of people having a pre-theatre drink of expensive glasses of champagne:We got a drink downstairs in the Pit Bar and took them into our seats (this time we were experienced enough to ask for the drinks in plastic cups).

The theatre interior was ornately decorated with a huge chandelier in the centre: I managed to take one last photo of the stage before an usher told me off for taking pictures:
The play itself was very good. It dealt with love and tangled relationships. My favourite part involved a monologue comparing good use of words to a cricket bat and contrasting a coffee cup to the ideas of justice, honesty etc.

During the interval we has some tasty, but expensive Cornish ice cream.

Summary: Good play, nice venue, packed out audience.

See some plays: Sweet Nothings

Website: http://www.youngvic.org

A week ago last Friday ABJ and I took an evening out to visit the Young Vic Theatre. We were there to see Sweet Nothings - a play with the tagline "Four young people risk everything in a tragic game of love, lust and adultery"!

We arrived and picked up our cheap £10 student/"under 26" tickets at the front desk. We then went to have a drink in the crowded downstairs bar. In the hope of a place to sit we ventured upstairs to another bar but this was also packed out. While we stood there sipping out beers we wondered if all the trendy people we could see were there for the play or if the Young Vic was also a hip place to hang out.

At last we went into the theatre, awkwardly transferring out drinks to plastic cups. It was unreserved seating inside so we sat on the front row.

The play itself was really good and we couldn't have picked better seats - in some parts the actors were standing directly in front of us while they collected wine glasses or boiled coffee. The stage was round and slowly rotated during the performance. This was quite subtle and often you would have a double-take to realise that the piano that was 20 minutes ago on the far left was now at the back of the stage...

In the interval we overheard two men nearby discussing about how dreadful the play was "it's all style and no substance" etc. We discreetly made fun of them because we were enjoying the play. In the end they walked out and didn't stay for the second half.

All in all it was a good evening out.
Summary: Good play, funky venue.

See some plays: Rain Man

Websites:
http://www.rainmanonstage.com
http://www.apollo-theatre.co.uk

Last night ABJ and I took a spur of the moment trip to the Apollo theatre to see Rain Man. We bought two £16 tickets for seats in the Balcony. They were so high up that we had to exit the theatre and enter a staircase leading up from the street! We ended up with a view all the way down through the theatre to the stage:
The play starred Josh Hartnett as Charlie (a slick car saleman who - at the start - is only after money) and Adam Godley as Raymond (Charlie's autistic older brother).
The story is already a Hollywood film but this version had been "reimagined for the stage". It was good. In fact, I'd forgotten how enjoyable theatre plays can be - much more enjoyable than musicals... There were jokes and thought-provoking moments. The interval curtain was pretty cool too:
Summary: I'll certainly be going to "see some plays" more often.