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March 29, 2024, 09:17:00 AM

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The theatre

Started by holyzombiejesus, April 14, 2022, 09:53:22 PM

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holyzombiejesus

We used to go quite a lot in Manchester although that was normally to the Royal Exchange which is a bit patchy. We'd also go and see the Chorlton Players, which was usually enjoyably rubbish, especially their horror dramatisations. Don't think I've seen a professional non-shakespearian play in a non-round theatre since college. Oh, saw Ghost Stories but that's not serious theatre, is it? I would like to go more but round here there's either the Hippodrome that seems to do Evita every couple of years or the am-dram place down the road which looks rubbish and boring.

Anyone go to the theatre? Anything current (ie on 30/4) (in London) you'd recommend?


lauraxsynthesis

I go less often than pre-Covid but still trying to go every few weeks. I've started booking this year's Globe stuff and the Royal Court is generally worth a look in.

Noodle Lizard

If you haven't seen The Woman In Black yet, that's a must-do. There's a good reason it's been around so long. A wonderfully inventive adaptation of a conventional ghost story that uses a threadbare stage setup and a cast of only two (or three?), and somehow manages to be utterly terrifying. I'm not exaggerating, it is genuinely frightening. The Fortune Theater itself, where it's been sat for the best part of 40 years now, is the perfect home for it, as it's one of the more intimate West End theaters and is innately a bit creepy.

I don't know what it's like now, but you used to be able to get matinee tickets pretty cheaply. Always try and get close to the aisle in the stalls for bonus spookiness. I probably saw it 10 times, often just by wandering in and picking up a ticket if I was in the area and had some time to kill. It's the first thing I tell anyone to do if they visit London.

---

For a different sort of theatrical experience, you should try Punchdrunk. They're the team behind Sleep No More in New York, as well as the 12-hour live episode of The Third Day. They've got one running in London right now, which I'm sure will be astonishing: https://onecartridgeplace.com/theburntcity/

Keebleman

"They call it the theatre, but we all know there's more than just one."  Norm Macdonald

Replies From View

I took a friend to see the Back to the Future musical as a treat for their birthday at the start of March.  Musicals aren't normally my thing, nor are big budget theatre productions like that (I prefer smaller scale, experimental stuff) but it was an enjoyable time and I'd recommend it to anyone who fancies that kind of thing.  It's exactly what you'd expect it to be, really, but sufficiently different from the film that you're not constantly distracted by things being and not being the same.

Replies From View

I'll be seeing this at the weekend:
 https://brixtonhouse.co.uk/shows/saturn-returns/

QuoteSaturn Returns is a choreopoem that explores the psychospiritual clashes produced in Black people by the weight of history.

Written and directed by Sonny Nwachukwu, Saturn Returns delves into an astral projection reality where the characters of Ada and Obi, take on forms of past, present, and future lives.

Saturn Returns enwraps modern psychological issues of being trapped in repeating self-destructive patterns with a spiritual affirming circularity of rebirth along family lineage that is a feature of Igbo mythology. Through music, spoken word and dance, Saturn Returns contrasts Christian notions of redemption through suffering, with mystical notions of escaping the constraining mortal realm through astral projection.

Small Man Big Horse

I saw Heathers The Musical recently, the most I've ever paid for a ticket for anything, and I mostly liked it, the actress playing Veronica was a little too goofy and sitcom-esque in the first half, and for a musical with that much death in it they've somehow managed to make it feel routine and not that shocking, but the songs are great and in general it works.

I'm off to see To Kill A Mockingbird in a couple of weeks, a friend bought me a ticket as a present pre-covid only for it to be delayed twice (and original star Rhys Ifans has been replaced by Rafe Spall), but I'm looking forward to seeing a big dramatic West End production, something I haven't done in a fair old while.

DrGreggles

Mrs Greggles gets loads of West End freebies, so I go to the theatre a fair bit.
Not keen on musicals, but I love a good play, and echo the praise for The Woman In Black.

Small Man Big Horse

Saw "But I'm A Cheerleader The Musical" at The Turbine Theatre in Battersea last night, I have to confess I've never seen the film but some very positive reviews led me to getting a ticket, and I'm so glad I did. For anyone unaware of the movie, it's about a seventeen year old cheerleader whose friends suspect she's gay, and upon telling her parents she's whisked off to "True Directions", a camp devoted to straightening out anyone who even shows a sign of homosexuality. This could have been dodgy if handled poorly but thankfully it wasn't, it's a very funny musical throughout but the rom-com element between the two female leads is really sweet natured and affecting, and the love songs are the highlight of the play. That said all of them are really great, as are the cast (with a fair amount of doubling up taking place, but not the detriment of the piece), the soundtrack is something I'll buy on day one if it gets released in the future, and I'd rate this a very rare 5/5.

Small Man Big Horse

So I saw two very, very different musicals this weekend:

American Idiot at The Bridewell Theatre - I thought this would be a conventional jukebox musical, where there'd be about ten to twelve songs from the band and a sod load of plotting and interesting characters, but nope, it's the first time I've ever wanted a musical to have less songs in it as there's barely any dialogue, maybe one short line in the form of a letter, and the plot is one giant cliché filled piece of shit. The set up is that three friends are supposed to move to the city from the small town they live in, but one drops out as his girlfriend gets pregnant, the other two go but one joins the army shortly afterwards and the other becomes addicted to heroin, and it's miserable, whiney stuff from that point on. The actress playing the drug dealer Saint Jimmy plays it so broad that it'd be over the top in a pantomime, there's 22 songs (though it feels like more as some are a montage of others and go on for fucking ever) and the dialogue is plain embarrassing, all of which made it one of the worst musicals I've ever seen, and I've seen a musical puppet version of Macbeth. 1/5.

Love Is Only Love @ The Other Palace - A romantic comedy two hander where the lead actor loves musical theatre and feels frustrated that far too often when gay characters feature in films and tv shows their lives are horribly difficult, so he has created a simple but very touching and amusing love story based on his own life, and sure, it didn't last for ever, but it lasted long enough, and this is a really lovely show with some great songs in it. 4/5

holyzombiejesus

I forgot to thank people for their recommendations. I went to see The Woman in Black (got a 4th row aisle seat) and thought it was great fun. Thanks again.

flotemysost

I saw The 47th at the Old Vic last week - the potential near-future of American politics, with Kamala Harris in office and Trump in the running for the next election, imagined in imabic pentameter. It's written by Mike Bartlett, whose short but powerful Cock (sorry, too easy) is also having a run at the Ambassadors Theatre at the moment.

Anyway, it's a rather bombastically ambitious premise, and imho the production almost has the confidence to pull it off; the inventively grandiose set worked really well, and Bertie Carvel hits the mark as Trump, impressively managing not to turn an already cartoonish character into a straight-up caricature.

Like other stuff I've seen from the playwright, it did often felt like it was banking on the shock and novelty of seeing very close-to-home stuff play out in a grippingly uncanny-valley effect, rather than saying anything especially solid or conclusive (no spoilers, but some scenes recreating events from very recent history were quite chilling) - but for the theatrical spectacle alone (as well as some genuine laughs) I'd recommend it.

Small Man Big Horse

To Kill A Mockingbird at The Gielgud Theatre - Shamefully I've never read the book but I know the material fairly well as I was in a horribly misguided school play version, and that entailed watching the Gregory Peck film a good few times. But as I haven't read the novel I don't know if everything here is from the text or if Aaron Sorkin has created new dialogue, etc, but he's definitely put his own stamp on it and changed the structure as it starts off with a court scene and then flashes back to before Atticus has taken the case, and lurches all over the place time wise throughout the production, I think that's a good thing too, it means the second half isn't one lengthy court scene, and thematically it allows Sorkin to play around with various ideas. Another difference is that it's narrated by all three of the children, and it's quite a surprise as if anything it makes it feel like the whole thing revolves around Jem rather than Scout, and he certainly gets a lot more to do than she does. Having all of the three children played by adults is understandable given child labour laws / the bleakness of the material, but Scout was played by a thirty one year old actress who I thought was pretty poor, her accent wandered all over the place (sounding Australian at several points), and just overall she came across as irritating, but that is at least the only complaint I have, Rafe Spall was superb, turning in a completely different performance to that of Gregory Peck's but for my money it's a better one, with Atticus feeling far more human, and everyone on else impressed too, and (amusingly to me at least) I didn't realise until afterwards that the Judge was played by Jim Norton of Father Ted's Bishop Brennan fame. 4/5

holyzombiejesus

(Oh, by the way, I saw such a strange couple when I went to see WiB. The guy looked about 40 and was huge, an absolute mountain of a man, one of those who probably couldn't see his own cock unless he looked in the mirror. He was wearing a loud striped shirt, braces and a peeky blinders cap. The woman he was with looked about 19, had bright orange hair and was wearing an oversized suit with a red jumper, yellow tie and blue shirt. They had something weird, black and shiny stashed in a carrier bag. They were 'together' as she kept resting her head on his shoulder and fed him a crisp. I really liked them and wanted to ask if I could go for a drink with them but didn't.)

Small Man Big Horse

Untitled Sparkly Vampire Play - Clapham Omnibus - Izzy's holding a Twilight themed book club because she's obsessed with it, and the lead character / vampire Edward especially, but unfortunately for Izzy she's painfully lonely, and the way she imagines Edward actually existing is threatening to get out of control. I wasn't quite sure if this was going to be something that would appeal given I'd never seen a second of Twilight but that wasn't an issue in the slightest, it's a smart, often funny play, and it just uses the main idea to explore various themes concerning identity and sexuality, and at 70 minutes is the perfect length for what it has to say. 3.75/5

Small Man Big Horse

#15
The Concrete Jungle Book at The Pleasance Theatre - Acclaimed hip hop musical that sees young baby Mo abandoned by her parents, before being found by her brother Bageera who decides he's not up to raising a kid so he takes her to a nearby orphanage. Sixteen years later and she's still there, but the orphanage is closing down as the woman who inherited it from her mother can't afford the rent increase (and, um, is that how orphanage's actually work? Are they not state funded rather than private businesses? Eh, I don't know). Due to this Mo runs away the very day the still present Bageera was going to adopt her, and she then meets "Bear of the streets" Baloo who teaches her how to survive on the street but nurses a honey addiction that I guess is meant to represent either heroin or coke but it's never quite made clear.
Spoiler alert
Then it gets sillier with King Louis and the jackals / dealers he employs, who persuade Mo to kill and prove she's worthy of joining the gang, while Bageera and Baloo are searching for Mo hoping to find her with the aid of weirdo ex-soldier Kaa. It ends with Bageera finding Mo, but Louis stabs him to death, and there's another time jump where we get a bunch of characters saying  what happened to Mo, with some of the stories optimistic but the majority less so.
[close]
The songs are actually pretty strong throughout and so I did enjoy that aspect, but the plotting and the script are often embarrassingly poor, and this feels like it's been put together by well meaning drama students who have never actually seen a homeless person, let alone met one. 3/5 for the songs, but overall 1/5.

Small Man Big Horse

Hair at the Bridewell Theatre - I'd seen the film version of this and liked it, but soon discovered that it's very different to the original stage play which is a strange old thing. The first half is a kind of joys of the sixties, free love, drugs, blah blah blah, and the songs are mostly upbeat and quite funny. But the second half sees a guy called Clyde (played by a young woman here, for reasons I'm not quite sure of) unable to make up his mind as to whether he should go to war, and hallucinates for fucking ages in a sequence that started well but then became poorer as it went on. Having checked wikipedia, a lot of changes have been made to the second half, and some elements of the first half had been too, for instance the hippies meet a man in drag originally, but this time around it's someone doing Margaret Thatcher in drag (complete with "This ladies not for turning " quote), and one character drools over a picture of George Michael (rather than Mick Jagger in the original). These changes just felt confusing given that it's main element is the anti-Vietnam War theme, and there were a few other weak parts, including the actress playing Clyde having a very strange selection of accents (I know she's faking being from Manchester, but it felt like she was faking being from about twenty other places too), while the actor playing Berger was weak. Its frustrating as there's some great ideas here, the cast were mostly strong, and some of the songs are very memorable, but while I enjoyed the first act a fair bit I felt the second really tested my patience. 2.5/5

Small Man Big Horse

Operation Mincemeat The Musical at Riverside Studios - A third run for this musical about a true world war two story, this originally debuted in 2019 and I'd be amazed if it doesn't transfer to another, bigger theatre as it's fucking awesome. Essentially about how MI5 tricked Hitler in to thinking the Allies are going to invade Greece and Sardinia when in fact Sicily is their target, even without the songs this would be superb, it's packed with some very funny jokes and great performances (with the female cast taking on a lot of male roles, and vice versa), but the songs are just superb, filled with extremely funny moments, and then there's one incredibly touching one towards the end of the first half that had me burst in to tears. If I had a tiny, incredibly minor complaint it might be that the it needed one more kickass song in the second half to be right up there with my favourite ever things, but otherwise this was superb, and it deservedly got a standing ovation. 5/5

Small Man Big Horse

Age Is A Feeling by Haley McGee (WIP) at Soho Theatre - The story of a woman's life from 25 years old to death, which uses a device where you only hear six out of twelve possible stories, with random audience members deciding which ones and so on another night you might hear a very different show. This really impressed me, McGee avoids clichés to tell a very honest, thoughtful, often funny but often moving story, a ninety minute monologue which had me captivated throughout. 4.25/5

flotemysost

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on July 03, 2022, 05:08:30 PMOperation Mincemeat The Musical at Riverside Studios - A third run for this musical about a true world war two story, this originally debuted in 2019 and I'd be amazed if it doesn't transfer to another, bigger theatre as it's fucking awesome. Essentially about how MI5 tricked Hitler in to thinking the Allies are going to invade Greece and Sardinia when in fact Sicily is their target, even without the songs this would be superb, it's packed with some very funny jokes and great performances (with the female cast taking on a lot of male roles, and vice versa), but the songs are just superb, filled with extremely funny moments, and then there's one incredibly touching one towards the end of the first half that had me burst in to tears. If I had a tiny, incredibly minor complaint it might be that the it needed one more kickass song in the second half to be right up there with my favourite ever things, but otherwise this was superb, and it deservedly got a standing ovation. 5/5


Just noticed this post but YES! Saw this in 2021, in its original run at Southwark Playhouse (my first post-covid theatre visit), and loved it so much I went again with someone else. I couldn't tell if I was just a bit overwhelmed by the joy of seeing live theatre again, but it really is great isn't it? So slick and witty, but with so much heart - I'm really glad it's been extended.

(And likewise I was a complete snuffling mess the first time I saw *that* song - again, I wasn't sure if it was just the emotion of being back at the theatre, but glad to hear I wasn't the only one!)

Back at the Playhouse, I saw The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco last week. I did some work for the company, Icarus, yonks ago, so it was cool to see what they're up to, but I went in not really knowing much about the play itself. It's a three-hander based around a young woman showing up at the house of an older academic man, eager to be taught so that she can embark on an ambiguous educational award, with occasional appearances from a sullen housemaid. As the "lesson" goes on, things get progressively surreal and then sinister as the two engage in an absurd power struggle, culminating in a chilling finale.

The production made inventive use of closed captioning (projected as scribbled text appearing on a chalkboard in the classroom), which as a hearing person added an interesting dimension to it, but is obviously a great idea from an inclusivity perspective. The performances seemed perhaps a little heavy-handed at first, but as it progressed I can see how that style matches the outlandishly bizarre concepts and events of the play, and also lent itself to some genuinely (if uncomfortably) funny moments, too. The "reveal" at the end definitely sent a tangible shock through the audience; I feel like I need to read up on the play and its historical context to better appreciate it, though.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: flotemysost on July 17, 2022, 01:49:08 PMJust noticed this post but YES! Saw this in 2021, in its original run at Southwark Playhouse (my first post-covid theatre visit), and loved it so much I went again with someone else. I couldn't tell if I was just a bit overwhelmed by the joy of seeing live theatre again, but it really is great isn't it? So slick and witty, but with so much heart - I'm really glad it's been extended.

(And likewise I was a complete snuffling mess the first time I saw *that* song - again, I wasn't sure if it was just the emotion of being back at the theatre, but glad to hear I wasn't the only one!)

I think it's the heart that makes it so special, a lot of comedy musicals lack substance, or it feels forced and unnatural (which was my problem with Heathers The Musical, which I liked but felt was almost sitcom-esque in the first half) but with Mincemeat it feels very real, I've noticed they've only put two songs on bandcamp but *that* song is on there and I've found myself returning to it a fair few times over the past couple of weeks, and really hope the entire soundtrack is released at some point. And I'm absolutely with you as to how smart the script is too, and I was particularly fond of the mockery of Ian Fleming!

beanheadmcginty

Can't stand people who pronounce theatre as "thee-etter" rather than "theerter".

Small Man Big Horse

Don't Look Over Here, Andrew Lloyd Webber (WIP) by Sh!t Theatre at The Pleasance Theatre - For the first time in their careers Sh!t Theatre (Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit ) didn't receive arts funding for their latest show, which led them to making this mega musical so they could make a whole bunch of money. Choosing the first female President in the world as their subject, Isabel Perón, who was the wife of Juan Perón after Evita died, what follows is an absolutely fascinating insight in to her life, along with Louise and Rebecca's concerns about possibly ever having children, and commentary on Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical. It might sound like it's a strange mix but it's one that absolutely works and I found myself completely engrossed in this, it's still a little rough around the edges with the duo reading from scripts while they were their own stage managers, and a couple of the songs were apparently very new, but that wasn't an issue, and I definitely want to see the finished version. 4.5/5

Small Man Big Horse

Matilda at The Cambridge Theatre - Just superb, it's the first time I've spent over a hundred pounds on a theatre ticket (or anywhere near that amount!) but it was absolutely worth it, a really smart, fun, beautifully choreographed musical packed with brilliant songs and the performances from all of the cast were award worthy, especially the large amount of talented young actors. 5/5

Small Man Big Horse

Yeast Nation @ Southwark Theatre - I read a very angry 1 star Guardian review of this just before going in and for the first ten minutes was in agreement with it. But the musical slowly won me over as it's relentlessly weird and stupid but the songs are often quite good and very well sung. On another night I have a feeling I might have hated this, but for some reason despite being aware of it's very tired old plot and patchy dialogue, the cast giving it there all and hamming it, along with a few songs that I really thought were great, up led me to be surprisingly sort of quite liking it. 3/5

Small Man Big Horse

Oh Mother at Soho Theatre - One of the most fascinating and extremely well written and performed pieces of (non-musical) theatre I've seen in a long while. It's got a lot to say about motherhood, children, family, gender and relationships, and does so in a captivating manner which leaps about all over the place, replicating the chaos of bringing a life in to the world, while also looking at those who can't or don't wish to have kids, and a lot more besides, and even despite my being someone who will never have a child I was enthralled by it, and think it's pretty damn special. 5/5

Small Man Big Horse

Two musicals about unusual French women, one from last Friday, one from last night.

Julie The Musical at The Gatehouse, Highgate - A musical based on the life of opera singer Julie D'Aubigny who apparently led a fairly scandalous life as an openly bisexual woman who seduced nuns, duelled with multiple men at once, burnt down a convent, while also apparently innovating Opera, though that last part is only briefly touched upon here. With a cast of five taking on many different roles and a start which is quite manic as it rushes to tell us as much about Julie as possible which makes it feel initially a little flimsy, but the other 70 minutes were far, far better as it settled down and allowed the story to breathe, which led to a really fantastic, charming, funny play that's packed with some great songs. 4/5

Jeanne at The Turbine Theatre - A rehearsed reading of this 1986 musical based on the life of Joan Of Arc that was introduced by it's writer Shirlie Roden, who recently got a call from original producer Bill Kenwright who thought it might be worth reviving, and that a couple of nights in front of a live audience may help them work out if it is or not. It was edited down to an hour and forty minutes with added narration to explain what was going on, and it's an odd case where the interval kind of spoils it, the first half is Joan (Elzbieta Kalicka) all passionate about God and fighting and the songs are often quite beautiful, especially when Joan is having a good old sing song with the voices in her head. But the second act focuses on her capture and trial, and it's a gloomier affair with songs that are less memorable, though at least it does give the villain of the piece Pierre Cauchon (played by original cast member Peter Straker) one great number which he belted out powerfully. I really enjoyed the first half , Kalicka had an amazing voice, one of the best I think I've ever heard, and with  a stronger second half this could be something really interesting and special, but as it is right now I'm glad I saw it but I wouldn't pay west end prices. 3.75/5

holyzombiejesus

I really like your reviews, @Small Man Big Horse  Don't have anything to add so am not leaving comments but don't want you thinking your posts aren't being appreciated.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on August 23, 2022, 06:17:47 PMI really like your reviews, @Small Man Big Horse  Don't have anything to add so am not leaving comments but don't want you thinking your posts aren't being appreciated.

Thank you for saying that, it's very kind of you. I'm now actually not sure when I'll be going to the theatre again as I went a bit crazy during my two week holiday and spent a sod load (I still can't believe I bought a Mathilda ticket for that sort of money, though I'm very glad that I did) but hopefully something interesting and cheap will come along soon.

Small Man Big Horse

Titanic The Musical at The Brookside Theatre, Romford - Based on a Broadway hit made in 1986 and so nothing to do with the movie, this presents us with a selection of first, second and third class passengers along with the captain and a sprinkling of the crew, and the first (slightly overlong) act is all upbeat singing and dancing as they celebrate the Titanic and the amazing feat of engineering that it was at the time. It uses only a few props and pieces of furniture but the back wall is one large screen on to which video is projected, so there's lots of shots of the sea, but also recreations of the various decks and social areas, though when we see the iceberg it's one of the worst bits of cgi I've ever seen and did make me laugh out loud when we were clearly meant to be horrified. As for the narrative, there's a bit of romance, some mild commentary on the class divide, and a posh tit of a sort of villain who keeps on demanding the ship go faster and faster so they can arrive in New York within six days, hence the Captain deciding to take a short cut through icy waters, but it's more of a character piece than anything else. Eventually the first half comes to and end with the inevitable "Iceberg, right ahead!" and the second half is a mixture of the crew hiding what's happening from the passengers, trying to maintain order, loved ones singing tragic goodbye songs to each other, and after the overlong first act this was quite short and only about forty minutes, and more time spent with the passengers we'd got to know in the first half would have made it feel a little more substantial. This was a semi-pro production and pretty impressive (bar one really off key singer) and the cast sang some fairly decent songs, but while I found myself enjoying it a good deal I've no urge to track down the Broadway cast recording. 3.75/5