The Play's the Thing: My Experiences with London Theatre

So, I'm an English Major, correct? Correct. So, I've read/ seen a lot of Shakespeare and other such plays, right? Wrong. You see, as far as theatre (UK spelling because, well, I want to) goes, I feel I've lead a somewhat sheltered life. Sure, It'd be safe to say I saw practically every play and musical my high school (secondary for you brits reading this) produced both before and during my tenure. And I've seen several productions at Gonzaga. They've been good, some of them even great. However, I hope you will agree with me when I say that no one does a play quite like a professional. And, really, as far as professionals go (but what do I know, being sheltered) you don't get much better than London, both in casting and in pure quality of EVERYTHING.

I have been lucky enough to be studying with a program that provides tickets to several (if not all) of the best productions London has to offer. Which means free entertainment, the likes of which tends to go down in history books and halls of fame. Yeah, its good stuff.

What follows is a break down of my experiences in the West End, the South bank and the odd fringe area. I won't be giving reviews of every play I've seen because, really, who wants a bunch of reviews? And I'm no critic. But I'd like to at least do a fair bit of bragging and name dropping. This is partly to do with my hope that many of you will be inspired to jump on the next flight to London and see something great yourself but mostly because I want you to think I'm far more cultured and worldly than I actually am.

So, what's a theatre night like for me? Well, the show's I've seen have been during the week. Usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday. This means I'm already in central London, having spent the day in classes and as the shows ALWAYS start at 7:30 (excepting the Macbeth I'm seeing on Tuesday) I don't have time to get back home to Harrow for dinner. So, I eat out.

Now, the foodie in me would like to use this as an opportunity to sample the best of London cuisine. Many a time I have been tempted to stop in at an elegant looking restaurant and stuff myself on the delights of the wealthy. But, I'm not. Wealthy, that is. In fact, I don't have the money to eat out very often. Or, rather I don't have the money but occasionally I give in to temptation anyone. When I do, I usually convince myself to sidestep the delicious smelling french, Italian or good old pubs (which are expensive) and try to dig up some descent ethnic food. Curry is a favorite although the best I've had was frozen and I heated it up in a microwave. I also like what China Town has to offer. It makes me feel really bohemian and culturally savvy to go down to China Town and grab something that looks vaguely like a meat product on rice. Correction: I feel like Anthony Bourdain which is way cooler than being world savvy. However, as I said, I can't always afford this. Eating out in London is expensive, as I've said many a time before. Actually... this is all sounding familiar. Hmmm... Deja vu?

Anyway, what I do instead of eating in a restaurant is hop down the tube to Charing Cross. There's a Tesco Express right next to Trafalgar Square. They sell pre-made sandwiches and things like that for dirt cheap. They also sell some digestives (like a graham cracker cookie but so much better) which i always get. I'll tell you why later. So, Sandwich (and usually a bag of crisps) in hand I hop across the five or so crosswalks to Trafalgar square, I sit down on the steps in front of the National Gallery and I eat my dinner. This is probably my favorite ritual in London. The sun just begins to set, casting Lord Nelson and his anatomically incorrect lions into shadow. The fountains are lit in changing lights and all around tourists and Londoner's alike scurry or squat. There's this kind of poetry that comes from it all. London can be so crowded, and I'll be the first to say how harsh and accosting that feels. But, at sunset, with a half eaten Egg salad sandwich and a gaggle of toddling Italian tourists, I can't help feel that, yes, I'm IN London right now. It's a great feeling because I just KNOW that where I am is where I should be. I have food. History, culture, art are my show. The traffic sounds and the laughter of lost Italians are my music. The only word for it all is magic. Not the scary kind but the kind from Bedknobs and Broomsticks or Neville Longbottom's- the funny, unexpected kind.

Well, after that experience I usually hop off to the theatre, wherever it is. Sometimes there's just enough time for a cup of tea. As I said, I'll have a package of chocolate digestives. Like Oreos and milk, tea and chocolate digestives are soul mates, never meant to be apart. You dip the biscuit into the steaming tea, just until the chocolate begins to melt but not so that it falls apart. Its heaven. Its my one vice in London and I think I'll go into withdrawals when I go home to the US. However, I have to save the majority of my biscuits for the show. The theatre is a pretty informal place in London, so they're cool if you bring in outside food. My ritual is to always bring in biscuits. They're cheaper than what they sell there, and tasty too. The only problem is that sometimes the wrapper is a bit load and I get a very courteous reminder that the interval is only five minutes away from one of the seaters.

Now, what shows have I seen. Woof, too many to count. But I'll do my best, for shear bragging purposes. Here goes: London Assurance,Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The White Guard, Enron (a musical), The Caretaker, Waiting for Godot, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Opera), Dunsinane, Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure. I still have more to see too. What have been my favorites? Hands down White Guard is my favorite. There were no really big actors in it but everything was done beautifully and I liked the play itself. I also enjoyed Dunsinane and Measure for Measure quite a bit. Dunsinane was a sort of sequel to Macbeth and it turned out wonderfully. What did I not like. The Opera (A Midsummer Night's dream) just did nothing for me. I LIKE Opera. There's nothing that'll get me crying faster than a rousing few bars of Pagliacci's famous aria "Recitar!" However, I was not prepared for Benjamin Britten nor do I think looking at an opera from a Shakespearean standpoint worked well. In any case I didn't enjoy myself. Now, I appreciated both Waiting for Godot and the Caretaker for being very interesting works with fantastic actors. However, I'm not a fan of absurdism. Not really, anyway. Maybe it's an acquired taste. However, I would not NOT see any of these plays for the world. Whether I enjoyed myself or not, I had the experience of it which is something I won't get anywhere else.

Who have I seen in these plays? Well, I'm jolly glad you asked because this is where the real bragging starts. In Waiting for Godot I saw Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf, Magneto) and Roger Rees (Sheriff of Rottingham, Peter Quince). In the Caretaker I saw Jonathan Pryce (Juan Peron- Evita, Governor Swan- Pirates of the Caribbean), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof- James Earl Jones (V of Darth Vadar, Mufasa) and Philicia Rashad (Claire Huckstable), Measure for Measure- Anna Maxwell Martin (Becoming Jane, Bleak House, North and South), Enron- Samuel west (Nottinghill, Persuasion), TIm Pigott-Smith (North and South), Tom Goodman-Hill (Doctor Who) and a whole bunch more BBC actors that I've seen in things but I'm not sure if anyone else has. That's the thing about English actors. There tends to be fewer than you;d think and they've ALL worked together before.

So, big deal. I've seen lots of plays with lots of big name actors. You're right. If I've learned anything, a big name in a play can mean absolutely nothing for its quality. I mean, two of my favorites White Guard and Dunsanine had NO ONE I'd heard of before. So, Here's a recap of what I've found most memorable at these plays. In White Guard, one of the characters was killed in a bombing (the play is set in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War- beware the Bolsheviks) and another character is blaming himself for it. All at once he grabs a gun and holds it to his head. At that moment, everyone in the audience gasped and many (me being one) turned there heads. It wasn't that we thought he would kill himself. It was a fact. That man was going t kill himself and we needed to brace ourselves for it. The tension that the actors created, both the one with the gun and the others who were tying to convince him not to was unbelievable. And when he's finally convinced that it wasn't his fault, no one breathes until the gun is safely in the hands of someone else. That sigh of relief was probably heard on the other side of the Thames. I think that's what plays are about. Getting the audience to not just watch, but to witness and participate despite their best efforts.

Well, that's all for now. I've got a recap of my weekend in Bath coming up for you and eventually there'll be something on My Spring Break (both the fiasco and the redemption) but, for now it's Friday and I've got some stuff to do... like reading.