lillibet | London Theatre

jason237 and I got to see two shows together. The first was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which was pretty much perfect. We'd wondered how on earth they could stage this, based on a novel that takes place very much inside the main character's head. The set was a three-dimensional grid that they used incredibly creatively. The acting was solid all the way through and the lead's performance--an emotional and physical workout--was simply astonishing. It is one of the best adaptations of a book I've ever seen and an incredible theatrical experience.

The second was Wolf Hall, based on Hilary Mantel's prize-winning chronicle of Thomas Cromwell's rise to power under Henry VIII. This was top-notch and I loved seeing it--I want to say that up front, because I'm now going to talk first about the bits I didn't love. First off, the set was very modern--concrete walls, with an angular metal sculpture for a ceiling and three or four different banks of small gas jets to indicate fireplaces at various points on the stage. I think that the idea was to ask us to consider the period-costumed characters in a modern context, but the juxtaposition was jarring for me. Secondly, Thomas More--who is the villain of this piece--nailed the manipulative, political aspects of More's character, but failed to convey the principles, faith and fear which were so much a part of him and were operative features even from this perspective. In comparison with Ron Lacey's much more nuanced and convincing portrayal of More in the Porpentine Players' A Man for All Seasons, it was disappointing. More seriously, I can't decide if the woman playing Anne Boleyn had no charisma or was simply not given the opportunity to display it. She wasn't especially pretty, but the historical figure wasn't, but all we got to see was men falling at the feet of a self-centered, manipulative bitch for no reason we could tell. The rest of the cast ranged from good to great, with top marks going to Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell and, perhaps even moreso to Nathaniel Parker (whom you might recognize as Inspector Lynley) as Henry VIII. The staging was very well handled and the costumes were both beautiful and very effectively used. There was one moment that really stood out to me: Cromwell is brought to Henry's bedchamber to talk the king out of the trees after a nightmare. Henry is pacing and fretting, wearing only a shift and a rather silly looking nightcap. He describes the dream and sinks down to a low stool--he looks weak and low. He removes the cap and as Cromwell begins to talk him around, re-framing the nightmare as good omens for the path Cromwell wants Henry to take, a servant brings in a tawny nightrobe with a dyed fleece collar and drapes it around the king. As our attention shifts from Cromwell back to Henry, we see him transformed into a crouching lion, powerful and menacing.

Jason had to spend the weekend in Cambridge for a meeting and

thismightbejess came down from Scotland to hang out and see more of London. She and I also saw two shows. The first was The Events by David Greig at the Young Vic. It was in a different space than the one where Jason and I saw Henry VI/Richard II back in the day and the show was presented with no theatrical lighting and no set other than some risers. The story, inspired by the attacks in Norway a few years back, is about a woman minister who was leading a rehearsal of a community choir when a young man came in and shot several of them. It's mostly a two-hander--a white woman played Claire, the minister, and a black man played the shooter, Claire's lesbian partner, her therapist, a journalist, a politician, and someone she brings in to lead the choir through a shamanic healing ritual. The choir is played each night of the run by a different local community choir. Jess thought that it didn't work and should have been cast actors. It's true that the choir we saw had issues--the last of their four numbers was the hardest and they were really not up to it, and the times when they were asked to read a few lines were not very effective. I think that having them be non-actors did bring something to the production and that there might have been ways to keep that while improving their chances of doing it well. Overall, the show was not as wrenching as I thought it would be, and the actor playing multiple roles did a very good job with that challenge.

The other performance we got to see was The Nether, which really impressed me. It's a relatively new play, set in the near-future. The framing device is an investigation of online impropriety and through the issue of pedophilia it addresses identity, consequences, the meaning of online acts and the reality of on- and offline worlds. The acting was generally very good--there was one actor I thought could have been significantly better, but it made me think about how I would handle the challenge of rehearsing an actor in that role. I wish that the script were available, because I would like to direct it. One of its greatest strengths is that it seems highly adaptable to me--the set here was elaborate and gorgeous and did not overwhelm the work at all, but I can see clearly how to stage it at Unity and I also think it would be quite effective as a staged reading.

Overall, it was an excellent week of theatre and I'm delighted with the variety of shows I got to see.