LONDON TRIP REVIEWS

May 98

I decided to take part of my layoff bonus and return to London for the second time in three months. I've never been to London twice in one year let along within three months. However, there were enough new shows to occupy the 9 days so off I went, Theatre Slut that I am. I had planned to see 16 shows. As it turned out I only saw 13. I was also in a tourist mood this trip. Being unemployed gives me a lot of energy.

02-May-98

United were their usual delayed selves and I got into London an hour or so late. Somehow, I was able to sleep a bit, which I had hoped would get me through the day. I checked into my hotel and finalized my theatrical plan.

Saturdays are my theatre marathon days in London and this would be no exception. However, I have no idea why I would choose to see three shows just hours after arriving. I must be crazy! Not that that has every stopped me. Anyway, the first show of the trip was Brief Lives at the Duchess Theatre starring Michael Williams. The show is about a 17th century gossip named John Aubrey. He lived during the British Civil War and through many changes of government and religion. Most of his life was spent collecting scholarly information and gossip about the people of his time. Published after his death, the book and play is of Aubrey's reminisces from Charles II to Sir Walter Raleigh. The play is basically a monologue set in his old and filthy flat during the last days of his life. He spends the whole play rummaging through his dusty belongings recalling past times. Michael Williams is very good as Aubrey and looks rather comfortable as the old man dispensing anecdotes about Shakespeare or Ben Johnson and others. The play was intentionally slow which did not help my jet lag. I had to fight staying awake but was enjoyable nonetheless. I recommend this play but only if you are not tired. The slow pacing will put you to sleep.

The second show of the day was something that sounded silly and stupid but I figured it would keep me awake until the last show. It was called Girls Night Out at the Victoria Palace. The show is about a hen party (AKA Bachelorette Party for you ignorant Americans) which takes place in a male strip club. The storyline is of a group of woman who take a pregnant bride-to-be to the club not knowing that the group leader's son has just been employeed at the club as a striper. Chaos ensues when his fiancee of 3 years discovers him during a strip number. The problem with this show is that while it had all the elements of a fun show, it came off as being performed by an amateur community theatre group. The direction was awful. Although several understudies were on that afternoon, I don't think it would have been any better if the regulars were on. Plus the 4 guys stripping weren't anything to look at nor were they very sexy or suggestive. Mind you they weren't out of shape but Chippendales they weren't. They were typical white English lads in desperate need of some sun.

The last show of my Saturday marathon was Kat and the Kings playing at the Vaudeville Theatre. I had heard it was a good show but not much else. Kat and the Kings is about a fictional South African harmony group in the 50's. It tells the story of their rise to fame and fall seen through the eyes of an older Kat Diamond. It was a time when they got to wear sharp suits, got the girls, and sang and danced to all hours and at the same time dealing apartheid. They had to act as hotel porters during the day so that they could sing and dance at night. This is a feel good show with lots of energy. The music is original though it sounds like music from the 50's and it is definitely a show you can clap your hands to. The ensemble was very good with Jody Abrahams a real stand out as Kat. The band is behind the singers and there is virtually no set though the costumes are very nice. Kat and the Kings was really fun and I recommend it highly.

This marathon Saturday ended with one of the most bizarre sights I've ever seen. Keep in mind I'm from San Francisco and very little surprises me. I was on the Tube going back to my hotel after 3 shows and a lot of jet lag and I spot this rather attractive man sitting across from me. Dark hair and eyes wearing a black blazer and velvet maroon vest. As my eyes traveled further down, I jumped in horror. No, it was in his pants and not noticeable, get your dirty minds out of the gutter. He was wearing orange and green plaid pants! Yes, I'll say it again; HE WAS WEARING GREEN AND ORANGE PLAID PANTS! Forget that he was good looking from the waist up. This guy was a fashion disaster from the waist down. It wasn't like he was wearing grudge or dirty. I was getting nauseous and had to get off the train and wait for the next one. I hardly made it back to my room before throwing up. I mean orange and green plaid??? All I could think of was what Diane Vreeland might have said about taste!

03-May-98

I had to sleep in today. I'm not as young as I use to be. I rolled out of bed around 11:30 and left around 12:15. I had planned to see a show up in Hamstead at 3:30 so I took the Tube up to Regent's Park for a walk. It was lovely as usual. The tulips were all in bloom in many colors. The squirrels were out as well but the roses weren't blooming yet. Lots of buds but not blossoms. I walked up to the Chalk Farm tube station and made the short trip up to Hamstead. I arrived at the New End Theatre only to find out that some group had bought out the show and I wouldn't be able to see it. The play, Across the River, is about a dramatization of a meeting between two women 51 years after they were on a death march along the Elbe River while in a Nazi Concentration Camp. It sounded very interesting but I didn't have the chance to get in. I also planned on seeing Serious Money as well that evening but that fell through as well. So, what does one do in London on a Sunday on a Bank Holiday Weekend? I walked. I love Hamstead so I walked over to Keat's house, which was closed due to some emergency repairs. The house has a lovely garden though. I can't say I've ever read any of Keats' stuff but I know he was a writer, Poet, I believe. I remember a reference made of him by Anne Bancroft in the movie 84 Charing Cross Road. Anne requests a book of love poems, and says "Not Keats or Shelly. I want a poet who can make love without drooling". Great line! With the house closed, I walked over to Sigmund Freud's house, which is in the neighborhood over. I could live in Hamstead. It's nice and quiet, lovely homes and only 15 minutes from Central London by Tube. Anyway, the Freud house is where he lived the last year of his life after leaving Vienna because he wanted to die in freedom. The ground floor is left has he had set it up with his famous sofa and chair, his desk, books and Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities he had collected. Upstairs is an exhibition including a video of homemade movies before and after leaving Vienna. Not a large home but very comfortable and in a nice neighborhood.

Instead of tubing down to Central London, I walked down through the Swiss Cottage area, down the west side of Regent's Park, by the London Central Mosque and over to Baker Street. I came upon the Sherlock Holms museum and decided what the hell. It sounded over priced at L5.00 but I forked it over and went in. I was right, over priced. Once climbs up several floors to visit his rented quarters, items from his various cases and laid out as a room of this type would have looked during the late 19th century. It should have been no more than L2.00 but what can you do. I ended up tubing down to Sloan Square and walking down King's Road to my hotel. I turned in early.

04-May-98

Woke up and was out of the hotel by 9:30. Tonight's show would be Naked playing at the Playhouse Theatre. I obtained the ticket and tubed over to Tower Hill. I like to walk around the tower. I've been inside before but I just like walking around it. I crossed Tower Bridge and down the Thames Pathway. Being in this strange tourist mood, I decided to go into the London Dungeon. It took about two hours to view the various methods of torture such as drawn and quartered and guillotined. The next part was reenactments of various senses such as Anne Boleyn's beheading and Thomas Becket's murder. The third area showed how you might have been treated if you were condemned including a little boat ride. As you are shot, the boat goes down a waterfall. The tour concludes with a walk through the East End of Jack the Ripper and the history of the guillotine. Somehow, I found the whole thing rather amusing. I continued my walk down the Thames to the rebuilt Globe Theatre. The tour lasts and hour and includes the history of the Globe and Sam Wanamaker's efforts to rebuild it. When we went in, I suddenly felt like I was in a sacred place such as a temple or cathedral. It was awesome as the tour guide told us about the dedication and various aspects of the theatre including details about the first season. Unfortunately, the season doesn't start until mid May. I hope to return in mid September to see a couple of the last shows.

Finally, 7:30 arrived and in to the theatre I walked. I was front and center for Pirandello's Naked starring Oscar Winner Juliette Binoche and one of my favorite British actors Oliver Ford Davies. Set in a room in an Italian boardinghouse, the story is about a woman on the edge after a child in her care dies in an accident. She is in turned exploited by four men, a novelist, a reporter, her ex fiancee, and her ex employer, each using her for his own gains. In spite of the exploitation, she disrupts each of their lives and in the end is more powerful than any of the men. Juliette is wonderful as the Ersilla, frightened but not afraid to tell the truth. Oliver Ford Davies is very good as the novelist who conjures up a novel based on the tragic circumstances but in turn cannot finish the novel when he discovers the truth. The play also stars Ben Daniels who starred in the movies Lost Language of the Cranes and Beautiful Thing. He successfully portrays her selfish ex fiancee who wants to marry her but wants to play around as well. An excellent production.

05-May-98

I had all day again, as I couldn't find a Tuesday matinee for a show that I hadn't already seen. I have passed through Oxford many times but had never stopped. So, I decided not only to visit Oxford but Blenheim Palace, home of the Duke of Marlborough and ancestral home of Winston Churchill. Oxford is about an hour train ride out of Paddington. I arrived in Oxford and at first it didn't look like much. I walked over to the bus station for a ride to the palace. The palace is set on several hundred acres with sheep all over the place. One has to be careful where one walks. The palace was a gift from Queen Anne to the 1st duke after several successful military victories. There is a nice exhibit on Churchill including the room where he was born. The tour includes the staterooms and the long library, which contains more books than I've ever seen and an unbelievable statue of Queen Anne. Unbelievable because it portrays her as a tall, happy, beautiful, and shapely woman when in fact she was only 4'10" and weighed in excess of 220 lbs, a very sad woman who lost all 17 of her children she bore. After the tour, I walked through the grounds and gardens, which were quite beautiful. There were pheasants everywhere. I finally decided to visit Churchill's grave which is about 2 miles down the road. I made a wrong turn and had to back track. However, I found him and his wife who died in 1977. Many relatives are also buried there. I caught the bus back to Oxford but didn't have much time to walk around. I did get over to Christ Church Cathedral, which isn't that spectacular but I'm glad I got to see it. I got back to the train station just to hear the train was delayed 25 minutes. By the time I got back to Paddington, I had only 30 minutes to make it to the Barbican Theatre.

What is a trip to London without a little Shakespeare? The show this evening was Much Ado About Nothing starring the fabulous Alex Jennings. Much Ado is one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies and I assume most everyone knows the plot. The actors were fine with two exceptions. Alex was superb as Benedict, the confirmed bachelor. He is a true Shakespearean actor. He obviously enjoyed playing the role and was extremely funny. I saw him previously in A Midsummer Night's Dream and hope to see him in NYC in Hamlet in June. The other exception was Emily Bruni who played Hero. She overacted in the extreme. The audience was howling in laughter during her dramatic speeches. It was just too funny and it wasn't suppose to be. The set was minimal and the costuming okay. The only thing I can say I disliked about this production is that after seeing the movie, I really like opening the play with the "Sigh no more, ladies, sign no more. Men are a retched bunch…" speech. It was done further into the play and I really like it at the beginning. Maybe it was Emma Thompson's reading of it. I haven't had a chance to go back and see where Shakespeare originally placed it.

06-May-98

I hate being a tourist; I get so stressed out! I make plans and then freak out if things don't go according to plan. It is much easier to just sleep in on these trips. I had planned this day long before leaving San Francisco. Frogmore House and Mausoleum in Windsor are only open a few days each year. I also wanted to see the rebuilt castle, which reopened after the fire of 1992. I set out early (obviously I wasn't going to sleep in much this trip), and got to Windsor about 9:45. I headed straight for Frogmore which lays right behind the castle in Windsor Great Park. I walked through the gardens and toured the house. While it is no longer a royal residence, the royal family still uses it for entertaining. I walked over to the mausoleum where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are buried. The interior is done in an Italian Renaissance style with the two of them buried in the center. Behind the mausoleum is the royal burial ground. You can't walk up to the plots but you can view them from a distance. There is a map in front telling visitor who is buried in there including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. I walked back to the castle and what a line. Fortunately, it moved fast. I walked though most of the State rooms as I had seen them several times before. However, I got to the Waterloo Chamber and my jaw fell open. What a beautiful room! Further on was St. George's Hall, which is where State Dinners are held. It is simply gorgeous. The long oak table was not there but the room had many suites of armor, pictures of the Stuart Kings and Queens and the shields of the Knights of the Garter. At the end of the room is Henry the III's throne from 1350. Behind the hall is the former chapel where the 1992 fire began. It includes a tablet stating this fact and that the work was finished on the Queen's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Next to the hall is the reception room which is in the style of Louis XIV and the Garter Throne Room. I love touring the castle because it holds many paintings that I've always loved. After a quick tour of St. George's Chapel were most of the more recent Kings and Queens are buried, I headed the train station for the ride back to London. At first they said the train was going to be 30 minutes late but in fact it was only 5 minutes late giving me plenty of time to get to my first show of the day.

Wednesday's matinee saw was Closer by Patrick Marker, author of Dealer's Choice now playing at the Mark Taper Forum in LA. This play is even better. The play concerns two couples, a businessman, a homeless girl, a photographer and her husband a doctor and the choices they make. On the surface, the play is quick and witty but underneath it is about sexual desire and jealousy. The play has many scenes and the scenes appear to be a series of transactions, like a dance with the partners continually changing partners. It is very good and I'm glad I bought a copy of the play to read, as it is rather complex. The entire cast was good but the only name in the show I recognized is Francis Barber who plays Anna, the photographer. There is a minimal set, which works in the story's favor. I hope Mr. Barber continues writing as his first two plays have been first class.

The second show of the day was the Peter Hall Company's version of The Misanthrope by Moliere at the Picadilly Theatre. The play is set in a lady's drawing room and is described as a story about a man who wants to have a decisive interview with the woman he loves and at the end of the day still has not managed to do so due to continual interruptions. I'm not all the big on French comedies and I basically went to see Elaine Paige who portrays Celimene. She was better as Norma. Other names I recognized included Michael Pennington, David Yelland, Peter Bowles, and Crispin Bonham-Carter. The play was only okay. I started getting bored with it after about an hour or so. I didn't even like the set. The costumes were very nice and of the period but they were the only things I really liked about this production. It was just tedious.

07-May-98

I started this morning visiting a colleague, excuse me, former colleague in my former company's London Office. We chatted a while and then I was off to meet a friend for lunch. We had a quick bite and I tried getting him to see something other than ALW. He already has Whistle booked six times. I then rushed off to a matinee.

The matinee for the day was the Peter Hall Company's production of Major Barbara by GB Shaw at the Picadilly Theatre. The play is set in 1906 and is a morality play between a woman who works for the Salvation Army and her father who manufactures weapons. Each is trying to convert the other to their way of thinking. I wasn't too impressed with this play either. It also was beginning to wear thin on me. And it wasn't so much the play, as I love GBS but this production simply had no energy, the actors were simply going through the motions. The cast of this play included Anna Carteret, Crispin Bonham-Carter, Jemma Redgreave, David Yelland, and Peter Boyles. I hope the company's future productions are done better as the two I've seen this trip have not been very impressive.

My evening show was another Shakespeare play, Cymbeline. I had heard of the play but basically knew nothing of the story. As it turns out, the story is very complex. Cymbeline as it turns out is King of Britain during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He has a daughter Imogen by his late queen as well as two sons who were stolen away as babies and never heard from again. He has now remarried and his new queen has a son of her own. The new queen's son pursues Imogen who has married a commoner against her father's wishes. Her husband has been banished due to this marriage. The husband now in Rome boasts of Imogen's chastity wagering that no one can seduce here. A bad man cheats at the wager and when the husband begins thinks that Imogen has in fact cheated on him, he orders her to be killed. STILL WITH ME! During all this, Cymbeline has refused to pay Rome the customary tribute to Caesar and an invasion of Britain occurs. In the end everything works out. This play was originally classified as a tragedy and then a romance. I don't think it is either. The show was well done like most RSC productions. The set and props were very unique, somewhat minimalist but yet you didn't have to use your imagination much. The RSC likes to use three bare walls in their productions with hidden entrances. The costumes were also quite lovely and were interestingly used. The men all wore the same basic costume varying only in color and adornments according to their position in the court and in Rome. The queen's gowns were lovely and flowed all over the place. I kept thinking of Norma as she wore turbans. The cast was fine though no one really stood out as exceptional. A lovely production I'm glad I saw.

08-May-98

Another tourist day. Since my first show wasn't until 5:30, I decided to visit Leeds's Castle in Kent. Located about a hour train ride away, the castle was at one time used by the wives of Henry VIII. A bus picks you up at the station and drops you off. The castle is on 500 acres so there is a lot of land to cover. Since the first return bus didn't leave until 2:00, I have several hours to explore. First I walked through the duckery, thougth various gardens and then up to the castle. The castle is rather basic. It certainly isn't Bledheim Palace that's for sure. However, a lot of history is given and it is laid out as the last occupant used it. It didn't take long for me to get through it so I decided to sit in the herb garden and read. I have purchased a play by A.R. Gurney called Overtime, a modern sequel to The Merchant of Venice. However, I since I couldn't remember reading The Merchant of Venice, I decided to read it first. So there I sat reading. This day was the first of the trip that was sunny. The previous week had been cloudy but no rain. Today was sunny and warm, about 70 degrees. When I had enough of reading, I walked through the aviary, maze and green houses. Finally it was time to return to London.

Don't ask me why, but I decided I had to see Saucy Jack and the Space Vixions playing at the Queens Theatre on Shaftersbury Avenue. Talk about silly and stupid. This makes two S&S plays this trip. At first, I thougth it would be something like Return to the Forbidden Planet. Nothing like it. The story is about Saucy Jack who is murdering woman in the galexy and the Space Vixons who are crime fighters. There's a weird assortment of charaters and boys and are they certainly characters. First there is the cross dressing waitress who yearns to be a Space Vixon, a butch motorcycle riding Lesbian who falls in love with one of the Vixons, a Vixon who falls for Saucy Jack, another Vixon who falls for the sax player and a bartender who stirps down to practicaly nothing. He falls for someone I seem to remember. All I remember thinking is how stupid this whole thing was suppose the creaters were going for a campy experience this thing really sucked!

It got out at 7:40 just leaving me five minutes to walk next door to the Gielgud Theater to see Alan Ayckbourn's new play, The Things We Do For Love. The play is about a very rigid woman who rents out the top flat in her home to an old school mate and her Scottish husband-to-be while they wait for work on their house to be finished. The woman also has a man living in the basement flat. The woman and her friend's groom to be do not like each other at first but are soon in bed together. This breaks the heart of the man downstairs who is secretly in love with the rigid woman. Soon they decide to tell the former schoolmate who predictably doesn't take it well at all. She cuts up her finance's clothing. I seemed a lot of people in the audience identified with her. Soon, the lovers realize they can never really be together as they are too different and they really do not love each other. I enjoyed this play very much as Ayckbourn has an uncommon way of telling stories that are rather common. Jane Asher stars as the rigid Barbara with Serena Evans, Steven Pacey and Barry McCarthy rounding out the case. They were all enjoyable with Jane especially impressive as the repressed Barbara. The set was interesting. Most of the stage was made up as Barbara's flat including an entrance and stairways going up and down at stage right. However, you could see the top flat from about the knee down. Also, you could see the top part of the bottom flat, which appeared, under the landing of the main apartment. Roger Glossip designed the set and should be commended. This is another lovely play by Alan Ayckbourne.

09-May-98

Well, this would not be a marathon Saturday, as I couldn't get a ticket for my 5:00 show An Unexpected Visitor by Tasmania Reza, who wrote ART. It stars Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon and has been sold out for some time. I didn't have enough time to stand in line for a return ticket. So, I only had two shows today. First time I saw fewer than three shows in London on a Saturday. So, I spent the morning and afternoon going through the London Aquarium in the old County Hall and through the Florence Nightingale museum at St. Thomas's Hospital.

At 4:00, I headed over to the Savoy Theatre to see A Letter of Resignation starring Edward Fox. The play is a fictional account of a scandal, which occurred during the summer of 1963 in Scotland during the administration of Harold Macmillan and of which I knew very little. The play basically deals with how Macmillan decides what to do. The scandal doesn't involve him but he is anxious to minimize the damage to his administration. The scandal is about one MP Profumo who lies to Parliament about an alleged affair he has. The affair isn't the problem as much as lying to Parliament that it didn't occur. Edward Fox is wonderful and the old curmugently Macmillan. Polly Adams plays his wife who we find out had an ongoing affair many hear before. The set was designed to show an old English library or study with a desk, sofa, and lots of books, very realistic. A lovely show to see.

The final show of this trip was a preview of Sweet Charity. I had never seen the show and what fun it was. Bonnie Langford whose name sounds familiar played charity but I cannot place her even after reading her bio. The show is sweet and comical and there is that hummable score. The crowd loved it as well as I had to ask several people to stop singing along, as I couldn't hear the people on stage. The set was fine though it did look like it wasn't exactly new. Actually, I think the show has been traveling the provinces before hand. Anyway, it didn't take away from the fun and energy of the show. No one in the show really stuck out as outstanding but the company was fine and seemed to enjoy performing. It was fun and a great way to end my trip.

I'm already planning another trip in September. I have those two Shakespeare plays at the Globe, Rent, Showboat, Oklahoma, and if I can convince myself, go to the Palladium and see Saturday Night Fever. Hopefully, there will be several new plays as well.

(May 1998 / Rodney_R_Anderson / rodneyra@worldnet.att.net )