Last 10 things seen at the theatre: #017

4th to 20th April.


List the last 10 things you saw at the theatre in order:
1. Uncle Vanya (Minerva Theatre)
2. Uncle Vanya (Print Room)
3. Shivered (Southwark Playhouse)
4. Mercury Fur (Old Red Lion Theatre)
5. Long Day's Journey Into Night (Apollo)
6. Farewell to the Theatre (Hampstead)
7. After Miss Julie (Young Vic)
8. Ghost (Piccadilly)
9. Filumena (Almeida)
10. The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic)

Who was the best performer in number one (Uncle Vanya)?
I know I'm meant to be answering this question about the Chichester Uncle Vanya, but I'd rather answer it about the Print Room Uncle Vanya. Also, I'd really rather answer the next question about the Chichester Uncle Vanya so I'm going to CHEAT. While the cast of the Print Room Uncle Vanya were uniformly excellent, I'm going to pick David Yelland as a stand-out for making the Professor SO ridiculously self-absorbed and arrogant that my jaw was practically on the floor. I loved it!

Why did you go to see number two (Uncle Vanya)?
Roger Allam! The matinees sold out and I thought "oh well, I suppose I won't be seeing it". And this made me feel sad for days, until I realised that if I was feeling this sad about missing it then I really needed to make the effort and found a Friday evening with a single ticket for sale. So it all worked out in the end!

Can you remember a line/lyric from number three (Shivered) that you liked?
"Men we have never met took our son. They took him without our express permission. They tortured him then they... killed him. And there is no understanding it. There is no meaning. No coming to terms with it. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. We will wake up every day for the rest of our lives and we will breathe razor blades and we will swim through bleach. And there is no escape from this. There is no comfort. There is just... blades and bleach. Until we die." (Don't be too impressed, I didn't memorise it for the purposes of the meme, I got my friend to type it out for me.)

What would you give number four (Mercury Fur) out of ten?
You know what? 10! The play itself is astounding, the performances were incredible, and the production itself was amazing. And there's no point having a 10 if you never use it. And it's been over a week now and I STILL can't shake it, nor do I want to!

Was there someone hot in number five (Long Day's Journey Into Night)?
The ridiculous and unruly Kyle Soller quite probably counts here.

What was number six (Farewell to the Theatre) about?
I don't think it was about anything. I think it might have been quite a nice play if only it had actually been about something.

Who was your favourite actor in number seven (After Miss Julie)?
As much as I'd like to say the budgie, I think it's got to be Natalie Dormer.

What was your favourite bit in number eight (Ghost)?
I liked the bit when Willy Lopez died best. Not because I'm some kind of bloodthirsty maniac (not only because, anyway), but because I found the staging for that scene very effective and delightfully creepy.

Would you see number nine (Filumena) again?
If I had an evening with absolutely nothing else to see, sure. Not in an "ONLY IF YOU WERE THE LAST PLAY ON EARTH" way, just in an "I've got a lot of other things that take priority, but I did like it well enough" way.

What was the worst thing about number ten (The Duchess of Malfi)?
There were some strange casting decisions. Most of them didn't detract from my overall enjoyment. One is a continued mystery.

Which was best?
Mercury Fur! Closely followed by the Print Room Uncle Vanya. Actually, Shivered, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and After Miss Julie were excellent too.

Which was worst?
Probably Farewell to the Theatre.

Did any make you cry?
Both Uncle Vanyas did at the time, so did The Duchess of Malfi, and Mercury Fur has made me weep endlessly in the week since I saw it.

Did any make you laugh?
Many of them did. Except Farewell to the Theatre.

Which roles would you like to play in any of them?
I have always related far too closely to Sonya to the point that I'm not sure I would ever want the opportunity to be in Uncle Vanya because I don't think I'd be able to handle it if they cast someone else as Sonya.

Which one did you have best seats for?
If only we had had the equivalent of one seat each, my Mercury Fur seat would have been perfect.