Last 10 things seen at the theatre: #093

24th May to 23rd June.


List the last 10 things you saw at the theatre in order:
1. Blue/Orange (Young Vic)

2. Henry V (Open Air Theatre)
3. Macbeth (Shakespeare's Globe)
4. YOUARENOWHERE (Shoreditch Town Hall)
5. Romeo and Juliet (Garrick)

6. People, Places and Things (Wyndham's)
7. The 39 Steps (Wycombe Swan)
8. Human Animals (Royal Court)

9. Lawrence After Arabia (Hampstead)
10. Folk (Watford Palace)

Who was the best performer in number one (Blue/Orange)?
I mean, in the context of the play, all three performers were excellent, but if you're going to make me pick one and if I can bear their other work in mind, then I'll go with Daniel Kaluuya.

Why did you go to see number two (Henry V)?
Henry V is my favourite Shakespeare play so I didn't want to miss this one, particularly as I've currently seen more productions of Henry V than Hamlet and I quite fancy keeping that going. Then they announced the casting, and I realised the real reason I wanted to see this play was MICHELLE TERRY PLAYING KING HENRY IN HENRY V BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

Can you remember a line/lyric from number three (Macbeth) that you liked?
No. I was so overwhelmed with how fiercely and viciously I was loving the entire production that there just wasn't really any way to pull out a line that struck me.

What would you give number four (YOUARENOWHERE) out of ten?
HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO ASSIGN A NUMERICAL VALUE TO SOMETHING THAT HAS MADE ME RECONSIDER EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I KNEW ABOUT THEATRE, ABOUT ART, ABOUT THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY ITSELF?

Was there someone hot in number five (Romeo and Juliet)?
There was quite a solid quantity of attractive young men in Romeo and Juliet, but the winner by a country mile was Samuel Valentine as an unusually young, handsome, and beautifully ginger Friar Laurence.

What was number six (People, Places and Things) about?
As best I can tell, it was about self-absorption and taking it to its self-destructive extremes.

Who was your favourite actor in number seven (The 39 Steps)?
Nahhh. There were four of them, and they were an inseparable team.

What was your favourite bit in number eight (Human Animals)?
During the pre-show ambling about on stage, I was delighted to note that Lisa McGrillis was doing some grilling on a barbecue. The joy I felt at this subtle visual pun was greater than any other feelings I had during the play.

Would you see number nine (Lawrence After Arabia) again?
Nooooo. I have a lot of fondness for Howard Brenton plays, especially when directed by John Dove, but he either needs to write about further-in-the-past history or focus more heavily on women because I found this play did not work for me, and if I were to rank all the Howard Brenton plays I've seen, the ones that are set further in the past and/or focusing more heavily on women would rank WAY higher than this one. It didn't even pass the Bechdel test for heaven's sake. Howard, I've always admired the way you write women, please don't lose that.

What was the worst thing about number ten (Folk)?
Mate, a new Tom Wells play about folk music with a 95 minute running time and no interval? What's not to love? Okay, I'm sure there's room to argue that the story was awfully predictable, but if you're one of those people that thinks the destination is more important than the journey, then it's unlikely we're going to agree on anything anyway.

Which was best?
Macbeth, YOUARENOWHERE, and Folk. Which is actually quite a good trio to represent what I love about theatre.

Which was worst?

Did any make you cry?
I started crying pretty early on at Henry V and didn't really stop. Folk didn't really make me cry until quite late on, but then I found it very difficult to stop.

Did any make you laugh?
None really that much. Either that or the results of the referendum have made me forget what laughter is, that seems highly possible too.

Which roles would you like to play in any of them?
WELL IT TURNS OUT GIRLS ARE ALLOWED TO BE KING NOW, SO! Also Tom Wells has written me a singing, spoon-playing, swearing nun, and I LOVE playing nuns. (And I stand by my previously stated belief that I'd make an EXCELLENT Romeo, largely because I'm apparently the only person who realises he'd probably actually be a lot of FUN before the tragedy bit kicked in.)

Which one did you have best seats for?
I treated myself to a front row centre seat for Henry V and, until we got rained off in 4.1, it was a flipping AMAZING seat. Hopefully moving a couple of rows back to finish the play next week will be just as fine.