Was I ever glad it wasn't on until evening, and I could relax all day.. I really needed it. When I looked up how to get there (of course, I've been several times before, but never from Clapham Junction), I was delighted to find a direct bus - the 344, which I've taken to Southwark Playhouse before, keeps going to within a short walk of the Globe (the Wanamaker Playhouse is in the same complex).
Google Maps said I should leave at 6:05 to arrive by 7 - mind you, that would get me there (at their estimate) at 6:53, which I considered a bit tight - never mind potential traffic delays. So I left the house at 5:40 and was delighted when a bus happened along at about 5:50. It was a beautifully sunny evening for a bus ride, and it deposited me (at the Southwark Bridge Road stop) about 6:30 - just nice, and I had time to run to the loo beforehand (downstairs as you go in).
And then I trotted all the way upstairs (I was in the Upper Gallery) to discover the doors weren't even open yet. When they opened, I was to discover that I was in the back row, with a decently central view. I've been here before, but always previously in the pit (ground level). A little stuffy up top, I thought - this building is completely enclosed, unlike the Globe. Wooden seating on benches with cushions - very straight backs weren't terribly comfortable to lean against, and I found it better to lean on the safety rail in front. Nice, wide, handy ledge at the back to store your stuff - a good idea, as there isn't anywhere else. I was glad not to be sat in the musicians' gallery, with the musicians banging away right behind those who had sat there. But it is a gorgeous building - and I managed to snap an illicit photo while they weren't looking; unlike the Globe, which allows photography when performances are not in progress, the Playhouse forbids all photography inside:
It's completely wooden, and beautifully decorated - and unlike other venues, a "candlelit" performance really is that - it's the only lighting, and fabulously atmospheric.
The performers came onstage slightly before time, and the production revealed itself to be in the style of the Globe - plenty of music, traditional-sounding instruments, music and dance to start and end the show. And what a hilarious show it turned out to be, beginning with the narrator, a little old lady who appeared at the start of each act, and had us in stitches with her comical delivery.
It was really intimate, especially the very beginning, when the only lighting was provided by candles the actors themselves held. The main candelabras were lit after that. And gee, you know, the story sounded rather familiar.. methinks this was a favourite plot of Shakespeare's. After all, he did use it for both this and The Winter's Tale - a king believes his wife dead, abandons his baby daughter, then believes her dead, too. And he's left a miserable wreck. BUT the fellow charged with the princess' murder doesn't do it, she's thought to be poor, falls in love with a rich chap - and is reunited with both her parents in the last act, around the time she marries the rich guy. Whee!
And it was great - special praise to Pericles himself, who acted a storm throughout, but had the whole house rolling in the aisles with his reaction, at the end, to discovering his long-lost wife and daughter are alive, and with him again! I had a great time - and it's so great to be back in this venue again. In this year of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. This shan't be the last I hear of Shakespeare this year, forsooth..
No time to blog last night, as I'm in Guildford today. Tonight, I'm off to my first Meetup with Interesting Talks London - Banged Up Abroad is the subject. Topical, what with the recent parole of an Irish girl convicted of drug trafficking in Peru.. early start, but it's near, so should be ok. A short walk from my old flat, in fact, in The Bolton - an Irish pub I've often passed, but never before entered.
The next two days are Man with the Hat days - tomorrow, Let's Do London - for less! is headed to Southwark Playhouse, for a play called Darknet. Now, I have more sense than to have anything to do with the real Darknet - the closest I've come to it are short horror films on YouTube. (In the course of my regular surfing for short horror films, of which I'm a big fan.) But I'll find this interesting.
On Wednesday, both of the Man with the Hat's groups (Let's Do London - for less! and London for Less Than a Tenner) are off to a show called The Passion of Lady Vendredi, at Soho Theatre - and so am I. This was a recent development - I was originally supposed to be going to Doctor Faustus, with London Dramatic Arts Meetup, but sadly, the organiser's mother-in-law just died (as I found out last weekend) and the funeral is that very day. Works out well for me though - the event has been rescheduled, at a cheaper price, the difference has been refunded to me, and I can now go to both shows! (So I'm going for Less Than a Tenner - 'coz I'm cheap.) The Passion of Lady Vendredi is, apparently, musical theatre, and designed to promote the music of the Lady Vendredi band. And should be interesting.
Thursday, I'm off to a comedy show in King's Cross, with London Live Comedy - unless I change my mind and go to a film - we'll see. Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend, again..
No comments:
Post a Comment