Play: Lawrence After Arabia

London Dramatic Arts were off to see Lawrence After Arabia tonight. Sounded interesting. As it happened, I could get a cheaper ticket than they were offering (from Hampstead Theatre, where it's playing) - so I did. Now, they frown upon that sort of thing - so I determined to avoid them. Should be ok, I reasoned - I had a ticket upstairs, they tend to go in the stalls..

I left early enough to catch the Overground, which was the cheapest way to get there. Dashed up the stairs, and was glad for the two women who panted up all those stairs even later than I did (and still made it)! I'd recovered - mostly - by the time we got to Finchley Road & Frognal. I had about 10 minutes to make it to the theatre by this stage, and my shoes were not made for walking - not quickly, anyway; I was pretty exhausted by the time I'd trotted all the way down Finchley Road. Not a tricky journey, at least - turn right from the station, and follow the road until you come to the second Tube station - Swiss Cottage - which is on your left. The theatre is right behind it - you can take a side road just before the station proper.

Well, at least there was no chance of meeting the group on the way in - I wasn't the only latecomer, and several staff members were anxiously communicating on walkie-talkies. I was about the last to take my seat, being upstairs - he offered me the row in the front of my section, but what the hey, I took my allotted seat. Which was dead centre - disturbed a few people on the way in, but had a great view. Spent some time unsuccessfully trying to recognise group members in the stalls, from the backs of their heads.

This is the enduringly fascinating story of Lawrence of Arabia - but, as the name implies, it's set after he came back from there. In fact, we open in the drawing room of George Bernard Shaw - he and his wife get the best lines in this. After a short time, Lawrence comes to stay - he's in search of anonymity, which is hard for him to find following his return, the publication of his autobiographical Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and a publicity campaign that seems to have been foisted upon him.

He's a troubled soul. He feels that the British government betrayed the Arabs, promising them a united nation and then carving it up - and he feels personally responsible. He craves normality, trying to enlist in different branches of the armed forces under different names. And we get constant flashbacks to his time in Arabia.. these are what most people will principally enjoy in this play, I think. With Arabian music wafting over these scenes, and Arabic-looking actors in Arabic robes, we do get a sense of the desert: and the staging is most efficient - all they have to do is slide back a couple of drawing-room panels to reveal the desert, hiding behind.:

I found it fascinating. It's topical, with everything that's happening in that part of the world just now - goodness, Damascus is mentioned so many times in this play! It's good to get a potted history of how the British and French carved up the region, just under 100 years ago, laying the foundations for some of the problems of today. And it's lovely to see Lawrence's character, with his obvious respect for the Arabs. I don't really think I got anything terribly deep or meaningful from this - but as history lite, it worked excellently. Playing until 4 June - booking probably advisable, and tomorrow is the last day of previews (so, slightly cheaper tickets).

I hid in my seat at the interval, of course, and watched the group pass out to the bar. They weren't in the front row of the stalls, for once, but slightly back. I'd have loved to have chatted to them - but what can you do, with a group whose organiser takes that attitude? Instead, I spent the interval eavesdropping on the conversation of the couple beside me, who - whether or not you agreed with them - proved quite fascinating, first discussing the historical legacy of Lawrence of Arabia, then - like everyone these days - the Brexit!

Afterwards, I was worried when I saw the group leaving the auditorium at about the same time I did. I really couldn't meet them - not after having been with them last night and saying nothing about coming here! I decided to pull up the hood of my coat. Very clandestine. Lord knows what the people around me thought - but I couldn't take the risk. In the lobby, I just managed to avoid one of them - then realised that I'd have to pass straight through the bar to get to the exit.. and right past the group! Mercifully, there was a back door.. which I nipped out of, in relief. And timing my trains perfectly, I was home within the hour.

Tomorrow, another Meetup group - London Social Detours - is off to a free concert in the Southbank Centre, as part of Shakespeare 400 (the celebration of the 400th anniversary of his death). So I think I'll mosey along. They're charging £2, so I think I'll mosey along independently - there's only one of that group I know, so I think I'll get away with it. It's late, which means a nice, lazy day..