I was in Guildford, but traffic was fine, and although - for once - the bus wasn't there when I got to the stop, I still made it in record time. Now, the Man with the Hat had mentioned that the bar would be pretty crowded before 7:30, when the first show started - he wasn't joking, but I joined the scrum at the bar anyway. And by the time I finally got served, the first crowd had gone in - I went down the back, located the group, and got my ticket: but as the house was already open for our play, and given that it was fitted out like a bar, which you could sit in the middle of, we decided to head straight in to get a good seat.
We did find a pretty good table, quite near the (functioning) bar, which duly filled completely. This seemed to have sold out - the setting was terrific, but you didn't have to sit at a table if you didn't want to, there was plenty of seating around the sides. And apart from beer, you could have whatever you wanted at the bar - and a couple of people did. We were impressed with the brave couple, mind, who actually sat at the bar for the whole performance, despite having nothing whatsoever to do with the show. Well, they did have a great view..
We were playing Spot the Actor (there is actually one in the above shot), and someone wondered whether the play had already started - no worries, you couldn't miss the start, what with the lead character, Leona, bursting in the door yelling! She was to prove the focus of the play - wandering up and down the coast in her trailer, she stops in a town for a few months, works as a beautician, and if this play is anything to go by, psychoanalyses the town before moving on again. This play sees her having been in town for a few months, so she knows what's going on, and even with people she's just met, she has an opinion on how they should conduct themselves..
I've always loved being right in the action, and this setting is perfect for that. You're right beside everything that's happening, although there's little actual audience interaction, apart from somebody maybe asking whether they can have this seat. Handily enough, the bar owner in the play also goes around collecting glasses! Some of the dialogue was a bit muffled at the start, but generally it's perfectly audible, and although you can't always get a good look at whoever's speaking - maybe they're behind you - it doesn't tend to matter.
The acting, as ever, was top-notch - and although the play is translocated to England, that wasn't a problem for me. Now, I love Tennessee Williams, and you could see in this how well he drew his characters. However, there's generally a reason that lesser-known plays are lesser-known, and the play has issues. I wasn't the only person who thought that it just didn't hang together as a play - rather than a single plot, we see several relatively disconnected stories, the only common thread being the practically unhinged Leona. Plus, it's set in the 50s, when certain themes were more of a concern than they are now, and I daresay an audience of the time would have found the whole thing more shocking.
Still, the layout of the set is great, and I do recommend sitting as centrally as you can. Runs for 90 minutes without interval - for this one, just like a real pub, you can go in and out to the toilet as you wish; you get a wristband for the purpose, with the name of the fictional pub on it. Your drinks, you could probably get at the onstage bar - as long as the bartender wasn't busy with his character. Runs until 29th.
Afterwards, some of us stayed for drinks, but most headed out pretty early. Still it was flippin' freezing waiting for the bus outside! Luckily, it wasn't long - but I was still home too late to blog, what with being in Guildford again today.
Tonight, Henning from the London European Club is hosting another of those early-evening talks, this time on Astronomy: Brave New Worlds - the Planets Around Other Stars, at the Royal Astronomical Society. So I booked. Somehow, however, I completely missed the fact that London Dramatic Arts is headed to The Mountaintop tonight, at The Young Vic. So now I've booked that instead - they only had two spots left!
Tomorrow, Henning is at it again! There's a book launch for Understanding Eritrea: Inside Africa's Most Repressive State, at Housman's bookshop. Entry is £3 apparently, redeemable against a purchase in the bookshop. I'll see whether I can actually make it, Guildford permitting. Or maybe I'll go to a film.. film list permitting. I'm down to the Ns - watch this space.
On Thursday, the Man With the Hat is taking both his groups - Let's Do London - for less! and London for Less Than a Tenner - to a concert at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. London Concertante are playing Mozart, Bach, and Albinoni. Good stuff, it seems like an age since we've been there!
On Friday, he's taking Let's Do London - for less! to the Royal Opera House - first outing of the season is to Cosi Fan Tutte. Choice of amphitheatre or slips - I, being cheap, am in the slips. Natch.
And on Saturday, I'm going on another of those ghost walks - this time, it's London's Ghostly Haunts, with Free London Events and Talks.
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