Play: The Brothers Size

Tonight, I went to The Brothers Size, at the Young Vic. I'd heard good things. Could have left earlier - but got caught up in a drama over booking tomorrow's lunch! Our office, which provided food before we switched office, is now ordering in catering until our kitchen facilities are, once again, up to scratch. We get a certain number of credits per day - but the total hadn't reset, and we had to get them to do that manually. Would have been able to do it earlier, had the rules not been changed so we can't now order before six, the evening before - to deter people from ordering and then working from home. Well, a quick chat with the caterers, and they reset the totals manually. But it did hold me up slightly. Hey, but I got lunch ordered - no pancakes, would you believe!!

Never mind, I was still in time for the earliest of Google Maps' options to get there by 7.30! Mind you, as we travelled along, it did occur to me that, the last time I took this route (to the Old Vic, which is just up the road from the Young Vic), it took 15 minutes longer than predicted! Which worried me, somewhat, as that would make me late. But as we progressed, it occurred to me that we weren't experiencing any hold-ups - unlike last week's nightmare - and perhaps, that this was due to the fact that I was headed there for 7.30, rather than 6.30, which put me right in rush hour.

Sure enough, the bus journey was actually five minutes quicker than predicted, and I arrived at the theatre with 10 minutes to spare - passing an enormous queue for returns, which stretched onto the street - and in my high-level seat (assigned on the night) with five minutes to spare. Not that they started on time - I got through a few pages of my paper before the lights went down. Bench seating - no bad views for this production, it's in the round. We had to squeeze in fairly tightly though, as people squashed in on both sides. I did find the slatted seat backs in front of me handy for resting my feet on..

This isn't the barest set I've seen, but it comes close. A bare stage, which at the start is lined with a circle of white chalk and dusted with red powder - perhaps to suggest the landscape of rural Texas, where this is set. Three characters - two brothers, the younger of whom is just out of prison, and his former cellmate. Everything else is suggested, by actions, and by well-timed narration by the characters.

Apparently, the writer of this also wrote Moonlight. Now, I haven't seen that - but I can see where the buzz about it comes from, if it's anything like this. It's brilliantly evocative of mood - maybe a bit too much so, as, especially with the characters' weird (Yoruba?) names, I found it impossible, at the start, to understand what they were saying, in thick Southern accents. Didn't assist my enjoyment - although some evidently did understand it, as they burst out laughing..

I thought, honestly - having read the blurb - there'd be a bit more music in this. There's a little, but not very much - which is a shame, as from what I heard, they have excellent singing voices. I did find the setting of mood very atmospheric - which is important, as there's virtually no plot. But what I did not experience was the sheer euphoria apparently felt by the rest of the audience, who leapt to their feet at the end of the 80-minute, straight-through, performance, in a standing ovation! Oh well. I mean, it's good.. but I don't think I'd go out of my way to see it. I did count three people who left early (no re-admittance). Runs until Wednesday. Anyway, I was glad to be finished early, and popped into the 24-hour Tesco on the way home. 

Tomorrow, Girls & Boys, starring Carey Mulligan, at the Royal Court, with Up in the Cheap Seats. Natch. Another that's supposed to be excellent! We shall see. Turns out, what with one booking the wrong night and others too late to get tickets for this sold-out performance, that there'll only be two of us from the group at it! Hey-ho, an elite group, as I said.

On Wednesday, The York Realist, at Donmar Warehouse.

On Thursday, my £3.60 club has got me a ticket - for that amount - for Orpheus Sinfonia, at St. George's Church in Hanover Square. About time I was back with them - they do offer excellent value.

And on Friday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats - who else - for Frozen, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.