Reassuringly, when I turned on my phone today, I had an email from them to say I could pick it up at the box office. Since I was up a little early though, it was the perfect opportunity to schlep over to the sorting office first, to pick up a small parcel that couldn't be delivered during the week. Too far to walk - unfortunately, the bus I might have taken was hit by roadworks, all this weekend! I ended up walking past my office to catch another.. and after I'd picked up the parcel, I waited for another bus to take me straight to the theatre. In a coup for Google Maps, they correctly predicted it'd be right along - unlike my bus app, which predicted a wait. I guess it can't always be right!
I was glad of its promptness - I didn't have much time to spare. Fought my way through the crowds in the lobby to pick up my ticket, and made my way to the Upper Gallery. Where it's quite easy to tell which door to enter by, but not so much which row to head for! Confusingly, they all seem to be prefaced on the tickets with the letter D - so my row, B, was marked as DB. With so many people having to ask for help from the ushers, you'd think they'd fix this.
It's been a while since I was here, and it's as gorgeous as ever:
Even the musicians' gallery was used, it turned out, by the composer, who gave the odd blast on something that looked like uileann pipes.
The show was advertised as 90 minutes straight through, but it was about 20 minutes before it actually got going, what with an explanatory introduction by the guy who'd conceived the piece. He described how he was inspired by a certain painting retrospective, so he split the performance into several different "paintings", or moods, describing the basic plot. It didn't quite flow linearly mind, with one event happening out of sequence.
But never mind - this is a mood piece. At the beginning of each scene, he describes the motivation for what's happening, before it's actually sung. The performance also incorporates some dance, a few musical instruments, and the odd snippet of text from the play - indeed, that's all that the guy playing Lear gets to do, reciting the odd quote! That, and be a foil for the others.
The music takes the form of a sort of medieval a cappella. And therefore, I loved it - I'm a complete sucker for this! Parts were so beautiful I could have cried. Throughout, it has a rhythmic intensity that utterly surrounds and grabs the audience. Completely stunning - we jumped to our feet at the end in a standing ovation. The actual performance is only about 50 minutes long - the last 20 minutes are taken up with a discussion about ROPKA, the charity that this is in aid of, and for which brochures are left on seats. I didn't bother to stay for that.
It was pretty full - I could only see a few empty seats. Only one more performance, in under an hour at time of writing - for which tickets are already sold out. They're in for a treat! Me, I took myself off to the ever-entertaining giftshop, then next door to Pizza Express - I hadn't had time to eat yet. And when they finally noticed me waiting by the "Please Wait Here" sign, they suggested I head upstairs - and left me to it, to the surprise of the waiter upstairs. Ah well. Upstairs at this Pizza Express, BTW, is usually to be recommended, with one of the best views in London - not so much today though, it was so grey and drizzly. Never mind, the food was excellent - and the chocolate cake, I might add, much better than the last I had, in the Pizza Express near the office..
Walked it off as I made my way home - and it was cold enough (again!) that I was glad I'd brought a coat. Tomorrow, heading with North London Friends to Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras - part of Sadler's Wells' Flamenco Festival. So I'll get more flamenco dancing! The lady hosting is going with some people from her Spanish class, and heading for tapas after - hell, why not? Even if I don't join them, I'll love the show.
And on Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats at last, for Peter Gynt at the National. Modern version.
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