..but they were full, so we ended up back at Byron, where he was more successful.
This evening, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Cyrano de Bergerac, at the Playhouse. Stars James McAvoy. Popular event this, I see - and not just with the large number of people that booked with our group! A number of people got upgrades - turns out that they were upgrading everyone from the front row of the Upper Circle. The legroom is pretty bad throughout, and the front row is a case in point, squashed up against the rail. And this is a long show.
The bus dropped me at Somerset House, and Google Maps suggested that I walk from there to the theatre via Embankment! An interesting walk - I haven't gone quite that way before.
Picking up my ticket, I noted that the performance was sold out - and as I headed in, I passed a group of our people in a cluster outside! Now, it was freezing cold, but this turned out to be the best option.. when we went in, we climbed an unearthly number of stairs, then squashed into the teeny Upper Circle Bar - which we took up most of - and could hardly turn to talk to each other. As I remarked, it was like being in a Tube carriage at rush hour! Which was a shame, because it's a while since I'd seen a lot of these people, and probably shan't again this year.
Anyway, it was a relief to take my seat:
The view is just fine if you lean into the aisle. You kind of need to point your legs that way too, with the lack of legroom. A number of people - what with the empty front row n all - decided to head down there. Now, the railing (as you can slightly see from the above photo) curves slightly - outwards at the edges, inwards in the middle. Very decorative - very uncomfortable, in the middle. So all those people who scooted down there for the show ended up at the edges..
Cyrano de Bergerac. Rap version, complete with beatboxer. I hadn't read about it closely, and wasn't expecting that - and a couple of elderly guys on our level decided early that it wasn't for them, and left. Boy, they missed out. What you see on stage at the opening is about as much decoration as you get - the only stage props are a full-length mirror that's lowered periodically, and some plastic chairs. V avant-garde. Despite the sparsity of decoration, the staging is inventive - characters who aren't in a particular scene just sit, or stand, with their backs to the audience. The stage floor does clever things, like form into steps in the second half - honestly though, they could have left it flat throughout.
Because that's not what's most attractive about this show. Someone once said of me that I seemed to be keen on complex wording - he was right, and I was in heaven here. This is the best I've heard since Lose Yourself. Three solid hours of it - verbal jousts, in rhyme, adapted to the character speaking. The best lines go to Cyrano, of course, and in the simplicity of this staging, we get to concentrate on the poetry, and get to the heart of what the play is really about. I did love one of the background actions, which has someone painting on the backdrop while the action continues in the foreground, completely unrelated to what he's doing. And when you finally see what he's writing, it makes perfect, simple sense.
I preferred the original ending, which is slightly changed here. But this is a spectacular display of brilliant writing. Love words? You'll love this. Booking till the 29th of February - deserves to run and run. Booking recommended. At the end, the crowd was delighted to leap to its feet - and outside, we wished we had a playtext. Oh, and do have a wander by the stage door - even in this cold, the queue was phenomenal.. I mean, I couldn't get anything like all of them in one shot!
Delighted the #11 now stops just across from my flat.. For the next two days, Meetup has given me ideas, which I'm using to do things outside of Meetup. Tomorrow, London Social Detours is charging £3 to go to a talk about Oscar Wilde's London. I booked myself - for free - on Eventbrite; I don't find her group that friendly, to be honest, but the talk sounds interesting.
On Friday, Ken's Walks and Social Events (and its sister group, London Art, Comedy & Walks) are on a Christmas lights tour. Now, after past experience with the walks organised by this group, I'll never darken their doors again. However, a Christmas lights walk sounded good - and I didn't get to one at all last year! So I had a browse - and came up with a pay-what-you-want walk by Free Tours by Foot London. Starts in Covent Garden - and the handy thing is, we're to clear our stuff out of our old office that day, and hand in our passes before the receptionist goes home. Which means we have been told to finish at 4! Excellent - that gives me loads of time. Ivan is coming to this one - which means it'll probably be a late night.
On Saturday, headed with UITCS to the Orange Tree, for Candida, by Shaw. Unless I get sidetracked.
On Sunday, my last visit of the year to the Crick Crack Club - Emily Hennessy is telling the Ramayana at the British Museum. Oh, and I'd completely forgotten that was on when I booked with North London Friends for a carol concert at St. James' Muswell Hill, followed by drinks at the John Baird. Sounds lovely - but I doubt I'll make both. We shall see - with such a huge group going, I doubt I'd be missed. Then I fly back to Ireland for Christmas on Monday.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
..and I'm off again next month, flying back to London on the 5th. On the 6th, I will start as I mean to go on, with UITCS at the Almeida for the Duchess of Malfi.
On the 7th, I'm off to the Opera House, for the Royal Ballet's production of Coppélia - one I've never seen.
And on the 8th, the RSC's production of Measure for Measure, at the Barbican. Set in decadent 1900s Vienna.
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