Play: Time Stands Still

Today - would you believe it, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) finally had something at a time I could manage! It was another read play - this time, it was Time Stands Still, starring Laura Linney, Alicia Silverstone, and Brian D' Arcy James (all of whom I knew before), and Eric Bogosian (whom I didn't). And again, it was from TodayTix, with a minimum donation of $5. Delighted I could join them for something, for once. And it's just too bad that London Social Detours also announced another history talk today - they could have chosen yesterday, for once!

I started watching in good time - but there were no streaming issues. Certainly nothing like yesterday! I've never come across such problems before - I think they're specific to that particular film. Anyway. In this play, Laura Linney played a diehard war photojournalist, who at the start of the play is returning, seriously injured, from an assignment. Brian D' Arcy James was also a journalist, and her supportive partner. Eric Bogosian seemed to be their editor (and friend), and Alicia Silverstone was his (much younger) fiancée.

The whole screen was set inside what looks like a film reel, which was a nice touch. The performance started about three minutes in - and from the beginning, the acting was a pleasure to watch. This is the original Broadway cast, which does help - these people are very familiar with their roles.

Characters are well-fleshed out, completely believable. Alicia Silverstone, in particular, was a delight as a comic foil to the other three (the only one not involved in the business, and somewhat less well-informed) - and I was constantly watching people's facial expressions to gauge reactions: something I'm not usually close enough to do in real-life theatre! Beautifully acted, all round. I also have to give credit where it's due - the characters' interplay was flawless, despite them all having performed in different rooms; look away and you'd never know. Interrupting each other, and reacting to each others' lines, with perfect timing, on a video call is tough, especially with four involved..

The story itself concerns the problems that such a job (journalism, and particularly photojournalism) entails. Conflict between wanting to travel the world, grabbing the next big story: and staying home to have a more settled life, a family. The moral conflict over standing there, photographing disaster, rather than trying to help. The danger. The testing of relationships over long distance. All are dealt with, intelligently, over the various conversations among characters. Having said that, the story itself follows a fairly predictable path - but I enjoyed it. Run now finished, I'm afraid.

And as someone remarked in the chat afterwards, it's great to see good American theatre! There was a post-show discussion with the actors, but none of us on the call seemed to have watched much of that. As well as the play, discussion naturally turned to Covid - and to the (mixed) experiences of those present who've been out in London lately. Gotta say, I feel a lot safer here. But hey, it was great to see these folks again! Gee, it's nice to check how people are! No idea when I'll be able to join them again, but my absence is not for lack of interest.

Nothing in particular happening on Saturday - but UITCS is seeing something on Thursday that I might catch up with on Saturday, instead. Fibres is a play by Citizens Theatre, available online for free till the 23rd - the theme is the impact of asbestosis in a Glasgow community. They like you to book, and I have.

Play: Actually

Was thinking about a film for today. And after all the effort of doing the film list - I didn't like what came top of the list: at least, not more than I liked the idea of a new event posted by Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), to see Actually, at Trafalgar Studios. A play about sexual politics sounded like it could be interesting, if done right. So I booked it. Special offer - great value - from Today Tix. Mind you, I then heard there was to be a huge demo outside, with road closures.. promised to be interesting too! Protesting against the prorogation of Parliament.

I studied the TFL website carefully - they weren't terribly clear, but I eventually concluded that my bus would be diverted partway along my route. Being the weekend, the bus wasn't very punctual anyway - but in due course, it arrived, to take me to Somerset House. After that, it was going off course, so I alighted and went in search of brunch. I ended up with a very tasty chicken BBQ melt in the Soho Coffee Co. - but they could improve on their presentation! Not only did I not get a plate, even though I was eating in, but it was piping hot, with only a thin layer of greaseproof paper to protect me from it as I carried it to a bench. One napkin in addition. And although she'd split it in the middle, her implement hadn't gone all the way through - so I needs must pull it apart myself, burning my fingers in the process! Tsk - what a shame, because it was delicious.

Grabbed a bar of chocolate in Tesco's as I was passing, and made my way to the protest zone. First thing I saw was curious - I'm not sure whether it was related to the protest, but a large group of cyclists - all young, and including quite young kids - were weaving in and out of traffic in a most irresponsible fashion. Lordy, don't we have enough cyclists breaking the rules, thinking that red lights don't apply to them and cycling on pavements?!

It wasn't long before I found the protest proper - I thought they were leaving, but it turned out they were only headed to Trafalgar Square - where, it seems, a number of them had a sit-down protest shortly after, blocking the road. I saw those people pass, chanting "You shut down the parliament, we shut down the streets!". This is probably why a police cordon was later set up at the junction between Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, meaning we had to walk the long way around to get to our buses..

As I crossed Whitehall (mercifully, not itself cordoned off), I discovered that the traffic island in the middle of the road provided a great vantage point! 20 minutes I spent there..

..and I see not every bus was wise enough to divert! I hope they at least turned off their engines. ;-)

Well, we were supposed to meet at a certain time, so when it came close to that, I moved. The crowd had thinned out by now, which made it easy to get to the theatre - a phalanx of police stood outside to protect it from harm, but the booking confirmation on my phone got me through. I collected my ticket from the box office, and joined the others in a corner of the lobby - where, through the glass doors, we could continue to watch proceedings. Heard a little of the ongoing rally, too. For more entertainment, we shortly had footage of Equus - still showing in the main theatre, at an earlier time to ours - displayed on a screen to our other side, for the benefit of latecomers!

When it was time, we headed downstairs - blissfully cool and quiet! I was right at the end of the row - and wouldn't you know it, lots of other people in my row had taken their seats more promptly than I. And didn't look best pleased at being moved. Never mind. I was quite side-on, but as the play progressed, I got a pretty good view of both characters.

This is a claustrophobic play, just two characters, telling us their sides of the story of a night they spent together. Each remembers it differently. He's black, she's white - which adds another layer of complexity. Other characters are mentioned by one or other actor, or both, but mainly it's about these two - and we get to know both very well.

There's been criticism, apparently, of the style, which mainly has them delivering monologues, rather than interacting. I really think that works better in this case though, emphasising the disconnect between them that helped to give rise to this whole problem. As the blurb for the play states, there are three sides to every story; as the characters on stage lay themselves bare, for us if not for each other, we get two - the third is ably provided by people who were involved on the periphery, or not at all, and whose interference just makes everything a lot more complicated.

A play that raises questions about racial and sexual politics, and social norms, this is also a brilliant piece of writing, batting perceptions back and forth between the characters as they try, themselves, to make sense of what happened. Such realistic scenarios and attitudes that you wonder whether they're based on personal experience. See, this is what I meant when I said that there was a right way to use real-life experiences - for the wrong way, see Pyneapple. And it's no spoiler to reveal that we never do find out the outcome of the inquiry that results from her allegation that he raped her - we are left to make up our own minds. Which I think is exactly as it should be. It's always hard to tell what happened, when you weren't actually there.. I'd love to recommend this to you, but this was the last performance! Still, if you see it advertised again sometime..

Handily, the theatre bar was open for 45 minutes afterwards, so we had a drink and a chat. Once we finally ventured back upstairs, we found that the protest hadn't exactly died down! 

Rock on, guys. And two of us had to walk all the way back up to Aldwych for our buses home! The LCD displays, meant to tell us when they were due, were completely flummoxed, mind.. but I did get home eventually. A great day out - great company, and any amount of entertainment..

Tomorrow, I'm off to the Kubrick Exhibition! Taking place at the Design Museum, this should be fascinating - I've seen so many of his films, and I believe some sets have been reconstructed.

On Monday, back to Wilton's - Civilised London is at another jazz night. This time, it's the Hot Club of Jupiter!

On Tuesday, UITCS is at A Very Expensive Poison, at the Old Vic. Still in preview, this is based on a book inspired by recent Russian poisonings. I just found out one of my flatmates has been to see it - he found it "very left-wing". Is that because he's half Russian..?

On Wednesday, my first Meetup with Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff - we're off to Secret River, at the National. And there should be a couple of people there from other groups of mine - nothing like cross-pollination! This one is about the tensions caused by Europeans' arrival in Australia.

On Thursday, back at last with Spooky London! It's ironic, he'd only just said that I'd been to all the pub socials - and I stopped going! Not deliberate, I can assure you.. this time, we're at The George. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.

On the 9th, back with London European Club for a night at the Proms - this is Prom 68: Wagner Night. At the Royal Albert Hall, natch.

On the 10th, back at Trafalgar Studios - this time with North London Friends, for The Fishermen.

And on the 11th, I'm back to the Proms, on my own.. Prom 71: Bach Night