Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) at Bath Theatre Royal

 Way back in September, I booked a ticket to go to see Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) in Bath, because I like Jane Austen, and so why not? And then I forgot about it until it popped up on my calendar, so it felt like a nice surprise! 

It was a lot of fun - it has a small, all female cast, with each of the actors playing multiple roles.

It's a familiar story, framed as being told by the servants, which allows for some helpful exposition (Although I admit that there was a point where I wanted to shout "no, that's not how an entail works..!") 

And it's told in unashamedly modern english, with the characters bursting into (Karaoke ) song at regular intervals (except Mary. Not you, Mary!)

Which is a lot of fun - Lizzie Bennett singing Carly Simon's  'You're so Vain' in response to Mr Darcy's criticism of her at the Meryton Ball was a highlight, although I think my favourite was, perhaps, Lady Catherine de Burgh's reference to her nephew, Christopher, before 'Lady in Red' is played..

Lots of breaking the 4th wall and asides to the audience, and impressive switching between characters (Mrs Bennett to Mr Darcy!) 

Well worth seeing if you have the opportunity https://prideandprejudicesortof.com/uk-tour

The Height of the Storm

I booked to see The Height of the Storm because how often do you get to see Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce on stage, still less get to see them together.?

The play is interesting, and moving, initially, we see a daughter, returning home and trying to help her father, coming to terms with the loss of his wife, her mother . . . or do we?  

André and Madeleine have been a couple for 5 years, and have two adult daughters, but what is the loss they are dealing with? The sands are shifting underfoot, and the play explores the issues of grief, and loss, and dementia without ever naming any of them. 

It is very, very well done.(And one gets to hear Eileen Atkins say 'Fuck' , which carries it's  own joy!)

It's strange, but thought provoking, and despite dealing with loss and grief has its entertaining moments!



The play is in Bath before it opens in the West End. It's well worth seeing if you have the chance (and it's short  -about 90 minutes with no interval) 

The Lady in the Van

On Friday, I went to Bath Theatre Royal to see Alan Bennett's The Lady in the Van. Which (for those who don't know) is a play which Bennett wrote based on his own experience, and friendship (or at least acquaintance) with 'Miss Shepherd'. Miss Shepherd was a homeless woman who lived in a Bedford Van, and who moved the Van into Bennett's front garden when the Council painted double yellow lines on the street, and stayed for 15 years until her death.

In the original play, and in the film adaptation, Miss Shepherd was played by Dame Maggie Smith and Bennett (on of the two Bennett's in the play) by himself, which have to be hard acts to follow, but I think Sara Kestelman, Sam Alexander and James Northcote did pretty well!

Sara Kestelman as Miss Shepherd (photo from Theatre website)

Sara Kestleman's Miss Shepherd was acidic, brusque and generally unlikable, but with an element of vulnerability and pathos which won a certain amount of sympathy. Sam Alexander and James Northcote are Alan Bennett (the one who does, and the one who writes) discussing the situation with each other (or, I suppose, with himself)...

I enjoyed it. (and a day or two later, happened to watch the film, which was an interesting contrast)

Racing Demon

I had a very busy weekend so it will take more than one post! 

It all started on Friday evening, when I went into Bath to see 'Racing Demon' at the Theatre Royal.

It is the first of a trio of plays (none of which I've seen before)  by David Hare about English/British Institutions. This one is about the Church of England.

It was written in 1990 and it is focused on issues of that time, but still worth watching.

It is based around the  members of a team ministry. Lionel (David Haig), the lead rector, who has lost faith in the Church, and perhaps, in Go. Harry (Ian Gelder), a closeted gay vicar whose younger partner resents his unwillingness to risk being outed, 'Streaky' (Sam Alexander), cheery and good natured but, (as gradually becomes apparent) also liable to pick the path of least resistance, and finally Tony, (Paapa Essiedu) a newly ordained curate with an evangelical approach, who, over the course of the play, moves from enthusiastic evangelist to uncompromising, and unsympathetic, zealot.

Add into the mix a Bishop seeking to oust Lionel from his post, and raging against the ordination of women, and a sleazy reporter seeking to 'out'  Harry, and there is plenty going on.

A primary reason why I booked was because Paapa Essiedu was in the cast (I saw his Hamlet at Stratford last year, and was very impressed) In this production, he plays Tony, who is far from being a sympathetic character, and does so extremely well - he progresses from being the new, someone naive curate and becomes increasingly uncompromising, and willing to sacrifice Lionel and the others to his own, rigid beliefs.

In fact, the past generally was very strong. Ian Gelder was very good, in a subtle and understated performance.

I did get a little thrill when I realised that Amanda Root (Who is, and will always be, Anne Eliot to me!)  was also in the cast. She gave a  brief but powerful performance as Lionel's long-suffering wife.

I enjoyed the play. Parts of it felt pretty dated (which given the play is 27 years old is perhaps unsurprising), but the underlying issues around loyalty, friendship and responsibilities are still relevant, and I am glad I went. (the performance I saw was the last but one of the run)

The Addams Family Musical

I really wanted to like the Addams Family Musical. 

It seemed like a nice idea. The basic premise is that Wednesday Addams is now 18, and in love with a 'normal' boy, who she invites, with his parents, to meet her family.

And hilarity ensues. 

Or not.

It's good visually, the stage set is suitably spooky, and Morticia (Samantha Womack) and Gomez (Cameron Blakely) look the part, and Carrie Hope Fletcher looks just as you would expect an 18 year old Wednesday Addams to look.

But the plot is thin and clunky, and while a really good musical can get by with next to no plot, in the case, the musical numbers are...fine, but not enough to make up for the productions other shortcomings. 

It's a shame, because the cast are good, it's just that they don't have much to work with.

I think if you want 'normal' people meeting strangers in a spooky house then the Rocky Horror Picture Show has much better music and plot!

Its fair to say that I seemed to be in a minority in this view - the audience was, for the most part, highly enthusiastic and clearly enjoyed the show a good deal more than I did. 

But for me, I found the production distinctly underwhelming. 

2/5 Stars.

If you want to judge for yourself, the production is on tour around the UK until November. 

Nell Gwynn

I missed Nell Gwynn when it was originally on at the Globe Theatre, but heard many good things about it, so when I saw that it was coming to Bath I immediately booked a ticket. 

And then a little bit later I realised it was for the same night I would be getting back from Venice, but as that was the last night it was in Bath, there was no way of changing the ticket, so I decided to hope that the train would be on time and the traffic light, and that I'd get back in time.

It was, and I did. All the travel gods smiled on me, I was out of Gatwick within half an hour of the plane landing, and got to Bath with time to grab a snack before going into the theatre!

The play, written by Jessica Swale and starring Laura Pitt-Pulford as Nell and Ben Righton as Charles II, begins in 1660 as a young Nell Gwynn, selling oranges at Drury Lane theatre, draws the attention of actor Charles Hart (Sam Marks), and starts on her path towards being one of the first professional actresses in Britain, and, a little later, mistress of Charles II.

It was lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Esh Alladi, as Edward Kynaston,an actor famed for his portrayal of female roles, outraged by the idea of women on stage!

Nell gets most of the best lines - there is a lovely sequence where she gives her unvarnished opinion of women characters as written by male playwrights, with particular reference to  Shakespeare's 'Juliet. (Spoiler Alert: She is not convinced by Juliet and her suicide) 

There was live music.  There was singing and dancing. There were ridiculous hats. there were political jokes.

It was all great fun.

Sadly the run is now over, so you can't see it, but if they revive it, go see it.

Abigail's Party

On Friday evening I saw 'Abigail's Party' at Bath Theatre Royal. It's one f those plays which I am aware of, but have never seen before, and I wanted to see it partly for that reason, and partly as I was interested to see Amanda Abbington (Mary Morstan from Sherlock) on stage. 

It was very good, although it is the kind of play which you watch with a degree of horrified fascination, as Beverley (Abbington) and her Estate Agent husband, Laurence (Ben Caplan) throw a cocktail party at their suburban home for their new neighbours Angela (Charlotte Mills) and Tony (Ciarán Owens), and older, divorced, neighbour, Susan (Rose Keegan) who is there to allow her 15 year old daughter to hold the titular party, free from parental interference.

Beverley is the awful, pushy, hostess, constantly overriding her guests' preferences and wishes, to score points off them and her husband, flirting increasingly desperately with Tony, all the while exposing her own insecurities and lack of taste. Her husband, Laurence, clearly prides himself on his more cultured tastes (he has a matching set of Dickens, and another of Shakespeare, but has read neither, and has prints of Van Gogh and Lowry on the walls,  but is put off when Susan appears to be more familiar with them than he is.

The whole thing is full of attempts to 'keep up with the Jones's', and is horribly true.  It's fun to watch as Angela starts subtly to assert herself, and of course for someone my age, brought up in the 70s, there is also the slightly worrying game of seeing how many pieces of furniture on set / props you can recognise from the homes you visited as a child... 

The play is in Bath until next weekend, then on tour until the end of April. The performance I saw was only the 3rd one, and this showed a little, Abbington stumbled on a couple of her lines, but over all, it was fun - funny and very watchable.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I'm a big fan of Shakespeare, and it was something of a surprise to realise, a few months ago, that I have never seen a live performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. I did see the TV production which the BBC did earlier this year, which I enjoyed, but the story was so familiar I had to stop and think to work out that I really *hadn't* seen it before! I think perhaps because the story pervades so many works of literature it is part of my mental furniture despite not having watched it on stage before!

This production was at the Bath Theatre Royal, as part, fittingly, of their summer season, and features comedian Phill Jupitus , in his first Shakespearean role, as Bottom.

It's an interesting, and successful, bit of casting.  Bottom came across as a having (misplaced) confidence in his own theatrical skills, and was, in the final scenes, gloriously indifferent to the difference between laughing at, and laughing with, as the Duke and his court enjoyed the play. And in his scenes with Titania he portrayed Bottom's self-importance and ridiculousness beautifully.


As a whole, I enjoyed the production, and the rude mechanicals' play was hilarious.  I was less convinced by the costume choice for Puck - he appeared naked except for a loin cloth and a lot of blue paint, but unfortunately the bulkiness and mismatch between the blue of the cloth and the paint meant he ended up looking rather like he was wearing a nappy...

Darrell D'Silva and Katy Stephens played dual roles -  Theseus / Oberon and Hippolyta / Titania, which worked well - D'Silva had an excellent line in restrained power, both as ruler of Athens and King of the fairies.

The lovers, Hermia (Eve Ponsonby) and Lysander (William Postlethwaite) and Helena (Maya Wasowicz) and Demetrius (Wilf Scolding)  were excellent - Lysander was presented as something of a hipster, with Demetrius distinctly more buttoned up and formal, although both ended up nearly naked once the fairies were finished with them - the only part which was hard to believe was that Helena was spurned by Demetrius - she was a much more striking and appealing character than Hermia!

I should like to see other productions and see how they compare

The production has now ended in Bath, I'm not sure if it is touring elsewhere.

I regret that I haven't been able to get to see the version of 'Dream' at the Globe, as I've heard very good things about it, and I will be looking out for another production to see, as I was left feeling a little underwhelmed by this one! 

The Herbal Bed

I generally only go to the theatre at weekends, but I had to exchange my ticket for 'The Herbal Bed' to Wednesday night, as I can't go on Friday night.

It is an interesting play. It's based on a true incident in the life of William Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna Hall, who, in 1613 was accused of adultery with a neighbour, Rafe Smith, and successfully sued her accuser, Jack Lane, for slander.

The play portrays Susanna (Emma Lowndes)  as a passionate, intelligent and educated woman, respecting but not loving her physician husband, with Jack Lane portrayed as her husband's young (and immature) student,  Rafe Smith (Philip Correia )  as a friend and neighbour, mourning the loss of his children, and the resulting disintegration of his relationship with his wife, and John Hall (Jonathan Guy Lewis)  as a man dedicated to his profession, and apparently less aware of his wife's needs and desires.

According to the play, Susanna and Rafe are not, technically guilty of adultery, but only through luck.

Jack is a somewhat pathetic character, his accusations made, it appears, out of jealousy (Susanna having not only rejected his advances to her, but also made him apologise to her maidservant for his unwanted advances to her, too) 



The second half of the play is darker. With Lane refusing to publicly retract his allegations, the Halls find themselves having to take their case to trial at Worcester cathedral, where they face uncomfortable questioning - Smith and Susanna aware of their own guilty desires, and Hall aware of this, but determined, whether for the sake of his practice, or his family's reputation, to pursue the claim .

The questioner, Barnabus Goche (Michael Mears) is the least attractive character, motivated, it appears, by religious zeal, to sift to the bottom the case brought befpore him, notwithstanding the non-appearance of the defendant, and the claimants' unwillingness to pursue further.

I enjoyed the evening - the play was interesting, and the cast good, but the whole thing didn't quite work for me - I would have liked to see more development of John Hall's character, for instance.

But worth seeing, for all that!

Single Spies

Friday evening saw me back at Bath Theatre Royal again, this time to see 'Single Spies' . It is some time since I booked the tickets, so I had forgotten, until I arrived at the theatre and bought a programme, that this is not a single play, but 2 one act plays (by Alan Bennett) both dealing with members of the Cambridge Spy Ring.

The first of the two plays, 'An Englishman Abroad' is set in Moscow in 1958, the Englishman in question being  Guy Burgess, who disappeared with fellow Soviet spy Donald MacLean in 1951, resurfacing in Moscow.

The play is based on real events, and is told from the points of view of Burgess himself, and of Coral Browne, an Australia born actress who met Burgess while visiting Moscow as part of a cultural exchange in 1958.

Burgess (Nicholas Farrell) comes across as a rather pathetic figure; yearning for gossip about London, frustrated at being constantly associated with his fellow spy, MacLean - a picture of lonely exile. Browne (Belinda Lang) is very detached, happy to assist Burgess in his desire to replace his Savile Row suit, and unimpressed by his politics, sacrifice or betrayal.

The second play is 'A Question of Attribution' which features David Robb (Downton Abbey's Dr Clarkson) as Sir Anthony Blunt, Art Historian, Keeper of the Queen's Pictures, and the Fourth Man in the Cambridge Spy Ring. Robb is excellent in the role, and Belinda Lang appeared again as the Queen (I think rather more successfully than her earlier role) as the play mingles art history and comment with Blunt investigating the history of a Caravaggio whilst parrying attempts to investigate his past associations. (Blunt was granted immunity from prosecution for his espionage in return for providing information)

The play is, in parts, extremely funny, and there cast is excellent.

A fun night out.

In Which there is a lot of theatre!

At the end of November I had a further trip to London, to see the RSC Henry V at the Barbican, and the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company All on her own' / Harliquinade double-bill at the Garrick theatre.

Both were very good. 

The Henry V is part of the 'Great Cycle of Kings', directed by Gregory Doran, - Richard II, Henry IV parts I and II, and Henry V.

I saw Richard II (with David Tennant) in Stratford, in November 2013,and then saw Henry IV Pt. I as a live broadcast, and Henry IV Pt. II at Bath, last November, so when I saw that the RSC was reuniting the same cast and performing the pays at the Barbican in London I decided that I would go and fill in the gap, and see the last of the 4. 

Alex Hassell as Henry V - Photo (c) RSC

I enjoyed it a lot. It's pretty much uncut, and Hassell was a convincingly tough and aggressive Henry, and while I am not a fan of Shakespeare's 'comic' Scots / Welsh / Irish Captains, their scenes were done well.

I also found it interesting to be back at the Barbican and to see the contrast between the huge and ornate 'Hamlet' set, and the sparse Henry V one!

I then had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend for a meal and catch up, before heading to the Garrick theatre to see the first of the plays in Kenneth Branagh's company's run (I have ticket for a couple of the others, for next year)

It was a Terence Rattigan double bill - 'All on her Own', a monologue, performed by Zoë Wanamaker, as a widow returning home after a party, a  little the worse for wear, and starting a conversation with her late husband. Poignant and superbly performed. 

The second half of the double bill was 'Harlquinade', which is utterly hilarious. I never realised what a talent for comedy Branagh had! 

The play is set during a dress rehearsal of 'Romeo and Juliet' in 1946, and features Branagh as Arthur Gosport, an ageing actor-manager who, with his wife is touring the provinces as part of a government scheme to bring culture to the masses.

Both he and his wife, (Miranda Raison) are both utterly absorbed in the play, oblivious to their stage manager's attempts to tell them he will to be continuing the tour, and  the implications of the arrival of young Mrs Palmer and her baby... not to mention issues of bigamy, and farcical misunderstandings.

Hadley Fraser has a slight slight as the First Halberdier, and the whole thing is laugh-out-loud funny. There's something highly entertaining about watching very good actors pretending to be not-so-good actors.

It was a lot of fun.

And then on Sunday, before I went home, I got to meet up with a relative I haven't seen for ages which was great.

1984

This post is a little out of order, as I saw 1984 on Friday night, before the Kids Lit stuff on Saturday, but it seems a little out of place among the cheery fun stuff!

This production is, like the original book, very far from being cheery or fun.

It incorporates the appendix to the original book, which is written as from a historian looking back at the events - in the play, this is used to frame the events of the story - the play starts with a group, perhaps students, or a book club, discussing Winston's diary.

We then see the events in Winston (Matthew Spencer)'s life - with on-going uncertainty about what was real, and what was not, or was simply memories (and if so, whose), with occasional 

It's deeply unsettling - the production makes a lot of use of cameras and lighting - cast members disappear off stage and appear on camera on the screen above the stage, the characters unconscious that they remain under observation, blackouts spare us the worst of the scenes of violence and torture (or perhaps give us the opportunity to imagine the worst), and it's never entirely certain what is fact, what fear, what memory.

There is no interval so there isn't any respite.

It must be an exhausting play to perform.It's not a cheerful evening out but it is terrifyingly well done. I think it is going on an international tour, next..

East isEast

I've somehow missed seeing the film, East is East, but I had heard good things about it, and also about the live stage version, which was previously on at Trafalgar Studios in London, which seems to produce consistently good theatre.

So when I saw it was coming to Bath, of course I booked a ticket. And was glad I had.

The play follows the Khan family, George Khan (Simon Nagra), a Pakistani Muslim, his White British Wife Ella (Pauline McLynn) and 6 of their 7 children, living in Salford in the 1970s, and dealing with issues of family and identity, and the strains both impose.

George, despite having lived in the UK for over 30 years, and married an Englishwoman, wants a traditionally dutiful and obedient wife and children, including expecting his children to accept his choices for them for marriage.

It's  frequently very funny,  often disturbing (quite apart from the off-stage exile of his eldest son for refusing an arranged marriage, there is also domestic violence, for instance), and very well-written.

The cast is extremely strong - particularly Adam Karim, as Sajit, who spends most of the play wearing a parka so has to perform from inside a hood, without out being able to see his face.

It was also nice to see a much more diverse audience than usual at the theatre! 

Car Troubles, Bees, Summer, and Friends

Last week was mostly distinguished by being very, very hot. At least by English standards.

It was an mixed week for me - on Monday, the exhaust pipe (or at least the back half of it) fell off my car on the way home from work. Annoyingly, the exhaust broke somewhere in the middle,and the bit attaching it to the back of the bumper didn't, so it didn't actually fall off, it just dragged along the road, so I had to stop can carry out emergency tying bits of the car together (fortunately I had several bits of bungee in the boot)

Fortunately my neighbour is a mechanic and kindly removed it for me once I got home, and the car is now fixed, but it was not a good start to the week. 

Wednesday I had planned to go to the cinema to see the live broadcast of Carmen but it was too hot, and by the time I got home from work I was tired, hot and had a nasty headache, so I didn't go.


After that, the week started to improve. On Thursday I went bee-ing again, which was interesting. I am starting to feel a bit more confident, and competent,  around the bees, which is nice. I am going to have to start scouting around to see where I might  be able to keep a hive or two next year...

Then on Friday evening I met up with my friend T to go to the theatre, in Bath,which was lots of fun.

Catherine Steadman (Kate) and
Michael Pennington (Mr Hardcastle)

We saw 'She Stoops to Conquer'  which is on as part of the Theatre Royal's summer season. The play was originally performed in 1773, but for this production the setting has been updated to the 1920s, which mostly works - it is still feasible, just about to have the big class divides which underlie the plot.

The plot relies heavily on characters being unable to recognise one another, and on the dashing young gentlemen being fooled into thinking that the manor house was in fact an inn...

Hubert Burton plays Marlow, shy and tongue-tied with women of his own class, forward and brash with women he believes to be his social inferiors, and cringingly snobbish and superior towards his host, Mr Hardcastle (Michael Pennington) who he believes to be an inn keeper. Marlow has a touch of Bertie Wooster about him, and while his way with innkeepers and serving maids is a little unappealing to modern eyes, it is very well done.

Micheal Pennington had a far less showy role, but played it with beautiful restraint, as Mr Hardcastle, ready to welcome the son of his best friend as his daughter's suitor, but  met with arrogance and treated as a servant.

Catherine Steadman (who I last saw in 'Oppenheimer') was Kate Hardcastle, who seemed more n control of events than any of the other characters, and seemed to enjoy playing the barmaid to 'conquer' Marlow.

It was all good fun, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and felt the setting - (both the period and the revolving set) worked well.

The play is on in Bath until 18th July, so plenty of time to see it if you are in the area!

To Kill a Mockingbird

On Friday evening (which was a very cold evening!) I went into Bath to the theatre to see a new production of To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Daniel Betts and Jemima Bennet

It's a touring production by the Regents Park Open Air Theatre company, and was very good.

The book itself remains a part of the action, with the (adult) actors reading extracts from the book by way of narration, to move the action along.

I was surprised, to start with, as it's an unusual technique for a stage play, but it worked really well, allowing Scout's memories and views to be expressed without having to resort to extra conversations between characters, which can, of course, be a little contrived in adaptations of novels.

Zackary Momoh

The set is minimal - the cast draw a plan of the town with chalk, on the stage, at the outset. Other than a tree, with a tyre swing hanging from it, and various chairs,there is very little in way of set.

Daniel Betts was superb as Atticus Finch, (although he appeared a little too young), and Zarkary Momohas as Tom Robinson was very impressive, managing to convey both his fear and vulnerability, and his  integrity. 

The trial scenes were entirely acted, not narrate, and, even knowing the outcome, was utterly gripping.

I thought it was an excellent production. The play is now touring, finishing up at the Barbican this summer, and if it comes near you, I'd recommend it - well worth seeing!

I came out of the theatre to discover it was very cold indeed - I had to scrape ice off my car to drive home.

(Photos from the production website)

Henry IV (Part II)

A couple of months ago,  I went to see the RSC's production of  Henry IV, Part I,  which was broadcast to cinemas. I enjoyed it - particularly Trevor White's performance as Harry Hotspur!

The production is now on tour and came to Bath last week, so I went to see Part II.  I rather regret the fact that Hotspur, having died in Part I, does not appear in Part II! (Trevor White did appear in part II, as Lord Mowbray, but that is a less showy role)

Jasper Britton as King Henry IV and Alex Hassell as Prince Hal
Photo by Kwame Lestrade.

This production features Sir Anthony Sher as Sir John Falstaff, and he is very, very good in the role. Even though I' not a big Falstaff fan, I did enjoy his performance.

And Alex Hassell (Prince Hal) was excellent - particularly in the scene where he tries on his father's crown.

All in all a fun evening out.

In Which there is Wildean Fun

We are very fortunate that Bath Theatre Royal has(usually) a new show every week, plus the productions at the Ustinov, and we get to see many productions wither before, or after, a West End run. 

This season is particularly rich, and I was rather extravagant in the number f tickets I booked when the brochure came out...

Last night I was in Bath to meet up with my 2nd Cousin, to have dinner and go to see  'The Importance of Being Earnest', starring Nigel Havers, Martin Jarvis and Siân Phillips. 

There is, of course, a slight issue with this - Havers is 63, Jarvis 73, and Gwendolen (Cherie Lunghi) and Cecily (Christine Kavanagh) are also older than the average debutante.

To address this issue, this production used the setting of an aging amateur dramatics group, preparing for a production of 'Importance', the idea being that we are watching the final dress rehearsal, at the home of two of the members. 

This kind of works: There are jokes about the cucumber sandwiches being eaten by members of the cast, and side play involving a stage hand with a ladder, but while these were entertaining, I am not entirely sure that that production might not have been better played straight, despite the advanced age of the players.

Once the Wilde was under way, it was excellent, but there were points where I felt that the wish to follow through with the 'modern Am Dram' meant that there were some points where this overshadowed the original play - for instance, Gwendolen's line about the name Ernest 'producing vibrations' is an excude for some very modern over-acting, which was a shame.

All that said, it was a lot of fun. Siân Phillips was excellent in the Lady Bracknell role, as was Rosalind Ayers as Miss Prism. Nigel Havers played Nigel Havers beautifully.

I'm glad I went, and I had fun, but I think another time I would prefer to watch the play Wilde write, not one with additions by Simon Brett!

'Intimate Apparel'

Last night I went to the Ustinov Studio in Bath (which is a small, studio theatre attached to the Theatre Royal) to see a production of Lynne Nottage's Intimate Apparel. 

Tanya Moodie as Esther

I visit the Theatre Royal pretty regularly, but this was the first time I've been to the Ustinov, which is a much smaller (and newer) theatre.  I really enjoyed the evening.

I have to admit that I'm not familiar with Lynne Nottage's work, but based on this performance, I have been missing out, and would like to see more of her work.

The play is set in New York in 1905, and is an imagined history of the author's own great-grandparents. Esther (Tanya Moodie) is a 35 year old seamstress, who has lived in the same  boarding house for 18 years, since walking to New York to seek work, and who sees other girls coming and going, moving on to marriage and motherhood.  She longs for love, and dreams of opening her own beauty parlour where poor, black women such as herself could go to be pampered and treated well.

Esther then receives a letter from George Armstrong (Chu Omambala), a labourer on the Panama Canal. Being illiterate, Esther relies on two of her clients, wealthy, unhappily married Mrs Van Buren (Sara Topman) and singer / prostitute Mayme (Rochelle Neil) to read the letters to her, and to compose replies.

Esther also has a friendship with Mr Marks, (Ilan Goodman) a Jewish haberdasher with whom she bonds over a shared love of fine fabrics.

Tanya Moodie's performance is perfect, creating a deeply moving, poignant character, longing to be loved.

George is a less obviously sympathetic character, particularly in the second half of the play, and I was slightly distracted by his accent, which seemed to slip from the Caribbean, to Bristol, to Ireland.

Over all, however, this is a fantastic performance, of a great play. And it's on in Bath until 28th June, so if you live locally, there is still time to see it. (and it is in London after that)

Go.

Pygmalion

I have not booked for many of the Bath Theatre Royal's current season, but one I did book was 'Pygmalion'

Alistair McGowan as Henry Higgins
 (photo Manuel Harlan)

I don't think I have ever seen the play before, although of course I've seen 'My Fair Lady' many times.

The evening didn't start well, as there was a road closure which meant I was late getting to the theatre, but once I was in, it was very entertaining.

This production starred Alistair McGowan as Henry Higgins, Rula Lenska as his mother, and Rachel Barry as Eliza.

It was a very good production - Rachel Barry did an excellent job of showing not only Eliza's determination and strength, but also her vulnerability.

Jamie Foreman and Rachel Barry

I felt that McGowan's Professor Higgins was a little overdone - the character is obviously supposed to be gauche and irritating, but I think a little more restraint would have improved the production.

Despite this, the production is over all excellent - witty and entertaining, but not obscuring the underlying points which Bernard Shaw was making about class and inequality, and Eliza's determination to better herself and to become independent. It's a little sad that, in the play's centenary year, the issues of inequality still resonate..

Jamie Foreman made an excellent Albert Doolittle, self-proclaimed member of the Undeserving  Poor, and later victim or unwanted wealth!

I hadn't appreciated how much of the dialogue of 'My Fair Lady' was taken directly from the original play, which gives it a feeling of familiarity, but (in this production at least) you don't miss the songs.

Special mention should also go to Rula Lenska, as Higgins' clear sighted and long-suffering mother.

The production is touring until June. If you're in the right place, it is well worth seeing.

In Which There are Plantagenets and Severed Heads

When I got my brouchre for this season at Bath Theatre Royal, I saw that one week they would be playing host to the Globe Theatre's 'Globe on Tour' productions of all the Henry VI plays - 'Henry VI', 'The Houses of York and Lancaster' and 'The True Tragedy of the Duke of York' I haven't seen any of them before, and I enjoyed the previous Globe of Tour productions which I've seen, so I booked to see all three plays, and last week was at the theatre on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings (The did do 2 matinees on Saturday so it was possible to see all three plays, in order, on the Saturday, but I felt that might be a little too much of a good thing!)

The plays are a bit of a mixed bag, and, I would say, *not* Shakespeare's best, but still worth seeing.

The first play covers battles with the French, and Joan of Arc (who was portrayed with a strong Yorkshire accent, presumably to try to emphasis her rural/working class antecedents, although it made a odd contrast with the French accents of the other 'French' characters. Henry VI (who is of course a child during this period) doesn't speak for most of the early part of the play, but in this production is present on stage, reacting with fear, surprise and so on, to the action. There weren't any severed heads in this production, although a number of characters, including Joan or Arc, wind up dead.

The second to plays flow much more readily into each other - , 'The Houses of York and Lancaster', starts with Henry's politically embarrassing marriage, to Margaret of Anjou, the strong-minded but dowerless daughter of the King of Naples, and goes downhill from there, with internal strife at court (leading to the first of the severed heads.. the Duke of Suffolk - and as the same actor played Jack Cade, he later got to admire his *own* severed head, which must be interesting!

The play also saw Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) - who was played as having practically no redeeming features whatsoever (admittedly, difficult to avoid given the text) but also with an exaggerated limp, crookback and unusable arm - which is no doubt authentic in terms of the Shakespearian production, but did strike me as being a bit over the top - quite apart from anything else, it made it difficult to believe in his military exploits!

The body count rises throughout the plays. Which I suppose is fair enough for a civil war.

Over all, I enjoyed the plays but I can see why the aren't among the more frequently performed of the plays, even the history plays.

The tour included several battlefield performances, in the open air at various civil war locations, which I imagine must have been interesting!