In Which I Go OUT! And there is Theatre, and Meeting A Friend, And Food

 It's been a long time.

But a few months ago, after I had been able to book both my vaccination appointments and knew i would be fully vaxxed by now, and when it looked as though we were getting back to normal, I booked tickets to go to the theatre, with a friend.

The show we booked was Under Milk Wood  at the National Theatre, with Michael Sheen, and we went to the final matinee. It's the first time I've been to the theatre since March of last year, and the first time I've been anywhere except to work, and to spend time in my bubble.

It felt very strange.. There were people, lots of them, and some of them not wearing masks. And then we went to  a restaurant and ate(delicious!) food cooked by someone else!. Fortunately I don't seem to have completely forgotten how to behave in pubic. 

Then we went for our socially distanced performance. we were sitting  with 3 empty seats between us, as when we booked, being from different households/bubbles, we couldn't sit together, and there were lots of empty seats to keep everyone distanced. Were it not for the knowledge of how difficult this makes it for the theatres, I could  get to quite like the extra space!

I've never seen Under Milk Wood before, although I have read it,and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was, in this production, some additional material; the play began with a group of nursing home residents, and the (unexpected) visit from the son (Michael Sheen) trying to speak to his father (Karl Johnson), who appears unable to understand or respond to him, until he starts to show him old photos, and encourage his to remember his childhood, and all the characters of that little Welsh town, Llareggub...

It makes for a  fascinating take on the play, seeing the characters played by the elderly cast members, and Johnson's almost wordless performance was particularly impressive.

I'm very glad I got to see it. (We saw the final matinee, I'm not sure if it was filmed at ll and whether it may yet appear on NTLive) .

Since I was going to brave the trip to London, I decided that I might as well make the most of it and see a second show, so I had booked to see Constellations as well.

It's a short, two character play, about love and  quantum physics - this production has four different casts, and I saw the second, Zoe Wanamaker as Physicist Marianne, and Peter Capaldi as beekeeper Roland.

The play is a serious of short scenes - a party, where Roland and Marianne make a connection, or don't , spend a night together, or don't.. And we watch as the same scene plays out in slightly different ways, as different choices are made, or not made, or news is good or bad.

It was interesting and unusual, and I enjoyed it, and seeing these two actors on stage (I have see Zoe Wanamaker in other productions but this was the first tie I'd seen Peter Capaldi on stage)

The performance I saw was the last they did, but there are two other cases still continuing!

As the last train home is currently very early, I stayed overnight, and then had a pleasant walk back through Kensington Gardens, and some quiet back-streets, to get back to the station.

It was all quite tiring - I did find being out around so many strangers quite stressful, and I had forgotten, over the past 16 months how much difference the poorer air quality makes to me, personally,  but it was wonderful to see a friend I've not seen for so long, and I did enjoy both shows, despite feeling a bit nervous.

Faith Healer - Old Vic in Camera

 For obvious reasons, I have not been to the theatre much this year - and not at all since March. I have been watching many of the productions available online and on TV - I particularly enjoyed seeing some of the NTLive productions, such as Coriolanus, again, and watching some of the RSC shows available on the BBC's 'Culture in Quarantine' stream, but I have been missing live theatre a lot. 

So, the Old Vic has been doing a short run  'Old Vic In Camera'  of plays performed live on stage to an empty theatre and a bunch of cameras.

I booked a ticket, and duly got my 'Zoom' link to watch live.  It was an interesting experience - I mean, a kitten blocking my view is not something which normally happens at the theatre, but on the other hand, the seating was much more comfortable than most theatres, and the refreshments cheaper! 

The play itself is interesting - it consists of 4 monologues, by Francis Hardy, the titular Faith Healer (played by Michael Sheen) his wife, Grace (played by Indira Varna) and his manager, Teddy, (played by David Threlfall),and then Hardy again,  as they reminisce about events in their life on the road, and we the audience get to gradually  unpick the contradictory stories they tell, and to get drawn into their love and grief and loss.

The intimacy created by the filming, and the power of the actors, made it a very intense, gripping play, and while there were a few issues with the format - some distracting super close-up, zoomed in so you could not see the whole of the actor's face, for instance, and one or two moments when there was interference with clothing brushing against mikes, but over all it worked well, and I did like the feel of watching live rather than a recorded or edited performance. 

I shall keep an eye out for others.

I admit, I would not be willing to pay as much as for a 'real' theatre ticket, but was happy to pay at the lower end of the available range. I would be happy of theatres were to consider similar options even when we are once again able to return to 'normal' live events - there are ,I suspect, a lot of plays productions I wouldn't travel to London and pa £40+ for a ticket for, but would be happy to pay £10-£15 to watch live on the small screen, and no doubt there are a lot of others who can't get to the theatre who would do the same. Perhaps a fixed camera, 'sitting' in the centre of the Royal Circle or equivalent during a live performance,  could become the norm, to widen the range of options for those of us who love live theatre!

I am slow writing up this post - I watched on 19th Sept, and the run was only for  4 days, They will be ding 'A Christmas Carol' at Christmas, however, and while tickets aren't yet on sale, you can register to be updated when they are, and, of course, as the event is online, you can watch from anywhere in the world, although as it's live, your timezone may dictate whether or not it is at a suitable time of the da y or night! (Details on the Old Vic website )

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman, David Tennant and Michael Sheen at the Royal Festival Hall, and a bookshop.

As you know, I am a fan of Terry Pratchett's work, and a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, so I am, and have been, pretty excited about the Good Omens TV series, which is out this weekend.

So, when I saw that Neil had an event at the Southbank  Centre, I couldn't resist, even though it was a week night. I'm pretty sure that Master Crowley would say I shouldn't try to resist temptation..

I went through Waterloo station, on my way, where there was a  pop up garden, with an apple tree, and warnings about snakes. (there were snakes, too, but they were having a snooze in private when I visited)

And , there friendly demons, tempting passers-by with apples...

I met up with my friend, and we dined, then went to the Southbank Centre. Where there were, perhaps inevitably,some chattering Satanic nuns. Which is not something you see every day, even at the Southbank Centre.  

Sadly we arrived just as they were finishing their mini concert, but I am sure that they sang beautiful, profane songs about the Antichrist. (they have an album out, you know)

Then the main event.

Neil Gaiman, Michael Sheen, and David Tennant were being interviewed by Kirsty Wark. 

The event started with a short clip from the show (the scene in the band stand, from Ep.3, for those who have seen the show) then Kirsty (who has a cameo in the show and was clearly a fan) interviewed the others.


Neil explained how he had felt that he had to make the series, for Terry, and that he was show runner so that no-one else could mess it up. He and Michael talked about a very awkward  meal they had together, when they were each trying to break it to the other that Michael wasn't right for the role of Crowley.

Michael and David performed a brief scene from the show (with Neil reading the stage directions ) - hearing Drunk Crowley and Drunk Aziraphale was a lot of fun. Kirsty Wark described Crowley's appearance as being 'aging rock star' - resulting in David feigning offence at the 'aging'  part (she hastily changed to 'young rock star' but David continued to make comments about his age during the rest of the evening! 

Neil talked about some of the other members of the cast, and how they accepted their roles (Frances McDormand's response when asked to play God was that it would confirm what her family had always suggested about her...,and Nick Offerman offered to pay for his own plane ticket if necessary!  )

 Michael talked about having been a fan of the book since it first came out, and David about having just loved the script when it was sent to him. 

It was a lovely evening, not least because both those on stage, and in the audience, seemed genuinely happy to be there and enthusiastic about the show. Although there was a slightly awkward moment during the Q and A when someone asked  rather oddly worded question which resulted in an uncomfortable silence as an entire auditorium full of people tried to  work out what was meant, and the four people on stage all looked as though they were hoping one of the others would work it out and say something!  (Kirsty Wark stepped in and asked the questioner to frame it more simply).

Neil also explained that Crowley would still have an answering machine, and that he took the view that this was for Aziraphale's benefit, that he would have found it hard to adjust to mobile phones, so Crowley dug out his old ansaphone and set it up again!

Then, a day or two after the Southbank event, I was in London for other reasons and was able to make time to go to Soho, where there was, very briefly, a pop-up version of Aziraphale's bookshop, which one may visit. 

I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find, or whether I would be able to get in, but when I arrived in Greek Street, I guessed, from spotting the VIntage Bentley, and Angel and Demon wandering around, that I was in the right place. 

'Aziraphale'

'Crowley'

And after a wait of around 15 minutes I was able to go into the shop. 

Crowley's Bentley, outside Aziraphale's shop in Soho 

It's very well done. The entrance has heaps of old leather-bound books, and a gentleman looking not unlike the late, great, Sir Terry, grumpily telling people to go away, and not to touch anything. (Crowley, wandering up and down the queue outside, was actively encouraging everyone to touch (and lick) everything)

Aziraphale's Shop

Then upstairs there was one room with an exhibition of art by Lorna May Wadsworth, including sketches made during filming, a giant portrait of Neil, and various Icons of David as Crowley, and Michael as Aziraphale.

 There was a second room with an exhibition of props and costumes from the series, including the basket Crowley takes the baby to the convent in, a very burned and battered copy of the Nice and Accurate Prophecies , and a copy of the paper with Shadwell's advert for the Withcfinder Army (among other ads, for Terry's lost hat, and for a book club reading of  'Neverwhere' , led by a Neil G..
)

There were some perfectly charming Demons and Angels keeping an eye on each of the rooms, all staying, like Crowley and Aziraphale outside, in character.

I didn't get to do the escape room, as this had to be booked in advance and sold out very fast, but the bits I did see were very good!

The shop was only open for 3 days, so I was very lucky to get the chance to go.

And all this on top of getting to see the show itself, which is of course now available on Amazon Prime and, f I may say so, well worth watching!   

More pictures over on Flickr