It Walks Around The House At Night at Southwark Playhouse

I do not get to Southwark Playhouse as often as I whould but that is London's fault for having so many theatres. This production sounded interesting enough to get me back there and the clincher was the production company ThickSkin, who I first encountered with much delight in 2012.

Being over a decade later meant that I now qualified for the Old Gits discount and my seat in the front row was a modest £22.5, about the price of three pints.

Though not my core passion, I have seen several ghost plays over the years, mostly touring shows like 2:22 and The Woman in Black at Richmond Theatre. This was nothing like those. It was far far better.

The story was unexpected and the storytelling exceptional. It was narrated in the first person with George Naylor telling us the story of jobbing actor Joe who took on an unusual commission to walk around a house at night. Iy was a more-or-less solo show and George Naylor led us skilfully through a turbulent experience of lust, fear, laughter and friendship.

There was a lot going on around the main story including a reference to Simon Armitage's poem Those Bastards in their Mansions and an different use of the term "spell checker". Those are just two small examples of the many rich nuggets in Tim Foley's script.

The set and direction were exemplary too with lots of darkness, appropriate loud noises, some projection on the back of the stage and a wire allowing George Naylor to adopt otherwise impossible poses.As with the script, there was a lot going on and it was all good.

It Walks Around The House At Night was exceptional theatre.

The Rat Trap at Park Theatre

I need few excuses to go to Park Theatre and none to see a Noel Coward play so the only question was when to see The Rat Trap and I settled for a Saturday matinee just to be in Finsbury in daylight.

The show was selling very well and so I experimented with the small balcony area for the first time. It was bit of a risk as while some balconied work well, e.g. Young Vic, others do not, e.g. Orange Tree.

That in mind, I went for Park 200 E30 at £39.

The picture below taken from my seat shows that everything was okay and I would sit up there again.

Being a matinee meant I had to find somewhere to have lunch and my memory served me well and I went back to Frame, which I had discovered in November 24, and helped myself to a good sized and very tasty vegetarian breakfast.

I knew nothing of The Rat Trap and was relying on my general knowledge of Noel Coward, including a recent visit to see Private Lives (again). That worked.

The heart of the story was a recently married couple, both writers, trying to find space for each other and also their work. Under this pressure something broke.

This made it a darker play that others of his but the tension was lightened at times by the small group of people around them.

It was all deeply engrossing and I was shocked when the lights went down for the interval and an hour had somehow passed. Time for an ice cream.

The second half continued nicely towards its dramatic ending.

Everything about the performance neatly done, as it had been for the same company's The Forsyte Saga Parts 1 and 2 in the same theatre in 2024 which also used a great cast and an almost empty stage to tell a compelling story.

This was a superb afternoon at the theatre and even a horrendous journey home, I gave up trying to catch a train at Vauxhall because there weren't any, did nothing to spoil it.

All My Sons at Wyndham's Theatre

Initially I avoided All My Sons at Wyndham's Theatre for several reasons: I had seen twice before in recent memory (2016 and 2019) and I generally avoid the big star productions in the West End because of the high prices.

What changed my mind was very good reviews, a willingness to splash out on a major event  close to my birthday, and the appearance to two seats in an otherwise sold out production.

And so I paid £103.5 for seat Row A26 in the Royal Circle (the uppermost level). From there I could see almost all of the stage.

The set was nice and simple. The house was represented by a plain board across the back of the stage with a simple door and a round window above it; there were no other decorations or features. The only object in the garden was a fallen tree, which we saw fall at the very start of the show. This tree was were people sat. I like simple sets and this was a good one.

The story was what it was with lots of dialogue and little action. Plays like that have to be written well to work and clearly Arthur Miller knew what he was doing. I had remembered the gist of the story but there was a lot of detail that had slipped my mind and which I was glad to hear again.

Bryan Cranston had the star billing and played the patriarch superbly but the rest of the cast was so strong that his performance did not standout. All of the acting was superb.

The only part of the production that I am unsure about is the background music. I am not sure why it was there, it did nothing to enhance my enjoyment of the play but at least it was quiet enough to ignore most of the time.

This was a great play with a great cast and a pleasingly simple set. It was a perfect birthday treat.

An Ideal Husband at White Bear Theatre

TLDR: An Ideal Husband at White Bear Theatre was excellent and you should have gone.

Now for the full story ...

I first came across Dan Rebellato (a playwright and Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London) via his play Beachy Head at Jackson Lane in 2011 which I described then as "one of the very best things I have ever seen in a theatre.". Since then I have seen and heard more of his plays and followed him on social media which tells me that we have been to many of the same plays but never at the same time.

It was because of his knowledge and love of the theatre that I followed his advice to go and see Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel at Battersea Arts Centre in 2023, and I loved it.

When he recommended An Ideal Husband at White Bear Theatre I bought tickets immediately, wife and sister having no say in the matter!

White Bear Theatre in Kennington used to be one of my fairly regular venues but that was when I was working in Kings Cross and it was more-or-less on my way home. Times change and I had not been there for almost four years, May 2022 for Harold Pinter's The Dwarfs. It was good to go back.

With the three of us travelling separately it made sense to meet and eat in the pub and that worked well. We sat in the large dining area where the theatre used to be before it moved upstairs,

It was unallocated seating and being very experienced at that I was first in and we claimed three seats in the middle of the long side of the "L" shaped seating.

And this was our view of the stage.

Clearly this was a modern production though just how modern was let to be seen.

At the core of the play was Oscar Wilde's flamboyant quote-laden script from which I give just one example to make the point "Lord Goring, I never believe a single word that either you or I say to each other."

The Oscar Wilde script alone was enough to make the evening good.

An Ideal Husband is a play with little action (apart from moving form one formal room to another) and so its need strong dialogue and characterisation. Wilde's script provide the base and this was built on substantially by the cast of actors who made each character distinct and interesting. Again, to give just one example to prove the point; one of the English gentlemen was played as an American complete with cowboy hat and shades.

The staging was the final element and there was a great deal going on here from amusing props (e.g. a roll of sticky tape for a diamond broach) to the off-stage characters watch intently from the sides. As always with clever staging there is a balance to find between adding to the play and distracting from it and for me the staging definitely worked.

All this meant that you could simply enjoy the play as written, or go a bit further and appreciate the way that the actors brought the characters to convincing life or go a bit further still and understand how the whole production (I forgot to mention the lights!) worked together to deliver a good play brilliantly.

An Ideal Husband at White Bear Theatre was excellent and you should have gone.

After Sunday at Bush Theatre

My theatre going changes over time due to factors like where I am working, artistic directors changing and, obviously, Covid but whatever the reason Bush Theatre in Hammersmith had drifted slightly off my radar and I only sent to see After Sunday because an email from the theatre said that it had a good review from Morning Star!

The synopsis on the website included "Ty, Leroy and Daniel have signed up to a new Caribbean cooking group. But when you’re locked in a secure hospital, too much food for thought can be a bad thing.". This sounded exactly my sort of thing so I am surprised that I had not picked up on it earlier.

Still, no serious damage was done and I got seat A6 fort £20, very much in the no need to think about it price range.

It was good to be back amongst the buzz at Bush and back to a seat in the front row.

While the basic premise of the play was simple, four inmates in a secure hospital attend weekly cookery classes with an Occupational Therapist, the insight to group therapy sessions was unpredictable and engaging.

With the five characters having different pasts and expectations their stories went in different directions and, as with therapy, some of them had significant moments but none of them ended.

Over an hour and a half we had interesting stories rich in all sort of emotions. Stories and characters that I cared about.

After Sunday sounded exactly my sort of thing, and so it proved. I loved it.

The Poltergeist at Arcola Theatre

My mission to watch every performance of a Philip Ridley play in London (and easily accessible places beyond) continued with The Poltergeist at Arcola Theatre, were I had first seen it almost exactly two years earlier.

This time it was on downstairs in Studio 2 where front row seat A12 was a sound investment at £25.

I planned the day to give me a little time in Dalston beforehand and I did a little exploring while also looking for somewhere to eat. 

It struck me that gentrification had failed to stick and the posh places that I had eaten at previously were all gone. And so I found myself, yet again, at The Speakeasy which despite being little more than a marquee is a friendly place and serves reasonable beer with good food; it was a pint of Camden Pale Ale and some veggie tacos this time. 

I remembered the gist of The Poltergeist but, as with all Philip Ridley plays, there is so much going on in the dialogue  that I knew I would be surprised, stimulated and entertained.

This was a solo performance (monologue seems inappropriate) and the heavy duties were given to Louis Davison who played the narrator, Sasha, and a host of other people. Incidentally, Sasha is a deliberate unisex name and many of Ridley's solo plays can be performed by a woman or man.

The stage was empty and the only props Davison had to play were his clothes and in his simple outfit in which he strode the length and breadth of the stage assuredly telling Sasha's story for eighty minutes.

On one level it was a simple story with Sasha and his partner attending a family child's birthday party which Sasha found difficult for reasons that gradually became clearer. Through the many conversations with the many party attendees, all played by Davison, we learned that Sasha had once been a promising artist until he had some sort of breakdown, the causes of which also emerge. 

The richness of the plau is in the dialogue, not the plot, and I was totally engaged for the full eighty minutes as I desperately tried to catch each quickly delivered word. And despite the core subject matter, a mental breakdown, the mood was often light and I laughed out loud quite a few times.

Philip Ridley has a distinctive style and voice which appeals to me immensely and The Poltergeist was yet another great example of why that is.

Entertaining Mr Sloane at Young Vic

There was a time when I was a fairly regular visitor to Young Vic but for various reasons (my changes in employment, their change in artistic directors) I had not been there since 2017 but a Joe Orton play was a good reason to go back.

It was a slow return and it took some good reviews to finally nudge me into booking and that was a non-trivial process due to my poor memory of the seating plan there. 

In the end I went for row P entirely missing that this is the front tow of the Balcony which I would have gone for automatically if I had noticed it. There seat Balcony P35 cost me £57.

The view from there was excellent and the first impression of the set was good too, this was clearly a production with some strong stylish thinking behind it.

Entertaining Mr Sloane has a simple concept, young exuberant Mr. Sloane starts renting a room with lonely middle-aged Kath who is regularly visited by her wheeler-dealer brother Ed. Their elderly father also lived with Kath.

The rich comedy came from the dialogues between the three main characters and the way that Orton wrote their words. The speech comes thick and fast with lots of short sentences that followed each other erratically, much like jokes work but with more natural language.

The stylish staging continued throughout with, for example, Mr Sloane remaining a centre of attention even when not in the scene by posing spotlight off-stage. The ending was equally stylish.

The Joe Orton script gave the play a solid base which the cast and staging enhanced. It was a marvellous return to Young Vic. I suspect it will not be another eight years before I go back.

Emma at Rose Theatre

There are obvious attractions for a play based on Jane Austen's novel Emma but for me the main one was simply that it was on at Rose Theatre where I have to have a good reason not to go and see a play.

Quick booking got me a seat in the very centre of the Circle, A35, for £41.5 with Senior Citizen Concession.

My only recollection of Emma, from a radio drama adaptation, was that she interfered unsuccessfully in other people's relationships while ignoring her own; not much of a plot but a sound basis for some character comedy.

The only comments I read about the production beforehand said that it was a complete reworking set in current times, so I had even less idea on what to expect.

Not knowing the original story that well I cannot comment on how close this version was and all I can do is comment on the play in its own right.

This Emma was a very entertaining character comedy. Emma, the character, was a fairly normal young woman surrounded by several exaggerated characters, notably her soon to me married self-centred sister who was fully into all the modern tropes from Instagram to Love Island.

Other notable characters included her frantic father, a boisterous hairdresser, a surly parcel delivery man and her sister's timid fiancee. A rich source for comedy indeed.

Given that the richness and success of the play relies so much on the strength of the cast, some of them with notable tv exposure, I think that it is something of a shame that the poster shows just the relatively unknown Emma.

This Emma was an unashamed rom-com and hit all the right buttons providing plenty of lives as the various couples eventually came together as they should and as we all expected.

The Truth About Blayds at Finborough Theatre

It was nice to have a good excuse to go back to Finborough Theatre and a play by A A Milne was certainly a good excuse.It also helped that it included William Gaunt who I have fond memories of from The Champions in the late 60's.

All that was easily worth £28.

Visits to Finborough have a routine and that started with a pint in Courtfield, opposite Earls Court Station, then a small meal in Cafe du Coin before walking down the incredibly busy, and fast, Redcliffe Gardens to the theatre.

That routine got me to the theatre early enough to claim a seat in the front row somewhere close to the middle.

The stage was set as a period study and this is where everything happened.

The titular Blayds was an elderly man and a famous poet. He lived in a fairly grand house with several members of his immediate family, one of who acted as his carer and another who managed his affairs.

The first half of the play covered the preparation and execution of Blayds' birthday and the second half covered the aftermath of his death soon after and the deathbed revelation (the truth) he made.

It was an interesting, if simple, plot whose real purpose was to be the framework for the interactions between the family members who were very different people and had very different perspectives on the situation. The truth was elusive, disputed and modified.

It was the mix of characters and their viewpoints that made the play interesting and entertaining while the truth in question raised a few points to ponder over. An entertaining play that makes you think is always good.

Pitchfork Disney at King's Head Theatre

I am still determined to see every production of a Philip Ridley play that I can so a revival of The Pitchfork Disney at King's Head Theatre was a no-brainer, despite (or because of) having seen it twice before, in Brighton in 2023 and Shoreditch Town Hall in 2017.

The King's Head Theatre has moved from above a pub to far below a new mixed-use development nearby and that has had an impact on ticket prices so my seat C21 was £42. That's not actually that much for theatre these days but my price expectations are sill somewhat set (unreasonably) by pre-covid pub theatre prices.

My keenness meant that I was quick to book and got a seat in the centre of the main seating with a perfect view of the stage.

All the action takes place in this messy sitting room with its many door locks.

Here we meet the odd twenty-something twins Presley and Haley. They argue over chocolate and medicine and tell each other exaggerated stories about being chased by dogs and being in a dark wasteland. These are stories they have told each other many times, just like one repeats stories to young children.

These stories are also typical Ridley monologues and so have their own value despite not being directly related to the main story.

Then they see two people outside, one of whom leaves, and after some argument they allow the other one in. That is Cosmo Disney and everything changes. Cosmo is a loud force of purpose and certainty which the meek and subdued twins can do little to contain.

The tone changes from retelling favourite stories to a barrage of questions as Cosmo tries to work out what is going on with the twins and they struggle to find out something about Cosmo. This is where the cockroaches in the poster come in. Here Cosmo's swagger dominates the play and William Robinson's acting is relentlessly powerful, questioning and in command. Cosmo has to carry the play and with William Robinson it does so assuredly.

The final short section introduced the other man seen outside, Pitchfork, who is monstrous in appearance and sound. While the Cosmo character is recognisable, if exaggerated, there are no similes for Pitchfork in real life.

It is a short sharp shock that bring the play to a magnificent conclusion.

The Pitchfork Disney at King's Head Theatre was an excellent production of an excellent play.

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts at Richmond Theatre

Again this was a case of it is on at Richmond Theatre so I ought to go and see it. 

I have fond memories of the tv series too though my recollection of it is dimmed by the many intervening years.

For some reason, this was a more expensive show than usual for Richmond Theatre and so I headed up to the top level where seat Upper Circle A 12  was a mere £17.5.

It was dead centre too. The only downside is that it takes an awful lot of stairs to get up there and then some more very steep ones to get down to the front row. I am starting to notice these things!

In House of Ghosts, Morse has to solve a case of unexplained death during a performance of Hamlet and the ghosts were from his university days when he had been involved in another production of the play which involved some of the people who were also involved in the latest production.

Morse, and Lewis, tried to solve the puzzle by interviewing lots of people in lots of places, as well as going to the pub together, so the scenes changed swiftly. This was done smoothly and cleverly by moving just enough props to create each place. This is common theatre practice but it is not often done as well as it was here.

At the centre of everything were Morse (Tom Chambers), Lewis (Tachia Newall) and prime suspect and director of both Hamlets (James Gladdon) and they were a very strong core. Each character was vivid, believable and brought something different to the play.

I vaguely recall seeing this episode on TV and while that might have helped with one of the twists it did nothing to help to solve the main mystery and the ending came as a good surprise.

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts did everything that I expect from a show at Richmond Theatre, it was a professional production that entertained easily without expecting too much from the audience.

Death Comes to Pemberley at Richmond Theatre

I had not heard of Death Comes to Pemberley before, and had forgotten that Pemberley is the country estate owned by Fitzwilliam Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but I had heard of PD James and it was on at Richmond Theatre where I see almost every play so I went for it.

Mu usual seat on the left side of the front row of the Dress Circle had been taken so I went for the right side instead where seat Dress Circle A6 cost me £43.

The view from there is good, which is why I (almost) always choose to sit in the cheaper seats in the front row of the Dress Circle.

The photo also shows that the stage was fairly bare, more on the later.

While this was set in the world of Pride and Prejudice all that did was give the story a location and some characters to start with and this was very much a crime story and not a period drama.

It was a good story too with lots of dead ends and twists, in other words I had no idea who the killer was or why the killing was done until the reveal on stage.

However, I do not think that the story translated well from the page to the stage and, at times, it felt like a staged reading, an audiobook with pictures. I would have to see it again to test my theory but I think that part of the problem is that books can quickly move from one location to another whereas plays cannot so to achieve those changes they went for a fairly bare stage and moved just a few props in and out for the different scenes. That sort of worked but it meant that the play was not very visual and with little physical action there was little to watch.

Putting those negatives aside, it was a good story and the actors told it well. I enjoyed it but would find it hard to recommend it.

A Moon for the Misbegotten at Almeida Theatre

When it comes to choosing plays to see I have a very short list of things that I considered mandatory and A Moon for the Misbegotten at Almeida Theatre had two of them; it was written by Eugene O'Neil and starred Ruth Wilson. I fell in love with both at Anna Christie at Donmar Warehouse in 2011.

I was quick to book and got seats in the middle of the Circle which, for some reason, showed on my ticket as Zone AA Row A Seat 17 £70. I was expecting to pay more and would gladly have done so.

It was a long play, circa 3 hours, which meant a 7pm start. I left home in plenty of time for a pre-theatre meze at Gallipoli Again which I was glad for an excuse to revisit after a gap of a few years.

The view from my seat was encouraging with a simple, if busy, set thick with wood and brick. After the excessive fussiness of A Streetcar Named Desire at Almeida Theatre in 22 I was hoping for something more traditional and this was it.

I had not seen the play before and knew little about it, other than it was connected to Long Day’s Journey Into Night and while knowing that play added a little context it was not vital to the plot. 

A Moon for the Misbegotten an in-depth look into a tough family situation, tenants farmers in financial difficulties, while creditors and suitors circled.

The family was led by Irish tenant farmer Phil Hogan (played by David Threlfall) who had one remaining offspring (the others had run away) his daughter Josie (played by Ruth Wilson). 

Their landlord was James ‘Jim’ Tyrone (played by Michael Shannon). Jim Tyrone had inherited the estate when his father dies, he was the main character in Long Day’s Journey Into Night .

The play consisted of long serious conversations mostly between Josie and Jim with Phil, And that meant the play relied totally on the performances of the three main actors and it is fair to say that all three were excellent. Really excellent.

I like the style of Eugene O'Neil plays with lots of dialogue that gradually exposes histories and secrets and this was very much the style of this, his final play.

I went hoping for a great play and great acting and my high expectations were easily met.

Little Women at Richmond Theatre

I never read Little Women (no great surprise there) but I had learned about it from radio drama adaptations and also an In Our Time episode and that was enough to tempt me to seeing it on stage. The usual process secured me seat Dress Circle A 22 for £39.

 

Just in case you did not know, Little Women tells the stories of a family of four sisters as they grow to become women, a coming of age story with four variations.

These stories have their ups and downs, as life does, but it is all very gentle and there is nothing puzzling or overly emotional to get engrossed in. It is all very English, except technically it isn't.

The lack of depth to the drama gave the cast little to work with but they did what they had to do with wit and charm. They were all good if not stretched.

The staging was lovely too, able to present many different scenes with just a few minor prop moves, which the cast did themselves.

The one thing that confused me was in the story, possibly the most significant event was moved from the first half (where it would have been a natural consequence of events) to the second (where it came out of the blue). That may have been to hold a key moment back for dramatic effect but it confused me, and probably everyone else there who, I presume, all knew the plot.

Little Women did what good tour shows do. It entertained simply and professionally without taking any risks. I prefer challenging and contentious plays but there is also a place for simpler things, provided they are done well, as this was.

Giant at Harold Pinter Theatre

In the flurry of theatre announcements that I get, several every day, I somehow either missed Giant when it was on at Royal Court or I did not appreciate how good it would be so I was pleased when the positive reviews and sold-out run were followed by a west end transfer to Harold Pinter Theatre.

Fairly obviously, I think, the fanfare was due to John Lithgow's sward winning performance. That was my interest too though, perhaps unusually, because of his roles in Dexter and Cliffhanger.

I was quick at the second time of asking and managed to get a good seat, Balcony A9 for a very respectable £40.

Despite being up in "the gods" the view was good, helped by having all the action at the front of the stage. It was also less vertiginous than other similar seats that I have been in, thanks to a solid safety rail.

The story, such as it was, covered Roald Dahl's published views on Israel, which were based on his own direct experience, and how these were edging towards anti-semitism. 

The topic was controversial then as it is now with Israel again bombing neighbouring countries and that topicality made the historical story very relevant.

While the jury is out on Roald Dahl there is no doubting the quality of the script or of John Lithgow's performance. This was top-grade theatre and that it left such a controversial question still open at the end is to its credit.

Blood Wedding at Omnibus Theatre

This was as close to mandatory as any theatre production gets for me.

The original play, also called Blood Wedding, is by Lorca a giant of theatre. I had seen and loved various Lorca plays over the years, including two versions of The House of Bernarda Alba.

I had also seen his Blood Wedding before, oddly at my only other visit to Omnibus Theatre on the south-east corner of Clapham Common.

This version was by Barney Norris and I have seen so many of his plays over the years at various locations that we chat a little whenever we meet.

This Blood Wedding moved the story from historical Spain to contemporary Salisbury (if you know Norris' work you will have guessed that!). That relocation helped to make the story more relatable and relevant. 

The story was the same (no spoilers, though the title is bit of a clue) but the richness in the play was the characters all of which were believable, had depth and were brought to convincing life by an excellent ensemble cast. For example, while the centre of the play was a bride and groom and her former lover, I found myself particularly interested in the bride's mother and her motives.

Clearly I had high hopes for this production and it is fair to say that they were met and possible exceeded. This was an absolute belter of a play thanks to those characters and Norris' dialogue that described them to us.

How to Fight Loneliness at Park Theatre

That I have a tag on this blog for Neil Labute (labute) is a good clue that I like his plays. I also have a Google Alert set for "labute london" and it was that which alerted me to the first UK production of How to Fight Loneliness at Park Theatre.

I got in quickly and secured a front row seat (A7) for £29.5.

I made the most of the opportunity of going back to Finsbury to get a few steps and a few new roads in before the show. I caught the Mildmay line to Hampstead Heath and walked from there.

I arrived in good time to eat beforehand which was just as well as two of the places that I had eaten at pre-theatre there before were closed, probably permanently.

Luckily Park Theatre has a bar that does pizzas and while the range is small they do an Artichoke & Olive (£12.45) which did the job. The pint of beer that I his with it was good too. And having pre-booked seats (unlike in their smaller space) I was able to sit in the upstairs bar area enjoying both until summoned to take my seat.

Anything I might have known about the play beforehand was forgotten and I took my seat ready to discover what was going on.

We meet a young couple, Brad and Jodie (thirty-something I would guess), at home fretting about an expected visitor and whether the right food and drinks etc. were available but also whether they themselves were ready for the meeting.

Soon Tate arrives and the situation becomes clear to us.

Jodie has been on several rounds of chemotherapy and now wants to die before she becomes frail and bedridden.

Brad had agreed to this plan reluctantly and wants Jodie to change her mind and live.

Tate has been chosen as a possible means of assisting her death, for a reason that is explained later.

And that is kind of it, the three of them talk about whether the deed should be done, how it could be done and whether Tate is the right person to do it.

Except, of course, that is not it.Neil Labute plays are filled with meaningful dialogue that usually gets dark and twisty, as it does here.

It is hard to describe the play as fun but it is thoroughly fascinating and engaging. It also gives some perspectives on assisted dying that are relevant given the current debate on this in the UK.

Making the dialogue work was a strong cast in which Morgan Watkins excelled as Tate. I loved his restlessness, his constant movement and frequent adjustments to his cap and jacket.

The staging worked well too with the scene shown above acting as both a living room and a beach with just a few prop changes.

How to Fight Loneliness is very much in the established Neil Labute mould so if you like his other work you will like this. I loved it!

The Merchant of Venice 1936 at Richmond Theatre

Most plays at Richmond Theatre interest me and most performances of anything by Shakespeare do too so the combination of both was unmissable. 

As usual, there was an ATG opening night offer and so I was able to get seat Upper Circle A12 for just £31.5. However, on the night the Upper Circle was closed, presumably because of low sales (for some shows they make no attempt to open the upper level), and I got bumped up to Dress Circle B6. Luckily there was no one tall in row A.

I had not had the opportunity to see The Merchant of Venice for many years and most of what I remembered was from school days. Because of that I do not know how much of a shift they made in moving it to England in 1936 when Mosley's Blackshirts were rampant.

I suspect that quite a bit was cut, to give more prominence to Shylock but this is just a suspicion and most of the text of this play was most definitely Shakespeare.

I understand why they set the play when and where they did but to end with the populous standing up for the Jews jarred a little when Shylock had refused any amount of money to save Antonio who was portrayed as an honourable fascist.

The messing about aside, this was a good Shakespeare with a good cast in which Joseph Millson shone as Antonio. Everything about the performance was good enough to let me forget the updating and to simply enjoy one of Shakespeare's more notable plays.

Dear Evan Hansen at New Wimbledon Theatre

When Dear Evan Hansen first hit the London stage a few years ago I heard good things about it and when this tour was announced late in 2023 the promotional blurb explained that it was "THE OLIVIER, TONY and GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING BEST MUSICAL". That attracted my attention.

My ATG+ membership gave me a great deal on the first night at New Wimbledon Theatre so in November 23 I paid just £29 for my seat Dress Circle A17. Friends and relatives were also tempted by the deal and I took bought the maximum four tickets allowed.

When we arrived at the theatre, just after 7pm, and joined the messy series of queues to get in we saw the "House Full" signs which boosted out expectations for the evening even further. Full of hope we took our excellent seats in the best part of the house and waited for the show to start.

I hated it. We all did.

The story was vaguely interesting and the set was very good, particularly the scene changes, but the characters were superficial, the music was  bland, all the songs sounded the same and the singing was only competent.

I struggle to find anything positive to say about it, other than it was better than Six.

Picture You Dead at Richmond Theatre

I have never been a reader of detective fiction and rarely watch it on television these days so I had no idea (before I looked it up just now) that Picture Your Dead was the eighteenth Roy Grace story by Peter James but it looked interesting enough to go to see a stage adaptation.

As usual I went on the opening night to take advantage of the ATG+ offer of Dress Circle seat A23 for £36. 

I did not take a picture of the set, a mistake in retrospect, which worked like I've seen TV sets work with all the locations, more or less, on stage at the same time with the action moving between them. 

Stage left was a flat where a young couple lived, stage right was an artist's studio that morphed into a collector's private gallery and stage front was an undefined place where Roy Grace and another police officer discussed the case.

The only quibble was that some of the action was right in the front-left corner where the high numbered seats could not see, including mine.

The story was a good one with lots going on and going on quite quickly as things happen or were uncovered. And while most of the main thread was guessable, this was not a whodunnit more a willtheygetawaywithit there was plenty enough story to keep me fully engaged throughout.

Helping with the storytelling was an excellent ensemble cast with lots of strong believable characters played convincingly. 

The story, the staging and the acting made this an extremely entertaining and rewarding evening.

The icing on the cake was the double-twist at the end which changed the whole nature of the story and provided a good ending. The first of those twists was so unexpected and delivered so quickly that I am pretty sure from the overheard comments that some of the people behind me had missed, it was that good.

I had expected Picture You Dead at Richmond Theatre to be an "average" evening at the theatre, admittedly I have quite a high average, but it was much more than that.