But 15 shows isn't bad, huh? I am loving life.
Or You Could Kiss Me (The National)
Puppets. Extremely realistic looking puppets. You might think this sounds like a children's show, but believe me, it was not. The plot of this play was about two elderly men who have been in a relationship together for about 40 years. I don't remember if they were technically married or not....Anyway, one of the men is extremely ill and nearing the end of his life and most of the plot involves the two characters trying to deal with this fact. The cast was comprised of several men, all wearing the same basic black suit. Two actors provided the voices for the characters, as well as assisting other actors in moving the puppets around the stage. Two other actors played the two men at younger ages. One woman acted as a sort of narrator, but she also played the men's housekeeper and lawyer. It's hard to describe much more about this play without actually seeing it. The puppets used in the play are not the typical Sesame Street/Avenue Q puppets one automatically thinks of. They were made of wood and looked so.....human-like. Rest assured, my inability to describe these things does not reflect a poorly done show. This production was wonderful. It was beautifully done in absolutely every aspect. The National delivers yet again!
An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre)
This play was written by Oscar Wilde. You've heard of him, right? He wrote The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. He's quite well known. Well, this play is about blackmail. A woman threatens to reveal the secrets of a man she knows, which would most likely cause him problems in his job as well as his marriage. The problem with this play was that I never understood why she cared. What's the point of the blackmail? Sure, she wants a little something in return, but why make so much of an effort? I also wasn't sure whether this play was supposed to be a drama or a comedy. It had elements of both, but the comedy wasn't very funny and the drama wasn't that interesting. The costumes were beautiful and the set was atrocious. When I see a play, I usually wind up loving what I saw or hating it. With this play, I honestly felt neither. I walked out of the theatre and simply said, "Meh."
Hungry Ghosts (Orange Tree Theatre)
One of the worst plays I have ever seen. It was about Chinese people and Nascar. How those two related in the play, I really couldn't tell you. Here's a sampling of how bad this play was. The main character was Chinese. Apparently, when he spoke "Chinese" in the play, he spoke without using an accent, in his normal English dialect, but when he was speaking "English," he used a strange, really stereotypical sounding Chinese accent. Confusing? Just wait. His sister was also Chinese, and spoke to both English characters and Chinese characters in "English" and "Chinese," respectively. But did she ever change her accent? NO. I don't even want to write about this play anymore. That's how bad it was.
Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace Theatre)
So far, this is the only show that I've seen in London that I have already seen before. And I was more than pleased to view it again. Billy Elliot is my favorite musical. It's based on the movie of the same title, about a young boy growing up in the 1980s, during the miner's strike, who wants to take ballet. I previously saw this show in Chicago over spring break, and although this performance was not as good as Chicago's, it was still the same old Billy, so I loved it. The dancing is phenomenal, especially when you take into account how young most of the dancers are. These are some seriously talented children. The music is wonderful, the show isn't terribly long, the story is interesting....basically, it's a great show.
Joseph K (The Gate Theatre)
Bad. BAD. Badbadbad. There was no point to this play. Lots of things happened, none of them made sense. A man named Joseph K was arrested on his birthday. Why? I don't know. Why doesn't he have a last name? I don't know. Bad things happened to him for year. His lawyer has a china doll collection. His lawyer has had the same intern for six years and won't let her leave his house. Joseph K talked to homeless people on the street who can apparently help him. Someone was being beaten in the office next to him and the audience thought it was hilarious. Strange pop music, including "Don't Stop Believing" by the cast of Glee, was playing throughout the entire opening scene. Why?????? I DON'T KNOW! None of these questions were answered. Nothing was explained. Bad. Bad. Bad.
Thus concludes my third London theatre review.
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