On Friday night Chris introduced me to the Union Theatre in Southwark, a theatre I'd never heard of before, let alone visited. Friday night wasn't the best time to visit somewhere new, what with the sweltering and humid heat after a long day at work, but it was nice to go somewhere new. I saw 'Assassins' at The Landor Theatre in Clapham in 2008 so thought it might be interesting to see another production of it and I'm pleased I did. It was much better with a proper small band (rather than just a piano) and more professional actors.
'Assassins' is Sondheim's tale of people who've tried to kill a President of the USA, starting with John Wilkes Booth and ending with Lee Harvey Oswald via assassins targeting Ford and Reagan and a few others. The show opened with FBI characters in suits and sunglasses strolling round and setting the context before we see scenes with each of the assassins talking and singing about their background and motivation for killing a president. I liked Glyn Kerslake as John Wilkes Booth and Leigh McDonald as Sara Jane Moore who tried to kill Ford.
It was a large cast, with the FBI characters wandering round and popping balloons for every gunshot as well as the main killer characters and a small band - they almost (but not quite) outnumbered the audience. It's a small theatre with some of the most uncomfortable seating I've ever sat in. My only other criticism is that some of the actors overplayed their roles - they're in a small theatre it's possible to spit across so you don't need to play to the back of the stalls 50 yards away - a bit more subtlety would have been useful.
All in all, I enjoyed it. Turn down the weather and some of the actors, get better seats and turn off the dry ice and it's a production worth seeing.
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