In the last week I've time travelled twice courtesy of two theatrical productions - 'Starlight Express' to the '80s and 'What The Butler Saw' to the '60s.
I went to see 'Starlight Express' at the New Wimbledon Theatre last week - I never saw it back in the day so I was catching up. Of course, back in the '80s it was staged at the huge theatre at Victoria and I was seeing it in the more bijou surroundings of Wimbledon so I expected changes. The main change is the big race scenes which are now done on film (rather than roller-skating above the heads of the audience) and we're given safety goggles to watch it (ie 3D glasses). That didn't really work for me, but that's a detail.
The skating was excellent and they were all over that small stage, full of energy and showbiz sparkle. I've got no criticisms on that score (although Rusty could've had a stronger voice). My problem with it was really that it hasn't aged too well, the music reeked of the '80s and (to be blunt) the plot was written by a five year old. Some of the songs were so bloomin' obvious that I was mentally predicting the next line and getting it right. High art it's not but an evening of fun it certainly is. High octane sparkle, lights and movement, great skating and great posing. Yes, I enjoyed it. Will I see it again? I don't need to.
Yesterday I saw 'What The Butler Saw' at The Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand. First off, there isn't a butler since it's set in a mental health hospital. Secondly, it's very '60s.
It's a tale of confusion from start to finish, a farce with trousers coming down and naked girls (well, sort of), of mad shifts in direction and loud declamations about rape, of 'society' and personal morals, of almost everything you can think of. I can't help but think that what might've been shocking and challenging in the '60s isn't in the 21st Century.The writing is dense and full of some brilliant one-liners but it needs more than one-liners to make it work.
The star of the show for me was Samantha Bond who does the best - the very best - drunken lady-like walking in the world (she won the Oscar for it last night). I also liked the manic, quick wittedness of Omid Djalili injecting humour into his performance (and, I suspect, a few ad libs). I didn't rate the performance of Tim McInnerny in the central role - he seemed to be channelling John Cleese some of the time and the rest he was playing himself (as he does).The three supporting characters did what they needed to do to keep it moving ahead, dashing on and off stage in various states of undress.
It was great fun and had me smiling at the one-liners and cringing at some of the out-of-date sexual politics cliches. Mind you, without Orton venting his spleen on the stage '60s then they might still be real issues rather than cliches. Who knows?
I went to see 'Starlight Express' at the New Wimbledon Theatre last week - I never saw it back in the day so I was catching up. Of course, back in the '80s it was staged at the huge theatre at Victoria and I was seeing it in the more bijou surroundings of Wimbledon so I expected changes. The main change is the big race scenes which are now done on film (rather than roller-skating above the heads of the audience) and we're given safety goggles to watch it (ie 3D glasses). That didn't really work for me, but that's a detail.The skating was excellent and they were all over that small stage, full of energy and showbiz sparkle. I've got no criticisms on that score (although Rusty could've had a stronger voice). My problem with it was really that it hasn't aged too well, the music reeked of the '80s and (to be blunt) the plot was written by a five year old. Some of the songs were so bloomin' obvious that I was mentally predicting the next line and getting it right. High art it's not but an evening of fun it certainly is. High octane sparkle, lights and movement, great skating and great posing. Yes, I enjoyed it. Will I see it again? I don't need to.
Yesterday I saw 'What The Butler Saw' at The Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand. First off, there isn't a butler since it's set in a mental health hospital. Secondly, it's very '60s.
The star of the show for me was Samantha Bond who does the best - the very best - drunken lady-like walking in the world (she won the Oscar for it last night). I also liked the manic, quick wittedness of Omid Djalili injecting humour into his performance (and, I suspect, a few ad libs). I didn't rate the performance of Tim McInnerny in the central role - he seemed to be channelling John Cleese some of the time and the rest he was playing himself (as he does).The three supporting characters did what they needed to do to keep it moving ahead, dashing on and off stage in various states of undress.
It was great fun and had me smiling at the one-liners and cringing at some of the out-of-date sexual politics cliches. Mind you, without Orton venting his spleen on the stage '60s then they might still be real issues rather than cliches. Who knows?
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