Due to the plethora of exciting things I have been doing – and my unending mountain of work – I have realized that I have shamefully neglected my civic duty to my faithful readers: relating to you the nuances of every amazing production that I have the good fortune of being able to see. Whew. Long, complicated sentence. Well, here we go!
The Weir, Conor McPherson. This production was staged at the …… theatre. It starred the incredible and dynamic Brian Cox, among other well known actors. I was excited to see this play, as it is an Irish drama and received outstanding reviews. The entire play consists of one act, taking place in a pub in a rural community in Ireland. The characters talk to one another, share supernatural stories, and attempt to quell the sense of despair and regret that haunts them all. While this play did not include much action, I was completely drawn in by the strength of the narrative and the emotiveness of the actors. One that I would highly recommend, particularly for lovers of Ireland and Irish accents!
1984. This play was an adaptation of the classic novel. Not being a fan of the book (my apologies to all of my high school English teachers!), I was skeptical about not only seeing the play, but how it would be presented. I could not have been more amazed with the result. The adaptation, featuring the innovative use of lights to allow the audience to simultaneously separate and conjoin the fragmented scenes constituting both Winston’s thoughts and his reality, fit the novel perfectly. The ambiguity and the confusion, of both the characters and the audience, of their role in the world of the production, leads to a breaking of the fourth wall. The telescreen images projected within full view of the audience makes one question whether they are simply audience members, or the personification of Big Brother. The show is completely sold out of the season, I 100% understand why.
Ghosts, Henrick Ibsen. A last minute booking for my Advanced Theatre course, I had absolutely no idea what to expect going into this production. The only information that I possessed about the play was that it was very dark and involved syphilis. It was undeniably the best and most powerful production I have yet seen in London. The main actress, Lesley Manville, was captivating in the “role of her career.” However, not a single actor fell flat. When one character suffers a syphilitic attack, it was so incredibly convincing that I was falling out of my chair. The set itself was unique, a clear screen separating two separate room s, allowing an audience member to see both the action taking place on the front of the stage and the action taking place in the background. Overall, an incredible production and one, despite the emotional intensity, that I would see again in a heartbeat.
