have had 2 major theater trips since my last post... first up: London April 2013.
Had the good fortune that I was sent to London for work last april, I added some personal time and caught a few excellent plays and/or performances.
Started off with: The Audience (Gielgud Theatre)
first play of this trip was an absolute hit, critics mostly loved it, box office gold... very hard to get a ticket unless you, like me fortunately, booked in advance.
from the official website:
For sixty years Elizabeth II has met each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace – a meeting like no other in British public life – it is private. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.
The Audience breaks this contract of silence – and imagines a series of pivotal meetings between the Downing Street incumbents and their Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each Prime Minister has used these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional – sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive.
From young mother to grandmother, these private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while she remains constant, waiting to welcome her next Prime Minister.
Helen Mirren was great as Queen Elizabeth II, not all prime ministers were a hit for me, though none were horrible either. Standout performance for me was Richard McCabe as Howard Wilson (he had 2 non-consecutive terms so we got to see him twice on stage). For me as a non-Brit it was a bit of a history lesson, an extremely pleasant one at that!
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| Helen Mirren (Queen Elizabeth II), Haydn Gwynne (Margaret Thatcher),Richard McCabe (Harold Wilson), Paul Ritter (John Major) (Photos by Johan Persson) |
The performance I saw had Edward Fox as Winston Churchill, he did a good job, nothing against is Churchill but I'd have loved to have seen Robert Hardy in that role, as he is one of my childhood heroes. Press release on why he dropped out:
NEWS
BACKPRESS RELEASE - ROBERT HARDY
25th February 2013
It is with great regret that the Producers of The Audience have accepted Robert Hardy’s decision to withdraw from the production. Hardy, 87, recently suffered a fall and cracked some ribs, yet continued to perform at all of the preview performances last week. Over the weekend he has decided that a schedule of eight performances a week over a long run is not sustainable and he has therefore reluctantly decided to stand down. The Producers would like to thank Robert Hardy for his extraordinary contribution to the production and they wish him a speedy recovery.
The Audience will continue to play at the Gielgud Theatre with Hardy’s understudy, David Peart, playing the role of Winston Churchill and the producers are actively looking for an actor to replace Robert Hardy
The director Stephen Daldry said “Robert is one of theatre’s great actors and for him to have accepted this challenge at his age speaks of his courage and commitment to the theatre. That he feels unable to continue is a great sadness to us all but we respect his decision and wish him a return to full health and strength very soon.”
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| Rehearsal picture: Robert Hardy and Helen Mirren |
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