More and more theatre...

We have been remarkably busy seeing theatre this week. Here is the run-down...

Tuesday: The Phantom of the Opera
Our Musical Theatre class is planning on going to Love Never Dies (the sequel to Phantom) later in the semester, so we decided to expose Sara to the joys of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show was fantastic--a brilliant cast, practically flawless sound design, and of course the chandelier! Unfortunately, before the show Sara's wallet was stolen...It made the show less appealing than we may have hoped, but good news!!!...Someone found it and turned it in! Twenty pounds were missing, but she regained her cards, driver's license, etc. It will definitely be a performance to remember for many reasons...

Wednesday: Doctor Faustus
Our Fringe Theatre class joined up with CAPA's Shakespeare class to see a fringe production of Doctor Faustus. this play is written by Christopher Marlowe (the namesake of the play we are working on) and involves a guy selling his soul to the devil. This adaptation was...interesting...a good modern-based concept ruined by bad direction and actors who liked to get a laugh at any cost. But it was mostly tolerable and a fantastic fringe theatre experience.

Thursday: Medea
This Thursday and Friday, Blake was in Oxford again with his internship. This time working with the Onassis Programme's production with the Northern Broadside's Theatre Company of Medea. This classic Greek tragedy was revisited and rewritten for this performance, bringing in modern implications and musical underscoring that included harmonicas and even an electric guitar. The script worked so well with the direction that the product became a Greek tragedy that was fun to watch. Hard to believe, but incredibly true. Blake will speak more about the Oxford trip in a future posting coming soon.

Friday: Stay With Me Till Dawn and Knuckleball
Sara was "too tired to see a show" Friday (whatever) (Sara's Note: Sara had been busy designing/running a show all week, so Blake can shh. ♥) but Blake went to a double bill fringe theatre performance. Basically, an award winning theatre above a bar in far eastern London performed two separate plays one after the other with a short interval between to change the set and get people to make purchases at the downstairs bar. The shows were powerful and provocative to say the least. The first was about a pedophile and murderer, the second about a boy who underwent a sex change to win over his straight best friend. Interesting "night-out" content. But they were very well performed and one of the actors has auditioned for Marlowe. The coolest thing was the full on pub theatre experience. Sitting on folding chairs in a theatre that sat about 60, the audience all sipped on pints of beer and glasses of wine (often several) during the performance. Between shows it was a quick run down to the bar for more and by the second show a few of the audience members were wildly applauding some of the most unusual parts of the show. It was great fun and we will definitely be revisiting that theatre for future productions.