Theatre

For the last month, I've been going to a lot of shows, or theatre as the British call it. NYU London provides us with discounted tickets, usually for 5 to 10 pounds. Cheap doses of culture, who would have thunk it? I'm no theatre critic, but here goes.

Blood Brothers - For Spice Girls fans, Melanie C makes her theatrical debut in this musical, which has been running for over 21 years. The musical is entertaining and well-cast. I especially liked the male narrator and Mickey, one of Melanie C's twin sons. The plot revolves around fraternal twins separated at birth who fall in love with the same girl and who end up in very different positions in life. It deals with the nature vs. nurture argument and the British obsession with class. Except for one wretched line towards the end that beats you over the head with these themes, I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it. I saw it at Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road.

War Horse - Let me start off by saying that after this show I had a night bus to Edinburgh at 11 pm so I was antsy for it to end and probably didn't enjoy it to the fullest extent. The play involves a boy whose horse is sold to the British army by his poor father and who enlists in WWII in an attempt to find his horse. The most incredible part were the mechanical, life-size horses. Operated by three people, these wooden figures perfectly replicated a horse's movements and were sturdy enough to hold a person on top of them. Undoubtedly, the story was touching, exploring the boy's sentiment towards the horse, a German soldier's ambivalence towards the war, and fraternal rivalry and despair. Steven Spielberg has bought the film rights of the original 1982 book by Michael Morpugo, which formed the basis for the play. Legend has it that it only took him one sitting to decide. I saw it at New London Theatre on Drury Lane.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour - Running for only one act, I especially enjoyed this political play about Soviet Russia, written in 1977 by Tom Stoppard. Not comparing it to War Horse or Waiting for Godot, but it was much more of a gem, known on a smaller scale. Its layout is craftily handled with a full orchestra on the rotating part of the stage. The play revolves around two patients in a Soviet mental hospital, one for political dissent and one for genuine schizophrenia. Believing he commands a symphony orchestra, the schizophrenic patient adds much-needed comic relief. The perfectly timed and hilarious interactions describe the absurdity of the mental health system and reminded me of Catch-22. I saw it at Olivier Theatre in the National Theatre.

Off the Endz - Well, the Tube took over an hour to get to the other side of Zone 1 so I only saw the second half of the play. Go figure. It involved a black couple in England, with profanity and much more contemporary events than the other shows. Race is an interesting topic in relation to the identity of Great Britain, arguably even more so than in the US, and several of our lectures have been devoted to it. I definitely wish I had seen the first half. However, it was one of those shows where at the end you nod wholeheartedly at the message and then walk out of the theatre the same as before without changing your viewpoint at all. I saw it at Royal Court by Sloane Square.

Waiting for Godot - Obviously a classic. Ian McKellen (Gandolf) played Estragon, one of the play's five characters, and was hilarious. For all its interpretations and symbolic possibilities, I appreciated the fact that it didn't try to beat you over the head with one particular message. Living up to its title, it's entirely about two characters waiting for Godot and what passes between them in the meantime. As one critic (on Wikipedia, of course) said, not only is it a play about nothing, it's two plays about nothing since both acts are of the same mold. I definitely want to read the script now (yeah, I went in blind), but it's well worth it, even if you go in like me. I saw it as part of CACE London with Melissa Iglio and Stern students at Theatre Royal Haymarket by Piccadilly Circus.

But yeah, all the shows have been fantastic. If you have a chance to see them for a reasonable price (even a slightly unreasonable price), I'd recommend them, each for a different reason. For the next month, I won't be traveling since I have one of my actuarial certification exams on March 26, the Friday before spring break. However, it means that I'll be going to more shows since I'll be stuck in London while my friends jet off around Europe.