It's time for another West End Live performance. However, having found last years musicals a bit lack luster with shaky sound engineering, I decided to opt for their new emporium and talks. The tent itself was impressive. The sheer quantity of outfits, props, designs and electrical technology was staggering with imput from the Royal Opera House and the National as well as all the commercial shows typically found at West End Live.
The talks themselves started off shakily. First up was the cast of 'Handbagged' who seemed only to talk about how much they enjoyed the experience and how 'they have learnt so much about the Queen and Margaret Thatcher'. I did not leave that tent having learnt anything about, the play, the people or their characters, which was most disappointing. Unfortunately, then I had to leave to see King Lear at the National again (just as emotionally engaging and awe- inspiring as the first time round) before coming back to hear the last talk of the day with the leading couple in the new stage adaption of Shakespeare in Love. This was substantially better than the first talk, partly due to the insight into rehearsals but mainly due to the superb chemistry between Bateman and Briggs- Owen. Whilst there was nothing particularly substantial to the talk, which appeared in a red carpet 'insight' fashion, the charisma of them both won me over, leaving me anticipated for what they and the rest of the cast have to offer.
The second day, on the other other hand, was far more interesting and had much more depth than the first. This was probably because we had the creative teams instead of just the surface so they knew more about what they were talking about. My day started with a talk from director of 'Let the Right One In' John Tiffany who talked about the show journey to the West End as well as it's future on top of describing the inspiration for the set and finding child actor to play the main roles. This was followed by Trafalgar Transformed director Jamie Lloyd talking about the upcoming production of Richard III which put to bed my concerns about the suitability of Martin Freeman to the lead role as well as mentioning the great work of Mousetrap. An equally gripping conversation. The day was rounded off by Magician and theatre illusionist Richard Pinner who gave some great tricks before discussing about his career, the types of tricks he has devised for productions and the hazards of pulling it off. This rounded off a far more positive day two.
In general, I was impressed by the efforts of the West End Live team to branch out into plays. However, they need to lengthen the amount of time their conversations last for to get the most out of the interviewees.
No comments:
Post a Comment