Checkpoint One

Well, I've been here for two weeks now and have so far seen NINETEEN shows. I've experienced a lot of what London has to offer as well, but I really came here first and foremost for the theatre. I haven't talked much about the things I've seen so far but I've learned more about theatre in these two weeks than any classes could teach me. Here's a quick recap of my education so far...
BILLY ELLIOT - This show showed me the electricity that can be generated from one performance and renewed my faith in child actors. It was inspiring but still light and was undeniably fun.
THE 39 STEPS - Oh, the wonders you can do with four actors and a minimal set. This honestly was an extremely fun night at the theatre and it did not rely on anything flashy or excessive. This show made me think that if the bare bones can be this good on their own, why do we worry so much about dressing them up?
SMALL CHANGE - Another very minimalist production, but one that took my breath away. It was incredible to see what four actors and four chairs could do to an audience. The poetic language seemed to envelop us and kept me on the edge of my seat trying desperately to grasp some small piece of what I was seeing. This was great theatre.
THE LOVER AND THE COLLECTION - And it gets better. This was not only a masterfully written play, but it was staged so beautifully and acted so brilliantly. The subtext was dealt with so subtly but everything was ultimately so clear because of focused writing and brutally sharp performances.
RICHARD III - This showed me that new life can be breathed into Shakespeare without bastardizing the original text. And it called attention to the absolute betrayal you feel when you are no longer a passive observer.
INTO THE HOODS - Joy in theatre comes from not trying to be more than you are.
SLEEPING BEAUTY - The sheer brilliance and emotional cleansing that comes from pure aesthetic beauty.
WAR AND PEACE PARTS 1 AND 2 - First, don't try to pack a 1000 page novel into a night of theatre unless you're up to the task. Second, unless you have a lot to offer, do not have the audacity to ask six hours of your audience to tell a story that would have been better told if someone had read the CliffsNotes of Tolstoy's novel aloud from the stage. Also, a weak show can be kept afloat by stunning images. But not for six hours.
VISITING MR. GREEN - Obvious affectation murders an otherwise solid performance. And a lazy actor who skims over the subtext of a scene gives a shallow performance. I could see what was going on in the script but didn't get that from the performance.
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING - This production showed me just how potent a single performance can be. Vanessa Redgrave took me to so many places just sitting in a chair center stage. I was also stunned by the brutal honesty of the writing. Simplicity and a lack of pretension kept this show from becoming heavy handed and unbearable.
KING LEAR - Seeing a Shakespeare play in the Globe made me think differently about Shakespeare's writing style. I know why he wrote how he did and how, in this space, his text really comes to life. Everyone who stages Shakespeare should have a clear understanding of the environment in which he worked. It all makes so much sense now.
HAPPY NOW - Witty banter is good fun but it keeps a narrative pretty superficial. I wondered sometimes if I was at the National Theatre of sitting at home watching an episode of "Will and Grace." The play undertook to deal with some cool issues but you had to break through the icy wall of cleverness to get to any honesty or humanity.
MARGUERITE - The first act appealed to the hopeless romantic in me and I loved it enough to overlook its shortcomings. Act Two slipped a bit more, but the musical embodiment of rapturous infatuation was incredibly pleasurable.
CHESS IN CONCERT - Again, great music gets your heart pounding like nothing else. And again, great performances can be incredibly thrilling.
NEVER SO GOOD - We always write for a specific audience. I didn't not quite get this play because it relied on British political history. I also realized that I much prefer intimate dramas to wide-reaching ambition projects.
PYGMALION - There was nothing innovative about this production. But it was riveting. It's humbling to realize again that they knew a thing or two back in the day.
SPAMALOT - Theatre can be FUN! Who knew?