Thursday evening H and I went to the theatre - first time for ages. We arranged to meet at the Westbury Hotel. She was a little late, so when she finally arrived we decided to take a taxi.
The traffic was slow and we seemed to be travelling a convoluted route. Eventually we arrived at the National Theatre complex and the taxi driver took us through a barrier (hand operated by a surly attendant who didn’t appear pleased at having to get up) and right round to the main entrance of the Lyttelton Theatre. I had no idea you could drive right up like that.
We had missed the start of the play and had to wait about five minutes until the first scene change (this allowed us to drink some water at the bar - the evening was extremely hot). Every time I have been to the National Theatre I have been late and have had to tiptoe in after everyone has sat down. These oblique arrivals in semi-darkness have become part of the National Theatre experience.
The play was Afterlife by Michael Frayn. We had very good seats in the stalls. Everything about the production was perfect (acting, lighting, scenery).
Michael Frayn is one of our greatest writers. His style is superficially amusing, but his subjects deal with intensely serious (and sometimes very dark) concepts. In many ways he is the heir to Aldous Huxley.
Afterlife is a stylised biography of the impresario Max Reinhardt. Max Reinhardt is played (superbly) by Roger Allam. The play was directed by Michael Blakemore.
Above: photo I took of the stage during the interval.
The National Theatre is one of the most influential mediums in the United Kingdom. The audience is almost entirely As and Bs (a very difficult demographic to reach when they are relaxed and susceptible to messages). A good play at the National Theatre could make or destroy any political reputation, boost or retard any social trend, bring about changes in national opinion (for good or ill).
The director of the National Theatre is Nicholas Hytner.
More about Afterlife: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/afterlife
Also: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/arts/2008/06/07/btmax107.xml
No comments:
Post a Comment