small_toast

In which cult leaders do as cult leaders are wont to do, and all Cleons find out something new.

( Remembering childhood lullabys can be key to one's survival )

In which it's backstory time, for more than one character, while in the present the end times keep rolling.

( Spoilers wouldn't like to be a ferret on Trantor )

No, still not the Marlowe/Shakespeare one, that’s on tonight. Instead, two plays I had on my list as maybes, but not musts, hence only bought the tickets on the day and therefore cheaper. :)

Charing Cross Theatre: The Daughter of Time

By playwright named M. Kilburg Reedy, based on Josephine Tey’s novel of the same name which three quarters of a century ago stroke a mighty blow for Richard III in hte public imagination. Background here for people who haven’t read it: Josephine Tey wrote this as the last and most unusual of her series starring her detective, Inspector Alan Grant, who in the novel, which takes place then-contemporary to its publication in the late 1940s/early 1950s (pre Elizabeth II’s coronation at any rate, her father is still on the throne), fights off the boredom of many weeks in the hospital by getting interested in Richard IIII and deciding to solve the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. More Background: Josephine Tey was a pseudonym for Scottish Author Elizabeth MacIntosh, who also was a playwright under the alias Gordon Daviot. Her most famous historical play was probably Richard of Bordeaux, about that other controversional Plantagenet royal named Richard, Richard II., which she wrote after having seen young John Gielgud play Shakespeareas Richard III. It was a smash hit and contributed to making John G a star. However, The Daughter of Time is a novel, by its very premise is confined to one hospital room and a lot of thinking about history, some of which, granted, presented via arguments with other people, but a lot also via thoughts and musings about text excerpts, and I was really curious how someone would manage to dramatize it in a way that works on stage.

( Spoilers still aren’t sure whether truth is the daughter of time… )

The Other Palace: Saving Mozart.

It’s London, it’s theatre, there had to be at least one musical. In my case, a new one by Charli Eglington, which feels a bit like someone on Tumblr after watching Amadeus decided they wanted to write prequel fanfiction with a feminist slant, focused on the women. Which means that while we’re following Mozart’s life story from Wunderkind to early death, in the first half of the musical Nannerl has a claim to being the main character and in the second half Constanze. It’s about as historical as Amadeus (meaning it uses some facts with a lot of fictionalisiation), with a lot of laudable #JusticeforNannerl and #ConstanzeRules sentiment.

( How the women in his life saved Mozart )

All in all: not a must, but if you want a new musical where everyone sings soulfully in Steampunk Rokoko costumes, go for it.

I can spend a few days in London right now, and that already meant two plays.

Globe Theatre: The Merry Wives of Windsor

Rarely performed these days, and actually one I never read, which is one of the reasons why I used the chance to watch it in an afternoon performance, that and the way watching plays at the Globe, in a perfectly reconstructed Elizabethan theatre, has yet to cease being special to me.

( Shakespearean Spoilers have mixed feelings )

The Garrick: Mrs Warren’s Profession

One of George Bernard Shaw’s early “problem plays” and scandals. (He wrote it in the early 1890s, and except for a club performance in 1902, it would take two decades to make it to the London stage. By contrast, it was already performed in Germany in the 1890s as well. Legendary producer Max Reinhardt was a big Shaw fan and so were a lot of Wilhelmians.) This production is starring Imelda Staunton as the titular Mrs. Warren, and her real life daughter Bessie Carter (known to the general audience probably best as Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton) as Vivie Warren; the director is Dominic Cooke.

( Shavian Spoilers argue about the ways of making money )

Having thus watched Shakespeare and Shaw, I have on my schedule next: Robert Bolt, and then a new play, which from the sound of it is Shakespeare/Marlowe slash, starring Ncuti Gatwa as Kit M. Stay tuned!