Fringe Theatre Experience

My favorite part of studying abroad in London has been all the theatre that we have watched. In the three weeks we spent here I have seen 14 plays and each of those in some element have been some of the most impressive shows I have ever seen. Life of Pi had the best use of special effects I had ever seen, Six won a Tony for best costume the night I saw it, and 2:22 created suspense in a way that I had never experienced before in a theatre. All of these were incredible but at the end of the trip, one of my favorite acting performances belonged to someone performing off of West End, David Walmsley as Agamemnon in Girl on an Alter. Girl on an Alter was performed at the Kiln Theatre and was one of the only fringe shows I saw while in London. Despite our theatre group as a whole having mixed opinions about this show, I enjoyed so much, and mostly because of Walmsley. This guy was born for this role and he absolutely dominated every scene he was in. Despite him physically being an absolute unit, this guy perfectly played the role of an alpha male obsessed with his own power and glory while simultaneously allowing his humanity to shine through just enough to keep him redeemable in a story where he murders his own child. As an actor, I could only imagine how much time he spent shaping this character mannerisms. Everything move he made projected power and arrogance right down to the walk and posture and voice that he maintained throughout the whole play. Despite some of the supporting cast performing at a lower level than Walmsley, I took away from the experience that even at a fringe show can you see an actor at the top of their game who can show you a performance like you’ve never witnessed before.