On Monday we saw the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Southwark Playhouse! Before coming on this trip to London I didn’t really know what fringe theatre was, but throughout the last few weeks I have learned that fringe theatre is just a smaller space like a blackbox theatre or a bit bigger where a musical or play is put on. I have seen a few fringe shows during my time here in London, I have seen Jules and Jim, The Curious case of Benjamin Button and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
While watching all of these show I have noticed some similarities, their space is really small compared to a show on the West End or Broadway, which I think helps the actors build a much better connection with the audience because they are so close to the audience and sometimes even in the audience, also because their space is so small I was able to notice every part of the set whereas in a big show you sometimes miss some set pieces or props because there is so much to look at in a bog space. Also, because it is such a small space they don’t have room for a lot of sets and props so they have to make do with very little to bring the show together. Somethings else that I noticed in Jules and Jim and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is that because the space is so small that they need every part of the space and so before the show started we would enter the theatre space in places where the actors would be performing or if we needed to go to the toilet in Jules and Jim we would walk across the stage and basically backstage where the actors were because the space was small, and In How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying there was a women who sat infant of me in the 2nd act but not the first act because she arrived after the show had started and she couldn’t enter because she would have to walk in exactly where the show was happening and she would have been in the way of a dance number, scene, set change or a blackout.
I really enjoyed the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I loved the dancing, singing, and the plot of the show. I think that everyone did great in their roles and like I said in a different post I enjoyed how multiple people played various characters in the show. The only thing that bothered me was the height difference between the two leads, Finch was played by a women, but was supposed to be playing the character of a man, and the actor playing Rosemary was very tall. Which is all fine, but I guess it just took me out of the musical a little bit because it just looked very awkward to me, again all the actors did great it just felt like a weird choice. I really liked the Uncle I thought the actor playing him was very funny, and what made it even more interesting was the a women was in that role, I really enjoyed it.
Overall, I really enjoyed all of the fringe shows that I saw and it made me want to go back to the states and watch shows in smaller spaces and see how they compare to fringe in London. I definitely wish that we were hear longer so that I could go see some more fringe shows, but they need to work on getting some AC in buildings before I stay too much longer because Southwark Playhouse where we saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was SO hot. I was sweating from the time we walked in to the time I stepped out the building, I feel so bad for the actors I can’t imagine how hot they felt especially under the lights and not having AC. But who knows they might be ok with it by now.
Theatre in London U of A 