London Tide is a play based of Charles Dickens’s book Our Mutual Friend. It was adapted to a play by Ben Power. He is a playwright, screenwriter and associate of the National Theatre. We saw it at the National Theatre, which we had been to just a few days prior to watch The Boys from the Blackstuff. Although for London Tide we had much better seats, only a few rows back instead of the side of the third-floor balcony seats we had for Boys from the Blackstuff. But London Tide is only playing at National Theatre, so I was glad to go back to see it.
This show was the most interesting play I’ve ever seen. It is directed by Ian Rickson, who has directed projects at National Theatre, the West End, and Broadway. The technical aspect alone was unlike anything I have ever seen. Granted, my theatre experience is not that broad, but it was still undoubtably impressive and incredible. And everyone else I was with knew more about technical theatre than I did and they were all amazed too. The cast were all so great I really loved all the performances. Ami Tredrea led playing Lizzie Hexam; Bella Maclean played Bella Wilfer; Tom Mothersdale played John Rokesmith; Brandon Grace played Charley Hexam; Jamael Westman played Eugene Wrayburn; Scott Karim played Bradley Headstone; and Jake Wood played Gaffer Hexam. They were all so incredibly talented in both acting and singing which the play had a lot of wonderful songs. I was also very impressed with young actress Ellie-May Sheridan who did such a good job as Jenny Wren.
The play was so unique too. When it started the lighting rigs were only a few feet above the stage which I thought just meant they were working on something, but then the play started with them still on the ground. Then the full cast crawled from the floor onto the stage as the lights rose. Throughout the play the lighting was constantly moving and changing color and brightness. It moved like a wave when they were referencing the tide, and helped separate the stage into different locations at the same time. It was actually so cool I know I had my mouth open in awe throughout the play. It was blocked expertly too with every single sound made was purposeful and useful.
I have zero complains or notes about this play. I went in with kind of low expectations. I should have know better considering it was based of a Charles Dickens novel. But we had seen The Mousetrap the night before, which I loved so much and was a “whodunnit” I thought could not be beat. It was also a long play after a long day, and after struggling against sleep in the uncomfortable chairs of the National Theatre a few nights before, I was not optimistic. But I was sorely mistaken, and I could not be happier about it. As soon as the play started though, I knew I had the wrong impression. Starting the play with the lights so low and the actors appearing suddenly from the ground had me instantly hooked. When the first intermission came an hour and a half later, I was sad because I knew we only had two hours left. The first half was incredible, and the second was somehow even more so. When it was over I knew it was the best play I had ever seen and I was devastated there was no more to see. I HIGHLY recommend this play to whoever has the opportunity to see it. I am hoping it gets more attention and praise as it has only been out for a month and I want it to stick around so I may have the opportunity to see it again sometime in the future.
Theatre in London U of A 