London Tide

Yesterday we saw “London Tide” at the National Theatre.  When I first walked in I was very confused because all the electrics were down near the stage and as the start time approached and they didn’t move I was worried a tech issue would cancel the performance.  Thankfully, it was a part of the show and the set was very simplistic with a big focus on the lighting.  Speaking of the lighting, it was amazing.  The electrics moved up and down in a wavy pattern to reflect the water of the Thames.  Along with the lights the stage also moved up and down which completely surprised me because I had never seen that before in a show.  The little set that there was was very simple but very well built and worked well.  The costuming was also very done, I especially liked the black dress that Bella wore that is then passed to Lizzie when Lizzie’s father dies.  The tech elements of the show were incredible and just by tech it is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.  There was music in the show, but instead of being called a musical I heard it called a play with music, which totally fits.  There were only 13 songs in the entire play and a large portion of the play was not in song.  I liked this because it made the songs more meaningful than if it was just a standard musical.  While both the music and the tech elements of the show were incredible I didn’t enjoy the story as much.  I didn’t think the story was bad, but I also didn’t think it was anything spectacular.  Many of the conflicts could be solved very easily by just talking but they aren’t and I also found characters like Eugene that are meant to be romantic come off as a bit creepy to me.  I didn’t enjoy the ending because the play took itself very seriously up until the last few minutes when it ended with a ton of jokes and everything ending up alright.  This ending, to me, didn’t make the tone of the rest of the play and disconnected me for the play.  Overall I’d give “London Tide” a 7/10.