After an eventful day of delicious food at Borough Market and shopping until my feet throbbed at London’s largest vintage market, we made our way to Piccadilly Circus to see Grace Pervades.
The inside of the Theatre Royal Haymarket itself was absolutely stunning! I’ll be honest and admit that I was a bit worried when I saw our seats in this gorgeous theatre, but it honestly turned out to be just fine. I could see the actors and hear (pretty much) everything they said. Were they the most comfortable seats in the theatre? Absolutely not. Was I squirming, trying to get comfortable every 30 seconds? Of course. However, I can’t let comfort dictate my opinion of the show itself.
Overall, I thought the show was fine. It didn’t have any “wow” moments or elements that jumped out at me, and I wished the show had more uniqueness about it. Because I view the script as unique, I would’ve liked to see some different design choices, such as set or lighting, that would’ve made the performance slightly more engaging. Despite this, I do believe that the acting was incredible. The comedic moments were perfectly timed, and I felt as though I truly knew each character- why they did certain things and how they would react to other characters doing certain things. I didn’t mind the acting choices; each character had their own quirks, but it wasn’t too forced or in your face- it was natural. I have to state the obvious here and say that Ralph Fiennes was magnificent. I was excited to see how he would perform on stage, since, of course, I’ve only ever seen him on screen, and I can confidently say that his acting was everything I could’ve wished for and more. That was pretty much the only great thing about the show. The rest was meh.
-Emmy
Theatre in London U of A 