For my fringe play show, I chose to see The Lady in the Van at the Bear Pit Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I went to this show with Cate, Cailyn, Belle, and Lauren, and it was super close to our little bed-and-breakfast. It was about a 5-minute walk and cost about $15 USD. Not bad, right? Well… this play was definitely fringe, and definitely off the West End.
When we walked into this theatre, it only sat 112 people, and who had the seats in the back? You guessed it! Cate and I! Honestly, I cannot even be mad because it was so cheap, so close to where we were staying, and gave us something to do in this small town at nighttime. Upon walking in, we were handed a “playbill”. Looking at this playbill and the cast, you were able to see that almost all of the cast were related, so you can imagine how good the cast was. Not only were they all family, but they were also all over 70 years old. It just was not great to be honest, sorry for Cate and my hyping of the play in the group chat, it was a lie.
Anyways! While watching this show, not only was the acting bad, but the transitions to the next scenes were next-level middle school. They would do a millennial pause when entering a new scene and have music that played into the next scene, where the characters would stand still until the music stopped. Truly, it was not great. Besides the acting and transitions, this play was also boring, and I was fighting sleep the entire time. At intermission, all of us girls were just bonding over this “experience” because at least we were doing it together.
I can totally appreciate the idea of a fringe play in a small town, and I think I really did experience the core of what a fringe play should be. However, this being said, I miss West End, haha.
Theatre in London U of A 