After seeing 20 shows on this trip I truly feel as though I have a taste for how theatre is in London! From a show on its 74th running year, brand new west end shows, and even an odd wrestling match in Stratford, getting to see so much theatre has definitely been a highlight of the trip for me. For class assignments Shawn and Susan took us to see eight shows that were all spectacular (minus Sherlock sorry) but on our own we had to go see a fringe play. A fringe play is an experimental or unconventional theatrical performance produced outside of mainstream theatre institutions. These shows are often lower budget and held in random spaces. For my fringe show, Tru, Milly, and Thatcher and I went out to see Agatha Christie’s Witness for a Prosecution held in a real courthouse on The Southbank in London. I had absolutely no idea anything about this show so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Tickets were around 15 pounds and the show had a super cool atmosphere. Being a show about a court case and having the audience play the jury and sit in a real courthouse was such a cool idea- however, I truly wouldn’t know because I only witnessed HALF of the prosecution. I know it’s so so horrible but I truly struggled to stay awake at this show, like it was so bad. The courthouse was cool in theory but there was no lighting and the darkness definitely led to me falling asleep. Also it was actually 90 degrees in that theatre, I had to grip the metal bar in front of me just to keep some coolness. Once intermission hit I met up with Milly and Tru who witnessed the same experience and we all agreed to head on home because we had a show that night and really needed some rest time!
Overall, it was nothing against the production. I’ve heard so many great reviews of the show but it just wasn’t the one for me. Im hoping to find some more fringe shows in the future that I might end up enjoying more because I really do love the idea of them.
Theatre in London U of A 