This trip has been full of theatre. Some shows I loved and some not so much, but I’ve enjoyed getting to experience all of it. A lot of the shows that I have seen on this trip have been heavily commercialized and would be considered either West End or Off West End. There is another tier to the theatre here though, and it is called fringe. Fringe theatre is defined by its limited budget, small spaces, and cheaper ticket prices. It is also where you will find new playwrights and work. On this trip I saw two fringe theatre shows, they were called “The P Word” and “Redcliffe”. While they were definitely lower budget and less elaborate than some of the other shows I saw, they ended up being some of my favorites.
First I saw “The P Word” at Bush Theatre. This was a two person play that took place in a small black box theatre. I had to run from watching parliament to catch a 40 minute tube ride to the theatre. It was in a location that I had never been before, and it was definitely smaller than other parts of London I had been to. I hadn’t eaten since early that morning when I got there, so I ended up getting a falafel wrap from a wonderful little stand. It was delicious. The play itself maybe had 100 people in attendance. In fact, they ended up telling people to move closer to the stage from the back rows because the front rows were so sparse. The play itself was about two gay Pakistani men navigating being queer in London. It follows their story of meeting and eventually falling in love. It addresses issues of queer identity, cultural differences, and familial dynamics. The show was excellent. The show was only 90 minutes long, and it was gripping from beginning to end. Both actors did a phenomenal job, and one of them did incredible accent work for their character. The set was very simple. The main piece was a circular platform in the center of the space that was split in the middle. The two sides were slanted in opposite directions which created cool possibilities for staging. I was overall really impressed with the production, and would definitely recommend it to people seeing theatre in London.
Next, Milly and I went and saw “Redcliffe” at Southwark Playhouse. This show was beautiful. This show is an original musical by Jordan Luke Gage. On top of writing the music, lyrics, and book, he also stars in the show. The plot of the show is based on a true story that follows the life of William Critchard, a gay man living in the 18th century. He ends up getting tried with sodomy after being caught having a moment of intimacy with another man. In the end, both he and the other man end up being sentenced to death. This show was incredible, but it could definitely use some rewrites. The book of the musical was incredibly well written, but some of the songs felt like they didn’t fit in the show. Gage has a very heavy pop influence in his music, and sometimes the music felt stylistically wrong for the feeling of where the story was headed. With this being said, I did enjoy a lot of the songs. Also, the direction of the piece was beautiful. The staging was incredibly naturalistic, but also had moments of heightened theatricality that punctuated the story perfectly. The last 15 minutes of the show had me crying which is rare for a show to do. This playhouse is one that I would definitely recommend because I really loved the feeling of the work that they do. Overall, my fringe theatre experiences in London were great!
Cheers,
Thatcher
Theatre in London U of A 