London Theatre: Guide to Long-Running Shows in London
If you enjoy theatre and theatre history, consider London as your next travel destination. At present, London has some long-running shows that are worth seeing. Although the city can be a bit pricey, keep in mind that most popular destinations in
London are served by the Tube, so a car rental is unnecessary. The new Heathrow Express takes you from the airport to Central London, so you need not spend money on a taxi.
While London hotels can be expensive, keep in mind, you will be spending most of your time out on the town, so you don’t need a large, luxurious room. The Byron Hotel in Bayswater is close to the Tube and most of London’s attractions. Continental breakfast is included in the rates, which are less expensive by London standards. The Tube or local buses can take you to any of the London Theatres.
To see Mary Stuart at the Apollo Theatre, take the Tube to Piccadilly Circus. Peter Oswald’s adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s play stars Janet McTeer as Mary Queen of Scots, and Harriet Walter as Elizabeth I. While the script is excellent, and the acting is, for the most post, quite good, there are a few minor problems. During the first act, there is not much movement on stage. Actors speak to each other while standing in a line. Cue pick ups were about half a second too late. Combine this with the fact that the Apollo keeps the theatre unusually warm, you may want to bring some coffee to your seat so that you can stay awake. However, the pace does pick up in the second act.
If you are used to theatre in the, there are a few things to remember about London Theatre. First of all, there are no free “playbills.” Programs can be purchased from the ushers. However, they are usually pretty elaborate, and make a good souvenir of your trip. Unlike US theaters, your food and drinks may be brought back to your seats. However, before the play begins, you need to order your drinks for intermission. They will be waiting at a specified table. The process is actually quite efficient, since you will not need to wait on long lines at the bar.
If you plan to see As You Desire Me at the Playhouse Theatre, include a visit to Gordon’s Wine Bar, which is located near the theater. Even if you are not a wine drinker, a visit to Gordon’s is an experience in itself. You descend a steep, stone staircase. At the bottom, you find yourself in a cave-like setting. The large variety of wines is served from wooden casks. If you are hungry, traditional English pub food is also served.
You won’t need to get drunk to enjoy As You Desire Me. This short and lively show was written by Luigi Pirandello, and adapted by Hugh Whitemore. Kristin Scott Thomas plays a singer in a Berlin cabaret. She has lost her memory because of an assault in World War I. Bob Hoskins plays Carl Salter, her somewhat sadistic manager and protector. A stranger comes to one of her performances and informs her that she is actually the wife of Bruno Pieri, a wealthy Italian. She travels to and settles into Pieri’s home, where she doted on by his family. However, Salter appears with a brain damaged woman who he claims is Pieri’s real wife. Although the play itself has great merits, what makes this production so superb is the way the actors work with each other. In viewing As You Desire Me, the audience gets a sense that the actors are having a great time performing it.
If you are looking for a theatrical production on a grander scale, be sure to see Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Woman in White. Theshow is currently playing at the Palace Theatre, which was opened in 1891 as the Royal English Opera House. Unfortunately, the opera did not do well. Two years later it re-opened as a music hall. The marble and onyx interior is reminiscent of an age when theater was at its most opulent glory, and the Palace staff members are the friendliest people in London.
The magnificence of the Palace serves the production quite well. As the play opens, a movie projector imposes images on a revolving set. The image is disorienting and disturbing-as it’s supposed to be. The resulting three dimensional effects will draw you into the play, whether you want to go there or not. Unlike many Andrew Lloyd Webber productions, the sets, rather the music, are pertinent to the plot. Don’t expect to leave the theater humming tunes from Woman in White. The music serves to enhance the story line, as opposed to other productions where the story line served to sell the musical CDs.
Woman in White’s compelling plot is based on the 1860 Wilkie Collins novel, which tells the tale of a drawing-master hired to tutor a lovely heiress by the name of Laura Fairlie and her somewhat plain half-sister, Marian Halcombe. While traveling to their home, he meets a distraught escapee from the local asylum who bears a startling resemblance to Laura Fairlie. Her appearance in the darkness makes the tutor, as well as the audience, unsure if she is real or an apparition. What follows is a story of concealed identity, unfulfilled love, wrongful incarceration, greed and deceit.
If you are impressed with London’s theatrical productions, you might find yourself interested in London’s theater history. If so, a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater is in order. The Globe is a reproduction of the open air playhouse that was built in 1599, where William Shakespeare’s plays were performed. The Globe Exposition provides an interactive display of Shakespeare’s London. If you were ever interested in how characters were hanged onstage, what Shakespearean actors used for blood and gore and other compelling questions, this is the place to find the answers. There is also a display of Shakespearean musical instruments and costumes. The Shakespeare Globe Theatre is located at 21 New Globe Walk in the Bankside section of London.
