How many Shakespeare plays can I see in a week?

Last week was rather busy by standards for when I’m at home. Monday to Thursday marked my final week of working for the Easter break. Asides from the excitement of lab coats and cold stores (I am almost felt like a proper scientist by the end of it) I’ve had a number of trips to the theatre this week mainly, it would seem, to see Shakespeare.

The first of these trips was at the Exchange on Tuesday to see ‘King Lear’. Having not studied or read a great deal of Shakespeare before (I think I know three other Shakespeare plays) I had no clue of the story (apart from that it follows a king called Lear). In the Exchange's production Lear is played, rather brilliantly by Don Warrington, with a fantastic supporting cast. Warrington’s performance was captivating and enthralling from beginning to end; he clearly knew Lear’s journey inside out, as each line was delivered with such conviction. There are numerous stand-out moments that I could mention; I can’t recommend seeing it enough.

Don Warrington as Lear (he didn't always look
that cross in the play)

As I’m sure you expect by now dear reader, we (Dad and I) stage-doored (that's now a verb, OK) a few people. I was walking through the audience outside the theatre and walk past a lady that I recognised. After doing an almost comical double take I realised that she was in fact Georgina Hale (Daisy K from the ‘Happiness Patrol’ in case you don’t know dear reader). I had a lovely chat with her; she was a little surprised to be recognised. It turns out that Georgina had worked with Don 30 years or so ago and had come to see him as they have kept in touch over the years. After the show we had a chat with Don Warrington, Mark Springer and Rakie Ayola. The man himself, Don Warrington, was eager to hear what we thought as it wasn’t press night until the following day (Wednesday), so there had been little feedback about the show. I had quite a chat with Rakie Ayola as she studied at Royal Welsh and the fight director for ‘Lear’, the great Kev McCurdy, who comes into college a lot, so we had a lot to talk about (make a note of that dear reader, actor number one that Kev has worked with and I’ve met this week, might come in handy later).

After the excitement of Tuesday some may have said that was enough Shakespeare for the week, but no. Thursday night Dad and I saw ‘A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’ at Blackpool, Grand Theatre (I always get that one confused with Goodnight Mr Tom for some reason, the play that is, not the Gran Theatre). This was a new theatre for both of us, but it looked much like Buxton or the Palace in Manchester. It’s a wonderful old Victorian theatre (complete with slightly squeaky wooden seats). Much like ‘Lear’, I had no clue as to what the play was about, but again thoroughly enjoyed. The show is part of the RSC’s anniversary programme as it is 400 years since Shakespeare’s death (I still think it’s a little strange that they celebrate that he died, I never thought his plays were that bad!). It was advertised as a ‘play for the people’, and as part of this, there was a group of children from local schools playing some of the fairies, whilst the characters who put the play on, within the play (Bottom, the lion etc.) were played by a local amateur dramatics group; it really was a play for the people. I must particularly make mention of Lucy Ellinson who was fantastic as Puck. Her comic timing, facial expressions (this is starting to sound like A level drama again!) and audience interaction was second to none, she really seemed to have fun with the part. Again, as I’m sure you expected dear reader, we stage-doored (yep, that's still a verb) and met Chu Omambala (Oberon). As well as Chu I had a chat with Ayesha Dharker who played Titania. I’d met her in Stratford (you’ll obviously know that dear reader, as you’ve read that post about ‘Othello’), so this time we had a chat about all sorts and about what I was doing (she’s the important one, not me, so I’ve no idea how we got onto that). For those who haven't fallen asleep reading this yet (well done you), Ayesha is actress number two on the Kev count (this post could easily have been called ‘The Kev Count’, I’ll bear that in mind). I should say that following on from seeing ‘King Lear’ I did mention to Kev that I’d seen the show and we had a chat about the show.

On Saturday evening, Mum decided she wanted to go out to the theatre. Our options were ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, ‘Our Gracie’ or ‘Into the Hoods’, we decided to see ‘Our Gracie’ at the New Vic. Quite why we picked that show I have no clue, neither of us knew anything about it bar the title, but we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It started with Gracie Fields (google her) doing her last show, and as part of the show, telling her life story with the members of the band playing the other characters in her life. The show was full of songs she’d sung over the years and it was very much a feel good, enjoyable night out. We both agreed that it wasn’t the sort of thing we’d normally see, but were glad we had.

Finally Sunday evening was my last night out of the week (perhaps you can see dear reader, why I was hoping for a lie in on Monday). Mum and I went to HOME in Manchester for an evening with Alexei Sayle. This was both a new venue and a new comedian for us (admittedly we had both seen him on television). As a venue, HOME reminded us of the National in London, as it had a similar, but more updated design and felt like a lively space, with a lot going on. As for Alexei Sayle, he was brilliant. The evening was part of his book tour for his second book 'Thatcher Stole My trousers' (apparently Stalin had already eaten his homework). He was on fine form and had both of us laughing throughout; I can't wait to read his book! Following the event he did a book signing, in which he was just as entertaining. We spoke about his work on 'Strangeness in Space' in which he plays Keith Keys in episode three.

There you have it dear reader, a rather busy week (I hope it was worth the wait, if not hard luck, I can't do much about it now). I must also say hello to Rick, my sister's trampolining coach as I'm told he reads this. I'd like to thank you Rick, and anyone else who bothers to read this, I'm glad that my wanders and musings are of interest to a few people.