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In the (many) years that I have been going to plays at the Tower I have seen some outstanding productions. I have introduced several of my friends to the place. Often, they have been a little dismissive before going – but rarely so when they come out of the theatre after a play. On the 20th March, I had the great pleasure of seeing Shakespeare in Love on its second performance I have never seen the film, so cannot compare the production with that, so forgive me, please.
Due to a variety of personal problems and a lot of stress during the week, I had forgotten that I was supposed to go to see the play that evening until I suddenly remembered at lunchtime on the day. How glad I was that I did not cancel. I am a bit deaf, so a few of the actors on the far side of the theatre from me were a little hard to hear – but that is my problem. The staging was, as usual in this interesting space, fairly minimalist and inventive. The accompanying music was excellent – who knew that some of these players were so musical? The voices, instruments and ensemble added enormously to the atmosphere. Costumes were interesting – even extravagant, in some cases. Special mention should go to Queen Elizabeth’s outfits and those of the Duke of Wessex (if it were a pantomime I would at this point say: “Boo!”, since he is quite villainous}. The lighting was excellent.
Kizzy Parvin (Viola), Christopher Edge (Will Shakespeare) and Nvaron Anderson (Kit Marlowe) were outstanding in what, it quickly became evident, was an extraordinarily good company. While the play is often quite deep and very moving, it was also funny. There were various bits of business (with the dog, for instance) that were hilarious, of particular note were Andrew Robinson, not just with his performance as a stuttering wreck but – winningly --- his bits of business as the Boatman. Ben Anadolu, in a couple of smaller parts, also shone and should win a prize for his very funny biographical notes in the programme. James Collins, in his first appearance at The Tower, was a real presence. I have not mentioned many of the cast here by name but there were absolutely no bad performances, there were just too many good ones to mention individually. It is to be hoped that we will see all these actors again at the Tower.
David Taylor, who directed the piece, is to be congratulated. Combining music, song, dance, humour, sadness, sword fighting, romance, and directing what is, for The Tower, quite a large cast, must have been a mammoth undertaking. It really came off extraordinarily well. Congratulations. I will look forward to other plays directed by him.
I came to the theatre in a state of real stress, having had some very upsetting news and, as I said, a very difficult series of family problems. This play (could we call it a musical?) did what theatre is supposed to do. I took me out of myself, out of the real world and made me forget my problems for a while. There were several points during the play – when Viola comes back to be Juliet to Shakespeare’s Romeo, for instance, when I wanted to see all of that performance within a performance. What ever happened to Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter> There is definitely another play in there somewhere. Somebody told me after the show that he thought it was better than the film (I had told him earlier that I had not seen the film). Now I will have to watch that film and compare the two. However, the film will have to be really, really, good if it is to stand up to the production I saw last night.
Well done to all concerned – looking forward to the next one…..
Photography by Pau Ros
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