By Christine Swan

Towards the end of April, I saw the play Ghosts at the Lyric Theatre. This was a dark, twisted plot of an Ibsen play. Emotions run high and I found myself particularly connecting to the terrible plight of Helena, played by the excellent Victoria Smurfit. I found myself wishing for a happy ending, because she deserved it. Afterwards, in the bar, I had a chat with Victoria and suggested that she must feel emotionally wrung-out after every performance. She agreed and we joked about my fringed jacket – what a lovely person she is!

I was staying in Hammersmith, under the thunderous Westway, and by the equally thrumming Talgarth Road. The weather was fine and I found some fantastic local places to visit – Leighton House and Sambourne House, both of which have featured in previous posts.

The relentless traffic on the Talgarth Road

The second evening of this weekend was spent watching Apex Predator at the Hampstead Theatre starring Laura Whitmore. If the previous evening had featured a play where the rich and privileged deal with the fallout of what the dead can leave behind, Apex deals with the mess created by the undead.

Whitmore plays the primary school teacher of strung-out mum Mia’s other-wordly son, Alfie. Sophie Melville plays a mum on the edge perfectly, and when she befriends teacher Ana (Laura Whitmore), we feel relieved for her to have found a confidante. And then, it all goes wrong.

I had persuaded my non-vampiric friend that sitting in the front row would give us the perfect viewpoint. Ana, was in fact, a vampire. Her behaviour is outrageous and, during a night on the town, they retire to the apartment of some hapless male, where Ana drops over a balcony by the edge of the stage, into a foam-filled abyss presumably, I was impressed! A succession of victims and plenty of Kensington Gore being sprayed about, makes this tale of sisterhood into a bit of a nightmare, and sitting in the front row wearing cream, didn’t seem such a hot idea!

I am conflicted, for some, blood and guts add to the realism of the experience – and I’ve seen Coriolanus complete with severed heads in carrier bags! However, for me, this was all a bit over the top. Maybe if I had seen less, I would have imagined more. This was the appeal of the old black and white Dracula films with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, the viewer is left to fill in the gaps. I can confirm that Kensington Gore is quite sticky, and that it was applied liberally. As we left, the set was being removed ready for the next play as we had seen the last night performance.

May brought the rather fun Cockfosters at the Southwark Playhouse. This really was a lot of fun. The story centres on a two broken-hearted people travelling the entire length of the Piccadilly line, from Heathrow to Cockfosters. Along the way, they meet the entire cast of Tube travellers – football fans, a hen party, the obnoxious, the sad, the gregarious, the professional, the ravers, the hippies, and the drunk. All of life is there. Our heroes prevail and fall in love – aah! For moments when you just need a bit of fun, and a cheer up, Cockfosters was perfect. The only caveat would be that you need to understand “Tube humour” and protocols. If you do, it will tickle your funny bones. if not, it could be as confusing as a Tube map. I loved it.

Going underground – the set for Cockfosters at the Southwark Playhouse

The second performance of the same weekend was at the compact and bijou Finborough Theatre in West Brompton, to watch Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables. Sylvie and Andree are two friends who meet at school. They are inseparable but, as they grow, adulthood gets in the way. It would be perfect if we could remain children forever, if our best friends remained so. Beautifully acted and a fitting end to a perfect weekend of theatre.

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables at the Finborough Theatre

At the end of May, I visited the National Theatre complex to see Stephen Sondheim’s final, unfinished work, Here We Are. Two cleaners move slowly across the stage – one on a ladder with a cloth, the other pushing a vacuum cleaner. Not a very auspicious overture to welcome the cast. Jane Krakowski and Rory Kinnear welcome guests to their home – she in an elaborate negligee and he in a velour tracksuit. Rather than cook at home, they decide to hit the town and dine out. However, nowhere appears to have any food. Eventually, they return home and manage to share out some meagre rations, picking up other guests on the way. I really wanted to enjoy this performance – it was Sondheim’s last after all. There was a huge amount of symbolism and I could write a detailed analysis of the metaphors, but it lost me in places, and I felt that it also lost direction. I tried, I really did. it might not be you, it could be me.

Here We Are at the Lyttleton Theatre – cleaning up ready for the show to start

In the same weekend, I also saw This is My Family at the Southwark Elephant. This musical did not need huge amounts of brainpower to interpret and analyse. Instead, it was the tale of a family with teens, a grandmother with emerging dementia, and parents who are primarily caregivers and have forgotten who they are. Their daughter wins a holiday and decides that a camping trip, back to the site where her parents first met, would be the perfect break. It seems that she is wrong because the weather is terrible but, eventually, the magic happens, and when Gemma Whelan handed me a Chinese lantern and whispered: “Pass it back!”, I felt the family magic too. It’s easy to be too busy to share special moments, but this play asks us to remember of the importance of making memories. The bond between Nicky (Nancy Alsopp) and Gran (Gay Soper), is just lovely. You cannot help but feel warm and fuzzy about this beautifully acted and sung performance. Wonderful!

This Is My Family at the Southwark Elephant

In June, I headed back to the King’s Head Theatre, a long way under the streets of Islington, to see the King of Pangea. Yet again, the King’s Head got me right in the “feels”. The story charts the choppy waters of young Sam learning that his mum (Sophie Ragavelas) has cancer that eventually will lead to her sad demise. Dad (Dan Burton), does what he can, but is powerless to stop the inevitable. Sam escapes into a fantasy world, Pangea, created with his mother, where he is King, and all answers are there to be discovered.

A slightly wonky view of the King’s Head Theatre set for the King of Pangea

With the help of Elijah (Mark Curry), Sam (Alfie Blackwell) tries to learn the secrets that will return him to his mother. It is a beautiful story and, yet again, The King’s Head has produced something extraordinary and worthy of a larger production. My only complaint is nothing to do with the cast or production at all. Latecomers were admitted, after the performance had begun, despite it being stated clearly that they would not. The front of house staff were quite young and I can imagine that the older punters were quite insistent that they be let in, but it does disturb the punctual audience members, and I do not think this fair. Half way through the show, one man in the front row, stood up and walked out, I guess, to use the toilet. I guessed that he wouldn’t be allowed to return to his seat but, after about ten minutes, while Alfie Blackwell was mid-song, the man walked on the perimeter of the stage, towards the actor, in his first professional performance, and sat back down in his allocated seat. I was stunned. Not only is this a huge concern for the safety of the cast but, yet again, my viewing was disturbed. Brilliant show though which I really enjoyed, I would just like to see house rules and etiquette enforced.

My final show in this batch was Romeo and Juliet by the Flabbergast Theatre Company, at Wilton’s Music Hall. The weather was gorgeous and I only had a short walk to Grace’s Alley. The sash windows were open wide to let the evening air in and punters were hanging about in the Alley, enjoying a cool breeze before the performance.

Cooling off in Grace’s Alley

I have seen this Shakespeare play performed by this theatre company, previously in Malvern. They have changed elements within it and the cast was smaller. I’m not sure that the rave feast was an improvement on the more traditional interpretation of the previous production, and I suppose this could be the issue. I have seen this play, performed by this company, twice. I preferred the first version. Lennie Longworth is a fine Juliet and Kyll Thomas-Cole as Romeo, turns in a powerful performance. Vyte Garriga is a perfect fussy Nurse, harassed by the young Montague bucks.

Wilton’s set for Romeo and Juliet

Thus concludes my half year in theatre. I have already begun to tick off the second half. From little gems to big smash productions, I always go with an open mind and an honest opinion, which I will continue to share with you.