16 - 25 August, 2014
I saw two plays, Great
Britain and Skylight. Some time earlier I’d read excellent reviews
of both in The Tablet. Lucky for me, it meant I’d booked before
leaving home – they were both sell-outs.
Great Britain, at the
Lyttleton Theatre in the National Theatre complex, was supposed to be
a satire about the recent phone hacking scandals and the Murdoch
press. There were plenty of laughs that I got and quite a few that I
missed through the very fast delivery by the actors. I thought it was
me but an English woman sitting next to me commented on it before I
said a word. Also, the characters were so like those in “real life”
that it was hard to separate them from reality. The “satire” was
really nothing more than had been printed in newspapers for the
length of the hearings into the matter. It was good but …. missed
the mark a bit.
The National is undergoing
renovation. I loved their construction site hording.
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| Welcome to the National Theatre |
On the other hand, Skylight,
a David Hare play being performed in the West End, was fabulous. Mind
you, it would want to be for the price! I wouldn’t have gone but
for Suzannah giving me a generous cash gift on my last day at work. I
wanted to see Bill Nighy in action. I love his quirkiness – and
wasn’t disappointed. Suzannah approved my choice because it also
starred Carey Mulligan. I’d never heard of her, showing how out of
touch I am!. She was terrific, on-stage for the entire show.
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| Wyndham's Theatre - Skylight set |
