British Theatre

[LukeAFB]

Despite this site being primarily aimed at British Movies, we already have TV topics (Programmes, Locations etc.). So, my question is, why do we not have a 'British Theatre' topic? It could even be broken into Provincial and London theatres.

[torinfan]

Sounds great, I'd love to have a topic like that. I know I have asked questions about British Theatre in the forums.

[dpgmel]

Personally I would welcome this however I fear it might be considered too " off topic " for inclusion ?



I tend to post regards theatre issues/news in the Off Topic Discuusion part of the forum.

[Steve Crook]

One of you could always start a British Theatre thread in the Off Topic Discussions area. If it got enough interest it might get pinned to keep it at the top of the list of topics



Steve

[Moor Larkin]

The importance of the old repertory system to British acting is inescapable. Very few movies ever reflected it however. One of the few was made by Ralph Smart, whilst the stars need no introduction...........



Curtain Up (1952)

[LukeAFB]

Thanks Steve,



I'll try it.

[LukeAFB]

I asked in the 'Established Members' forum, whether a British Theatre thread was viable. Steve Crook replied, "Why don't you try it and if it's a success, it might become an established thread". So here goes.



I live in Newbury, Berkshire and we're extremely lucky here, in that we have a very good professional theatre just outside the town called 'The Watermill' (a real watermill at that!). My wife and I are 'supporters' of the theatre and probably attend every other production. But we're also only 45 minutes away from central London by train, so we also go to the theatre in the West End on a regular basis.



The last production we saw in London was 'Oliver!', last weekend. If you are into superb sets and lighting, this production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is not to be missed. Rowan Atkinson as 'Fagin' is good, but tends to play the part as Mr Bean, which is not so good. The Artful Dodger steals the show (at least the actor playing him on Saturday did), although since there are three Dodgers, I can't vouch for the others.



Well this is a start, we'll see how popular the thread is.

[Steve Crook]

name='Moor Larkin']The importance of the old repertory system to British acting is inescapable. Very few movies ever reflected it however. One of the few was made by Ralph Smart, whilst the stars need no introduction...........



Curtain Up (1952)

Not just on film, but some stage performances where you see people doing things you wouldn't have thought they could do.



Like when we saw Noel & Gertie with Simon Cowell & Patricia Hodge. We were pleasantly surprised by their abilities to sing and dance. Not things we would normally think that they'd be good at. But British theatre gives very good training



Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

name='Steve Crook']Like when we saw Noel & Gertie with Simon Cowell & Patricia Hodge. We were pleasantly surprised by their abilities to sing and dance. Not things we would normally think that they'd be good at. But British theatre gives very good training



Steve

I'd be quite surprised to discover Simon Cowell could sing and dance. Not so surprised about Simon Cadell though

[hankoler]

A great idea to have a theatre topic but I must confess I have never ever been in a theatre in my life.

[dpgmel]

Well done Luke



I am a big fan of theatre as I know are several people here so hopefully we'll get more contributions.



IIRC it was The Watermill's production of Sunset Boulevard which transferred to the Comedy Theatre in the WE.



The next two theatre visits on my agenda are :



War Horse ( again ! ) at the New London

&

Time and the Conways at the National



I'm also hoping that The Winslow Boy, currently playing at The Rose Theatre Kingston, will transfer to the WE ( can't have too much Rattigan ).

[Steve Crook]

name='CaptainWaggett']I'd be quite surprised to discover Simon Cowell could sing and dance. Not so surprised about Simon Cadell though

Darn, it was of course Simon Cadell



Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

I've never been to the Watermill but I'm a big fan of John Doyle - I was amused to see that you can now do a degree in Actor / Musicianship ..and why not?



Loved Time and the Conways despite it having two intervals which normally strikes fear into my middlebrow heart - see if you can work out which characters were played by Mervyn Johns and Raymond Huntley in the original production. Also recently loved The Cherry Orchard and even more so A Winter's Tale at the Old Vic - the three hours really did fly by in the latter, which somewhat suprised me as there's at least an hour in which Simon Russell Beale isn't on stage

[HUGHJAMPTON]

name='Steve Crook']Darn, it was of course Simon Cadell



Steve

I'm so glad I'm not the only one to have those kind of memory lapses. As regards a theatre thread, yes please.

[smudge]

Nice to see a theatre thread taking off - I have in the past posted theatre comments in the 'Watched Last Night section', particularly when we have been to see some of our fave 'where are they now' actors from the films and TV of yesteryear.



Not far from Luke we tend to frequent The Theatre Royal at Windsor, although I must say that this year's output thus far has done very little to draw us in. We normally average at least one visit a month, but have hardly been up to now...



Smudge

[batman]

I don't go to the theatre half as much as I'd like to. Mrs Bat took me to see The 39 Steps in January and, over the past few years, we have also seen An Inspector Calls, Festen, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Macbeth, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Return to the Forbidden Planet, The Woman in Black, Bing Bong, Deathtrap, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Equus and Scooby Doo and the Pirate Ghost!

[torinfan]

The main library at the University of Arizona has a substantial section on British Theatre. I remember when I was doing research work on Torin and came across the Theatre Notebook, which they have bound in books (something commonly done by libraries when they have a fairly complete series of periodicals) It was so cool to read his name right on the first bulletin on page 2. I made a copy of it for myself. I know the Society for Theatre Research is an important organization in the UK. We have a USA branch too.

[billy bentley]

Not much of a theatre man myself, but Mrs Bentley adores it. Still when living in Blighty I did mange to catch a few Steven Berkoff productions and have seen him here in NYC too. Has he done anything on the London stage of recent ?

[Dr. Schreck]

Every time I am in London I try to see at least one play. First I look up the list to find out which ones might interest me, then I have a look at the cast for final decision. With the exception of a preview of a play with Paul Scofield, I was never disappointed in my decision, fortunately. Among those I've seen were Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist (Edward Fox, John Wells, Sarah Berger), Turgenev's A Month in the Country (John Hurt, Helen Mirren, John Standing), Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (Eric Porter, Dinsdale Landen, Martin Jarvis, David Ryall - to see that I had to drop a performance of Leo McKern as Boswell, which was the second choice), Coward's Private Lives (Lindsay Duncan, Alan Rickman), Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest (Richard E. Grant, Maggie Smith) and An Ideal Husband (Simon Ward, Richard Todd, Christopher Cazenove, Kate O'Mara), Afterplay (Penelope Wilton, Hurt again), and The Woman in Black (David Burke). Planned long beforehand were The Secret of Sherlock Holmes with Brett and Hardwicke, and Jeffrey Bernard is unwell with O'Toole. The last time I was in London I saw a Christmas Panto for the first time in my life - Aladdin with Ian McKellen and Roger Allam. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to return to London since.

[CaptainWaggett]

name='billy bentley']Not much of a theatre man myself, but Mrs Bentley adores it. Still when living in Blighty I did mange to catch a few Steven Berkoff productions and have seen him here in NYC too. Has he done anything on the London stage of recent ?

A stage version of On the Waterfront - it got excellent reviews though I thought it didn't work that well in a WE theatre.