Frankenstein was awesome.
Yes, in case you haven't heard, whoever is playing the Creature is naked on stage for twenty minutes. Full frontal, no lighting or scenery tricks to cover up. Basically just writhing around on the floor completely in the nude. In our case, it was Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes, I love the theatre.
But the show itself, with or without the nudity, was really good. The Creature is also on stage prior to the start of the show, inside a womb thing so you can only see is shadow, which was really cool. There were about a thousand lightbulbs strung from the ceiling which gave some awesome lighting effects. The set design was neat - very simple but atmospheric.
And the acting, mmm, the acting. For the main characters it was really good. I've never seen Jonny Lee Miller have such a, comparatively normal, role. And Benedict Cumberbatch, well, the man is fit. The Creature is in constant motion, leaping around, climbing up walls, attacking things. It must be exhausting. No wonder they decided to alternate roles.
There was also suprise!Naomie Harris (the main girl in 28 Days Later...) as Victor's fiance, PC Walker from Hot Fuzz (the old cop with the dog that helps interview Filch), and Kingsley Shacklebolt from Harry Potter who, unfortunately, wasn't that great. Thankfully, his part was small.
Two hours, no interval, it was awesome.
We waited at the stage door for two hours, but alas, there was no sign of Cumberbatch or Miller. They did tell us BC had family there that night and wouldn't be coming down, but we thought we'd hold out for Jonny Lee Miller. We did see a ton of other people though - Catherine Tate, Katherine Parkinson (the main girl from The IT Crowd), that guy who plays Martin Freeman's best friend in Confetti, Boyce from Green Wing, Barbara Windsor.
Most of those people are in "Season's Greetings" which is still playing at the National. Mark Gatiss is also in that play. So, we started holding out hope that we'd get to meet Mark Gatiss. Alas, that didn't happen either.
Why? Because Mark Gatiss and Benedict Cumberbatch were having drinks together! I want to go to there! (Close family, indeed, but I didn't think the Holmes brothers got along?)
We did have fun standing outside, though. We met some cool, normal people and had good conversation for those two hours, so it didn't seem that long.
We're going to try again when we go to see it next Friday, Jonny Lee Miller will be the Creature (start the Meat jokes now) and Benedict Cumberbatch will be Victor Frankenstein. If we don't get autographs then, we're just going to pop down after some random weekday show (like a Monday or something). We got these really cool limited edition lithograph things that would look even cooler if they had the two leads signatures on them.
If you haven't heard, National Theatre Live will be broadcasting the show to cinemas throughout the world on March 17 and/or March 24. If you go here you can find your closest venue and watch a short trailer. I highly recommend trying to see it.
Danny Boyle, you are the man, sir. Please continue directing plays again as long as I'm able to see them.
But the show itself, with or without the nudity, was really good. The Creature is also on stage prior to the start of the show, inside a womb thing so you can only see is shadow, which was really cool. There were about a thousand lightbulbs strung from the ceiling which gave some awesome lighting effects. The set design was neat - very simple but atmospheric.
And the acting, mmm, the acting. For the main characters it was really good. I've never seen Jonny Lee Miller have such a, comparatively normal, role. And Benedict Cumberbatch, well, the man is fit. The Creature is in constant motion, leaping around, climbing up walls, attacking things. It must be exhausting. No wonder they decided to alternate roles.
There was also suprise!Naomie Harris (the main girl in 28 Days Later...) as Victor's fiance, PC Walker from Hot Fuzz (the old cop with the dog that helps interview Filch), and Kingsley Shacklebolt from Harry Potter who, unfortunately, wasn't that great. Thankfully, his part was small.
Two hours, no interval, it was awesome.
We waited at the stage door for two hours, but alas, there was no sign of Cumberbatch or Miller. They did tell us BC had family there that night and wouldn't be coming down, but we thought we'd hold out for Jonny Lee Miller. We did see a ton of other people though - Catherine Tate, Katherine Parkinson (the main girl from The IT Crowd), that guy who plays Martin Freeman's best friend in Confetti, Boyce from Green Wing, Barbara Windsor.
Most of those people are in "Season's Greetings" which is still playing at the National. Mark Gatiss is also in that play. So, we started holding out hope that we'd get to meet Mark Gatiss. Alas, that didn't happen either.
Why? Because Mark Gatiss and Benedict Cumberbatch were having drinks together! I want to go to there! (Close family, indeed, but I didn't think the Holmes brothers got along?)
We did have fun standing outside, though. We met some cool, normal people and had good conversation for those two hours, so it didn't seem that long.
We're going to try again when we go to see it next Friday, Jonny Lee Miller will be the Creature (start the Meat jokes now) and Benedict Cumberbatch will be Victor Frankenstein. If we don't get autographs then, we're just going to pop down after some random weekday show (like a Monday or something). We got these really cool limited edition lithograph things that would look even cooler if they had the two leads signatures on them.
If you haven't heard, National Theatre Live will be broadcasting the show to cinemas throughout the world on March 17 and/or March 24. If you go here you can find your closest venue and watch a short trailer. I highly recommend trying to see it.
Danny Boyle, you are the man, sir. Please continue directing plays again as long as I'm able to see them.