(no subject)

[morganmuffle]

Today everything is being just a little bit more complicated than I expected. And I actually mean that just as written, with no tone of sarcasm. It isn't being impossible or nightmarish just nothing is straightforward.

Which is better than last week and, to be honest, quite a lot better than yesterday so let's be thankful for small mercies?

Anyway I'm waiting for a phonecall so I'll take 5 minutes to try and write something about my 3rd theatre trip of 2012 (and then I'll be up-to-date!)

Comedy of Errors @ National Theatre (Olivier)

Things I loved about this production:

• The set! On first sight it did NOT look like the set for a comedy but it's very cleverly mirrored (twins you see!) and like all Olivier sets it uses the revolve and the huge amount of space hidden behind brilliantly. Blocks of flats moving and shifting and then suddenly an ambulance drives on!
  
• The music :D specifically the little band who come on and play during scene changes. IDK which language they were singing in but the songs were all very recognisable pop standards and trying to guess what was coming next was hilarious.
  
• The two Dromios- Lucian Msamati & Daniel Poyser- both doing a brilliant job of looking incredibly put upon and badly done by and utterly confused. Lucian Msamati was particularly good (Dromio of Syracuse) when being terrified by the Ephesians and convinced they were all witches.
  
• Claudie Blakely & Michelle Terry as Adriana & Luciana ♥♥♥ Seriously didn't recognise Michelle for a moment with her long blonde wig. They were basically Essex girls with the nails & hair & tans & tiny dresses and they LOOKED fabulous and had several of the funniest moments AND YET my heart still broke for Adriana a little bit at the end (IDK though why would you look anywhere else if you were married to Claudie? Crazy man)
  
• Chris Jarman because really when playing Lenny Henry's twin you're basically screwed in terms of recognition but he did a very good job even though he really didn't look AT ALL like Lenny (sorry casting director). IDK if he was maybe a tad TOO angry for me? Sort of pushed it out of the realms of comedy once or twice but he did a very good job.
  
  and finally
  
  
• Lenny Henry. You have to don't you? He really is qutie good at Shakespeare and it's a comedy and he's meant to be a bit ridiculous so all the things he's best at come out here AND because it's big and really rather silly it felt a lot more like he was part of the ensemble this time (as opposed to in Othello, though I think also the cast this time were just better

It really is great fun. I have to admit that the ending left me a little... flat? N said to me as we left that what she really wanted was for them to break into a jig as they do at the Globe which was exactly right. It was too downbeat, I think they were playing for emotion that wasn't entirely there? IDK too much silence and not enough silliness maybe. But then it is a STUPID play and the ending is as stupid as the rest so *shrugs*

Aaaaaaand there are maybe 3 people who are going to understand why I picked this icon ANYWAY

(and the phone rang just as I wrote that, 10 minutes ago, almost perfect timing!)