Author: Anita - Flyaway

A roving Londoner who loves theatre, culture and travelling. And writes a blog about all of them.

Play – ‘Oslo’, Harold Pinter Theatre, 20th November 2017

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No, not another sneaky post about our Scandinavia holiday, but the title of the play which has had a lot of buzz around it -not surprisingly with the challenging topic of little-known Norwegian diplomats arranging peace talks between the Israelis and the PLO.

It certainly is fascinating, but my advice is to do your homework (if you don’t know much about the background you will be pretty lost) and you do need to concentrate- miss a bit of dialogue and you’ll spend the next half hour whispering to your companion trying to catch up (in my case frantically asking my friend R ‘so was that an Israeli..?’) However, it is well worth a watch and there are some lovely touches of humour included within the serious stuff (the enthusiasm for the Norwegian cook’s waffles was great!)

Overall: not easy watching, not lighthearted, but a proper good stimulating evening’s theatre.

JAPAN – November 2017

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Japan had been on my wish list for the longest longest time. But I kept putting it off because ‘it’s so expensive’!! Only to realise that no matter what, it won’t get any cheaper… so we should probably just get on with it. It was booked in February, which is the furthest in advance I have EVER booked a holiday, but on the plus side gave me loads of time to plan and get excited!!Read More »

Musical – ‘Big Fish’, The Other Palace, 14th November 2017

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Apparently this was a popular film starring Ewan McGregor, which I had no idea about until my friends K and C with whom I saw this musical told me about it. I’m not a film buff at all, but I love musicals, I love The Other Palace (a beautiful comfortable little modern oasis of a theatre in the chaos of Victoria) and I love Kelsey Grammer – so there were plenty of reasons for me to see this musical.
It was absolutely lovely. While in some ways I wished it was in a proper West End theatre with a big stage and huge jazzy sets, there’s no denying that the intimacy of the theatre made a big difference to the production, particularly in the emotional bits (of which they were many). The relationship between Edward Bloom (played by Grammer) and his son Will was beautifully portrayed – who hasn’t had a major love-hate relationship with their parents?! And wow, can Grammer (and indeed all of them) really sing…
Overall: a perfect example of a whimsical, emotional musical

Play – ‘Apologia’, Trafalgar Studios, 13th November 2017

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Trafalgar Studios often put on interesting plays but yet again the draw for me here was the (fairly) big name of Stockard Channing. As a huge musicals fan she will always be ‘Rizzo’ to me. So I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see her live on stage.
Unusually though, I must say that in the end she impressed me less than the play itself. A ‘family drama’ focusing on a mother, her 2 sons, their partners and the erstwhile relationships between them all, it handled some difficult emotions with sensitivity, humour and grace. I felt the ending was a little unresolved – but that seems to be the trend in modern theatre these days sadly.
Overall: in the nicest possible way, Stockard Channing is the very least of reasons to see this interesting play.

Play – ‘Labour of Love’, Noel Coward Theatre, 4th October 2017

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My friend J suggested this play based on an interesting storyline (the author is James Graham who wrote ‘Ink’, which I loved) and good leads in the shapes of Sarah Lancashire and Martin Freeman. But between the time we booked and when we actually saw the play, Sarah Lancashire had been replaced by none other than Tamsin Greig- about my immense love for whom, I’ve written before.

So the stage was already set for a good night even before the curtain rose on the Nottinghamshire constituency office where Martin Freeman’s affable MP David Lyons is waiting for the results of the 2016 election with his agent Jean (the ever-wonderful Greig). From then on, the action moves backwards and forwards in time, looking at both the change in the political climate (screens show news clips from various time periods between scenes) and the change in the relationship between Freeman and Greig.

Overall: a great watch if you like people, politics, smart comedy, good theatre… Basically must-see.

Play – ‘Lions and Tigers’, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 6th September 2017

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The Globe is generally on my radar (though I’m choosy about what Shakespeare I’ll see) but I had never been to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. My friend S recommended this play so I decided it was time to try it out. And what a place it is. Entirely lit by candlelight and a really evocative atmosphere of times gone by.
‘Lions and Tigers’ is a simply stunning play that is entirely worthy of these lovely surroundings. It’s based upon Indian partition and specifically upon what happens when three young Indian men decide to use violence in an attempt to make a point about India’s independence. Naturally – it all goes horribly wrong.
Shubhum Saraf is fantastic in the lead role- his war cry ‘my liberty is death’ nearly moved me to tears.
Overall: an emotional and sensitive handling of a fascinating time in history