Five West End shows in four days – David Phillips’ London theatre adventure

As I write this article, I’ve just returned from another long weekend in London, celebrating the upcoming birthday of my partner, Sarah. For the last few years, we’ve made it her treat to visit the capital, and catch some West End shows, as we both share a love of the theatre. Last year we took in three, this year, we managed to squeeze in five over four days, and by adding on the extra night, it made it cheaper, which meant the money we saved on the room covered our extra show... bargain!

Whenever we make trips to London, we always stay in a hotel in Park Royal, as it’s on the edge of the city, next-door to the tube station... although we always seem to have a problem with the Piccadilly line, which serves that station, meaning we have to go to Hanger Lane instead, but one thing I learnt from my three years in London, was how to find my way around the tube lines, so Sarah just has to trust me...

We drive in via the A303, taking us past Stonehenge, which always gives me a certain frisson, touching base with our Pagan past. I visited properly many years ago, when you were actually allowed to mingle with the old stones; nowadays, I’m happy to appreciate the place from afar, as we travel past.

We added on the extra day, as we wanted to see the musical, Moulin Rouge, again. We first saw it last Summer, in my home town of Bristol, at the Hippodrome, and I thought it was fabulous. Now, even though I dreamt of becoming an actor, musicals was never my thing... not having a great singing voice could have something to do with it, although I do love dancing... so I’m very fussy as to which ones I’m willing to watch. Sarah is always trying to persuade me to join her, as she loves them, and I did give in with Wicked... probably because it focuses on witches and witchcraft... which I did enjoy, and the films. My favourite of all time is Rocky Horror, as I love the audience participation element, which makes it different every time, and accounts for why I’ve watched it so many times. I also love Little Shop of Horrors, having seen that many times now too, but Moulin Rouge has now become my new must-see theatre experience. I think it’s because all the songs are classic pop hits, which are threaded into the storyline very cleverly, giving you the idea that you could join in (although they insist you don’t) rather than just being sung at, instead of dialogue, which is my basic problem with musicals.

I had never seen the film it’s based on, and I’m very glad I hadn’t, because when we did, after that first time, I wasn’t impressed, and I couldn’t see how it had become a stage show, so I might never have gone, but now we have tickets to see it again in Plymouth later in the year, and plan to see the West End version once more, this time next year.

Sarah knows I love to view stage shows from nearer the front, as the thespian in me still likes to feel involved. So imagine my excitement when she informed me that we would be sitting in what is in effect the second row, in what are called the Can Can seats, chairs placed at a little table in front of a stage extension, which means the actors are towering over you at times, and the Can Can dancers are literally in your face... which is why I want that position again, next year! Being that close takes the experience to the next level... you even get the main character, Satine, being lowered on a swing above your head, not once but twice...

If you’ve not seen this show before, you must, as it’s a blast... if you can view it from the Can Can seats in London, even better!

The next day, after a shopping spree for some birthday treats for Sarah, and a cheeky Italian, it was time for our next theatrical experience of the weekend, and the one I was least looking forward to... but as it’s one of Sarah’s favourites, her treat, her choice, I had to go and watch... Les Misérables... and boy does it live up to its name!

Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate it as a piece of theatre, but sitting down for three hours numbs the bum! I even like some of the songs, and having seen the film, I get it, but the stage version leaves me cold, and it’s harder to follow, especially as the action jumps forward in time, making it harder to understand who everyone is. The fact it’s all sung, like opera, a very unnatural way to communicate, makes it hard to feel any connection with the characters, so when they die, as most do, it makes it hard to care... so that wasn’t my favourite show of the five, but at least I sat through it for Sarah.

On the Saturday, we’d set ourselves the task of doing a matinee and evening. In the morning, we set off to the South Bank, and the National Theatre, to watch The Playboy of the Western World, an Irish comedy by J M Synge, which proved to be a bit of a hard watch, and I’m not just talking about the seats here!

The play was first performed in 1907, so relatively modern, but we might as well have been listening to Shakespeare, as it was written in an Irish dialect called Hiberno-English, which made it difficult to understand at times. Some people laughed, and admittedly the antics on stage were quite amusing, but on the whole, it felt like we weren’t being let in on the joke. The main thing was, for once, nobody died... however the main focus of the plot was a young man claiming to have killed his father, who turns out not to be dead after all... Irish humour at its best!

Afterwards, we struggled to blame each other for who had made us sit through that... it was Sarah’s fault as she liked some members of the cast, having seen them on the telly... Nicola Coughlan, from Bridgerton, Derry Girls, and Doctor Who... plus the woman who hosts The Great Pottery Throw Down. For me, however, its saving grace was several depictions of Irish folklore, with characters performing a traditional mummers’ play, in suitable costumes, and with musical accompaniment on fiddle and banjo, as they were meant to be attending a wake. In hindsight, it wasn’t such a wasted afternoon after all.

That evening, we did see some Shakespeare, the last night of a production of Othello, starring David Harewood, from Homeland, and Supergirl, plus Toby Jones, who will be forever known as the voice of Dobby in Harry Potter. This was a superb production, no real language barrier here... having studied it at school proved a great help... and the sparse setting proved very effective. Once again, we chose to watch several deaths occurring in front of our eyes, the most graphic of which was that of Desdemona. When I read the play, it states she is smothered by a pillow; here they plumped for snapping her neck, complete with realistic sound effect, yuk! Being the last night, they certainly deserved their standing ovation at the end.

For our final act, we chose an old perennial, recently given a revamp, and well worth a watch, if you can catch it... Oliver! Again, the staging was superb, and Sarah had, once again, got us seats at the front, right behind the conductor’s head, as it protruded from out of the orchestra pit. Fortunately, not a distraction, but a great position to feel part of the show from. It will always have a special place in my heart, as I believe it was one of my father’s favourites... the original movie soundtrack is on vinyl, in his record collection... a nice way to remember him, with his one-year anniversary, just yesterday, when this article is published.

We rounded off our weekend by catching up with some old, London-based friends, and enjoying an Indian together, before heading home on the Monday morning. That was a thoroughly enjoyable few days, if not somewhat tiring, but we are already planning next year’s itinerary of theatre-going, with possibly some repeats, but definitely a few new ones...