KEY POINTS:
There's no doubt about it, wherever you turn in London, theatre is in your face. Theatre is advertised everywhere - in huge ads on the sides of buses, on the bus stops, pasted along the walls of the underground stations, inside and outside the trains themselves, and all
over Heathrow to establish theatre as a destination when you first arrive.
There's theatre in the West End, centred around the famous Shaftesbury Ave, where you can stand at the end of the street and gape at the long line of banners for shows stretching as far as the eye can see: Glengarry Glen Ross, Macbeth, Cabaret, Spamalot, Les Mis, Hairspray ...
There's the South Bank area, with the two National Theatres (Lyttelton and Olivier) and the Old Vic. There's "Off-West End", with intimate little theatres like the Hampstead and the Young Vic. There are musicals everywhere - 34 at last count. They are so popular, it seems production companies will try and make anything into a musical - Bad Girls, The Musical is having a good run at the Garrick, as is Desperately Seeking Susan, set to Blondie music, at the Novello. There are some old culprits that won't go away - Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis, The Lion King, Lord of the Rings (which has been panned there) - but the queues are still lining up for them. The Mousetrap, "booking till Doomsday", quips TimeOut, trundles on at St Martin's Theatre, and Kelly Osbourne was rockin', according to the ads, in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre, Seven Dials, until a week or so ago.
If you don't fancy an adaptation of John Buchan's The Thirty Nine Steps at the Criterion, there were at least five stagings of Shakespeare's works going on this month, including Macbeth (see below) and, at the other end of the spectrum, fringe and comedy going off in all corners of the city. Theatre is woven into the fabric of London; do try. I can recommend:
ALEX
The FTSE index, volatility parameters and subprime loans - I don't know what any of that means really, but now that I have seen Alex, at the Arts Theatre in London's West End, I could probably fumble my way through, just like the satire's lazy hero. Based on the Daily Telegraph cartoon strips which have run in newspapers around the world since the '80s, including the Herald's business section, Alex has expanded his portfolio into a one-man stage show, as befits his lofty status as a merchant banker in the City of London.
Alex's Jermyn St-crafted shoes are filled perfectly by master of the supercilious smirk, actor Robert Bathurst, best known here for his long-running role as David Marsden in the TV series Cold Feet. Bathurst is comfortably alone on stage supported by an ingenious series of cartoon characters displayed on screens and whiteboards, interacting with Alex himself.
The script - by Alex creators Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor, with direction by Phelim McDermott - gallops along nicely in a highly enjoyable adventure in which Alex faces down trouble on all fronts. Penny, his long-suffering wife, is sick of Alex's 110 per cent devotion to his job, meaning the perks of the job. His boss, Rupert, is furious with Alex because one of their richest clients - Mr Hardcastle, an industrialist from "oop north" - is going under, in terms of share value, and Alex has to save the day. Alex is also having to endure Eurotrash intern Sebastien - "French!" snarls Alex. "Wears sunglasses on top of his head!"
As light relief from the woes of the job, Alex does love a long gossipy tipple with insider-trading mate Vince. Overhead, captions point to the nature of Alex's rolling series of self-induced crises: "Alex is ... late home" (and stinking drunk); "Alex is ... on the train" (to meet Hardcastle); "Alex is ... at Glyndebourne" (desperately wheeler-dealing between gulps of opera and champagne, and trying to save his marriage).
Of course, our hero triumphs as is only right for such a wriggling, self-serving bastard. And because he is so very shallow, Alex is refreshingly short, at just over one hour long.
Alex: Arts Theatre, to December 8; see www.artstheatrelondon.com.
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
On the other hand, you need much more intellectual and physical energy to wend your way through the world premiere stage adaptation of Pedro Almodovar's Oscar-winning 1999 movie, written by Samuel Adamson and directed by Tom Cairns. It's three hours long, with an interval which gives you time to soak up some of the ambience of the Old Vic, run by artistic director Kevin Spacey, who is trying to get the historic and rather shabby theatre back on its feet.
The faded red velvet seats certainly got a workout over the three hours as the drama unfolded. All About My Mother describes the campy emotional arc of solo mother Manuela (the excellent Lesley Manville) whose beloved teenage son Esteban (Colin Morgan) is killed in a road accident as he runs across a Madrid street in pursuit of his acting idol, Huma Rojo (Diana Rigg). After his death, Manuela goes to Barcelona in search of answers and becomes engaged with a rollcall of transvestites, actors, lesbians and a pregnant young nun.
The cast also includes Eleanor Bron (what a treat), Joanne Froggat (ex-Coro St), Mark Gatiss as a transvestite who addresses the audience directly, and Michael Shaeffer who emerges towards the end as Esteban's extremely unusual father. It was marvellous to see the charismatic Rigg on stage as the faded gay actress, in a drama which was complex, indeed bewildering at times and, as with most productions associated with Almodovar, quite surreal.
All About My Mother: The Old Vic, to November 24; followed by the panto Cinderella, directed by Stephen Fry, Dec 4 to Jan 20; see www.oldvictheatre.com.
MACBETH
The most terrifying, neck-crawling production of the Scottish play I have seen, with a sublime fusion of direction by Rupert Goold, design by Anthony Ward and music design by Adam Cork, which charged up the depth of the horror driven by the acting team led by Patrick Stewart (yes, Capt Picard from Star Trek) as the bloody conspirator, Kate Fleetwood as his much younger Lady and Michael Feast as Macduff.
Set in Soviet Russia, the ambience is struck immediately in the opening moments as the Three Witches - portrayed as a trio of malevolent young nurses - are brought to the fore, providing a sinister meddling dominance which continues throughout the production. In today's lingo, you would say they are "proactive".
Cork's music, a brewing stew which maintains a feeling of evil even in its lowest registers, matches the escalating atrocities the Macbeths are prepared to commit as first she, then Macbeth, lose all grip on humanity and compassion.
All the critics are saying this is the most powerful work of Stewart's career. He brought clarity and conviction to every word, with a surprising amount of humour adding light relief just before the darkness swooped in once again.
For my part, I will never forget the Witches' "double, double toil and trouble" scene, uttered as a rhyming rap in turn by each witch with the chorus delivered in unison as a gutteral blood-soaked shout straight from hell. As for the ghost scene, when Banquo appears, no wonder Macbeth could sleep no longer.
The "witches" were in the foyer after the end of the play, shaking buckets to raise money for an actors' charity. I never handed over a couple of quid so fast.
Macbeth: Gielgud Theatre, to Dec 1; followed by the two-part The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Dec 5 to Jan 25; see www.gielgud-theatre.com.
ALSO RECOMMENDED
Glengarry Glen Ross: David Mamet's gruelling real estate classic is given a workout by Jonathan Pryce and Aiden Gillen, at the Apollo Shaftesbury, to Jan 12.
The Country Wife: William Wycherley's naughty Restoration comedy romps along with Toby Stephens and Patricia Hodge, at the Haymarket Theatre Royal, to Jan 12.
War Horse: adapted from Michael Morpurgo's book, with actors working alongside life-size puppets to relate the moving story of a boy trying to bring his horse back home from WWI, at the National Theatre Olivier, to Jan 12.
Shadowlands: William Nicholson's account of the love affair between CS Lewis and his wife, Joy Gresham, is turned into an emotional voyage by Charles Dance and Janie Dee, at Wyndhams Theatre, to Dec 15.
Hairspray: Among so many musicals on the London stages, this production - with Michael Ball and Mel Smith - feels fresh, and should inspire some genuine hilarity, at the Shaftesbury Theatre, to March.
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GETTING THERE
Cathay Pacific is offering Early Bird fares for next year, which must be purchased by December 14, starting at $2199 (plus taxes and airport charges) for return economy class fares to more than 80 destinations across the United Kingdom and Europe. From December 2, Cathay Pacific is also increasing the number of flights it offers from New Zealand to link with its global network in Hong Kong. For fare details and special conditions see www.cathaypacific.co.nz
MORE INFORMATION
For general information about visiting London see www.visitbritain.co.nz/destinations/england/london/index.aspx
Linda Herrick travelled to London with the assistance of Cathay Pacific and VisitBritain.
