DAY 11

Class: We finally got the chance to discuss the shows of the past three nights. Surprisingly, the discussion was dominated by Aunt Dan and Lemon. While it received mixed reviews from our class, it certainly provoked lengthy discussion about its characters, message, and presentation. The supporters of the play were excited by the stunning performance of Jane Horrocks (Lemon) and the quick scene changes that gave the play an interesting progression. The people who did not like it claimed some of the dialogue carried on for too long, and that Shawn was beating us over the head with his idea that compassion is an essential human trait.

The Stafford Hotel near St. James Square. Classy.

(Just in case you were wondering, I really enjoyed the play, and we really got a good view of Jane Horrocks’ creepy character from our third row seats.)

We then discussed tonight’s play, When the Rain Stops Falling. A part of it is based on an Aboriginal Australian myth called “The Last Wave.” The basic idea behind it is that there will one day come a cleansing flood to the world. We got a refresher on mythology, namely that the God Saturn devoured his children. This will relate to the play tonight, hopefully not in the literal sense.

Show:

When the Rain Stops Falling at The Almeida Theater

Wow.

We ventured up to swanky Islington for tonight’s show, which duly called for the unleashing of my fashionable new hat (Portabello Road, 4 quid).

My jazzy new hat.

The play was written in 2008 by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell, and it happened to be one of the favorites for many people on our trip. This was with good reason, as I could not imagine a better production of it. The script poses many technical issues — indicating different places and times (ranging from Australia to London and the 1960s to the 2030s), the persistence of rain, and the continuous presentation of the same character at different points in his/her life. These were all handled beautifully, using a fairly minimalist approach. This demonstrated the power of leaving details to the imagination, and it worked.

Spotted among the crowd tonight were various actors from British TV and theater, as the Almeida’s comfortable layout and trendy attached restaurant seemed to attract a good crowd. We will get to work with one of the actors in the show (Jonathan Cullen) tomorrow during class.

Quote of the Day: “If I wanted to send a message, I would have used Western Union.” – Ernest Hemingway

~ by danlerman on June 25, 2009.