two plays
I recently went to see two plays two nights in a row--'Tis Pity She's a Whore and Volpone. The venues were not in the usual theatreland Soho, which is near my flat, so when the hours arrived I was kind of reluctant to make the journey. On the evening of seeing Ford's work, I was around Waterloo (already close to the Southwark Playhouse), and decided to come home. One reason was because of my unfinished paper. But on the way I thought about the intriguing blurb, 'A brother and sister's violent love for each other brings their world crashing down around them in John Ford's breathtaking masterpiece of innocence and obsession amidst a corrupt Catholic society'--now how can you resist that? 'Tis a pity to miss it! Anyways, I made way back to the theatre and was very glad to have done so. Even though it was an obscure Caroline play, the room was packed with audience. The Catholic tunes, the incense and incest, the Armani suits and the bleeding heart on stage (I love these theatre of cruelty!)--it is a fallen world we live in. I especially liked the brother's character: he had a scary, innocent smile on his face, as if he was unafraid of acting in extremes but devoid of blame. I won't say too much about Jonson's Volpone since I left during the intermission, but just to direct your attention to Wilton's Music Hall where the play was performed, still standing in a small alleyway in its old, forgotten and elegant manner.
I'm fed up with theatre now--shall take a short break and wait till RSC's winter season in London.