Although I lived in Scarborough when the Stephen Joseph
Theatre was created I’d never actually been to see any of their productions. In
my late teens and early twenties I was all about playing sport and the thought
of watching a bunch of “lovey” actors messing about on stage didn’t appeal to
me one iota. Now that I’m well into the back nine holes of my life I can
appreciate that my blinkered attitude caused me to miss out on so many
potentially great evenings of entertainment. The prolific English playwright Alan
Ayckbourn has written and produced over 40 plays, from 1972 through 2009
Ayckbourn was the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre and all but
four of his plays received their first performance in Scarborough.
Later in my life I adored the Ayckbourne trilogy “The Norman
Conquests” and I have no doubts that I would have loved many of his other
productions. Once I was working in London and read about Tom Conti being
amazing in “Who’s Life Is It Anyway” I managed to scrounge a ticket to see the
play from a friendly journalist at the newspaper. Although I went by myself it
was an amazing experience and the subject matter of a sculptor who was paralyzed
from the neck down was very thought provoking. Tom Conti had to stay completely
still for the entire length of the play, the physicality of that performance
was something I’d never seen before. Imagine not being able to move for 2 hours
or so, it must be so difficult to do.
Once when visiting the government printers in Iceland I
joined the employees on a trip to see a play at a theatre in Reykjavik, the
play was in Icelandic but that didn’t really matter because somebody explained
the plot before we sat down in our seats. The play opened with a nude scene and
I was perfectly positioned to see a detailed view of the attractive female
leads private parts, somehow I remained calm, just like Tom Conti I didn’t move,
I didn’t have to because I was in there in the middle of the action. The play
was a family drama, even though it was in Icelandic I enjoyed the performance.
If I had one criticism it was that the opening scene was too short. Many years
later when I was able to see The Graduate with Kathleen Turner I had the exact
same kind of view when she was naked on stage. Ms Turners magnificent stage
presence and the way she carried herself on stage made me look away because in
some strange way she scared me this sensitive Yorkshireman, I was fascinated by
the way she could draw your attention even when she was just standing and
watching the other cast members, I was so lucky to be able to see her
performance. A few weeks later my friend went back to see Lorraine Bracco (Dr.
Melfi from the Sopranos) play the same part as Ms Turner and he said it was
different, not better or worse just different. I often wish I’d been able to
see both actors performing the same role.
Watching The National Joke was my first experience of
watching a play where the audience surrounded the “stage”, just watching the
actors even when they weren’t speaking was so interesting. Unlike a TV
experience I could watch what I wanted, not what the director of the show dictated
I must watch. The SJT is such a small venue that we were touching distance from
the actors when they were on the extremities of the stage, I was shocked by the
skill of the performers and their ability to be totally immersed in their role.
Every emotion was there to be seen, not just on their faces but on their whole
body. Perhaps for the first time in my life I began to understand the gift of
being a talented actor.
What made the performance so special was that the writer of
the play Torben Betts actually read one of the parts because a member of the
cast was ill. Betts actually read the part from a Kindle and so his ability to
act the part was severely restricted but this just made the evening more
interesting because the other actors had to interact with this guy holding a
Kindle, Betts couldn’t give anything back or really add anything to the
performance. However I was so happy that the play wasn’t cancelled and Bett
only added to the experience. I’d tried to get my parents to go to the play
with us but they continue to be shackled by the Yorkshire blinders that I’ve
been able to break away from. Why should they pay to be entertains when there
was plenty of stuff on the TV was something I would have said but not these
days because I’m enlightened and perhaps sophisticated.
The Mousetrap was the next play we saw, it was an
interesting contrast from the modern play we’d seen in Scarborough. The
Mousetrap has been playing since 1952 and so it could be considered dated in
some aspects. The librarian is a huge Agatha Christie fan and being able to see
The Mousetrap was another lifetime ambition that she was able to accomplish.
Once again all of the cast was superbly talented and the plot stood up well for
being over 64 years old. I read recently that the only piece of original
scenery was the clock above the mantel piece, I wonder how many couches they’ve
worn out in that 64 years. The evening ended with a standing ovation and I
wondered if this was something special or happened after every performance.
I’d really wanted to see “The Play That Goes Wrong” but that
wasn’t playing the week we were in London and so I decided that we should see “The
Comedy About A Bank Robbery” instead. Once again it was an amazing night, super
writing, comedic performances, creative sets and moments of incredible athleticism.
The librarian pointed out that we were seeing the best actors in the world that
weren’t playing on Broadway but deep down she knows that the West End is the
center of theater land.
For 5 months of my life I worked at the New York Times and
was very fortunate to be with a colleague who wanted to see some shows. Once every other week we’d walk out of the NYT
building and go to the TKTS both in Times Square where we’d purchase anything
available. We were fortunate to see, Phantom, Les Misérables, Urinetown, The Graduate, Aida,
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune to name a few. I’m somewhat reluctant to
write that we also went to see La Boheme because if this became public
knowledge then I’d be in danger of losing my membership of the Yorkshire
Republican Army.
The librarian talks about how wonderful it is to be in the
same room with famous actors, while this is true it’s a one hell of a big room
and sometimes one of us isn't wearing clothes.
That’s my reality,
Jobsonian
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