Last week, I went down to London to go and see four plays/musical productions. I was given tickets to these shows for my birthday because, as you may already know if you've been round here for a while, I love the theatre and the idea of going to spend a week in one of my favourite places in the world, shopping, eating cake (what's new?) and seeing some really highly rated productions is basically heavenly!
Before I begin I just want to say that it might seem like I think every show is brilliant and worth a viewing. However, this isn't the case. I would never tell you to go and see something that I didn't think was worth your time or hard earned cash. There will be times when I tell you not to go and see something, as well as times when I say you *have* to go and see something (like today). These reviews contain my 100% honest opinion.
The first show of the week was The Ladykillers at The Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand. The Ladykillers to me is a classic (black) comedy, and since I was about 10 the original 1955 film has been a firm favourite in all aspects (except maybe Alec Guinness, who scared me a bit as a child...).
So...
What is it about?
Posing as an amateur string quintet (or five amateur musicians to you and me!), Professor Marcus and his gang of four other odd ball criminals rent a room in the lopsided house of Mrs Wilberforce, a sweet, if slightly scatty and eccentric elderly lady. The gang plan to involve her in Marcus’ perfectly planned heist job, all without her realising a thing. The police are baffled by the crime but the little old lady becomes wise to their crime and Professor Marcus decides that there is only one way to keep Mrs Wilberforce from telling the Police - the men will have to silence her themselves! Mrs Wilberforce is alone with five desperate criminals (and her - literally - sick parrot, who goes by the name of General Gordon), and they will do anything to save themselves (except General Gordon, of course). But will everything go to plan after all? Who will have to face the music in the end?
What did I think?
I absolutely loved this show!!! Honestly, it was just brilliant!
As I said above, I really love The Ladykillers anyway. However I think this theatrical version funnier than the film. Also, I found this version more light hearted than the film, which is always good. Plus I think this storyline works excellently in the theatre, it injects a new lease of life to the piece.
The set was brilliantly designed by Michael Taylor (who also designed the costumes). He captured the lopsided essence of the house wonderfully and I thought that the method of the turning set to reveal the different elements of the house was creative and highly innovative.
In my opinion the play was brilliantly acted. The Ladykillers has a small cast and sometimes, a small cast can't carry themselves. However, every actor in the play carried their roles well, individually and as a collective.
Mrs Wilberforce was portrayed by Angela Thorne (you may recognise her from quite a few of her TV and theatre projects (as well as her film projects), however I imagine you'd best know her from "To the Manor Born".) She played the character very well, with even the tiniest mannerisms down to a T, whilst still providing the comedy factor.
Chris McCalphy made for a fabulous One-Round, creating his dim (yet hilarious) persona without over-egging it, which is a serious challenge for any actor and takes great skill, I'd imagine. He carried the part very well.
Ralf Little (who you'll most likely know as Anthony from the outstanding (in my humble opinion), "The Royle Family", although he did write and star in "The Café" which was rather successful too.), gave a fab performance as Harry Robinson. He was brilliant in the role of Harry and executed all the physical theatre parts of his role with ease and excellence. Great performance from a great actor.
Simon Day was a great Major Courtney. He's a really good actor and I'm surprised I hadn't heard more about him before although I no doubt will from now on.
John Gordon Sinclair made for a fantastic Professor Marcus. His performance was very good, it was believable and still funny. The delivery of his lines were great.
My standout actor of the whole piece, if I had to choose one, would be Con O'Neill. He played the role of Louis, who is a foreign assassin. O'Neill's performance was spectacular! He was hilarious, his timing, actions, accent and ability to stay in such a big character throughout. He was such a highlight for me. He was brilliant and I really enjoyed his performance. I'll definitely be looking out for his work in future.
I would also like to acknowledge the performances of Blair Plant as Constable MacDonald and Carole Dance as Mrs Jane Tromleyton as well as those who acted as Mrs Wilberforce's guests. There roles may have been "smaller" and appeared less than the other roles however they were still excellent.
I must also say that the real musicians in the orchestra and composers did a great job.
Also, the special effects team created some fantastic features for the play and that really added to the production (you'll see what I mean if you go!)
What did other people think?
I know that most people would like a second opinion and if I put one or two here, it means you won't have to go searching around as much. You're welcome.
The person that I went with thought that it was brilliant, hilarious and well acted. They don't find very much funny, to be honest, so it has to be hilarious for them to laugh and they laughed... A lot!
And, because I'm so good to you, I listened to what the people around me had to say (so basically, I eavesdropped on your behalf). From what I gathered, the general consensus was that it was really good, really funny and highly enjoyable.
Would I recommend it?
If you can go and see it - do. I would highly recommend this to everyone that's in a position to see this. It was very popular with the audience when I went and it's also been rather popular with the critics. I truly believe this one of the best West End comedy's there has been in a long time and it's cast and crew are just brilliant.
When can you go and see it?
The Ladykillers was originally running until October 26th 2013 however, they have extended the running time to November 16th 2013.
The Ladykillers is running at The Vaudeville Theatre on The Strand in London.
The final notes...
- Please make an effort with your clothes - not a lot, just you know, look nice, out of respect for the actors.
- Try and get the best seats that you can.
- Enjoy the show!
- Be sure to buy an ice-cream in the interval - it's Hagen Das!!!
That's all for now then. I'll be reviewing the other three shows within the next few days. I hope you've enjoyed this post and that, if you can, you'll go and see the show. Do let me know in the comments if you've seen the show, and if so what you thought of it and if you agree with me, and if you haven't seen it do let me know whether this has made you consider going.
I hope that you have a brilliant day!
GingerSnaps xxx
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