London Theater Report:

Seeing 12 shows over six days. Will post brief thoughts here in a few batches.

Martin Guerre, Old Vic Theatre • Stalls, matinee • £34.50

This is the new, slimmed -down reimagining build here as a semi-staged preview production. Ran about 90 minutes. Pretty fully staged.

I think this new version works, but if you don’t know the story, you might get lost. The first 20 minutes or so move at a breathless pace and muddled sound, weak enunciation, or a bit of both made it tough to catch many of the expository lyrics. The cast and orchestra were uniformly good, but I was left unmoved.

Golden Boy, Almeida Theatre • Dress Circle, matinee • £37.50

Josh O’Connor us the main draw for this production of the Clifford Odets play, but it really is an ensemble piece. He does an excellent job in the leading role, disappearing into the character and doing some impressive physical work.

This is a somewhat stylized production with the brief use of full-stage video overlaid on the set at key moments. A string quartet plays multiple times and is periodically on full display to tie-in with O’Connor’s character, Joe Bonaparte, and his history playing the violin. They were stunning.

I haven’t seen the play before but found it very shouty among many of the secondary characters for too much of the time. But overall, it was an excellent production of a play that doesn’t seem to get mounted much. Had a vibe similar to van Hove’s A View From the Bridge at Times.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, @sohoplace • Stalls, evening performance • £85.00

Starring Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup, this Marianne Elliott-directed production is staged in the round on the slowest rotating set known to mankind … at least until the final moments. Anderson was fine, but Crudup was outstanding with a very layered performance I would happily watch again. I don’t know if there are any plans to move this to NYC, but it has been a hot ticket in London.

How do fit 12 shows in six days? What are the other nine?