Two London Reviews (and one Hungarian)

[Liz_Bennet]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 9:34am

I just got back from a few weeks of low-budget bumbling around Europe and saw two shows in London that might interest some here. I highly recommend both. And let me just say that I love the National Theatre beyond any reasonable limits and would gladly trade in most of Broadway for one institution of its stature (LCT is great, but it's on an entirely different scale). And if you just want to hear about Hair in Hungarian, it's the last full paragraph.

To my surprise, I managed to bag a front row center day ticket to Nicholas Hytner's National Theatre production of Henry IV Part 2 my second night in London (for 10 pounds!), and it was wonderful. And very intense from the first row. I'm not sure if I subscribe to the "English actors are always better than Americans at Shakespeare" theory, but I can say that Shakespearean language has never seemed clearer to me. Michael Gambon as Falstaff didn't dominate the play as some Falstaffs do (though this was Part 2), so the relationship between Henry and Hal was brought out more, and worked very well. And the Gloucestershire scenes were hilarious. I did see the Lincoln Center Henry IV, and can't say I liked one over the other since they're very different (and I only saw half of this one).

The other show I saw was Aristocrats by Brian Friel at the Lyttelton Theatre (also part of the National). I know that it's obvious to call this play "Chekhovian," but it is the best way to describe it. It's about a decaying Irish family gathering for the youngest daughter's wedding, and they discuss the futility of life a lot. If you've seen Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, you pretty much know this territory already. Even though I'm not convinced it's a truly great play (it's glacially paced, and some of the symbolism is very obvious), this was an absolutely terrific production. The actors were all superb, particularly Andrew Scott as Casimir, and the characters, by the end of the play, had such depth and detail. It's not the kind of play you see produced here very often (especially not this well), so if you have a decent attention span, definitely check it out. But it is not ideally viewed when one is very jetlagged.

One more theatrical experience: While in Budapest, I saw part of a free outdoor performance of Hair. In Hungarian. It was, uh, interesting, and kind of surreal. It was in Vörösmarty tér, AKA Tourist Central, and I don't think most of the audience understood what was going on- most of them seemed to be speaking German (I don't speak Hungarian, but I know the bare outlines of the plot). The cast was marginally talented and very enthusiastic. I think they cut the nudity. It's just not the kind of thing you expect to see in Budapest (I also saw Spielberg filming his latest opus, which doesn't mostly take place in Budapest but apparently it's a lot more expensive to shoot in Paris).

Thanks for reading!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 9:41am

Liz, in 1998 while in Budapest, I also saw Spielberg, filming on castle hill.
I wish I had known you were going, my favorite restaurant is there.......