Happy Friday!
I am so ridiculously glad it’s Friday it’s untrue. To celebrate, I just did a Patisserie Valerie run and picked up Friday treats for my office. We all needed the sugar/carbs this week!
I’m in a bit of a state because I went to watch a bit of Beckett last night. Bear with me a sec while I include the obligatory bit of critiquey luvvie stuff:
Ritzi’s Reviews : Waiting For Godot : Theatre Royal, Haymarket
I know, I know, I know. I should have seen this ages ago… when Patrick Stewart was in it too… but for some crazy reason I only saw it yesterday. Here are my thoughts.
Well, as with any Beckett, it was very long. And wordy. And post-apocolyptic. I mean, so long as you know what you’re getting yourself into it’s not so bad, but any poor unsuspecting non-theatrical type who just wants to see Gandalf on stage should probably stay away.
The story revolves around two characters, Vladimir (Roger Rees) and Estragon (Ian McKellen) as they wait… for a chap called Godot. They don’t really know who he is, or what he looks like, but they wait for him all the same.
Their wait is interrupted slightly by the arrival of Pozzo (Matthew Kelly) and his ancient slave Lucky (Ronald Pickup), a couple of quite grotesque characters. Their exhange lasts for most of the first half, and once they’ve gone, Estragon (McKellen) quite rightly comments; ‘Well that passed the time’.
It does pique your interest, it does provoke ‘meaning of life’ style ponderings, it does drag on for a million years. As I said, if you buy a ticket for a Beckett play, that’s what you have to expect (cept for me cos it was free) and as a rule I generally find myself developing suicidal tendencies about twenty minutes before the end.
That said, the cast are all excellent. I’m always pleasantly surprised by Matthew Kelly as an actor, and seeing the living legend of Sir Ian McKellen on stage is always a treat. If you want to see more ‘serious’ theatre than your average jukebox musical then I suppose it’s a good one to start with since if you don’t get what’s going on you can just have a good chuckle at Ian McKellen dancing about a bit.
Okay, official reviewing is over…
Here’s how I got through it:
Mimi and I popped into The Edge in Soho Square for some drinkies before heading over to the Haymarket, and polished off a couple of Margaritas (okay, more than a couple) between us.
While I was waiting for Mimi (who returned her ex’s xmas present and used the money to buy shoes) to show up and tell me all about her new girlfriend - girlfriend? That’s different. I was sipping my cocktail, reading some Belle Du Jour – as one does – and I glanced at the other people in my part of the bar.
OWEN FROM BEING HUMAN WAS SAT NEXT TO ME!
(For anyone who watched it… he was Annie’s fiance in series 1 who kind of killed her and everything, remember? Murderer or not, he was hot)
I spent the next five minutes enjoying the occasional moments of eye contact and smiles and trying to work out if he was raging or not (Soho Cocktail Bar after all), and then Mimi showed up and started talking about lesbian sex so I was a bit distracted.
Anyone know if ‘Owen from Being Human’ (can’t be bothered to imdb him) is a gay?
So now I’m thinking, I’ve seen George in Shuts, I saw Owen in The Edge, so next time I’d quite like to see Mitchell in my bed. That’s all I ask!
Enjoy the weekend folks!
RitziCx
