Got there slightly early so that we could take our picnic indoors, it not being too clever outside. Which we did while I pondered on how the electrics worked given the raw concrete finish (which I rather like) to most of the place. My recollection of such matters is that it is very hard to get things like ducting cast into the concrete and one has to, rather laboriously, drill such stuff in after the event. But while there were some surface mounted electrical fittings, I didn't see cables taped to the walls all over the place. So what did they do? Reverie interupted by an announcement that 'As You Like It' was about to start, half an hour earlier than we had thought, which meant a rapid exit to the Olivier theatre, some way away from our picnic spot. Sufficiently rapid that we managed to leave one of our two umbrellas behind, but we did get into our seats with a few minutes to spare. House almost full, by no means all grays.
Started out a bit apprehensive about the set, some kind of city office, maybe even a financial services operation. But as it turned out the set was quite a plus and the modern dress did not get in the way.
The production included three stunts: one for the wrestling (Charles was a very large, not to say very fat, black gentleman), one for the elevating office (all the office furniture was hoisted up into the sky to dangle down like creeping or climbing undergrowth when the scene moved to the forest. See photograph of a model above) and one with a herd of sheep (that is to say the lower grade crew members creeping or crawling around the floor, on all fours in large white woollies, while Corin held forth). Good fun, and not spun out to the point of getting in the way of the action. Music mostly provided by a choir of proper singers, rather good.
The two leading ladies much better than those at the Globe, despite the modern dress. Managed to be playful without losing their caste as leading ladies of the court. Rest of the cast were fine. And I heard rather more of the words than last time.
I think there were quite a lot of cuts, but they ran it out to what seems to be the standard three hours. And I was pleased to recover the missing umbrella from a foreign gentleman during the interval, who had gathered it up from the floor where we had left it and had it tucked under his bag. Reasonably hopeful that we would not reclaim it, but perfectly gracious when we did.
On exit, interested to come across a display which included a mock-up of a substantial bit of shuttering, perhaps the sort of thing that would have been used when the theatre was first built, with extensive use of the shuttered concrete finish fashionable at the time (sixties and seventies of the last century) and which I still rather like,
After exit, on to the Green Room, a restaurant which has opened up just next to the bottom of the new administration building for the Ballet Rambert, just behind the theatre. See references 2 and 3. Not having a booking, the check-in clerk went through the usual performance of a thorough check of his book, despite the place being more or less empty when we got there, eventually consigning us to the worse seats in the house, just behind the check-in desk, But as it happened that was alright because I got a good view of the all entries and exits, and the bar, while BH got a good view of the body of the restaurant, quite quickly quite busy, Maybe even, in keeping with the name, with some theatrical types.
Good staff and good presentation. Quite a short menu, but the right sort of stuff for the occasion. I opened with a rather good example of one of those mini-pizzas they do as starters these days. Followed by a small brick of pork belly, quite the thing as pub grub these days and which may have been cooked on the premises, but which may have just been slipped out of its shrink wrapping into the microwave, Whatever the case, pork fine and the salad with it, something called kimchi, balanced the fat of the pork quite well but was, in the end, a bit sharp for my taste. I didn't see the sides and didn't think to ask about them, but having had the mini-pizza not really a problem. Not attracted by any of the deserts, so took a large Irish instead. New Zealand wine OK but a bit dear for what it was. Atmosphere very entertaining and included exposed chipboard beams holding up the flat roof above. I dare say we will be back,
A good show. More polished, more sparkly than the Globe version. Maybe more money had been thrown at it.
Reference 1: http://www.psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/rosalind.html.
Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/two-not-theatres-and-not-bar.html.
Reference 3: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/ballet-rambert-to-right.html. Green Room bottom right.
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