Our Town
I saw most of a fantastic production of Our Town with Micheal Sheen's Welsh National Theatre Saturday night.
A lovely story of birth, marriage & death in a small town (population 2542) transplanted to Wales. A pulitzer prize winning, "greatest American play ever written"
The set was amazing - a dozen scaffolders planks, some ladders, & some stands of wild grasses on wheels. The cast manipulated them with skill & grace, transforming them into churches, houses, upstairs windows & railroad tracks. Some of the movements were hypnotic, the dances amazing, and the lighting atmospheric. Sheen of course was brilliant, and the leads superb. Quite moving.
10/10 - as polished as any London production. Well done Welsh National! We seem to have swapped a rugby team for a national theatre.
How did they make it "Welsh"?
Nah, a few hymns & calling main street Strydd Fawr didn't transform it for me, however, they did grasp the nettle & show the choirmaster as gay.
Unfortunately my knees disagreed with the seating arrangements, and I cried off at the interval. Still, I got to see 2/3 acts. Why can I not tolerate cramped seating? Totoro in the Barbican was similar. Should have been called Torturer...
posted by chris @ 8:42 am
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