I wanted to watch Trevor Nunn's production of Anton Chekhov's classic- 'The Seagull'. I wanted to watch the cast of King Lear act in another play. Not for Ian McKellen; not for William Gaunt. The role of Sorin was not major in 'The Seagull'.
After the wicked Goneril, I wanted to watch Frances Barber play the role of conflicted and snooty Irina Arcadina. I was curious to see for myself how Nunn would present the allusions to Shakespeare's Hamlet. I wanted to enjoy another performance by the actors of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wanted the rare bliss of watching a quality West End production in Singapore.
We originally had very bad S$60 seats all the way up at Circle 2 of the Esplanade Theatre. But at the door, we were bumped right up front to the S$150 seats at the stalls. How very lucky indeed! It was a matinee, nobody seemed to have paid for the pricier tickets. It wasn't a full theatre.
I wasn't disappointed at all. The cast showed no signs of tiredness. They put up a sterling delivery. I was drawn into the conflicting emotions; the intensity and scattered, unfocused thoughts of Konstantine and Nina. Frances Barber had such amazing stage presence. Every twitch of her lips; every subtle flick of her fingers; every swirl of her skirts; every cadence of her voice. She was brilliant as Irina Arcadina, even better than she was as Goneril, I think. It was a mesmerizing three hours at the theatre this afternoon. Definitely worth the friends' while to fly in to catch this double-bill.
After the wicked Goneril, I wanted to watch Frances Barber play the role of conflicted and snooty Irina Arcadina. I was curious to see for myself how Nunn would present the allusions to Shakespeare's Hamlet. I wanted to enjoy another performance by the actors of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wanted the rare bliss of watching a quality West End production in Singapore.
We originally had very bad S$60 seats all the way up at Circle 2 of the Esplanade Theatre. But at the door, we were bumped right up front to the S$150 seats at the stalls. How very lucky indeed! It was a matinee, nobody seemed to have paid for the pricier tickets. It wasn't a full theatre.
I wasn't disappointed at all. The cast showed no signs of tiredness. They put up a sterling delivery. I was drawn into the conflicting emotions; the intensity and scattered, unfocused thoughts of Konstantine and Nina. Frances Barber had such amazing stage presence. Every twitch of her lips; every subtle flick of her fingers; every swirl of her skirts; every cadence of her voice. She was brilliant as Irina Arcadina, even better than she was as Goneril, I think. It was a mesmerizing three hours at the theatre this afternoon. Definitely worth the friends' while to fly in to catch this double-bill.
10 comments:
think it started drizzling again. have fun.:)
it's really very good luck indeed! such good seats at half the price!!
was the matinee empty??? is that why they needed more to fill the stalls?
cavalock: drizzled all day. had a brief respite in the early evening.
opal: i couldn't believe my ears when they offered the 'upgrade'!
clamshell: i suppose nobody wanted to pay so much. so they got the much-earlier bought tickets to shift down to stalls to fill up the front. usual practice. but not often i guess.
Your friends flew in for the show? That reminds me of what my mom told me last week. There was this Shanghainese opera weekend in HK, and she went to several shows. More than once she was seated to a gentleman from Singapore who went to HK for the weekend solely for the operas. He said that since the ticket prices were thrice in Singapore it was actually more worthy to watch them in HK!
I used to frequent stage performance a lot, but somehow somewhere my interest switched to films ;)
aiiyah. now i wish i had caught seagull.
That's an Ipanema Gisele? I got exactly the same one in black.
kikare: yes! because the show's not going to where they live. the friends fly in regularly to catch the shows here. just like the Rain concert i think. it's abt 800 here. i only took notice because singaporeans are flying in to ho chi minh city to catch his concert because the highest priced tickets there are like S$500. k-pop fans can correct me if i'm wrong. so i guess it's cheaper sometimes to fly out somewhere to catch a show. and throw in a vacation too.
queenie: *biting my tongue to say ---------!!!
sesame: for a full 10seconds, i was wondering what on earth is Ipanema Gisele!! i had to google! i didn't even know what they were when i bought them. i was rushing and just tried them on some time ago and bought them because they were so comfortable! i didn't even notice the brand! heheheheheh. u like wearing yours too?
Very, very, very, very lucky you. I had to pay $200 for mine! Wish I had paid $200 for King Lear and $150 for this one! Maybe I could have gotten a free upgrade too! The entire row in front of ours was unoccupied.
eveline: i also dunno how they define the upgrades. coz for sure, there were peopls in the first 2 rows of circle 1 and circle 2 still when we were at the matinee.
Post a Comment