Summer Theater in London

Four days doesn't leave much time to explore the theater scene in London, but if you time it right, you can still take in four productions over the course of a long weekend.

By Kevin Winge

August 24, 2010 at 12:08AM

A long weekend in London is nothing but an appetizer for a theater fan. With most British theaters dark on Sundays, that leaves a performance on Thursday night (if the flight from Minneapolis is on time), one on Friday night and a matinee and evening show on Saturday. That's four productions in three days. There are that many theaters within one block in London, so how to choose which plays to see? The first selection is obvious. With the Twin Cities' much beloved actor, Sally Wingert, making her West End debut in David Hirson's LaBete, the weekend theater schedule is built around this riotous comedy with a philosophical twist. Award-winning English actor, Mark Rylance; the always-engaging David Hyde Pierce, of "Frasier" fame; and Joanna Lumley, the star of the British sitcom, "Absolutely Fabulous," lead the cast. But it is Sally Wingert who Minnesotans will go to see. That leaves three spots open. The second production is determined much more by the venue than the play. A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is only open in the summer since part of the wooden structure is exposed to the elements. A few tickets for seats under the partial roof were available when I went online months before the anticipated visit to London. Not wanting to stand in the open-air pit near the stage for a production of a Shakespearian play, I instead opted for tickets to "Anne Boleyn," a reinterpretation of the role Henry VIII's wife played in British history. The script, by Howard Brenton, is entertaining, fascinating and controversial. The acting is what one would expect from a cast made up of Shakespearian actors – exceptional. Still, it is the venue itself that is the real draw. Now, the real challenge begins. There is only time to see two additional shows. Normally, a play about World War I told from the perspective of a horse – through puppets – would never make my short list. But "The War Horse," based on a children's book by Michael Morpurgo, has been playing for nearly three years and was on virtually everyone's "must see" list. The puppets, central to the production, were created by the acclaimed Handspring Puppet Company from South Africa. At its heart, "The War Horse" is a story about a boy and his horse set against the backdrop of war. Within minutes of the colt first appearing on stage, the audience forgets that it is watching humans manipulate a puppet. By the end of the second act, the complete silence of the audience is only broken by the sniffling of noses and the reaching for tissues in pockets and purses. Two dramas and a philosophical comedy down, leaves only one spot for the final production for my long weekend in London. Missing from the line-up is a musical, so why not go for something mindless and fun like the musical version of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert." Fun, it turned out to be. And, perhaps for most of the audience, this tale of three drag queens traipsing their way from Sidney to Alice Springs, Australia in a tricked out bus with a high-heeled shoe on top represents nothing more than a theatrical diversion. Don't get me wrong, the show is fun. How could it not be with music made famous by Petula Clark, Donna Summer and Cyndi Lauper. But for those of us who saw the movie version when it first opened in 1994, when friends were dying from HIV/AIDS, this gay classic will always have a special place in our hearts. "Priscilla," the film, was a brief escape from the dark days of the AIDS epidemic. We could go to the movie theater with friends who would survive, and with friends who wouldn't survive, and laugh. We could buy the soundtrack and crank the volume and remember carefree nights dancing at discos before the plaque. "Priscilla," the musical, is all about eye-popping costumes, outrageous wigs that seem impossible to balance on human heads and dance music of an era. It has the audience on their feet clapping, singing and dancing to "Shake Your Grove Thing." And, it has a few middle-aged gay men, singing along as well, but a little misty-eyed remembering friends who never lived to see their favorite film turned into a musical. Really, this is what theater is all about, isn't it? The human experience. The human experience portrayed by a comedienne and a philosopher, a historic figure, a boy and his horse, and three Australian drag queens. Stories acted out on a stage eight times a week that, when really funny, or really fascinating, or really imaginative, or really touching, stay with us for the rest of our lives.

about the writer

about the writer

Kevin Winge