Nicole schreibt...

I owe this third trip to London this year to a certain Mr Mark Rylance and his brilliant play "Jerusalem" which made such a welcome return to the West End after half a year on Broadway. I had missed it during it's first short and sold out London run and only discovered through reading the playtext what a gem this was when it was too late. Rylance took the show to Broadway then, but my one day in New York this year was already dedicated to Spiderman and Book of Mormon, so once again I stood in front of a playhouse showing Jerusalem, unable to go in. Luckily my hunch had been true that considering the success of the show and the whole award-winning performance of a lifetime thing for Rylance, he would bring it back to London eventually. Again for a short run, so I couldn't include it into my pre-arranged trip for January, but heck, I just had to go. Choosing the Eurostar again, which took me straight into St.Pancras and from there, a three minute walk to my hotel in Argyle Square. Bliss!
I did my usual post-arrival shopping cruise (Foyle, Fopp, HMV, Waterstone) and crashed into one of the new Patisserie Valerie outlets that have sprung up all over the West End this year for a sinfully good chocolate cupcake. Though talking of chocolate - I was horrified to see that ghastly huge M&M store in Leicester Square... I hope this isn't the first step towards turning this lovely old square into another consumerism hell for dumb tourists like Times Square.
First show for the trip was the RSC's delightful musical adaption of Roald Dahl's Matilda, which got rave reviews in Stratford and transferred to London right in time for me to catch it. With all the hype surrounding it, it could perhaps not fully deliver the promise, but it was definitely a great show with fabulous innovative designs and lots of fantasy. And most of all, I was absolutely impressed to see a little girl of 8-10 years, in my case Cleo Demetriou, carry an entire musical so well. With lots of support from the other kids of course, and the grown ups didn't do too badly either, especially Lauren Ward's absolutely sweet, lovely Miss Honey. Bertie Carvel has been (and will be) collecting praise for his portrayal of the mean school mistress Trunchbull and while he did certainly deliver a great performance, I couldn't help seeing yet another panto dame in the long tradition of men dressing up as women in musicals (last seen with Edna in Hairspray). Music and lyrics by Aussie-Comedian Tim Minchin were clever and witty, with a handful of lovely tunes that stick in your ear straightaway, like "When I grow up", "Revolting Children" and the sweet "My House". Not sure if I'd call Matilda the next Billy Elliott as others do, but it's definitely a great show that deserves a longer run.
Saturday Morning was spent walking around - first from St.Pancras to Covent Garden on foot, reaching the Theatre Royal Drury Lane by 9.45 where only one other person was queuing for a Day Seat for "Shrek" (if you can call a single person a queue at all) and another couple turned up just before 10. Which was all just as well, because I got what turned out to be an excellent seat in the middle section of the front row for 30 pounds (which I find ridiculously expensive for a Day Seat, but this way it was at least value for money). Having succeeded in this quest I treated myself to some shopping at the label du jour, Japanese brand Superdry who make very comfortably hoodies and such like and trudged to Oxford Street after remembering an extra HMV outlet called "Game" there, which sells only computer games - and where I finally tracked down Assassin's Creed 2. I treated myself to an Eggnog Latte at Starbucks before heading down to the Palace Theatre to meet a nice German guy who happened to be in town and dragged him along to my favorite Vietnamese place for pho bo for lunch.
Then it was back to "Shrek", a musical that had not just not interested me when it first opened in New York but downright annoyed me with this new principle of milking a franchise in every conceivable form - book, movie, musical. When it came to London with a starry cast and extortionate prices I thought, okay, I may give it a go once the stars have gone and tickets are around for half price. But as more people praised Shrek, including Lynda whose opinion I highly value, I got more curious and while I didn't care for Amanda Holden as Fiona, I did want to see the two Nigels - Nigel Lindsay (Shrek) had impressed me in the black comedy "Four Lions" and Nigel Harman (Lord Farquaad) in the deadly serious play "Three Days of Rain". And with no better idea for the matinee for this spontaneous trip, well, here I was and absolutely thrilled by my great seat. The show itself was mostly enjoyable with catchy songs, witty lyrics and great colorful stage sets, but seriously lacking in the casting department. While the two Nigels were as great as I had expected, Fiona and Donkey were serious let-downs. Fiona was now played by Kimberley Walsh, some blonde bimbo who was part of a girl group called Girls Aloud that was apparently huge in the UK, but passed me by enterely and she did nothing for me whatsoever as the sassy princess who just needs to be a great comedian on top of being a good singer, mover and actor. Same with Richard Blackwood, supposedly a stand-up comedian in his own right as Donkey, although to be fair I wasn't sure how much it was him standing around doing nothing at all and how much the direction. And of course the movie Donkey was fabulously animated and very much tailored to Eddie Murphy who voiced him. Overall it was pleasant entertainment, which could be great with the right Fiona and Donkey, but it also wasn't particularly original. The best part was definitely that of Farquaad with Nigel Harman spending most of the time on his knees, using lots of interesting new choreography to bring the short lord to life, and the Dragon, moved by four puppeteers on stage and later flying across the stalls to save the day. After a walk through christmassy Covent Garden I ended up in McDonalds, having no spirit for anything grander, and waited till it was curtain time for "Jerusalem", the reason for this trip.
The title alludes to Blake's poem about England and not the actual Jerusalem, and at the heart is the lost culture of pagan England, of the fairies and elves and of giants that walked the land (The programme makes the interesting point that while Scotland and Wales happily clung to their Celtic past for legends and myths, England somehow let all of that slip away). It's the story of a modern-day forest dweller, gypsy and drug dealer Johnny Rooster Byron and the gang of misfits that hangs out with him, while the council threatens him with eviction from his spot in the forest where he lives in a trailer - much to the annoyance of the property owners of a nearby new-built estate. And yes, people do have a point when they say "You cheer him on stage, but -you- wouldn't want him living behind -your- garden either ". But I think it's not that people need to like Rooster all that much, it's more the underlying dream of living so free-spirited in a world of his own, spinning tall tales and taking care of the young misfits hanging around with him while giving the finger to authorities.
While the first two acts are hilarious comedy with tons and tons of quirky exchanges, the last act moves into dark territory and I found that a bit unbalanced, but nonetheless fitting, as Rooster faces his last stand against Kennet & Avon Council and all the people who let him down. And what excellent performances all around - it reminded me of Kevin Spacey's "Richard III" that had left me equally drained at the end. Here it is Mark Rylance, who rightly scooped up every available award last season including the Olivier and the Tony, who carries an insanely physical role with aplomp and just leaves you breathless from all the intensity. He is supported by an excellent cast including Mackenzie Crook of "The Office" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" fame as his best (and in the end only) friend Ginger, a sorry loser, and Sophie McShera, last seen as dorky scullery maid Daisy in "Downton Abbey", plus half a dozen other excellent people. Special mention has to go to the set that includes a floor covered with real grass and several real (?) trees surrounding Rooster's trailer. Definitely a great evening and absolutely worth this extra trip to London.