This is the specific theatre one, bizarrely it has ended up being easier to complete than the Musical Theatre one, but I’m sure that will follow soon…
Still, onto the Theatre.
Contrasting Styles
Show 1: The Spitfire Patrol
This was a performance by a young company, The Garrett Theatre. It was to a select audience at the Foxlease Heritage Week, performed in Devon. So a very informal location but a brilliant production. It had been written by a company member, who is a leader in Girlguiding, and used the archives at Foxlease to write this show. I hope to see the company in theatres one day, they have the talent, skill, and capability.
Show 2: The Box of Delights
This was a production by the RSC at their theatre in Stratford-on-Avon. This show surprised me in good ways. The used the thrust stage, and especially the pathways through the audience. The set was almost minimal, but they made good use of what there is. There was quite a bit of projection used for backdrops. There was section I had expected to be projected, which actually turned out to be some amazing puppetry. In fact all the puppetry they used was wonderful, and I was pleased with the approach.
Focus
Whilst I was visiting the Stratford-On-Avon RSC theatres, I took the chance to visit “The Play’s The Thing” exhibition of costumes. I could easily see the influence of the curating team in the choices made of costumes to display. I enjoyed following it through both the history aspects, and the use of different materials for effects, and how different companies followed through with different designs.
Go Deeper
This was the harder part of this challenge, and I found myself focussing on the Box of Delights. I grew up watching the BBC adaptation regularly, so know a version of the story very well. But, I had never read the book. So I did. I actually started by reading the Midnight Folk, which comes first. That was a weird read. But, it set the scene nicely, and cleared up some of the items that made no sense in the sequel. I went on to read the Box of Delights and found it a lovely read. The adaptation I knew so well was an excellent one. What I loved in it was finding a carol, or more likely a poem that reads like one, and I so want to hear it sung with a tune. I went on to read the play text for the stage adaptation, which was slightly different to the version I saw, but the only way that stuck out to me was the use of Welsh in one place. It also included a copy of an article that Piers Torday had written in The Guardian when he first adapted it for Wilton’s Music Hall (https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/nov/30/long-before-harry-potter-the-box-of-delights-remade-childrens-fantasy). So I’ve gone deeper by reading around and learning more, including a bit more about John Masefield. I may even try to read more of his poetry.
