Churchill And Mamet (and Pictures!!!)

Last night the group saw two one act plays at a theatre in Richmond, David Mamet's Squirrels and Caryl Churchill's The After-Dinner Joke.  The venue was in the round, meaning the audience was seated on all sides of the stage, posing difficulty for the directors and actors as some of the audience will be unable to see the actors' faces at any given position.  Seeing both plays (having different directors) provided an interesting contrast on how to handle such staging.  Joke did it very well, while Squirrels lacked a firm grasp of the situation.

This production of Squirrels also seemed to lack other things: dynamic characters, impressive acting, or interesting direction.  While I hadn't read the script or seen the play before, I found it very difficult to care about the characters or story.  A pedantic weight lasted from the beginning of the action to the very end; concerned with formalism and high-brow art over accessibility.  This could have perhaps been overlooked if the dialogue were played in a fashion of witty banter, but the slow, measured delivery of the script turned it into a 90-minute flog of my mental faculty.  Flat performances from the characters gave way to high emotion only in short spurts and without build.

All this to say I truly enjoyed the script.  It contained many insights into the creative process, apprenticeship, and personal relations.  What does art mean, or should it have meaning; is art for art's sake acceptable?  What are the sources of inspiration?  How does cross-pollination of ideas and influence occur?  As a composer, these are all valid concerns I see in my own craft.

The second play, The After-Dinner Joke, was an introspection on charity.  In it we saw the full cycle of a forward-minded young woman who leaves a business job with the idea of doing good through a charitable organization, and returns to the business after seeing how the "business" of charity really works.  The play measures the politicization and capitalist tendencies of giving and the eagerness of human nature to help: how far will we go to assist others and what is our true motive?  While it didn't answer these and many more questions, it highlighted them all in an impartial and careful manner.

I thought the execution of this play to be much better.  While cheeky at times, I believe it was only with the intent to create levity from the subject matter.  The staging worked on more of a diagonal, optimizing the round space.  Balconies and space around the audience were also utilized to give a more open feel.  Five actors covered over 40 roles, with quick successive changes that were intelligently simple: minute but effective changes to distinguish characters.

Here's the fun part if you're tired of critical theatre talk. Let's catch up on pictures!

These kids were acting like they've never used a real telephone before.  Quite amusing!

 Natural History Museum

I liked this guy's tattoo...

Go Razorbacks?

Authentic fish and chips!

The tube

Absolutely delicious pizza

The classic sights

Westminster Abbey

Selfie with Big Ben!

 Tower of London

Our Yeoman tour guide

Beefeater

Tower Bridge

While we were on the bridge, we were nearly run over by a couple in backpacks followed by a camera and boom.  They said, "Excuse us, we're in a little race."  Maybe the Amazing Race??

Enjoying our first pasties at Waterloo Station

I also discovered an amazing British artist named Sam Smith via adverts all over the tube.  He blends pop and jazz sounds so seamlessly and his vocals seem so innocent and pure.  He's been in a couple tunes that made it in the US, but always under bigger names.  I think this guy will be big back home very soon!  I know my picture-taking and blog-formatting skills need work, but thanks for sticking with me.   Cheers! RK