Friday, 17 October 2025
Measure For Measure - Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tuesday, 2 September 2025
Friday, 25 July 2025
The Constant Wife - Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
A visit to Stratford to see "The Constant Wife" by Somerset Maugham at the Swan Theatre.
A straightforward journey, and then parking as usual in the Church Street Car Park. A walk through town and then, for a change, we headed across the river over the Grade II listed pedestrian Tramway Bridge.
Looking back at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre:
Our first (but hopefully not our last) visit to The Boat House, where we were seated on the balcony. The views in all directions were most acceptable:
We took our seats in the blessedly cool Swan Theatre. In one of the reviews listed below, the critic reflects on "how they would fit a proscenium arch stage drawing room set on a thrust stage, but they do", and I agreed with his assessment that the deceptively simple set was one of the best seen in recent years:
Portions of the rear of the set were semi-opaque, allowing us to see characters appearing in shadow on staircases before they entered the drawing room. During a flashback scene, sections of wallpaper seemed miraculously to half-peel off the walls, the previously brown-painted door into the room transformed into a semi-sanded blue, and parts of the floor covering, as if by magic, pulled back to reveal an ornate tile floor beneath - all, taken together, indicating a room in a state of being decorated.
And so to the play. We throughly enjoyed it - I would happily go to see it again before the end of the run, but in the few remaining performances there are only a handful of standing-only tickets still available. Rose Leslie (of "Game of Thrones" and "married to Kit Harrington" fame - neither means much to me) was excellent as Constance Middleton, the titular "Constant Wife", and was supported by a uniformly excellent cast.
Maugham's original text had been tweaked by the writer Laura Wade, and the mark of how well she had done this was the difficulty we had in 'seeing the joins'. That said, one obvious - and deliciously funny - change occurred at the beginning of the second act, with Constance and her long-time admirer Bernard trying to leave the house to go to the theatre to see a play called "The Constant Wife"... With the couple having been considerably delayed in their attempts to leave by events occurring at the end of Act 1, one character helpfully noted that they should have no difficulty in catching up, because so many such plays begin their second act with one of the characters providing a helpful summary of what has happened thus far - at which point Constance's sister (played by Amy Morgan) launched into a frantic tour-de-force summary of what had happened in the first act that we had just seen that was so well delivered the whole house broke into spontaneous applause at the end of it.
More detailed reviews are listed below, and a number give further useful insights.
A straightforward run home, reflecting on a most enjoyable outing.
Reviews
Thursday, 26 June 2025
Carmen - Royal Opera House, London
Off to London again, only about 37 hours after we got home from our previous visit. This time we're going to see Carmen at the Royal Opera House. The original plan had been to go down to see Brad Mehldau at the Barbican and then to stay over for three nights, making use of the middle day for sightseeing and shopping; however, when we saw how hot it was going to be we cancelled our hotel reservation and changed our train bookings.
A straightforward run down on the 15.04, and then by underground to Covent Garden. A leisurely stroll around the outside of the Piazza and then down Southampton Street towards the Strand, where we found ourselves a few minutes early for our 17.00 reservation at The Real Greek. No matter; we continued our stroll, taking in the nearby sights and, in particular, Baldwins Stanley Gibbons, the coin and stamp dealers. Even at my age the name always makes me giggle, reminding me as it does of Bill Oddy, "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" and specifically the track on the 1973 Soft Machine album "Six" entitled "Stanley Stamp's Gibbon Album (for B.O.)"...
A 16.55 we entered the front door of the (by now clearly empty) restaurant to be met by a frazzled-looking young waitress who announced in somewhat broken English, "I am very sorry - we have an issue. We are closed". Having established that she had no idea how long this situation might last we stepped back out onto the Strand and regrouped.
Recalling from an earlier visit that there was another small branch on Long Acre we quickly marched the 500+ m back to it, only to be told most apologetically that they had no unreserved tables. A number of options were quickly entertained and dismissed. One alternative venue was soon abandoned as we saw a party of 40+ schoolchildren ahead of us being shown to the upper floor; we mentally calculated how long it would take for them to be served before us and moved on...
Finally, I recalled that there was a branch of Bodeans nearby, and we were more than a little relieved to be shown (quite generously, given the time) to a booth that could have accommodated 6 at a pinch:
The menu has changed a little since we last visited their branch in Soho a few years ago, but we soon selected a cheeseburger, fries and a side order of Vinegar 'Slaw for me, and a Chopped Salad (hold the blue cheese) for Amanda:
And so – what of the opera?
My Mum's 1939 copy of the “Complete Opera Book“ by Gustave Kobbé tells me that Carmen, by Georges Bizet, was first performed at the Opéra Comique in Paris on March 3rd 1875.
Kobbé and other sources make clear that the audience reaction to that performance was distinctly mixed. The first act received applause and even curtain calls, but by the end of Act II the audience reaction was significantly muted, and for Acts III and IV, practically non-existent. This hostile reception seems to be due to the themes (this was a forerunner of what would become known as verismo – realistic opera that deals with real lives and raw emotions), and the opera appears to have been simply too shocking for the Opéra-Comique's genteel audience. Tragically, Bizet died of a heart attack just three months after the premiere, believing the opera to be a failure, whereas it has since gone on to become the third most-performed opera in the world, with more than 16,800 performances of more than 1600 distinct productions since that time.
We only had to listen to the audience members speaking in the foyer, and then around us, to realise that there were a significant number of native French speakers in the House. Against that background, expectations were quite high. How sad, then, that I felt a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. I lack the critical skills and knowledge to offer a truly informed review, so what follows is simply my gut reaction.
Since the start of the revival of his production earlier in
the year, the principal roles have been sung by two distinct casts, and tonight
Carmen was being sung by the Russian mezzo-soprano, Anna Goryachova. It saddens me to say that I was not convinced
by her performance – vocally, I thought she was disappointing, and I also felt that
she lacked the physicality needed for us to believe that she had not one but
two suitors effectively twisted around her little finger. Unfortunately, the reviews below all relate
to the earlier spring run, featuring the alternate cast. However, comments relating to the production
(as opposed to the individual artists) are valid, and I agreed with some of the
less enthusiastic ones. Common to both
casts, the playing of Don José's childhood sweetheart Micaëla as a cross
between Ugly Betty and Amy Farrah Fowler
from The Big Bang Theory
seemed somewhat cruelly bizarre.
So – overall I was left with two conflicting emotions; on
the one hand I would be disappointed to sit through another production of Carmen
on a par with this, while at the same time I would love to see one that really
met my hopes and expectations. Only time
will tell which one comes about…
Of course, I could not finish this account without a few
comments on the audience. It being the
end of June, and well into the tourist season, the audience appeared to have
more than its fair share of first-timers and those wishing merely to take in a “reet
good show“. The constant clapping at the
end of the majority of the arias quickly palled – but not as quickly as the yakking
from the couple behind us. Oh dear –
only two years in, and I'm becoming an opera snob. Ah well, plus ça change as Bizet might
have said…
Out, and a brisk walk to Covent Garden Underground station. We arrived at St Pancras with plenty of time to purchase refreshments and to sit and people-watch until it was time for boarding.
A straightforward run home, arriving at 01.45, and home and in bed by around 02.15.
Reviews
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