no, no, this is not (overtly) about the much (and rightly) celebrated Stanley Kubrick film. well, yes, i suppose it (kind of) sort of is, look you see, but it isn't. rather surprisingly i got the chance to go to the theatre down in that there London (innit) for a second time this year, with it being the stage adaptation of Dr Strangelove that i got to gone done go see.
quite a few reading this will, i know (and appreciate) wish to know if this production is any good without having to go through all my usual waffle to find that out. yes, it very much is rather excellent, as it happens, with Steve Coogan's taking on of four (4!) roles being nothing short of spectacular. that said, as i shall continue with (if you stick around), the entire cast are astonishing. whilst there is no doubt who the "star" is, this is the personification of an outstanding ensemble cast.
plot? it would be unexpected to find anyone reading this presently sans familiarity with the film, but there's always that chance. a US military type, General Jack D Ripper, takes it upon himself to order an attack on Russia (or contextually the Soviet Union) mostly based on a theory involving ice cream. when a somewhat hapless RAF officer fails, despite deploying the English way of doing things, to stop this, it falls to the (ahem) great minds of the American government to limit or manage the mess. the assistance of the mysterious Dr Strangelove is called on to do this.......
not sure how much point there is me writing of the sheer brilliance of Kubrick's film, for many times it is that this has been spoken of, probably in more better ways than i could do. by no means was it the first of its kind in terms of this, but it has become the personification of "dark comedy", its genius residing in how it full tilt exploits the sheer absurdity of the premise of humans willingly creating the means to bring an end to our entire species with humour sometimes equalled and seldom surpassed.
my view, then, from the cheap seats balcony. cost of my ticket? a straight (or flat) £15, believe it or not, which is indeed £5 less (or fewer) than the absolute bargain ticket i got for Fawlty Towers earlier (rather than later) in the year. the ticket came with a warning that it was a "very restricted" view and also had somewhat restricted legroom. as it turns out it was "only" the far right (so to speak) corner of the stage i could not see, where nothing happened (much) anyway. rather than seats the balcony is one long couch, which was incredibly comfortable. sure, i could not see the back projection, but they had large screens on each level so you could see what was going on. down below you can see the seats which cost, at a minimum, ten (10) times what my ticket did. perhaps the best review of my accidental choice of seat is that at the interval one or two in more expensive seats moved to empty ones near me, believing them to be both more comfortable and offering a better view.
so that's now twice i have managed, at (very) short notice, to get tickets to what i would consider to be grade a, high demand shows at a comparatively (or indeed actually) reasonable price. not sure, or convinced, that i could ever offer practical "tourist" guides, but still. if one is in London (innit) anyway and fancies a show, it can be done. avoid the many touts on the go, avoid the third party ticket sellers. just use your phone (or what have you) to search for the theatre of a show you want to see and it's likely you will pick up tickets on the cheap for a performance that day or the next. obviously there can be no certainty you will get tickets for a specific show you have in mind, although actually yes i did.
when one considers that there London (innit) a common thought is "expensive". or even, if you have a penchant for clarification, that it is all "f*****g expensive". this can indeed all so often be true, but as a further sort of guide thing, the programme was (as it was at Fawlty Towers) £5, and this ice cream, bought as a friend insisted i have one, was £3.50. no idea on drinks at the Noel Coward theatre as the upstairs bar was closed, but these two (2) prices didn't feel overtly excessive. the programme was somewhat disappointing compared to the Fawlty Towers one. where that one had a piece by John Cleese and featured some great articles, this one is mostly (or for the most part) adverts for other shows. in regards of content relevant to the play, a reprint of a Kubrick interview from the 60s and some brief notes on the cast and crew.
right, the play itself. whereas overall it was excellent, a reversal of Fawlty Towers. the first act of Dr Strangelove is a frenetic, almost exhausting, breath-taking joy to behold, the second act somewhat and very surprisingly drops a lot of the energy as it strolls to a conclusion. a change in pacing that i would not immediately recall being the case in the film, but "different medium", etc. when the interval came i was absolutely buzzing at how great the performance was, but did have some kind of peculiar inkling that there was no way it could keep up for the remainder. this was partially correct.
yes. as you can (kind of) see in the above, i did elect to sneak a picture. well, it was when the cast took a well deserved bow at the end of the performance, so i figured if the (very friendly) staff were going to kick me out for it the worst that would happen is that i would beat the crowds leaving. that is the presidential table in the war room in the background. huge, huge, massive applause to the crew for the amazing way they with precision changed the sets.
for the unequivocal star of the show, what a privilege to see Steve Coogan, surely one of the greatest talents our little island has produced, take on doing this. there would have been little, if any, sense in him simply doing a Peter Sellers impression, and indeed he does not. but still, remains true to the incredible performance in the film. the biggest" change he did to the characters was perhaps the most straightforward thing to do - accents. for Mandrake (the RAF captain) he had a quasi HMKC3(PO) tint to the voice, for Dr Strangelove he went more camp than i expected, and for the president a rather more statesman like figure was cut. not a phrase i like using, but at first this does kind of "subvert expectations". for the non-Sellers part, the bomber pilot Kong, one gets the feeling that Coogan had immense fun taking on this role, and rightly so.
warning, as an obligatory, needless and upsetting for some selfie follows.
the greatest thing this production does, and believe me there is much great, is that the entire weight of success is not rested on Mr Coogan's capable shoulders. make no mistake, he is the star, it was and is a very big deal that he took this on, but it is not simply a matter of let's all celebrate how excellent Steve Coogan is. each and every part is cast to perfection, all of the performances make this what it is. whereas it feels desperately unfair to single out some of the actors i shall do so anyway. particular praise goes to John Hopkins for his portrayal of Ripper - if taking on a part made famous by Peter Sellers is a challenge then so too is that for a role played by Sterling Hayden. and bravo too to Giles Terera as Turgidson, whose energy and performance carried the war room scenes to perfection.
how much does the play deviate from the film? not greatly, and remains true to the time in which it was set. which may confuse some "younger" audiences when needing change for a payphone is a rather crucial (and funny) key to the plot. a few extra bits of dialogue crop up. Strangelove makes some truly hilarious references to his "previous employer" that there's no way Kubrick could have got away with in the early 60s, and the never seen Russian president has a decidedly "Putin" feel to him. any and all changes to dialogue feel very much within the essence of the original.
right, i think that's that. well there's probably (likely) loads more i could write if i thought about it, but it is somewhat late in the day for me to all of a sudden start thinking prior to taking to the keyboard. not sure if i shall get to another show (but who knows), i just hope that all fortunate enough to go and see this one enjoy it as much as i did.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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