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The Ruling Class
Feb. 8th, 2015 10:52 pmI went to see The Ruling Class at the Trafalgar Studios yesterday. I went with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
flawedamythyst and we were in the cheap seats. In other words right in the back row, which wasn't too bad, since it's only row N and our seats were in the middle of the row. The seats are quite steeply banked though so we were definitely looking down on the stage, but we had a good view.
The play itself is thought provoking. The reviews reckon that the point is laid on with a trowel, but I'm not so sure about that. The first half is funny and draws the audience in, so that the second half, which becomes much darker, already has you hooked. I suppose if you see it as a play about the upper class then it would seem laboured, but to me it was more a case of the damage that can be done if you try to make a person normal by the standards you find normal.
James McAvoy, the reason I wanted to see the play, was Jack, the 14th Earl of Gurney. He was brilliant. I've seen him on stage twice before and I'm always impressed by his ability. This time he had to cope with lines that bore no resemblance to anything the rest of the cast were saying, the role was incredibly physical, he was involved in some of the song and dance routines and rode a unicycle in his underwear. And we were completely swept up in what he was doing.
The rest of the cast did a good job - I've seen some of them, like Ron Cook and Forbes Masson a number of times before. But it's James McAvoy's performance that I will remember.
flawedamythyst and we were in the cheap seats. In other words right in the back row, which wasn't too bad, since it's only row N and our seats were in the middle of the row. The seats are quite steeply banked though so we were definitely looking down on the stage, but we had a good view.The play itself is thought provoking. The reviews reckon that the point is laid on with a trowel, but I'm not so sure about that. The first half is funny and draws the audience in, so that the second half, which becomes much darker, already has you hooked. I suppose if you see it as a play about the upper class then it would seem laboured, but to me it was more a case of the damage that can be done if you try to make a person normal by the standards you find normal.
James McAvoy, the reason I wanted to see the play, was Jack, the 14th Earl of Gurney. He was brilliant. I've seen him on stage twice before and I'm always impressed by his ability. This time he had to cope with lines that bore no resemblance to anything the rest of the cast were saying, the role was incredibly physical, he was involved in some of the song and dance routines and rode a unicycle in his underwear. And we were completely swept up in what he was doing.
The rest of the cast did a good job - I've seen some of them, like Ron Cook and Forbes Masson a number of times before. But it's James McAvoy's performance that I will remember.
