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The Way of the World
May. 14th, 2018 11:31 amMy initial reason for going to London this particular weekend was to see The Way of the World at the Donmar Warehouse. Originally Linda Bassett (Nurse Phyllis Crane in Call the Midwife) was going to be Lady Wishfort and I thought it would be good to see her on stage. However, filming for the television series has already begun, so she no longer took the part. In addition there was a two hour workshop in the morning which I thought would be interesting to do (I would count it as my New Thing for the Month, but that's something else).
The workshop only cost £12.50, which I thought very good value. We learnt about the background to the play and how the actors prepare to act it. We then got the opportunity to try things out ourselves - imagining we were wearing the costumes appropriate to upper class society in 1700, the tight corset, the wide skirt etc. We attempted to have conversations where the words said one thing, the fan another. We tried saying a line. And we got to practice in two or threes a very short segment of the play.
It was very interesting, but not something I think I'd do again. The person leading it had a slightly shaky hold on English history and although she kept talking about layers these didn't seem quite as apparent when I saw the play - or at least knowledge of them didn't seem as essential. But that may be because I already had some knowledge of the time period. But for an experience, I'd thoroughly recommend it.
The Way of the World was written by William Congreve, and is a Restoration Comedy. It was written quite late in that period, and therefore I found it rather easier to follow (either that or I'd unconsciously absorbed information from the workshop).
Haydn Gwynne took on the role of Lady Wishfort, so despite the cast change I was happy as I've enjoyed her acting in the past. I was also very pleased to see Geoffrey Streatfeild as Mirabell (the hero) - another actor I've enjoyed whenever I've seen him, and one of those who would sway me to see a play if I was hesitating. And finally, Fainall (the villain) was played by Tom Mison, who played Ichabod Crane in the TV series of Sleepy Hollow. I was delighted to realise I was going to watch him.
I really enjoyed seeing those three actors, but the whole cast was excellent. In particular Christian Patterson as Sir Wilfull Witwoud carried the audience with him, despite his apparent country ways. The two fops Fisayo Akinade (Witwoud) and Simon Manyonda (Petulant) were great and I discovered Millamant (the heroine) was played by Justine Mitchell, who I'd disliked in Beginning (which just proves it was the play not the actor - and I know the play was a great success, I just didn't like it).
So an excellent cast, who carried a rather complicated story very well. The denouement was unexpected (but of course) and extremely satisfactory. I left thinking that was good theatre.
The workshop only cost £12.50, which I thought very good value. We learnt about the background to the play and how the actors prepare to act it. We then got the opportunity to try things out ourselves - imagining we were wearing the costumes appropriate to upper class society in 1700, the tight corset, the wide skirt etc. We attempted to have conversations where the words said one thing, the fan another. We tried saying a line. And we got to practice in two or threes a very short segment of the play.
It was very interesting, but not something I think I'd do again. The person leading it had a slightly shaky hold on English history and although she kept talking about layers these didn't seem quite as apparent when I saw the play - or at least knowledge of them didn't seem as essential. But that may be because I already had some knowledge of the time period. But for an experience, I'd thoroughly recommend it.
The Way of the World was written by William Congreve, and is a Restoration Comedy. It was written quite late in that period, and therefore I found it rather easier to follow (either that or I'd unconsciously absorbed information from the workshop).
Haydn Gwynne took on the role of Lady Wishfort, so despite the cast change I was happy as I've enjoyed her acting in the past. I was also very pleased to see Geoffrey Streatfeild as Mirabell (the hero) - another actor I've enjoyed whenever I've seen him, and one of those who would sway me to see a play if I was hesitating. And finally, Fainall (the villain) was played by Tom Mison, who played Ichabod Crane in the TV series of Sleepy Hollow. I was delighted to realise I was going to watch him.
I really enjoyed seeing those three actors, but the whole cast was excellent. In particular Christian Patterson as Sir Wilfull Witwoud carried the audience with him, despite his apparent country ways. The two fops Fisayo Akinade (Witwoud) and Simon Manyonda (Petulant) were great and I discovered Millamant (the heroine) was played by Justine Mitchell, who I'd disliked in Beginning (which just proves it was the play not the actor - and I know the play was a great success, I just didn't like it).
So an excellent cast, who carried a rather complicated story very well. The denouement was unexpected (but of course) and extremely satisfactory. I left thinking that was good theatre.
