Catching up

Hello again. I promised I’d do a more positive post about the stuff I’ve been up to since September so here we go. Of course not every single moment is documented here, but I felt like some of them needed to go on this blog for future reference! Also, I must warn you: if you’re not into hearing me ramble on about theatre productions I’ve seen, this maybe isn’t the post for you…

First, when I left you all I was about to embark on a week’s work experience at my local BBC radio station. Let’s just say it wasn’t what I really expected. I’m slightly terrified if I say too much I’ll be arrested or something because wow there was a lot of paperwork to sign about confidentiality… Basically, it was more pure journalism than I was expecting. To be honest, I don’t know what else I was expecting, but most of what I had to do involved gathering information for stories. I even had to go out with a voice recorder and interview people in the street (about their diets - wow thank you for that easy topic). I also had to go to a school and interview children. Primary school children. If you know me, you’ll know that I am the most awkward person when it comes to talking to kids. So that was an experience all in all. However, I did get two of my pieces I recorded and edited played on air so it’s not all that bad (they even said my name as if I was an actual reporter wow).

On the 1st October, I went to London to see The Boys In The Band at the Park Theatre with my friends Beth and Sam. Just a quick note: what a nice theatre! They even hung books from the ceiling and it was incredibly pleasing to look at. Back to the production, if you’re unfamiliar with the play (which I certainly was), it’s set in 1960s New York and eight (or nine depending on how you read it) gay men meet for a friend’s birthday party. As the night goes on, things get very deep (I don’t want to spoil it if you ever want to read it or see an adaptation). The whole design of the set was so slick and accurate to the era and was open enough to operate as a stage whilst still feeling like you were watching from the outside. Also, the set carpet was very nice, which I can safely say as I was sat front row (no, seriously I was very, very close). Another thing about being in such a small theatre is that I could smell the (real!) lasagne they ate onstage, which didn’t help how hungry I was. The whole play was so engaging and I loved how they slowly introduced each of the "boys" to the audience so that you didn't get confused who was who and it also allowed time to have each character to develop their own storyline - you didn't have any "minor" characters. It often annoys me when television shows or films breeze past introductions of characters despite them becoming vital to plot later on - this thankfully didn’t happen here! It was played so well that you could tell there was a lot more to each of their stories that we weren’t privy to, there wasn’t sole focus on one person’s story. I found it interesting how every time you settled into the humour, a harsh truth relating to gay men in that era was brought up and it really grounded the whole production I think. No character’s portrayal was black and white - and whilst some stereotypical “gay” traits were included in the characterisation, the range of characters were a case in point that gay people should not and cannot be put into a ‘box’. There were dark and light elements to every character, which felt very realistic and honest. Ian Hallard stood out to me as Michael; how he slowly changed his character and intentions throughout the piece so that you don't even notice he's being bitter until he's really got going with it. However, he still maintains the audience's sympathy throughout. I also loved how much seemed unspoken in the play and that felt quite natural and true to life - not every home truth is going to be revealed at a birthday party, is it? The play was also very funny, including Harold’s (Mark Gatiss) line about someone being so cold it looked like they’d been “rimming a snowman”. The whole “straight guy” culture was also lightly mocked which made me laugh as it is still something very relevant today - the situation brought about by Michael’s friend from college visiting (who is reportedly the Most Straight Guy Ever) resulting in everybody needing to ‘play straight’. The awkward silences and conversations only discussing “the game” were deliberately stifled and it was introspective of society in a way that was funny to anybody watching. Also, there was a dancing scene that was so hilarious I was crying with laughter, which I rarely do. I’m so happy that I am going to see the play for a second time in February when it does its two week West-End transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre! Front row again - time to smell that lasagne again!

I’m now realising just how much I ramble about the theatre when I really get going with it… I’m now also remembering I still have two other productions to talk about (I’ll be more brief, I promise). The first one I saw back in July actually (and neglected to blog about it apparently) - Unreachable at the Royal Court Theatre (love that place). It’s about a daring film director Maxim (played by Matt Smith) who is on a quest to find the perfect lighting for his film; much to the dismay of his team (and the budget) as this light never seems to show itself except in the director’s mind. It felt like a very abstract play, whilst being grounded by the humour of a certain character nicknamed ‘The Beast’. Well, he’s not trying to be funny per se, but his excessive anger and dramatics create humour in itself as nobody can take him seriously (also, lots of spitting whilst talking - glad I wasn’t sat front row). It’s interesting because most of the play felt much like a comedy with many one-liners and even times when the cast couldn’t keep it together themselves. Still, there was still a darker undertone running throughout and this was definitely noticeable despite the humour. In the play there was also a very abstract scene with boxes that I won’t go into detail about - let’s just say that was a strange four minutes or so… I think that’s all I need to say about that one. The play really lulled you into a very lighthearted mood with its humour and excessiveness when suddenly the metaphorical rug of lightheartedness is very sharply pulled from underneath the audience’s feet. It ends on a very dark cliffhanger with a very sudden moment at the very end. However, the play still feels complete - this was signified by the fact that ‘the light’ finally shows itself once the tragedy occurred (there was also a live fox onstage, just to contextualise how meta this was) so whether this was purely symbolic could be up for debate.

Another play I went to see recently was Peter Pan at the National Theatre. Unlike most of the other plays I’ve seen, I was unfamiliar with any of the cast. I was excited that I had no idea what was coming. I always love going to the National Theatre (we found our way to one of the top balconies and what a view) so it was pretty much guaranteed to be great. For some reason, I was quite surprised that there were a lot of children and families attending. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, Peter Pan is a children’s book. However, at the National Theatre I usually expect something a bit dark, meta and adapted beyond belief. I had never been to a theatre production aimed at children that wasn’t a pantomime. I actually think it’s a good idea for introducing children to theatre. It was so entertaining! The unique thing about the production was the use of ropes and harnesses; the ‘flying’ made possible by crew members climbing up and dropping down towers of scaffolding, simultaneously operating the cast member on the other end of the rope (it’s hard to explain). It appealed to children (there were songs and everything) whilst still maintaining the spirit of a National Theatre production. It felt like the sort of thing that was perfectly understandable on the surface, whilst maintaining an underlying subtext that could be interpreted as the viewer thought fit (a bit how I see BBC Sherlock, actually). For example, the set props were quite minimalistic and impressionistic in places. Also, the character of Peter Pan was certainly shown to be flawed and his insecurities about having not had a parental figure of any sort whilst growing up were evident. It’s one of those things that becomes obvious when you think deeply about it, but when most people have grown up with normal Peter Pan, this of course is never addressed. His character brought hints of the darker side of things I’m used to seeing in plays at the National. There were also moments where the characters all seemed to lose grip on reality and forget they were pretending which I thought was a really interesting direction to go in and I think it was subtle enough to pick up on but not to confuse children watching. I think I would have liked it to maybe explore the darker undertones more as I found it interesting, but yet again that may have been the point - Peter avoids thinking about serious things as to ‘never grow up’, so perhaps exploring the idea would defeat the object.

Okay, so I said I wouldn’t go on as long. I’m sorry. I just like talking about the theatre… I realise that most of that sounded like an english exam answer.

Other than trips to the theatre, I also travelled to Manchester in November with my friend Jade to see Catfish and the Bottlemen live. It was such a great show (even if I got caught in a mosh pit in the first song and we had twelve year olds in front of us who thought it would be a great idea to drench themselves in water, simultaneously soaking us too) and the band brought so much energy. They’re a band I’ve always wanted to see live and I’m glad to have that one finally crossed off the list. The evening was topped off with getting a lot of chicken from McDonalds afterwards to eat in the hotel room at 1am. I do really like Manchester, it’s a city that I feel always has a lively feel to it but it’s not overwhelming. Also, shoutout to my friend Hannah who helped me to navigate!

Also in November I attended a course to do with becoming a Floor Runner on a film/television set. Now this is an area I’m still not 100% about but at least if I learn more about it I can be more informed in decision-making (well, that’s the theory). I learnt all about the different roles on a set and all the tasks and practicalities of working on a film set. This all took place at a studio (used for filming music videos, apparently) that was very cold. At least it was realistic to what working on a set would be like; long hours and cold temperatures. I learnt a lot of valuable skills that day which will help me should I want to do that sort of work in the future. We also had a talk on how to do your tax returns when you’re on a mix of long and short term jobs - a bit scary all that… All in all I think the biggest task was trying to get back to Paddington station from Ealing Broadway on a Sunday evening (hint: not fun). Half the tubes were being cancelled or redirected and a twenty minute journey took me over an hour. Oh, and my train was delayed. Got to love public transport.

In December I also went back to London for a university open day (not much to say about the day itself) and I was so happy to see all the Christmas lights in London (Is it bad luck to even talk about Christmas after the 6th January? Oh well, guess I’ll find out) even if I was on my own. I had so much time to kill after the event I went to that I travelled to quite a few places in London to look at the lights. As the Coldplay song says, I took my feet to Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights, but definitely didn’t stay past 5pm - I’m not stupid. Although I did go to Covent Garden and use the tube station near rush hour - okay, so I am in fact stupid. Only downside to avoiding the hell of rush hour was having to wait at Paddington for about two hours with nothing to do - there’s only so long you can make a Mcflurry last… I’m always stubborn with trains. If a train is even a couple of pounds cheaper to wait an hour or two extra I will do it. My idea was to “look around London for the evening” but then I remembered that rush hour plus Christmas shopping is a thing.

In December I also I got a job! Okay so originally I didn’t actually get the job that was meant to start in November but they called me back in December as they now had a job for me. It was working in a certain high-street CD/DVD shop (can you tell I get paranoid about employers finding me on the internet?) which suited me to the ground, even if it was a lot of standing up. So that was great to earn some money over Christmas and actually get some experience for my CV. I was lucky I worked in such a friendly, laid-back place and I’m actually gutted my contract ended on New Year’s Eve… At least I don’t have to listen to the same Elvis Presley album again for the twentieth time over. 

What else positive has happened? I’ve seen a lot of cute dogs, that’s been wonderful - always love a cute dog. Also, as I type this, Sherlock is on its second episode of series four and I have a lot of opinions about it (when don’t I?) so I think I’ll do a separate review or something like that soon. It’ll probably be after the finale, which I don’t think I’m ready for at all. I’ve already talked at my friends and family about the deep intricacies of it (I really am sorry) so maybe putting it in a blogpost would be beneficial for us all. 

I have a few things still to look forward to this year, but I am also worried about looking ahead too much in case it stresses me out… I am seeing Andrew Scott in Hamlet in March which I am so excited for, as well as the second viewing of The Boys In The Band next month. I also have a few other things planned but I think I’ll save those until I can actually write about them… 

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough for now.

Laura.