(This post imported from my personal blog.)
Yesterday turned out quite well, all things considered. Almost directly upon closing the browser, J appeared with tickets for the 7:30 “Old Times.” We then spent another hour in the National, taking our time with the Impressionist Galleries (that place is a fucking warren, I don’t think five years would be enough time to see it all), getting in some sketching and a lecture that taught me more about painting than I learned in almost all of college. Afterwards we stopped in yet another tea shop and then the Theater Museum, which made me think how difficult it is to create a meaningful exhibit about a performed art (like the Experience Music project, where the only interesting thing is the room where you learn to create music).
We finally headed off to the Brahmah Tea and Coffee Museum, where we actually had the pleasure of a personal visit with Mr. Brahmah at the end as we were eating sandwiches and drinking (more) tea. Alas, our return was a struggle, due to bad bus connections, and we actually gave up midway and returned to Covent Garden for our play.
“Old Times” was pretty freaky. I’m not sure what the play was supposed to mean, but it didn’t seem to be following a linear plot. At one moment a woman and her friend talked as if it were 20 years ago; next, her husband talked with her friend about events that later discussions seemed to prove imaginary. What was true? What was the real story? It was exciting to be in the hands of a playwright who made no excuses to any limitations of the audience’s imagination, and J and I had a good time debating the show on the way back to Victoria.
(This review is for a performance that most likely took place on August 7th, 2004.)
Life in the Cheap Seats - Webcowgirl's London theatre reviews 