Now here's an unusual thing for me - I'm not sure if it's a comedy of errors or a happy accident, but I'm inclining towards the latter - going to see a play twice, with only a week between performances. I frequently go out to the theatre (we have some brilliant productions here in the East Midlands) but generally I go to see a play once during its run. I might catch it a year or so later with a different company's production but I can only afford to go a certain number of times each year, and I'd rather see several offerings than one over and over again. But, more by accident than design, that's what I ended up doing this last couple of weeks at Nottingham Playhouse. And it's made even odder when you consider that initially I was a little sceptical about seeing it at all!
The play in question was Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III, directed by Adam Penfold, starring Mark Gatiss in a superb portrayal of the poor mad king, and one of the best pieces of theatre I've seen in a while (Was Steven Berkoff's Oedipus better? That was sooo long ago, it's hard to be certain. Interestingly, Louise Jamieson was in both)
So, why the initial caution ... well ... back in the day - early 1990s - Alan Bennett's play concerning the madness of George III was extremely popular in the West End and made into a film directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, and Rupert Everett, and with the title changed, as allegedly some folk might wonder what had happened to Parts I and II of The Madness of George. Now I know you can't really compare film and stage productions but having seen Nigel Hawthorne's George III on screen I rather wondered if that performance would be fixed firmer in my mind than if I'd seen him on stage; that he might have somehow set a sort of bench mark to compare any other interpretation to. BUT Adam Penfold/ (directing) and Mark Gatiss have proved me wrong.
Also (hugest apologies to both actor and director) I was a little concerned about the casting of Mark Gatiss. I know him mainly from playing Mycroft in Sherlock, and Bamber Gascoigne in Starter For Ten, and rather thought he was just being bussed in as a big name that people would flock to see. I couldn't have been more wrong!
Despite these qualms, when my daughter talked about going we decided to make a mother/daughter evening of it, and bought tickets way back sometime in Spring with all the normal prevarication over price versus view, and such. Even then, seats were selling well but I got some good ones, down in the stalls (the circle wasn't open for sales at this point), not too far to the side. And then we waited.
The production opened, and Twitter was awash with praise. Another cause for scepticism on my part - perhaps they were so excited to see a famous person from the telly that they left any critical thoughts at home for the evening? I'm coming over as way too cynical but that's me. Anyway, I picked the tickets up the week before we were due to go ... and daughter fell ill. Crossing fingers, we assumed she'd have recovered in time ... but a couple of days before we decided that wasn't going to happen and I tried to change the tickets.
There weren't many seats left for the remaining performances (and even the vertiginous circle was nearly filled now) but the box office were willing to change my tickets, but needed the originals to re-sell them. If only I hadn't picked them up! Was it worth dashing down to Nottingham that night to return them? When I explained the predicament to him, my husband even decided to try some man-bargaining about cutting up the tickets we had, and I was rather pleased the box office backed me up and said no, they wanted the physical tickets back to use.
To cut this ramble short, I bought two more tickets, and took my husband along for the first trip.
And it was AMAZING!
Mark Gatiss was brilliant - from regal majesty to gibbering fool, and back. The rest of the cast were fab - the posturing Prince of Wales (Wilf Scolding) slipping in a moment from someone only interested in fashion and his own self-importance, to a distraught son reluctantly obliged to assume the role of regent to help his papa (as if!), the doctors jostling for importance, arguing that theirs was the best way to treat the king, and even the equerries and attendants - never underestimate the guys who have to stand strictly to attention and not move a muscle while things happen around them.
The costumes were gorgeous. The set wonderful. It was funny, and tragic. The story of one man's illness, and the government factions trying to make political gains from it.
By the time the interval came around, I was delighted I was going back.
My second evening out was the night of a very special Gala Evening celebrating Nottingham Playhouse's 70th birthday. A long list of actors, directors, playwrights associated with the theatre over the years would be there, and for a higher price you could mingle with them, but we were in 'common' seats so no champagne or hob-nobbing with celebrities for us. The play's the thing, though, as someone said :)
I'd wondered if I might feel a bit, not bored, but less involved the second time - but no, easily as enthralled as the week before. It's a bit like watching your favourite film for the tenth time - you pick up a snatched bit of dialogue you might not have caught before, you understand the importance of a minor character, you're ready for the one-liners. A slight mishap with a chandelier in a scene change only served to underline how brilliant the cast were - carrying on without batting an eye.
It's an experience I wouldn't mind trying again, but the question would be how to fund it ...
Meanwhile, The Madness of George III has been transmitted as one of the NTLive screenings, so maybe I could catch an 'encore' of it ...
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