POSTCARD FROM LONDON
Theatre everywhere
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London puts on many performances for its visitors.
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The city of London seems like a grand stage with continuous shows.
Photo: Sadhana Rao
Showtime: Drama is the favoured form of entertainment.
LONDON is considered to be the most theatrical city, in the world. Theatre and drama are a truly London phenomenon, a proud claim of its denizens. James Boswell believed "the city of London to comprise the whole of human life in all its variety". Despite the sun being a whimsical, recalcitrant friend, precious little can mar the brilliance of the spectacle on the streets. London Bobbies strut, replete with their helmets and elaborate costume as if dressed for a show. Soldiers on guard at various check posts at the Tower of London stand with the expressions and experience of seasoned actors. Performers at Covent Garden sing, dance, pirouette and collect pennies with exaggerated theatrical flourish. The mother of all commercial bastions that showcases the essential theatricality of the city is the London dungeons. Here, they have managed to recreate the "great London Fire". And of course the most-rehearsed, much-viewed show, "the change of guards at Buckingham Palace".
The city of London seems like a grand stage with continuous shows. A stage where reality and drama anneal
Age-old phenomenon
On a bookmark that I got as memorabilia from the Theatre museum (at Russell Street, Covent Garden) the words embossed were "as long as the city of London has existed, entertainment and theatre has existed". The words hold a ring of emblematic truth as there is evidence of the remains of a Roman theatre, southwest of St. Paul's. London's first recognisable theatre was constructed by James Burbage at Shoreditch in 1576. Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" were amongst the first enactments. A year later in the neighbourhood, a theatre, imaginatively named "curtain" came up. Globe Theatre followed soon. Built on an elaborate Elizabethan plan of architecture (Shakespeare had a stake in this theatre). Correspondingly, in informal settings like fairs (particularly Bartholomew Fair), Punch, the "uncrowned monarch" of jest and exaggerated acts made appearances.
The physical form of small theatres comprised yards of galleried inns. The stage was also set in bearbaiting rings. The nature of the performance and the venue sometimes made the demarcation between performers and audience nonexistent.
The unlikely geographical spaces that housed the stages invaded the temperament of the people and the city. Theatre with its quirky, anecdotal, satirical, humorous, wry egalitarian nature commanded resolute authority as a favoured form of entertainment. It sort of became an inadvertent balm in the face of inequities (of war, of recession etc.).
The scene today
The London theatre scene has added several dimensions to its character with stridency and innovation. Shaftsbury Avenue is considered to be the heart of the West End theatre district. The avenue runs in a northeasterly direction from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross. There are clusters and clusters of theatres here. Some proclaiming their grandiloquence defiantly. Some accepting their age with courtly fortitude. Brightly sprayed posters beam off monochromatic walls. The fundamental purpose of this province seems theatre. The sidewalks with shops, restaurants, tourists, illuminate a sense of drama. "There is never a dull moment on Shaftsbury", croons a street singer.
The spiritual centre of theatre land however is the Royal National Theatre (it has three auditoriums). Clearly, the theatre enjoys an imperial status and great patronage. Every attempt is made to preserve the British theatrical tradition. The small intimate theatre Cottesloe and the grand Oliver have witnessed many premieres and rare moments of the great and good theatre of the world.
For a carefree, true-blue egalitarian, no-fuss theatre fun, the compass points to West Bank, to the Globe Theatre. Wooden bench seats form tiers around the stage which is open to the sky. The canopy over the stage is held by two pillars. The ambience and the elements transport you on to a transcendental plane (weather permitting), where the experience of theatre and drama tug at a subliminal level.
Wide genre of shows
You could spend a whole year and still not have to repeat a show. The shows range from political satire, to social commentaries, to literary classics, to comedies, to musicals. The only other city that poses as a formidable rival to London's inexhaustible spread is New York. Apart from the new productions, visitors to London are amazed to be able to catch a viewing of old shows. Oliver Goldsmith's "She stoops to conquer" still makes it appearance. Of course, Andrew Lloyd Webbers ("Cats", "Phantom of the Opera") are popular choices of tourists. The manager at St Martin's Theatre rightly said that London has had the advantage of having abundant playwrights and stages.
The longest running show
Over 50 years of continuous shows, Agatha Christie's "Mouse Trap" is still going strong. In 1952 it opened to a packed house at the Ambassador Theatre. Later, as the production became bigger and grander, the show shifted to St Martin's Theatre.
The drama, with its intrigue, twists of the plot, imaginative sets, precise dialogue delivery, held us in captive concentration. Despite having read the play and being aware of the climax, ennui did not set in. The actors journeyed us through with effortless perfection. And perfection it surely was. The play, after all, has been seen by over 10 million people, performed in over 44 countries and in 24 languages. About 343 actors have appeared in various roles at different shows. The play is a fine example of theatre's tradition and evolution over the years.
As we were being ushered out, the usher twinkled and told us that we had just watched a production that was originally a gift to the Late Queen Mary. BBC had commissioned the writer to pen a thriller. "Well" said our informant, "Enjoy the rest of your evening and thank you for spending time at St Martin's."
The after-taste of having watched the longest running theatre show lingered... . after all, it isn't everyday that one gets to see such an art form.
SADHANA RAO
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