WhatsOnStage.com: It seemed utterly appropriate that, having knocked regular reviewing on the head after a mere 45 years – the last ten here at WhatsOnStage – I should find myself writing the text for Peter Dazeley's stunning collection of photographs of four dozen venues in and around the West End.
I didn't even have to see the shows, or mingle with audiences. I simply spent several months visiting theatres in daylight hours, climbing to the fly floors, descending to the sub-stages, poking my nose into dressing rooms and corridors, prompt corners and workshops. I even went on the wonderful theatre tours you can sign up for at Drury Lane, the Palladium, Royal Opera or the Coliseum.
2 comments:
Although I cannot relate to the author who seems happy to reminisce about his time spent in these London theaters, I find it cool that he was so fascinated by all the things he had originally missed. It is interesting to me to think of all the theaters I have worked in and think about how truly unique they all are. They each have so much history and character that I have taken for granted. In each of these theaters there are names covering specific walls that mark old cast members and crew workers, there is exposed paint from a former show and scratches on the floors from past dance numbers. Old props hang from everywhere. it is cool to think of how unique our world is and yet how much of a community we are. Even the structure of the theaters that seems so obvious to us would be so foreign to even the most seasoned theatre goer. This article reminds me of how much magic we make.
Having lived in England for just under four years; the tone of which the author takes is very familiar and just like every other day, makes me want to go back. However, I never did get to spend much time in the West End and so I never really saw the theatres there. Knowing now these facts about the theatres there; I become enveloped with a slight sadness especially because I had not been introduced to theatre till I had already left the UK and began the rest of my current life in the United States, where I was introduced to theatre. However, the theatres I have had a chance to work in are newer and have not yet had the chance to really develop any character or wasn't really a theatre to begin with. So I lack the chance to even understand what its like to revel in the history of theatre as shown through the cracks in its many layers of history. However, this also inspires me as I can now be a participant in creating a history for those theatres; as for the theatres that are older, I will now have more of an appreciation for them as I wonder what the people were thinking and doing when I see the layers that create that history.
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