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Queen Anne
Dec. 18th, 2015 08:16 pmSM said he fancied going up to Stratford-upon-Avon either before Christmas or during the Christmas period so I had a look to see what was on that we hadn't seen (we saw Wendy & Peter Pan two years ago) at a time we could go. And there was a matinée performance of Queen Anne, so last week I booked tickets.
This is a new play by Helen Edmundson, which looks at the relationship between Princess, and then Queen, Anne and Sarah Churchill and how it effects others in politics around them. I knew little about that era, and having read slightly more since seeing the play, I realise it is, unsurprisingly, simplified, but none the less compelling. It shows Queen Anne growing from being dominated by Sarah Churchill to taking charge of her role herself.
This was the understudy performance, so all tickets were £10 - excellent value. The RSC runs their company so that everyone, except the most important characters, understudy someone higher up the chain. This means if one actor does fall sick the show can go on. And, in appreciation of all the work required, and so friends and family can see people in their understudy roles, they put on an understudy performance of every play. It can have the consequence of one actor who is understudying two characters having to act opposite themself, which did happen right at the beginning, but just provided some extra entertainment. And equally, some of the lowest, generally non-speaking, parts don't have cover, so there were a few stand-ins who weren't in costume.
But none of this mattered. It was excellent. It was theatre at its best. I didn't know any of the actors, which is quite unusual, normally I've seen one or two elsewhere. But it was totally enthralling; the cast we saw could have been the main cast. There was one point where the actress playing Sarah Churchill forgot her lines and had to rely on the prompt, but everyone forgave her. (And of course she not only has her main part, plus understudy part, but she's in the play which is running in repetoire with this, no doubt with both main and understudy roles).
Normally I would pick out one or two actors who I particularly liked, but on this occasion I'd go for four: Daisy Ashford (Anne); Jenny Rainsford (Abigail Hill); Anna Tierney (Sarah Churchill) and Carl Prekopp (Robert Harley). Excellent theatre.
This is a new play by Helen Edmundson, which looks at the relationship between Princess, and then Queen, Anne and Sarah Churchill and how it effects others in politics around them. I knew little about that era, and having read slightly more since seeing the play, I realise it is, unsurprisingly, simplified, but none the less compelling. It shows Queen Anne growing from being dominated by Sarah Churchill to taking charge of her role herself.
This was the understudy performance, so all tickets were £10 - excellent value. The RSC runs their company so that everyone, except the most important characters, understudy someone higher up the chain. This means if one actor does fall sick the show can go on. And, in appreciation of all the work required, and so friends and family can see people in their understudy roles, they put on an understudy performance of every play. It can have the consequence of one actor who is understudying two characters having to act opposite themself, which did happen right at the beginning, but just provided some extra entertainment. And equally, some of the lowest, generally non-speaking, parts don't have cover, so there were a few stand-ins who weren't in costume.
But none of this mattered. It was excellent. It was theatre at its best. I didn't know any of the actors, which is quite unusual, normally I've seen one or two elsewhere. But it was totally enthralling; the cast we saw could have been the main cast. There was one point where the actress playing Sarah Churchill forgot her lines and had to rely on the prompt, but everyone forgave her. (And of course she not only has her main part, plus understudy part, but she's in the play which is running in repetoire with this, no doubt with both main and understudy roles).
Normally I would pick out one or two actors who I particularly liked, but on this occasion I'd go for four: Daisy Ashford (Anne); Jenny Rainsford (Abigail Hill); Anna Tierney (Sarah Churchill) and Carl Prekopp (Robert Harley). Excellent theatre.
