COMEDY OF ERRORS

National Theatre on the Southbank in the Olivier (Largest) theater

After the matinee of ONE MAN, TWO GUV'NERS, finished at about 5:00, we had two hours or so to relax before heading across the Hungerford Bridge to the Southbank for the evening show. We went back to Rupert Street and took a fast nap. At 6, we left the flat and walked down Haymarket to Trafalgar Square and then to Charing Cross train station and crossed the bridge to the other side of the Thames. Richard was supposed to meet us there at six so we could have a bite to eat before the show. It was windy and cold and we decided then and there we HAD to buy warm clothing as soon as possible. The wind was biting, just like The Hague on a cold day and enough was enough. Decided! Tomorrow was Sunday, but the stores HAD to be open, after all, this is London, city of 10 million people AND it is Easter school vacation.
Anyway, there was Richard and he gave us a big hug and kiss. This was the first time he had seen Judy since she arrived. We went to the little cafe on the third floor and had a salad and some bread. Just enough to keep us going during the show, but not too much. We were afraid that jet lag would knock us out as soon as the lights went out for the performance.
The Olivier theater is huge and beautiful. It is all cement, rough, with the actual forms and shapes of the wooden molds still there. It has a homey look. The seats are large and comfortable, so you feel elegant. We had three seats in the back row of the main auditorium, called the Stalls.
The stage was set with an immense metal and wooden structure, that looked like an apartment house under construction. But, it was a ship in fact. The play opens with the story of a shipwreck and the loss of two sets of twin boys. Two are from rich families and two are servants. So, the comedy is that "Team A" consists of one twin from each group and "Team B" has the other set. The constant joke is that people from the city mistake the members of the team. A necklace is given to a person on Team A who gives it to (he thinks) his servant, but it is the servant from the other team, or maybe not.
What the Program says is: "THE COMEDY OF ERRORS does what it says in the title. It is filled with the classic devices of comedy: mistaken identities, people getting the wrong end of the stick, clowns getting slapped about the head, politically incorrect jokes about fat people and sexy women, and a vertiginous succession of characters coming and out of doors."
After the opening noisy and busy "shipwreck" where the cast ran in and up and down and around the metal structure and the twins were dropped off the ship as infants, the play could begin. Lenny Henry (the husband of Dawn French) played one of the two merchant twins. Lenny Henry is a famous British stand-up comic and has won many prizes for his comedy. He has only begun acting seriously recently and won the Outstanding Newcomer Award for playing the title role in OTHELLO. He is an excellent comic and we could see his face and eyes all the way in the back of the hall. He has a deep voice and he used a Jamaican accent throughout, so he was easy to understand. We actually belly-laughed a couple of times which is amazing considering that this play is several hundred years old.
Also, the National Theatre is famous for its inventive set designs. This one was built on a large revolving stage, so the large (very very large) set pieces could be fully revolved AND rotated AND slid in and out. Houses, street scenes, and interiors were pushed and pulled into place. Every stage change was accompanied by an Italian street band, playing and singing (in Italian/English) funny songs about women and love and making jokes about the characters in the play.
The production was great, and the show was excellent. We only dozed off for a couple of short mini-naps, and so did Richard.
The show ended at 10 and we walked back over the bridge to Soho. Richard knew a French restaurant and we ate a "light" dinner, with a bottle (of course) of wine. Then, off to Rupert Street and bed. What a first day for Judy. A very good beginning to our week of theater in London, provided by our sons. Thanks.