That was June in London theatre-land
01/07/2016
So June was the month when I properly trod the boards ie I didn't just walk across a stage to get to my seat, I interacted with actual, real live actors. It was the beginning and end of my glittering stage career, go out on a high is my philosophy. It was also the month I said goodbye to Kit Harington in his pants. Yep I went to see Dr Faustus for a third time - there were a couple of £15 front row seats calling to me. Jamie Lloyd said in an Q&A afterwards that despite what you think of the production you'd never be bored - and he was right. Plus it was fun noticing the little changes and nuances from show to show.
But there was plenty of other stuff going in London's theatre-land not least a raft of exciting casting announcements:
* Stan fav Jasper Britton was cast in the West End production of The Libertine.
* The National Theatre's production of Angels in America is shaping up to be possibly the most exciting cast for 2017. Joining Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough and Russell Tovey is James McArdle. Loved him in the James plays.
* And Forbes Masson will no doubt be fully dressed for his next stage role (he's just finished playing the devil, in his pants, in Dr Faustus) in Tom Stoppard's Travesties at the Menier Chocolate Factory. That is also a play shaping up to have an exciting cast with the fabulous Tom Hollander and Freddie Fox also appearing (Freddie and I were in a play together, you know ;0).
* Another Stan fav (and girl crush) Lisa Dillon will star opposite Edward Bennett in the tour of the RSC's Love’s Labours Lost and Much Ado About Nothing replacing Michelle Terry. The plays will touch down in Manchester, Chichester and London in the Autumn/Winter.
* Celeb spots: Siobhan Redmond was behind me in the queue for the ladies at the Duke of York's Theatre during the interval for Dr Faustus. But more impressive than that was Poly spotting Adam James on her easyJet flight back from Athens.
Stage blood corner where you can never truly remove the stains
Up until two days ago June was shaping up to be a bloodless month. Not even the Almeida Richard III production could oblige which must surely be a rarity for that murderous play. But then I went to the Hampstead Theatre to see Wild (review coming soon) where a large safety pin 'inserted' into a hand created a nice trickle of blood. It can only get a 'paper cut' rating but it was blood nonetheless.