Theatre hottie and girl crush of the month - July 2016 edition
Another knock out performance from Billie Piper in Yerma, Young Vic

That was July in London Theatre-land

Mary-Stuart_Juliet-Stevenson-and-Lia-Williams-photographed-by-Miles-Aldridge-700x455No treading the boards this month, lots of fringe theatre, really good fringe theatre (look out for a future post on what to see in London if you can't make it to Edinburgh)  and lots of celebs out and about, which is unusual.

* As someone who often books tickets in advance before the cast has been announced I do feel smug when someone 'popular' gets announced such as Mark Strong in Red Barn at the National. *Smug*.

* It's a shame the Almeida doesn't put its tickets on sale before the cast is announce and then perhaps there wouldn't be the usual website melt down. I'm already dreading trying to book for Juliet Stephenson and Lia Williams who were announced for Mary Stuart. They will alternate the roles of Mary and Queen Elizabeth by tossing a coin. Alternating roles is obviously the thing this year as they do something similar in the RSC production of Doctor Faustus. Very excited to see Lia and Juliet on stage together whichever part they end up playing.

* Thanks to Mark Rylance, @PolyG and I have some New Year's Eve theatre. There isn't always much on - last year was a case in point - but it is a nice way to spend the last night of the year when possible - previous trips have included Richard II at the Donmar and Mojo with Ben, Colin and Rupert et al. This year we'll be spending the evening watching Mark Rylance's new comedy Nice Fish at the Harold Pinter. We have a table at the back of the stalls which is going to be rather novel. Let's hope we can see something.

* Celeb spots for the month include Simon Stephens watching a preview of Unreachable at the Royal Court (catch it this week before it finishes). Also  walked past Rebel Wilson near Charing Cross and Jessie Buckley near my office in Holborn.  And then Harry Melling cycled past the Starbucks I was sitting in, also in Holborn.

Stage blood corner where you can never truly remove the stains

The National Theatre takes the award for the wounded soldier in The Plough and the Stars who left bloody marks wherever he happened to be propped. There was also a nice spreading blood mark from a gunshot wound. You can see the play until October 22.

Now correct me if I am wrong but doesn't Jessie Eisenberg's character in The Spoils have a bloody nose after he gets thumped? Or maybe that is wishful thinking as the character is a bit of a cock to say the least. You can see The Spoils at Trafalgar Studios until August 13.

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