Theater Marathon

Guess how many shows I went to this week. Five. Yep, I went to a show a day for the past week and I would have gone to Singin' in the Rain tonight if it hadn't been sold out. London. is. awesome. Let's rank them, shall we.

Coolest Venue
1. Madame Butterfly - the London Coliseum. This was by far the most gorgeous concert hall I've been in, decorated in the classical style with columns, carved marble, high painted ceiling. Unbelievable.
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - this was in a giant tent in the middle of Kensington Gardens. It was  a 360 degree theater with some crazy stuff happening with the set (everything basically emerged from the ground...). We walked in past Kensington palace and walked home along embassy road.
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -It was in a tiny theater south of the Thames underneath a railroad track. the room was dark and misty and the actors were never more than about 10 feet away from you.
4. Antigone - National theater.
5. The Woman in Black

Most Talented Actors
1. Madame Butterfly - beautiful opera full of beautiful voices
2. The Woman in Black - I was completely enthralled the entire time. I felt the fear of the young man and the pain of the older one (there were only two actors). The whole thing was essentially a play within a play but that didn't stop it from feeling entirely real.
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - there was some real talent in this little-known production. The woman who played Lucy had a voice far too big for the tiny room and the man who played Jekyll/Hyde could switch from Jekyll to Hyde flawlessly, always making it clear which person he was yet constantly reminding us they were the same person.
4. Antigone - I feel bad putting this one fourth because the star was none other than my first doctor - Christopher Eggleston. He did a great job, but there were moments throughout the play when I was pulled out of the story because the characters' emotions didn't seem entirely real.
5. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - The acting wasn't noticeably good or bad, but the setting, costuming, and choreography were all so enchanting that  fantastic acting wasn't necessary.

Most Powerful Emotional Impact
1. The Woman in Black - I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I don't really like scary movies, but I love scary stories and plays because they leave so much of it up to your imagination, and my imagination isn't gory or demonic like movies can be. Because the play was written to be low budget, they leave most of the scary stuff up to your imagination, so I experienced the adrenaline rush of fear without nasty images in my head. Thrilling.
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - I left excited about life, spiritually uplifted, and feeling like a kid again.
3. Antigone
4. Madame Butterfly - I think I was just too tired to get emotionally invested in the story, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the beauty of the music. :)
5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - I didn't enjoy this musical. The main emotion it evoked was anger because I thought the over-emphasized the gore and sexuality (which isn't in the book) and under-emphasized the book's deep theme of the internal struggle between good and evil. The venue was cool and some of the acting was impressive, but otherwise I didn't enjoy the experience.