Day 51: The Play’s the Thing
It’s a bit of a surprise that I’ve made it half way through my #100DaysOfPlay and I haven’t yet seen… a play! So today I took my better half off to the theatre, to see Removal Men at the (utterly brilliant) Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick.
I love the theatre – if you’re talking about play being absorbing and making you forget your sense of place and time, well, this is the very experience that always does it for me. Even more than a film (I think it’s the live element of it) I lose my sense of where I am and become part of the play world. For a time, my problems are gone, and it’s the drama playing out in front of me that takes over.
This was a darkly comic play, and one that cuts to the heart. The Yard seems to specialise in productions which don’t allow you to leave the theatre the same person as the one that came in. As with any great play experience, this is transformative.
I particularly love that in the theatre you are truly sharing your play with a large number of people. Unlike a film or TV, where any number of people might also be watching, but most of them probably aren’t in the same building, here you all see the same events unfolding, but each have your own perspective. It feels a joint adventure!
The Play’s the Thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King. – William Shakespeare / Hamlet
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