I have always loved live theatre, but too often nowadays, it is prohibitively expensive and/ or extremely uncomfortable for someone with my foot and joint problems, to say nothing of taking hours of travel.
So when I noticed an ad for a live screencast of Peter Grimes from the Coliseum, I got Bex to book a couple of tickets and off we went. As it turned out, the cinema we chose (Cineworld at the O2) had an audience of about 10 people, so there was not a lot of the atmosphere that you usually get at an opera, but oh, this was more than made up for by almost everything else.
To start with, at £17.50, this was cheap! The seats were comfortable! (I can usually only afford the balcony, where I suffer backache, sore, cramped feet and often, pins-and-needles in my legs). We were close to the action, and the sound was good. I've never seen Peter Grimes before, so didn't know what to expect, but this was an amazing production. I could see the singers' faces in close-up, and their acting was terrific. I absolutely would do opera this way again.
Looking around the internet, I found a lot of other live broadcasts advertised. ENO and the Opera House live-screen opera and ballet; the Met do, and even the Bolshoi! The RSC and the NT also have live links to plays, and they all screen 'curtain calls' - recordings of previous live screenings.
WarHorse has been on my wish-list for a long time, but has been pretty much booked out, both at the National and at Drury Lane, it's current home. Last night I watched a live screening from the comfort of the local Odeon, and again, it was wonderful.
It seems that the 'preferred' local venue ( Greenwich PictureHouse) has a big audience. So much so that all the currently listed live screenings are fully booked. And they charge £30 a pop. It's also a two-bus journey for me. Okay for getting to, but a bit chancy coming back lack at night, especially if I go alone.
I took a chance and turned up at the Odeon (one bus, 15 minute journey) without booking, and had no problem getting a ticket. The Odeon charged £12.50- a real bargain. The seats were not quite as comfortable as the 02 seats, but still way more comfortable than any theatre seat I have ever sat in. The audience was again not huge ( I guess this was overspill from the PictureHouse), but there were about 40 people. Again, the sound and picture quality was good, and the production was wonderful. I loved the puppets, and being close to the action again really brought the acting skills of the cast and puppeteers into focus. I cried when Topthorn died and when Joey got caught on barbed wire.
I have absolutely loved both my cultural outings this week. I will be keeping my eye open for more.
