We had a evening out with
two friends for our swim club last night. It was a belated birthday outing for
Michelle, who has been celebrating her birthday for some time now. I had booked
the tickets, Michelle brought two mini bubbly bottles for us ladies and soft drinks
too, we had brought a party tray of mini cup-cakes for the interval.
One good thing about booking
on line is that if you have mislaid your ticket information, as I had last
night, you can still bowl up to the cash desk and they will print you new ones. We
had picked Michelle up from her home at 6.30pm giving us plenty of time to get
back to Littlehampton that is at least two miles from her house, park up and
get inside for the 7pm start.
This was one of those; Live
from the National Theatre, broadcasts that we would be sharing with people
around the globe. We should all take advantage of as many of these treats as
we can fit into busy lives. The seats cost £14 each plus a small booking charge,
instead if having to pay probably twice what we paid last night for all four
tickets to get one seat at the NT. I know it’s not the same and you miss the
atmosphere, but you also miss the train fare, the hotel room over night and
dinner in town, breakfast the next morning and most of your time the next day
as well.
It is also liable to get you
to go along to a play that you have seen before and enjoyed so much, that when
you saw on a poster or trailer showing that it will turn up on your doorstep at
some date, sparkling with new ideas, that you will want to enjoy it with a different
cast.
I have seen Amadeus at least
twice before and that must be the test of an excellent play, written as it was
by Peter Shaffer who wrote two of my other favourite plays Equus, and Royal
Hunt of the Sun, all of which are so stunning that I could not choose which one
I love best. They are all remarkable plays.
This production was
marvellous with Lucian Msamati as the wicked, destructively scheming, riddled
with jealousy and admiration, court composer Antonio Salieri and Adam Gillen was quite
remarkable, playing one of Gods great gifts to the world; Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart. He may well have been as unhinged as this play suggests, on the theme
of genius maybe being frighteningly close to madness on some occasions. I do
find it surprising that with all this bad press for poor old Wolfey in this
play of Peter Shaffer’s, that I do actually know in my own extended circle, two
little boys named Amadeus in honour of the great man.
The musical side of the show
was lovely, with opera singers that I was not familiar with, who sang some
beautiful pieces from a few of Mozart’s great works. I was quite worn out by
the end, since the running time was 3 hours 15 minutes including a 20 minute
interval.
The play left me in floods
of tears at the horrible thought that Salieri really did bring about Mozart’s
death at just thirty five years old, but then, I am a huge fan of Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart and all his wonderful works as well as a being massive softy. I
recall that my emotions got a little out of control when visiting his home in Salzburg a few years ago
After dropping Michelle home
again and driving back to our house I still had to read for a bit to un-hype
myself from the emotion. So pleased we went though.
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