My London Play Festival

On Saturday, 12 December, Jackie and I took on London for a one-day 'play festival' of sorts: we each chose a theatrical production and we spent the day bopping between plays and seasonal snacks.

Back in September I wrote that one of my cultural exploration 'must-do's was to go see a pantomime, a British holiday entertainment that is nigh impossible to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it (here's one try from a recent New York Times: Christmas Foolery).

So, no surprise: the first play of the day--my choice--was a panto, the Theatre Royal Stratford East's production of Aladdin.

the entry hall of the Theatre Royal before the doors opened

The doors opened just minutes before the production was scheduled to begin. We shortly understood why; there was entertainment even before we sat down. Two characters from the play reved up audience participation, with birthday wishes (we sang to at least two people), jokes, audience halves battling to sing 'She'll be comin' round the mountain' the loudest, and the start of a hunt for a prince for the princess Jasmine among the audience members.

Then Aladdin started. The scene opened on Abanazar, searching in the sands of Egypt with a metal detector for--what else--the ring of power. When he found it with the audience's help, his true colors were revealed. 'We're splitting it 50/50" he retorted to a complaining audience. "You get the hole in the middle."

The show continued with a mostly-open fourth wall, with the audience encouraged to hiss and boo Abanazar, catch flying candy as one of the minor characters shares her end-of-term loot, cheer on Aladdin after he falls in love (in an extremely cheesy dance number) when he exchanges glances with Jasmine, sing to make Aladdin's carpet fly and even join the cast on stage--either as Dad turned princely suitor for Jasmine or to audition with Ma Twanky (Aladdin's mother, played by an actor in drag) as a replacement for the missing Aladdin.

Intermission, too, was intriguing. The 'not just a play, it's a party' atmosphere was evident then, with ice cream sold in the aisles and children convincing parents to deck them out in shiny crowns and glow sticks for sale in the foyer.

On the whole, the production was, admittedly, aimed a bit young for us. There were times I felt like I was at a live performance of Sesame Street rather than this production I had chosen (out of my own volition) to attend. But it was an experience, nonetheless!

From the Theatre Royal, Jackie and I headed to Hyde Park, where London's German Christmas Market was set up. We made dinner of bratwurst, mulled cider and candied nuts, which we ate as we wandered around the booths (and the rides) at the fair. One favorite memory was a singing moose-head, mounted above one of the food vendors near the entrance. He sang Christmas carols in three languages and warned passers-by "don't drink too much."

bratwurst

Trafalgar Square all decked out for Christmas

After seeing what the market had to offer, we took the tube to Trafalgar square and stopped to take a look (and hear some carols) before heading to the Adelphi Theatre and our next (and last) performance, Christmas with the Rat Pack.

The performance was set up as a recreation of the type of variety show that Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. (members of 'the Rat Pack') might have performed together at the Sands Hotel. The musicians--taking the roles of Frank, Dean and Sammy--crooned some of their top hits interspersed with banter about Dean's drinking, the three beautiful backup singers and the holiday season. My favorites were in the second half, when we had "Hey There" (which I know from playing pit for the Pajama Game) and "Trailer for Sale or Rent."

The most laughable thing about the performance, however, was that it borrowed elements of the panto we had seen earlier. The backup singers threw candy into the audience at one point, there was audience participation (with the requisite 'it's behind you' moment) when Sammy snuck up on Frank, the ushers sold posh ice cream in the aisles at intermission and Sammy came on stage--albeit briefly--in drag. I guess, here in England, a Christmas show isn't a Christmas show without some elements of panto thrown in!