Yes, we are back in Bradford after making one of our periodic “raids” on London. (Of course, if you don’t actually live in London you can afford to go there, if you see that I mean.) A couple of times each year we like to spend a fews days in the capital, taking in galleries and theatres, and catching up with friends and family.
The fun on this trip was our two theatre visits. The first (to a theatre of which I haver heard before, the Menier Chocolate Factory) featured a relatively new musical by Joseph Stein, entitled The Baker’s Wife. Set in rural France, it deals with the sense of disaster felt by a small community when the baker dies. (You know what a fetish the French can make of bread!) It is not his replacement who brings problems, however, but his wife! But, see it for yourself!
Our second trip was to see the revivial of Kiss me Kate. Although it has been around for ages (as has its Shakesperian original, The Taming of the Shrew) I had not previously seen either version of the story.
Although both of these experiences were worthwhile as theatrical productions, for me they were both enhanced by their performance in very different spaces. The Menier is tiny and very intimate. The Barbican, where we saw Kiss Me Kate, must be one of the largest theatres in London …. and the stage itself is huge. For both me and for my wife a good deal of the interest of a theatre visit is precisely that …. the experience of a presentation within a context, and the challenges that presents.
Now, isn’t that interesting! How often does one take notice of the possible relevance of a gallery, as a specific space in which pictures are viewed, as a factor in the appreciation of an exhibition? Perhaps we should think more about that.