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[ismenin]

Christopher Plummer as Atahualpa in The Royal Hunt of The Sun

The first snippet concerns CP as Richard the Third, in the play of that name, by the Swan of Avon. Come to think of it, if anyone had seen Richard in THIS outfit, I think it might have raised more than a few eyebrows!!

... the actor/writer Paul Bailey was playing Lovell opposite CP's Richard, and was supposed to enter, saying 'here is the head of that ignoble traitor, the dangerous and unsuspected Hastings'.

Unfortunately his mind went completely blank. Corpsed as they say. Plummer stared at him 'for what seemed like ten minutes', Bailey said in 1996, and then declared 'is that the head of the ignoble traitor, the dangerous and unsuspected Hastings?' to which Bailey gratefully answered, 'yes!'

I'd loved to have seen that. And Judy Dench, playing Juliet at the Old Vic, who, kneeling over her dead cousin, Tybalt, cried 'Oh, where are my father and my mother, nurse?' Her father, a doctor, suffering an equally interesting senior moment, leapt up from his seat and called out, 'here we are, darling, in row H!'

Why do things like this never happen when I'm in the theatre? Come to think of it, they sometimes do. I was attending a performance of the opera, Ernani, when one of the bits of scenery fell over, revealing a startled scene shifter. His face was a picture.

And during a very modern production of Parsifal ('Wagner has his great moments, but his bloody awful quarters of an hour'. Ernest Newman. I totally agree.) The giants Fasolt and Faffner appeared in white boiler suits, complete with matching safety helmets. My companion, a young actor friend with a very distinct, carrying Welsh voice asked me, sotto voce so he thought, 'Where's the gas leak?'

Several rows around us erupted in laughter, and order was only restored when Fasolt brandished his fist at the audience.

But even this was not half as inciting as a performance of The Two Towers sis and I attended, where there was a woman having a very loud and prolonged orgasm somewhere near the front of the cinema. Some time was spent afterwards discussing what enabled her to achieve this ambition. We had several ideas, I must tell you!

Those were the days! I miss em! :D

Comments

[anjelmati.livejournal.com]

This brought a rush of memories! Being at Chichester,theatre in the round,when the Ghost came through the audience in Macbeth and everyone started laughing.The play was gone after that,don't know exactly why,just that the drama lost its hold.And being at the Theatre Royal Brighton for The Bed-Sitting Room with Spike Milligan,who failed to appear on cue and the actor on stage tried to keep going,but did say,"Left in the lurch by Milligan again!"with some bitterness.
Losing my little sister after a panto at the Hippodrome,Brighton.It was a coach party paid for by the regulars at my dad's local,but unfortunately she was found and brought back.What trouble we could have avoided if only she'd stayed lost!

[ismenin.livejournal.com]

Such fun, is it not? I thought of a few other things I'd experienced at the cinema/theatre after I posted this. Like the woman who shouted out "God! It's fucking killed him!" as Frodo was stabbed by Shelob. The whole place erupted. But I didn't mind - she was so totally involved in it all, bless her!

And one performance of Lear in the small, intimate arts theatre in Swansea where there are about 50 chairs in a circle, and I was certain Mad Tom was going to end up in my lap, the actors were so close. That was fun - I felt as if it was all happening in my living room. :D

[tristanpaulus.livejournal.com]

"a performance of The Two Towers sis and I attended, where there was a woman having a very loud and prolonged orgasm somewhere near the front of the cinema"

Was she alone?

If so, that's a fan there!

[ismenin.livejournal.com]

She was alone! There were only about twenty of us there, as it was late in the season. She was sitting on her own right in the middle of a row, and it was Aragorn, not Frodo she was lusting after! No accounting for taste, I spose. At least my sis would agree with her! :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/tweedle_/]

LOL! Wonderful. I obviously haven't been to enough theatre performances. XXOO

[ismenin.livejournal.com]

No, indeed. The only thing that happened in Godot was that middle-aged man walking away with bits of the scenery. But I'm glad no-one spoiled that for us!;D

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

Clearly, I've been deprived by never having seen any of these performances.

[ismenin.livejournal.com]

Indeed you have! I've seen quite a lot of plays and other theatricals, and sometimes the actors - especially if it's a long run - cause havoc by messing about with the lines. I like it! You NEVER get that with film! ;D

[janejanejane.livejournal.com]

Thanks for these hilarious recollections, you really made me chuckle! ;-D

[ismenin.livejournal.com]

Well, I enjoyed them. Have a daft sense of humour,moi, as you know! :D

[janejanejane.livejournal.com]

Guess my SOH must be just as daft as yours, then ;0)