What a palaver.
I was really keen to see this rarely-performed play, having absolutely loved reading it “back in the day”. Further, it was a cracking good cast, Josie Rourke directing – unquestionably one for us.
So we booked it, way in advance – as soon as tickets became available to members…
…for 2 June – which turned out to be the date of Charlotte and Chris’s wedding.
My bad? Janie’s bad? For both of us, presumably it was so obvious that the first weekend in June was the youngsters’ wedding weekend that we were both far too polite to book out the date in our diaries. I’ll write up the wedding in the fullness of time.
For The Physicists, of course, it was “impossible” for mere ordinary members like us to swap our tickets by the time we spotted our error…
…but it was not impossible for one of Janie’s high falutin’ clients who had some sort of corporate or “patron” membership to arrange a switcheroo for us. Thank you, anonymous high-falutin’ client – we were truly grateful to you – I’m sure Janie also found ways of thanking you gift-wise, foot-wise, etc.
With the benefit of hindsight, of course, perhaps we would have been better off without this one.
What a mess.
All style. All star-quality. No substance.
Perhaps it has dated badly. Perhaps it was adapted in a way that simply didn’t work for us.
This was the culmination of an especially disappointing week of special treats for me, given the unprecedented lack of cricket at Edgbaston on the preceding days:
Long To Rain Over Us, England v West Indies, Edgbaston, Days One and Two, 7 & 8 June 2012
Oh dear.
Here is a link to the excellent downloadable “Study Guide” pack from the Donmar on this production.
Here is the trailer for The Physicists:
Here is a link to reviews and such – mostly less than special.