There’s no better way to kick the post-Christmas blues than an early January trip to the theatre, so this year we decided to go an extra step and head to Stratford upon Avon for a short break. Of course, when you’re in Stratford you’d be mad to miss a trip to the Royal Shakespeare Company so we booked well in advance to see The Tempest.
Mates blogger: Matt Merritt
Matt Merritt is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Matt's posts on MyTheatreMates. Take a look at our full list of theatre bloggers and our aggregated feed of all our Mates' posts. We’re always looking for new theatre bloggers. Could that be you? Learn about how to join us.
Matt has been a theatre fan since childhood, regularly visiting theatres in his native Portsmouth and surrounding areas. He has been reviewing for some time, initially for local press outlets before starting his own site, Sitting in the Cheap Seats, in 2013. These days he can generally be found in the front row of the balcony in a theatre in the Southwest (or on trips to London), quietly thankful he is short enough not to notice the lack of legroom!
The latest from Matt on MyTheatreMates
Year in Review: Matt Merritt’s top shows of 2016
From Chichester to Charing Cross, the Globe, Southampton, Menier Chocolate Factory, the Union and the RSC – for those of you who’ve already read our roundup of our favourite performances from 2016, some of our picks will come as no surprise, but here are the shows we’re still talking about.
PETER PAN – Chichester
The stage is largely bare when we enter the auditorium, three dolls houses are dotted across the space with a large window filling the rear of the space. It’s a simple but effective way to set the scene.
Year in Review: Matt Merritt’s performances of 2016
2016 is nearly over and, despite not getting to see nearly as much theatre as we’d like at Sitting in the Cheap Seats, we’ve seen lots of performances that we will long remember. We couldn’t list all the people who have really impressed us over the past year but the folks below brought their characters to life with performances that made us laugh, cry and kept us thinking long after we left the theatre!
RELATIVELY SPEAKING – Touring
If you’re an Ayckbourn fan, there’s plenty to enjoy here, and if you’ve not seen his work before – well where better to start than at the beginning?
KING LEAR – RSC, Barbican Centre
For many actors Lear is the ultimate role, hence the proliferation of productions that appear every year. In 2016 alone we’ve had Timothy West, Don Warrington and Michael Pennington all pop up in the role and Glenda Jackson is currently giving us a female perspective over at the Old Vic. RSC stalwart Antony Sher’s take on the role has been something we’ve been waiting a few years for… so how does he do?
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS – Touring & West End
Kenneth Grahame’s story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and the irrepressible Toad have been a favourite of many for longer than they can remember – I grew up delighting in the stop-motion version and have long been a staple for adaptation on both stage and screen, Grahame’s skilful evocation of a pastoral England that no longer exists (and may never have) is infinitely comforting and inviting.
CYMBELINE – Barbican Centre (RSC)
I’ll confess to being unsure how well audiences would take to a play that – on the page at least – is a complete mess with no discernible central plot. Thankfully, director Melly Still and her team have largely kept the story flowing and, with the help of some inspired casting choices, enabled us to be drawn to characters that can all too often be unlikeable.
THE NORMAL HEART – Havant
Long before it became a mainstream subject Larry Kramer’s visceral, semi-autobiographical account of life within the New York gay community’s burgeoning activist organisations shed a light on the plight of Aids affecting so many.
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION – Touring
It must be daunting taking on characters so well known and trying to make them your own, especially when it comes to those from a movie as revered as The Shawshank Redemption. Thankfully this cast were, for the most part, up to the challenge.
Love’s Labours Lost / Much Ado About Nothing – Chichester & West End
A couple of years ago the Royal Shakespeare Company paired Love’s Labours Lost with Much Ado About Nothing (renamed Love’s Labours Won) in a gorgeous setting amidst the Great War to much acclaim. This year they’ve revived the productions, with many of the original cast and have brought it to Chichester Festival Theatre ahead of the West End.
THIS HOUSE – Chichester & West End
Political turmoil. It’s nothing new. And we are certainly reminded of that here! Set during the troubled Labour Government of the mid to late seventies, This House plays out, for the most part, in the Whips offices, the difference between the two like that of a Gentleman’s club to a working mans pub.
IMOGEN – Shakespeare’s Globe
So, retitled Imogen and set in modern London is the play really “reclaimed” as the publicity suggests? Well… no, not really. Cymbeline may be the title character but it’s always been Imogen’s story
THE ALCHEMIST – RSC, Barbican Centre
The Alchemist, presented here with some script revision from Stephen Jeffreys is a riotous romp through Jacobean London!
DOCTOR FAUSTUS – RSC, Barbican Centre
It’s a rare feeling to sit in the audience for a play and feel you truly don’t know what to expect – in the age of social media, it’s impossible not to have a good idea what to expect, but when two men walk onto the stage at the beginning of Faustus, stare each other in the eye and light a match cast, crew and audience will all find out together who will take the titular role.
NEWS: Angus Jackson helms Rome season for RSC in 2017
Angus Jackson, who recently directed the sell-out RSC productions of Oppenheimer and Don Quixote, is director for the Rome season. He will direct the opening and closing plays of the 2017 schedule in Stratford-upon-Avon, Julius Caesar and Coriolanus.
NEWS: Angus Jackson helms Rome season for RSC in 2017
Angus Jackson, who recently directed the sell-out RSC productions of Oppenheimer and Don Quixote, is director for the Rome season. He will direct the opening and closing plays of the 2017 schedule in Stratford-upon-Avon, Julius Caesar and Coriolanus.
What we’re looking forward to in Chichester Festival’s winter season
We’re confirmed fans of Chichester Festival Theatre here, and for us their announcement of a new season is a bit like Christmas! The Winter 2016 season has a great range of entertainment and there’s sure to be something for everyone’s tastes! Edward Fox, Liza Goddard, Amanda Holden, Felicity Kendal, Robert Powell, Reece Shearsmith, Ken Stott and Imogen Stubbs are among the stars appearing in plays by writers from Alan Ayckbourn to Ronald Harwood, alongside contemporary work from Frantic Assembly and Spymonkey
CHILDREN OF EDEN – Union Theatre
The 70s were a hotbed for edgy takes on musical theatre so it’s remarkable that some of the shows that have lingered with us the longest share a common source – the Bible. From the Lloyd Webber one two punch of the twee Joseph and the ballsy rocking Jesus Christ Superstar to Stephen Schwartz’s series of parables Godspell.
INTERVIEW: Cheap Seats chat with director Michael Strassen
The Union Theatre’s founder Sasha Regan, who is a wonderful facilitator and supporter of young talent and vital to a growing industry, doesn’t have to play by the normal rules