Another great play broadcast live from the Vaudeville Theatre in London to a local cinema, for us this is Aberystwyth Arts Centre and at £13 each as a senior rate, it is the best option to save on the cost and time involved in travelling to London to see it live. Although the atmosphere may not be quite the same with a cinema showing, the audience does feel involved and you certainly get to see nuances of the actors’ performances as the camera zooms closer than if you were seated in the theatre itself.
As a cinema audience, we are introduced to reflections on Oscar Wilde as an advocate of more power for Victorian women, and although not a comedy as such there are some amusing moments as characters interact – we loved the young Viscount Goring played by Freddie Fox, son of Edward Fox who also plays his father in this play. With big theatrical names including Nathaniel Parker, Frances Barber, Susan Hampshire and Sally Bretton, you know it is going to be a truly professional performance. We were particularly impressed by Sally Bretton who we only knew from the TV series Not Going Out – very natural performance.
It took a little while to get into the style of dialogue and follow who was who, but by the second half we were keen to see how it would all end. Interesting discussions about political ambition, financial double-dealing (insider trading of secrets), love and marriage so pretty topical really! It was an enjoyable evening and worth looking out for future More2Screen broadcasts bringing national theatre productions to local cinemas.
