Can anyone recommend a good play on at a London theatre tonight
(Friday)? I haven't been to a play for over 20 years, so I suddenly
thought I'd try one.

I'm hoping for an intellectually-stimulating play - any sort of
style/subject/author etc. Now, I don't want just some clever-clever
"knowing" play that is chock-full of references to other plays (which
was what the last one was like, and it just did not make sense to me!)
I'm looking for something that might appeal to an intelligent
non-theatre-goer.

Any suggestions?

Also, what are the booking arrangements? Do I just turn up? Or do I
have to reserve in advance?

Thanks,

iffy

---

Clarification of Question by iffy-ga on 11 Oct 2002 04:03 PDT

errr...I mean London, England, of course, not Ontario (just in case!)

Hiya, I keep meaning to take my good lady to London to see a play,
since she has seen neither London nor a play. So i hope you have a
great time.

I hope that one of these appeals to you. 

I wanted to recommend "Woman in Black", "Blood Brothers" and "Life x
3" - but unfortunately the performances for tonight are sold out.

However, of the ones that are available tonight, i have suggested the
following.

Sleuth 
******

Performance: 8:00pm 

The Apollo Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
W1V 7HD 
 
TRAVEL
Underground: Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly/Bakerloo lines)
Take east exit for Shaftesbury Avenue 

Description
***********
It is described as "arguably the the world's greatest ever stage
thriller, which inspired the hugely successful film starring Laurence
Olivier and Michael Caine, makes its much-anticipated return to the
West End. A young man arrives at the impressive home of a famous
mystery writer, only to be unwittingly drawn into a tangled web of
intriguing study of human conflict, jealousy and manipulation proves
to be far more than a whodunit and promises to baffle even the most
proficient sleuth!"  (This quote is extracted from the main site)

LondonTown.com Box Office.
http://www.londontown.com/etheatre/ecommerce.php?dates=20021011:20021012&format=ticketavailability&eventinformationtag=APOSLE02

Cost: 
Balcony F - ( 2 left) £17.50
Dress Circle A - £35.00
Stalls A (1 left) - £35.00
Stalls B - £32.50
Upper Circle D - £22.50 

Buying them on-line and in advance is definitely advised as you can
see some of the tickets are already nearly sold out.

*******************************************************************************

The Vagina Monologues
*********************

Performance: 7:00pm 

Arts Theatre
Great Newport Street
WC2H 7JB 
 
TRAVEL
Tube: Leicester Square (Northern/Piccadilly lines)/Covent Garden
(Piccadilly line)
From Leicester Square take the Charing Cross Road east exit and head
right (north) on Charing Cross Road. Great Newport Street is about 50
metres on the right - the Arts Theatre is about 50 metres down Great
Newport Street.
From Covent Garden head left (away from the market) the directly turn
left onto Long Acre. When you reach the main junction with Monmouth
Street, Great Newport Street is the second turning anti-clockwise. The
Arts Theatre is 50 metres down Great Newport Street.


Description
***********
A "thought provoking" and witty series of...well monologues, Whoopi
Goldberg and Winona rider are but two of the stars that have been
involved in various productions of this play.

It had a sell out six week run recently which pays testimony to is
success.

As such, there are few tickets left so i'm rushing to finish this so
you can get your tickets booked for whatever you choose to see
tonight.

LondonTown.com Box Office
http://www.londontown.com/etheatre/ecommerce.php?dates=20021011:20021012&format=ticketavailability&eventinformationtag=ARTVAG02

Cost: 
Stalls A  - £32.50

I've only put stalls A in because the rest of the areas have only one
ticket left.

********************************************************************************

All the rest of the plays that i would have recommended are sold out
for tonights performances but there are a few musicals which i wanted
briefly to mention in case you decided to throw caution to the wind
and just go for a raucous night out.

Unfortunately again as this is a last minute thing the excellent Ben
Elton/Queen musical "We Will Rock You" is already sold out and "Mama
Mia" at the Prince Edward Theatre has only one seat left. The Lion
King has two seats at the Lyceum, but they aren't together.

I would say that you would be best buying the tickets on-line in
advance since you can see some of the tickets are already nearly sold
out so by the time you got their tonight you may be dissapointed.

If it were me I would see Sleuth tonight. However, if you decide to go
tommorrow instead, "Our House" the Madness musical opens at the
Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9HU.

There are tickets still available for the 3:00pm and 7:45pm showings,
if you like madness, i'm sure you will love this.

I hope this helps, now get on the phone, before all the tickets go.

Have a great night.

Johnny Phoenix

Search Keys: "London Tourist Information", "Plays" "London Theatre"

Definitive site: http://www.londontown.com/index.phtml

Excellent response. I've just booked Sleuth. Cheers mate.

How was sleuth, did you enjoy it ?

Johnny,

Yes, I did - thanks for pointing me to it. 

The plot changes (I don't know whether you've seen it, so I won't say
what happens!) kept me always wondering what the next twist was going
to be, right up to the end.

Also, I did like the simplicity of the setting (or whatever one might
call it): Just the two characters in the one room made it easy to
follow and not get distracted by continual scene-changes and ever
increasing numbers of people.

So, if you haven't seen it, I now recommend it back to you and your
lady friend!

Cheers,

iffy