The Theater

If there is one thing England knows how to do, it is train actors. The idea of waiting tables for ten years between auditions, waiting for someone to finally see some potential in you is not exactly the life most good actors live on this side of the pond. I'm not saying that no actor in England has ever had to wait tables, but the theater schools over here find talent and capitalize on it quickly. You might think then, “Where are all these bright new talent-filled actors?” Simple answer: on stage. The shows in London are second to none. I have yet to see a play I haven't completely loved, and this love affair of mine with London stage reached its high point on St. Patrick's Day.

My flatmate, Libby, got a hold of two tickets to the Old Vic showing of Six Degrees of Separation. I was more than happy to join her when I saw that Anthony Head was the main character. For those of you that don't know Anthony Head played the loveable Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show was at 2:30pm. Don't let the early hour fool you, because the story was intriguing and the acting was superb.

After the show Libby and I decided that instead of heading back and starting our St. Patty's Day celebrations, that we should go to Leicester Square and see what half price tickets we could find for that night. What we found were 28 pound tickets to see Waiting for Godot staring Sir Ian McKellen and Roger Rees. Again, if those names don't ring a bell (and they damn well better), Sir Ian McKellen is well known for playing Gandalf and Magneto, while Roger Rees is well known for his stage acting and as the Sheriff of Rottingham in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Waiting for Godot is absolutely positively absurd and absolutely positively amazing! An absurd comedy of two old homeless men waiting for some unknown reason for a man named Godot. They are forever trapped in a repeating cycle of events, the shoes that McKellen's character takes off and puts on because his feet either hurt or are cold. The traveling man and his servant who stalk across the stage bags in hand. The repeating question of what type of tree they are waiting by and if the could hang themselves from it with just a bit of rope. All this repeats day in and day out because they are waiting for Godot.

While seeing this show could have been the high light of the night, something far better happened just minutes after the curtain came down. Libby and I found the stage door and waited by it with maybe five other people. We got to meet, talk with and get autographs of Sir Ian McKellen, and Roger Rees. Roger even agreed with me that Robin Hood: Men in Tights, “Really was the greatest movie, wasn't it?”

What a perfect day.