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It's Not All London! (Part I)Dateline: 01/14/01 London is the centre of the theatrical universe. Only in London will you find theatre of the highest quality. There may be theatre in the regions but it is definitely very inferior to London, and certainly no one in their right mind would consider spending time looking at regional theatre when they could be in the West End. That's a load of old rubbish, of course - nay, not just old but putrid too - but it's the way many people think, and is certainly the impression given by most of the major theatrical sites on the Web. Just think of the best known British theatre Websites - apart from this one, of course! The Official London Theatre Guide by SOLT, the Society of London Theatre. Darren Daglish's London Theatre Online. What's Onstage. Albemarle and all the other ticket agencies. Every single one is London-centric. Even UK Theatre Web tends to give greatest prominence to the West End. Even we do, sadly. It's inevitable, of course. London is the metropolis, the capital, the great wen, the pulsating sac of pus on the.... But no, I mustn't say that. It's an emotional reaction, not a fact. Londoners might even describe it as the jealous ravings of a provincial. And, do you know, they might just be right. It does get incredibly frustrating to know that people throughout the world sing the praises of West End theatre as though it was the only theatre that Britain produces. And it is incredibly annoying to hear Londoners, both native and adopted, using the word "provincial" perjoratively - as, in fact, an insult. So let me state here and now, firmly and proudly, that there is more superb theatre going on in the provinces than in the West End. You don't believe me? Just think about it. One of the world's greatest theatre companies - a truth universally acknowledged - is a provincial company. Yes, the RSC, the Royal Shakespeare Company, is based in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is in the Midlands, not too far from Birmingham. Good Lord, it's even north of Watford! Of course, they do have a base at the Barbican - which is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the West End - but that is their London pied-à-terre, not their home. Most West End theatres are tourist traps (who's speaking perjoratively now?), programmed to appeal to the widest possible market. If you want cutting-edge theatre, experimentation and new ideas, then you have to go to the Royal Court, the Donmar, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Almeida in Islington (about to be in King's Cross for a couple of years), the Hampstead Theatre, the Young Vic, or the Old Vic - the equivalent of New York's off-Broadway. They are all willing to try something new - the Royal Court, for instance, specialises in new writing - even though for most of them, most of the time, much of the experimentation is in production rather than in new writing. Then there is the London Fringe, the equivalent of off-off-Broadway: theatres such as the Bush, Battersea Arts Centre, the King's Head, the Tricycle in Kilburn, and many others. Here new writing is common and risks are taken. What goes into the West End, however, is, as near as the producers can make it, risk-free. The Fringe theatres, however, are mainly small, some just rooms in pubs. If you want to see adventurous theatre in comfortable theatrical surroundings, then you've got to head out into the regions. So, click on the link to the next page and see what the regions have to offer! NEXT>> Theatre in Edinburgh Articles Indices: |
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