REVIEW OF SHAKESPEARE’S KING HENRY VIII

My family and I went to this production on our very first night in London, so it was only my parents, my sister and me. The play was shown in an exact reproduction of the 16^th century Globe Theater. The theater was about the size of a small mansion. The walls were wood with white plaster in between.

The theater itself was in the shape of an oval and the stage was a sort of T in the middle.

The show was very well crafted and was excellent to watch. Unfortunately, the actors spent most of their time walking around and talking, with only a few fun inserts so it wasn’t that entertaining. They more than made up for that in story content though.

REVIEW OF LES MISERABLES

When my cousins and grandparents arrived our whole family went to Les Miserables.  We enjoyed it wholeheartedly, and it was so good that I feel I will not be able to do it justice and you will just have to see it for yourself. I will try to voice my impressions however. The costumes and scenery were INCREDIBLE!!! The songs were so amazing that as soon as I went home I bought my favorite songs on ITunes! The actors who played Jean Valjean and Javert were especially amazing. If I had to choose my two favorite songs I would choose Master of the House and Overture/Work song. Overall impression, if you get the chance see Les-Miz! 

REVIEW OF WARHORSE

The next day we went to see Warhorse which is about a boy and his horse in War World I.  The actors were very enthusiastic and never once left their character and personality. The stage was simple and yet wonderful. It was a plain wooden stage, with occasional props and a massive rotating turntable in the shape of a circle that took up most of the floor. Props were not elaborate and were things like doors standing in the middle of nowhere. They had you use your imagination for the scenery, but still managed to make it seem as if it were there. Above the stage there was a white screen in the shape of a misshapen cloud, it was occasionally a cloud but usually showed the scenery of wherever the play was happening. The puppets themselves should deserve a whole essay, but I shall try not to go in to too much detail. The puppets were unbelievable in their complexity and were life sized. There were many horses with operators inside, and even a little goose that was propelled by a man in black. However, although the tech was amazing, the story was very grim and gruesome. Overall, Warhorse is an excellent play but I do not recommend bringing anyone under 10 to see it.

WINNER AND LOSER

Les-Miz is the best by far and seize any chance to see it. If there are no tickets see WarHorse instead as long as you are the right age group. If you can’t go to Les-Miz and your kids are under 10 wait until you can go to Les-Miz. Only go to Shakespeare if the group is all adults, or the kids like history.