Brief Encounter- Studio 54

As referenced in the title, I saw Roundabout Theatre Company's presentation of Kneehigh Theatre's production of Noel Coward's Brief Encounter.   The show was 90 min long so it was indeed a brief encounter. It was a combination of songs, scenes, film, music and some puppetry. It told the story of two married people having an affair in 1930's London, and then going their separate ways and continuing on with their lives.  A lot of the action took place in the cafe at a railroad station, with two additional couples involved in the action.  The play was a bit weird with some of the interludes randomly occurring so that the play didn't seem to have fluidity at times. I thought the play was good, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others, although it's set to close January 2.

In some ways, the play reminded me of another show currently running and set to close soon, The 39 Steps.  Both plays are adaptations of movies from the first part of the 20th century by British theatre companies with some impressive stagecraft. In this case, characters walk through a screen and suddenly become visible on film, and props are brought on and offstage in fluid motion.  The cast is seven actors and two musicians, so the stage is often well-populated. I hadn't been to Studio 54 in over six years actually, and I think it's a wonderful space, as the mezzanine overhangs much of the orchestra so the sightlines are quite wonderful and I could see the whole stage and most facial expressions quite clearly. It's a fairly intimate space with the capacity to mount moderate to large-scale musicals, as Cabaret, Assassins, 110 in the Shade, Pal Joey, The Apple Tree, and Sunday in the Park with George have all been performed there within the last decade. Outside of the Sondheim revivals, a lot of their musicals seem to be hit-or-miss, with their revivals of classic plays usually faring better. I am interested in their new production of The Importance of Being Earnest which just began previews and am crossing my fingers that they will do a great job with Anything Goes, as I have my doubts. If I do see these shows, I will post reviews!