Blogs

Theatregoers Mystified by Menier Invisible Man

| London's West End |

21 January 2011

Although rare that we are able to offer Whatsonstage.com Group Outings to productions at the Menier Chocolate Factory, any opportunity to see a show in David Babai‘s South London venue invariably leads to an enjoyable evening.

The 50 theatregoers who joined us for last night’s trip to see Ian Talbot‘s The Invisible Man were treated to a musical hall inspired and comically infused adaptation of HG Wells’ classic science fiction novel about the rustic village of Iping terrorised by the sinister and bandaged Griffin.

Adapted for the stage by the late Ken Hall in 1991, the world premiere production was staged at the Theatre Royal Stratford East with magician Paul Kieve creating the show’s illusions. Kieve has since gone on to work on the West End productions of The Lord of the Rings and The Witches of Eastwick, as well as consulting to performers such as Derren Brown. He certainly managed to mystify theatregoers at last night’s performance, commenting that one of the greatest challenges was how close the audience were to the stage.

The star-studded cast include triple Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman, John Gordon Sinclair,Gary Wilmot, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps star Natalie Casey, Teddy Kempner, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jo Stone-Fewings, Christopher Godwin and Michael Beckley, each of whom seemed to have a riotous time, often playing multiple characters and fighting with themselves.

Following the performance we were not only lucky enough to be joined by the entire cast, but also by director Ian Talbot and illusionist Paul Kieve. As well as discussing the differences between the show’s premiere – which transferred from Stratford to the West End – and its Menier productions, the cast also spoke at length about the camaraderie which existed between the ensemble members and which was quite clear on stage!

Please do feel free to email your comments and thoughts about the play, as well as any photos you have of the event and the evening through to feedback@whatsonstage.com, we love to hear from you.

Thanks for joining us for this event, and do check the homepage to keep up to date on all of our upcoming Outings.

– Andrew Girvan