Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Space Psychosis and Medieval Castration

I saw two shows in one weekend: a musical about space psychosis with Kitty on Saturday, and a theologian getting castrated at the Globe with Ali on Sunday.

The Dust Collectors was a lot of fun. A completely new musical, put on for a week in the wonderful South London Theatre, dealing with the troubles of astronauts returning to Earth.

This was a theatrical experience you'd be unlikely to get anywhere else, and it went down well with me and nine-year old Kitty. It had some serious strands, some very funny parts, good songs and great choreography. And - amateur theatre gold dust - lots of talented people ,working really hard and having fun.

In Extremis at the Globe Theatre, was the story of Abelard and Heloise, dramatised by Howard Brenton. Theological debate, or love story, or both? They sort of wove together, and the play really worked well - though was Brenton unfair to the mystic Bernard of Clairvaux, chief enemy of Abelard's rationalistic approach to religion? Bernard came on like a fundamentalist freak, and Abelard was a one-man mini-Reformation - and yet, you could see the other side of the arguments... good play.

And it had the kind of comedy business they do well at the Globe.

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