Theatre Trip: Don Juan in Soho

DON JUAN IN SOHO

Thursday 8th June, 7:30

Seats: Royal Circle, B9/10

Wyndham's Theatre

Cast Changes: none (thank goodness!)

Note: I wrote this review the following day (almost 24 hours later) for one simple reason - to let the fangirling ease a little and give it a more indepth review. I hope it worked.

Wow. We bought tickets to this show based purely on the fact that David Tennant was in it (and Adrian Scarborough I also recognised from Doctor Who), but it was so, so, so much more than expected. Don Juan, as a character, I was familiar with (he's a seducer who sleeps with basically all the ladies), but this was a modern take set in contemporary London, which was cool given the theatre is in Soho!

It was so hilarious. I was not expecting it to be so funny! Poetic, beautiful lines just like Shakespeare, but wicked and rude. It was also very raunchy, in a quite in your face way at times (David Tennant in his underwear!), and he just had to make you laugh (sometimes, you either laughed or you were horrified). Underneath the rude and raunchy though, was such an honest and true note. So many of the truths he said were totally true - about the connectedness of modern society, the likes and the follows and the vlogs. I wish I could remember the words - I tried to commit them to memory at the time - but unfortunately I can't recall them now. They did have the audience clapping and cheering though. And there were even a couple of Trump jokes (including one I do remember: "I'm not a rapist, I don't grab p****")!

The character of Don Juan is exactly like a child - he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, because he wants to. And of course, in the end, it doesn't work out well.

The ensemble in this show was really strong - some played multiple roles, and all the roles were distinct and the actors were good. Adrian Scarborough was great - sarcastic, and beaten-down, but honest. He could be surprisingly funny too!

And David Tennant. Woah. He wears some great costumes in this play, from beautifully cut suits to only dressing gown and underwear. He used his British accent throughout, and the way he spoke was beautiful. Obviously, he's got the best lines, and he had this great drawl to his voice. Basically, he's great on TV, but even better live. SO so great. I am so pleased we got tickets and got to see this show!

 

Now, the story: Don Juan closes on Saturday night. El Husbando went to the theatre Thursday morning to line up to get day seats on the front row. He was in line for more than an hour, and they ran out of seats when he was third in line! (There were only 8, apparently) But, because I have the best husband, he bought full price tickets (and we had great seats with a perfect view) which means he missed a couple of hours of work out of his day.

And at the curtain call, David Tennant came onto stage wearing an I <3 LONDON shirt, made a really great inspirational speech about the terrorist attacks and how we had to show we weren't afraid by continuing to live (including quoting Michelle Obama), and then all the cast in their costumes came out to collect money for the Red Cross. David was at the front, and I tried to get to him to donate my money - I wanted to thank him for all his roles. But he disappeared before I could get to him. So I went around to the stage door, where there was a rather large crowd, but after even not that long, he came out! He stayed and signed programmes for a while, including mine, and I got to say my thank you to one of my favourite British actors. It was an amazing night.