The Society of London Theatre maintains a press night diary, where producers log their openings so that major clashes can theoretically be avoided. How, then, to account for the fact that tonight there isn’t one opening, not two, not three, not even four, but an astonishing five, simultaneously occurring?
The most egregious is the head-to-head rivalry of two major musicals: the transfer of the Newbury production of Mack and Mabel to the Criterion, and the arrival of Movin’ Out from Broadway. When Movin’ Out was first announced, it had set a press opening for next week, April 18, but then brought it forward unexpectedly – perhaps motivated by the RSC Complete Works opening that night in Stratford-upon-Avon of Romeo and Juliet. (The clash that was also announced for the next night – that would have seen the RSC’s opening of Antony and Cleopatra, with Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter clash with Judi Dench’s Hay Fever in the West End – has now been avoided, with Hay Fever moving its opening to the next night, April 20).
But the behemoth of a big Broadway show Movin’ Out trampling over the more modestly-proportioned Mack and Mabel shows a more disturbing lack of basic courtesy. Critics have duly been put in the interesting position: some will no doubt choose between them, but the more conscientious of us have given part of our weekends up to make sure we can do both: when I went to Mack and Mabel on Saturday night, the Guardian’s Michael Billington, the Observer’s Susannah Clapp, the FT’s Alastair Macaulay and the Sunday Telegraph’s Susan Irvine were all in attendance. It wasn’t something any of us had discussed in advance; just a practical necessity that we’d all reached the same conclusion over trying to fit in.
But if that’s not enough, three plays have also scheduled openings tonight: Hilda at Hampstead Theatre, Rainbow Kiss at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs, and Huge at the King’s Head. Each are venues that are often covered by first string critics, and though the broadsheets (in spirit, if not size anymore) employ second strings that will be able to get to them instead, some of us are solo operators. I’m therefore chasing their tale by going to Hampstead tomorrow (in a slot opened up by the postponement of the Donmar’s Phaedra that was to have opened tomorrow), and to the Court on Saturday afternoon.
Of course, in a theatrical landscape where there are more shows opening than there are nights in the week, some of this may be unavoidable. But there should be enough nights to avoid the West End having to clash with itself.
It's not only London. The previous Monday (3 April) both Manchester's city centre theatres shared a Press Night, the Library with a revival of A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG, the Royal Exchange (being strictly alphabetical) with Rattigan's SEPARATE TABLES, incorporating the (previously-unused)revisions intended for the American production).
For good measure, the Exchange's A WHISTLE IN THE DARK opened the same night in its transfer to London's Tricycle (Michael Billington did the Rattigan, so the cross-=city clash does have an impact).
THe Library and Exchange often do this. Is it a psycho-battle, the big Exchange asserting their sense of priority while the littler LIbrary refuses to be dislodged? Or do they merely enjoy the shared sense of expectancy stretching across Albert Square?
They're not alone either. It's happened with Oldham and Bolton, not a million metres from each other, while one or other of those has clashed with Lancaster Dukes, the next playhouse up the road (ie the M6) Similar things have happened in Yorkshire, where West Yorkshire Playhouse's premiere of SCUFFER recently shared a night with nearby York Theatre Royal's premiere MRS PAT.
As for whether it matters that much, maybe not as much as in London where there's likely to be more openings the next night, with no spare evenings to soak up the clashes.
But it must be fun playing the game of who can get more regional/national critics to their first-night. Assuming, of course, they get any of the latter.