EVITA

Sometimes, just to shake things up a bit, I'll go see a film or read a book with absolutely no idea what it's about. In other words, I will deliberately refrain from researching its plot or searching for reviews so I can watch/read while free of any preconceptions that such research could potentially throw my way. So when my friend, Katy, suggested we go to the theater, I suggested we go see Evita at The Edinburgh Playhouse.

Now, don't get me wrong, I knew Evita was famous and I knew that "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" is from it... but that was pretty much as far as my knowledge extended. Turned out that Katy was pretty much in the same boat as me and just fancied going to see a performance. However, while we walked to The Playhouse discussing our severe lack of knowledge of the show we had just spent £50 on, Katy piped up that she knew it was about the political system in Argentina way-back-when. This was probably my first alarm bell as it contrasted quite significantly from the idea I had painted in my head of it being somehow kinda similar to Mamma Mia. I don't really "get" politics and historical politics are just a no-go usually.

Aesthetically, the show was phenomenal. I mean, there's just no way anyone could really fault the singers and dancers and the set construction was equally impressive (not to mention the dress worn for "Don't Cry For Me")... it just didn't really float my boat, which was massively disappointing. Other than the fact that politics has never been a strong point for me, I've never been a fan of musicals completely void of dialogue as I tend to find it quite tiring to keep up with the story. On top of everything else, having eventually figured out that the production is based on a real person, I came to the dismal conclusion that this is one instance where doing a bit of digging beforehand would have been incredibly beneficial.

Basically, I'm definitely glad I went to see it, it's just a shame that it wasn't as good as Mamma Mia!

In other news, a very big hello and welcome to my lunch buddy Morven who has become my first official follower! I think she did it out of pity (haha!).