This past week, I went to see Les Mis with two of my flatmates. It was spectacular- nearly every single seat was filled, despite the fact that we attended during a massive Tube strike, on a Monday night.
The set had a rotating stage, which really helped, considering for the majority of the play, the characters were on the move. I laughed at the funny parts, let a few tears escape when my favorite characters died, and got the shivers when Eponine sang "On My Own." It was just the way I would like to begin every week!
However, the one drawback to the play was that the actor who plays the little boy had an incomprehensible accent. Though he sang quite a bit, I think I understood a total of 3 words he said. Which was disappointing, considering (I think) he delivered a solid lawyer joke. Or the audience's laughter would indicate that. I figure that he must be from Liverpool or thereabouts, an area that no matter how hard I try to pay attention to body language and sentence structure, I have serious problems understanding people who come from there. I have the same problem with a really nice bartender at one of our favorite local pubs. He is genuinely nice, and (I think?) has a great sense of humor and love of talking about football. But for the life of me, those conversations are always so strained as I'm constantly trying to think of polite, neutral remarks to say back to him. Remarks that make it seem like I understood what he said one of the three times I asked him to repeat himself. :/
All in all: If you are in London, go see Les Mis! And then tell me what that kid said about lawyers.
I worked with a Welsh girl one summer. I couldn't understand a damn thing she said and asked her to repeat herself all the time before giving up and just smiling and nodding.
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