One could argue that, since this production at the Barrow Street Theatre is no longer being performed in an actual pie shop (as it was in Tooting), there was no need to try to set up the theater as if it were a pie shop. Maybe they did it just so they could continue the gimmick of serving pies before the show, which is also a revenue stream :-)
Anyway, I certainly don't think retaining the "pie shop" setting is a detriment to the production. On the other hand, I don't think that specific concept is what makes this wonderful production so distinctive -- rather, among other things, it's the intimacy of it, and the fact that the actors sometimes perform in the audience area. |
