L: Hello again, and welcome back to Britain under the microscope. Hello Anlan!
A: Hello everybody.
L: So last time, when we were talking I remember that you've just got back from UK, right?
A: Yes.
L: I never early ask you, did you do anything fun with your family when you were in London?
A: Yes, we went out to the West End and I went to the theatre.
L: You went to the theatre. Do you mean you saw a show or watched a film?
A: I went to see a show. It's important, you remember, that in Britain English, we don't say movie theatre, that's the American expression. We would say the cinema, so we see a film in the cinema but we go to see a show at the theatre.
L: That is one difference between American English and British English, and lots of you are asking. In the American English, when we say a movie theatre, you mean a place where you can watch a film, a movie. But in Britain, if you want to see a movie, you go to the cinema, and you go to a theatre to see a show. So you mentioned you went to the West End.
A: Yes.
L: I thinking most of Chinese people have heard the Broadway in New York. You know, the Broadway is a theatre land. Actually in London, there is equally famous even more famous theatre land called the West End（伦敦西区）。
A: Yes. It's a very small area of London and this is what we call theatre land, London's theatre land where all the famous theatres are.
L: How many theatres are there?
A: It depends how you count them. About 100 or so.
L: 100! Wow. I remember I went to the West End quite frequently and there were just so many theatres for those who have never been in London. It's difficult to imagine that. It's literally one theatre after another.
A: Yea, you can walk down some streets in the West End and a very small street is about 5 or 6 theatres on that street.
L: This is also why people talk about going to the West End.
A: Yes.
L: So what kind of shows can you see in the West End?
A: At the moment in the West End, the most popular type of show is a musical.
L: A musical, is it like 'Cats'?
A: Yes.
L: So musical is one of my favorite type of shows. Apart from musical, what else?
A: You can see operas and of course you can see plays as well.
L: In China, usually a show at a theatre would be on a few months sometimes even shorter. What about in the UK?
A: Well, some shows not very good so sometimes only last maybe 6 months. But about 2 or 3 years is normal.
L: 2,3 years. I noticed one thing when I was there, usually one theatre only has one show on for months or even years.
A: Yeah, that's because London theatres tend to be quite small and actually there's one famous play 'the Mousetrap' by Agatha Christie…
L: Agatha Christie was the one who wrote 'Murder on the Orient Express', 'Death on the Nile'. And she has a very famous play called 'the Mousetrap'.
A: Yes. And 'the Mousetrap' in this one theatre has been showing since 1952.
L: 1952, Wow! Actually when I went to see 'the Mousetrap' I really realized it has been on for so long
A: Really?
L: It's amazing that people still want to go back to see it even though they know exactly what happened. And another popular show, a musical that most Chinese people know of, is the musical 'Cats'. It also was on in the West End for a very long period of time, wasn't it?
A: 'Cats' was running for 21 years.
L: 21 years! How many performances?
A: Uh, close to 9000.
L: 9000 performances and all in one theatre.
A: Only one theatre, all show in one show.
L: So when you're going to the theatre, obviously you choose seats. This is quite confusing for people who haven't been to theatre in the West End. I remember seeing Stalls, Dress Circle, Royal Circle, Upper Circle. 座位分成不同区域，有Stalls, Dress Circle, Royal Circle, Upper Circle.
A: Yeah, the stalls, they're at the bottom, then you have the dress circle, it's called dress circle, coz a little bit more expensive.
L: I remember the dress circle quite be expensive. And some parts of stalls are also expensive.
A: Yeah, so also Royal Circle as well than Upper Circle. But in the West End, you also can buy very cheap tickets and we call that 'sitting in the gods'.
L: 'sitting in the gods', does that mean you're sitting in the so high that you can't see the stage, you're actually with the gods?
A: Pretty much, but you can still see a bit of stage.
L: Actually just like Alan just mentioned you can buy cheap tickets. Usually the tickets are quite expensive, isn't it, going to see the West End's show.
A: Depends where you sit. Generally is about 50 or 70 pounds.
L: It can get quite expensive, but for those of you who will travel to London in the future, you can also get cheaper tickets either on line on some websites.
A: There're little places all around the West End selling discount tickets. These tickets are normally remainders.
L: They're leftover.
A: They're leftover tickets, so you can buy them from 3 o'clock in the afternoon before the performance acts at 7 o'clock in the evening.
L: So on the day of the performance. You usually can see people lining up for it.
A: Yeah, especially tourists. If you don't mind which show you want to see, it's a bit luck sometimes you might get show you like, other times the show you might not like.
L: A part of the travelling experience.
A: Absolutely.
L: So let's talk about the history of the West End. London has always been famous for theatre, hasn't it?
A: Yes, ever since 16th—17th century.

L: That's Shakespeare's period.
A: That's where the theatre started. Shakespeare showed many of his plays at the Globe theatre.
L: That's on the southern bank of the River Thames.
A: Yes, back then theatres were quite dangerous, lord places with lots of crime. They didn't want them in the city, they wanted them in the outskirts, in the area called Southwark.
L: So back then, the theatre no the other side of the city eventually. So if you're into Shakespeare, it's always good experience to go to the Globe theatre.
A: Absolutely. And for Globe theatre you can buy 5 pounds tickets but…
L: 5 pounds?
A: Yes,5 pounds, but you have to stand up and there's no roof. So if it rains then you get wet.
L: Can hold an umbrella?
A: No.
L: OK. That sounds very English to watch a show in the rain.
A: That's why Shakespeare's Globe is close in the winter. It's only open in the summer.
L: Because it's too cold.
A: It's too cold and there's no roof.
L: But now you can still see Shakespeare's play in the Globe.
A: Yeah, it's a great experience.
L: So next time if you are in London. Then moving on the expressions. Theatre sense has such a huge influence on English language. There 're some really interesting idioms related to the theatre. Allen can share some of these with us.
A: Well, people in the theatres are very superstitious.
L: Superstitious, so they believe in super natural powers.
A: Yes. So for example, it's bad luck to say good luck to an actor.
L: Hand on a minute. That sounds really complex. It's bad luck to say good luck.
A: Yes.
L: And what do you say that?
A: Normally, you would say 'break a leg'.
L: You would say 'break a leg 'to wish them good luck?
A: It doesn't mean a leg as in leg on your body. A leg, it says a handle of lever for raising the curtain. So it means the audience wants to see you again and again so many times. They actually break a leg.
L: 'break a leg' essentially is what you say to someone before a big performance or something very important now. Can we now say things, for example, before a big exam, can we say 'break a leg'?
A: It's most use in theatre, but you can say in these type of occasions.
L: To say 'break a leg' to mean good luck, especially for a performance. Any other idioms?
A: Yes, you can say 'to be in the limelight'.
L: 'to be in the limelight'. Limelight is the old theatre lights, aren't they?
A: Yes. Lime is a type of stone and it's such quite dangerous, lots of theatres used to burn down because burn is so quickly.
L: So 'in the limelight' what does it mean now?
A: 'to be in the limelight' means there everyone is focus on you.
L: Everyone is focus on you. 'to be in the limelight'. So a lot of celebrities are in the limelight.
A: Absolutely. And sometimes you can say 'to steal the limelight' or 'to steal the show'.
L: 'to steal the limelight' and 'to steal the show' meaning to steal the attention.
A: Yes. That means to get the most attention, the most prays and we normally use it in a quite negative way.
L: 'to steal someone's limelight' is not something very nice, isn't it?
A: Oh, it's time for one more. We can say 'to get the show on the road'.
L: 'to get the show on the road' and what does that mean?
A: That means 'to start something, to put a plan into action'.
L: Essentially to start a show, start your plan. For example, can we say, before starting your presentation, Let's get the show on the road?
A: 'Let's get the show on the road', it's quite common phrase.
L: Right. Now more and more Chinese are travelling to other countries, many of them would go for London for a trip. So would you recommend that they go to see a show in the West End?
A: Definitely. It's absolutely brilliant.
L: It's such an experience, isn't it?
A: It's such London's experience. But I would say if you feel your English is not high enough level for show, I would say go and see a musical.
L: a musical
A: Yeah. The plots, the stories are very simple and it's mostly singing and it's quite easy to understand.
L: Like 'Lion', it has lots of cartoon show tunes.
A: Yes, some of the show tune from the fancy opera 'Cats', they are now world famous. Lots of tunes properly you can recognize.
L: So that was the episode on going to the theatre, going to the theatre in London. If you have a chance to go to London, don't miss out on the theatre experience.
A: And don't forget to find some cheap tickets as well.
L: Let us know your experience. We will see you next time. Bye!
A: Bye bye for everyone.

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