Jonathan Kaufman 19 May 2019
A show’s ending always brings mixed feelings. As our triumphant run of Eye of Day: The Mata Hari Story drew to a close last night, I felt both proud and sad to see the show come to an end. Without doubt, we had some of the very best feedback on the show from audiences – with many personally telling me it was the show they had enjoyed most at Sydenham Centre so far.
We will puzzle over why we didn’t quite get the audience numbers the show deserved for a while, though – was she perhaps too unsympathetic a character for a South London audience to care about? Was the image of a scantily-clad young Mata Hari on the flyer and poster just not PC enough in this post #MeToo era? Has the Brexit-effect made people too cautious to spend their money on theatre tickets? Perhaps we’ll never know!
But theatre by its very nature is ephemeral – which is what makes it a wonderful medium of course, and a metaphor for life perhaps? – so already I’m thinking about the next show, and the ones after that too… But we do hope we’ve thoroughly entertained – and educated a little – those who came to see the show.
Margaretha Geertruida Zelle aka Mata Hari – I hope we did you proud?
