Queen of the Ocean, Bournemouth Pier
I am obsessed with Titanic so HAD to experience this night. My partner was dragged along under sufferance but got into the spirit of things and we both assembled marvellous First class 1912 outfits. We arrived to fabulously dressed other passengers and a young man took our coats and put them in the cloakroom. We needn't have worried about needing them apart from on the pier since it was STIFLINGLY hot in the venue. Much too small a venue for the volume of folk present. We were led to our table which was tiny and very cramped and found our name cards which had the pre-ordered menu printed on the back. I agree with other reviewers that the theatre company should supply printed copies of the only surviving menu from that night. I have seen people complain about the food but being a total Titaniac I knew exactly what we would be getting. We were brought our complementary cocktail and I have to say the table service was efficient. About 7p.m. Captain Smith appeared and lots of folk were having their photos taken with him or posing alongside the "Queen of the Ocean" backdrop. There were also various small exhibits around the room including a board which I swear said "Thomas Andrew" instead of "....Andrews". LOL. There were also two screens up either side of the room with the sea on them...shame we couldn't see the real sea outside the window but to be fair, it was dark outside. The company are missing a trick here, there SHOULD be backdrops of the Titanic's beautiful dining room, especially during the points in the evening where we received any of our three courses. When the performance finally started I rather enjoyed the Captain's ironic optimism about the journey and was delighted when he spoke directly to me, I was dressed to the nines and feeling Regal. Three maids also materialised and one sat at our table to tell us she was getting wed. The food when it arrived was okay, it was what I had ordered and about as average as one would expect. I was disappointed at the lack of creamed carrots with my main course though, we received carrot batons which looked suspiciously as if they had come pre-cut in a bag. The performance was okay, and having done walkabout theatre myself I believe the cast were doing their best...although I agree with other reviews that there should have been cast members peppered amongst the paying passengers, present at the tables and no one would be any the wiser. Some parts of the evening did drag on a bit and I saw a few glum bored faces in the room, apart from the people throwing booze down their necks and giggling. The screens now showed Titanic but very poor graphics and not a soul on board, there is far better on youtube. Also the ship sinking up to her nameplate on the hull ( incised actually) was a bit odd when a few minutes later she had unsunk herself again. The narrative from the actors was also confusingly mismatched to the screen which was displaying a minute by minute synopsis of Titanic's last hours. Also hearing "Blue Danube" on a loop was irritating. There really should be live music from a string quartet, although I will let the company off for having both "Song d'Automne" AND "Nearer my God to thee". Also the singing of a hymn mid meal was a bit incongruous!!! The evening culminated in the screams and cries of folk drowning and a solemn small roll call in descending age of those lost. There are also some fab shots of the ship now, complete with rusticles. All in all not a bad night, I enjoyed it but it needs improvement, glad we didn't pay Savoy prices for it.
February 3, 2024
Unprompted review