juliet | Entries tagged with theatre

Obviously the correct chronological order is the other way around, but I saw them backwards; which was interesting! in that I noticed various things in Henry VI that they picked up again in Richard III, whereas I suppose it's supposed to be the other way around. (Also when Richard came on I thought "aw yay!" which I'm pretty sure is *not* supposed to be the response to seeing Shakespeare's Richard :D ) Henry VI normally comes in three parts; this was Parts II and III squashed together into 3h20, including two intervals.

Note: I don't think 'spoilers' is exactly a thing in this context, but if you were intending to watch either of these in the week or so before they close (WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you can), and you prefer not to read in advance about production choices, perhaps don't read these somewhat rambly observations.

( tl;dr bloody (very bloody) great )

Yesterday my sister and I went to the Barbican (which is a very comfy theatre!) to see their production of Jesus Christ Superstar (which apparently is the same as the 2016 Regent's Park outdoor one).

( spoilers for staging etc if you mind about that )

On Tuesday P & I went to see Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge (which is conveniently a 15 min walk from me, now they've re-opened the St Saviour's footbridge), and it was AWESOME.

(Note: I don't think 'spoilers' really apply for a 400+ year old play, but I'm going to talk about staging details & at least one significant script decision & so on, so if you are going to see it and want to come to that stuff fresh, don't read on.)

( tldr: loved it )

Overall though it just felt really fun, and immersive (even from the seats), and magical. As they got to the last few speeches I found myself feeling genuinely sad that I was going to have to leave this place they'd created -- and it did feel like leaving, not just sadness that the story was coming to an end. I'd very happily go back again (I mean, I probably won't, because time & money are constraints and there's lots of theatre to see, but I would).

This week I finally got to see Hamilton, after about two years of listening to the music, and a year after buying the tickets. It was absolutely fantastic; my main thought on leaving the theatre was "I need to see that again". Obviously I love it and I was expecting it to be great, but it was if anything better than I expected. Herewith a set of somewhat disjointed observations.

( cut in case people don't want staging spoilers )

Finlay likes eating snow, apparently. It is about the most excited I have seen him be about anything outside since that squirrel he chased in St James' Park. (Well. I say 'excited'. What I really mean is 'focussed'. He's not what you'd call an excitable dog, in general.) Unfortunately he seems to have some belief that snow is a sensible alternative to actually eating his dinner, but hopefully getting Xmas leftovers will help with that.

Stomach bugs really, really suck. Particular highlights: throwing up so hard my sinuses hurt; the stage at which moving from upstairs to downstairs required a five-minute lie down on the landing in the middle. Feeling a bit better now but still wobbly.

Saw Nine Lessons & Carols For Godless People last week, which was fun. Some good, some less good, but the good was well worth attending for, & if they ran it again next year I'd go.

Will the Xmas knitting be done in time? Who knows! Current bets say: maybe, just about.

I am sure other things have happened, but I can't remember any of them. Trafalgar Square clearup, LARC solstice party, snow snow snow. My ongoing attempt to get rid of more stuff (have just started to go through the CDs. Anyone know of somewhere that will take piles of CDs in exchange for cash? Only worth it if they will just take the lot, so the MVE is no good.)