As I'm spending this evening in a hotel room, I thought I'd take some time to write about my trip to London, so far. I'm here to see Hamlet and Twelfth Night. On arriving Wednesday morning, my main goal was to make sure I was rested enough to enjoy the performance of Hamlet last night. Fortunately, even though I arrived at the hotel hours before their normal check-in time, they had a room for me and I was able to take a nap. I have to say that I didn't do much else on Wednesday - just wandered around central London on foot (everything is so close that I wouldn't have bothered with the Tube in the past had I known), had dinner, and stopped in at a Waterstone's Book Shop to get a copy of Twelfth Night. I had plans to read it before I saw the performance, as it's been more than 15 years since I read it. (Although the Royal Shakespeare Company's
Manifesto on learning Shakespeare emphasizes active involvement in the plays, either acting or watching, which I don't dispute is a good thing, I personally learn better by reading than I do by hearing. Given the rapidity of speech from good actors, the accents, and the difficulty of this older version of English, I'd like to make sure I understand it.) However, I haven't yet started reading it...I felt too tired for Shakespeare Wednesday night, so I just read a bit further in A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, which
jaderabbit and her husband gave me to borrow when I visited them in November. (I'd have gotten to it sooner, but I was reading The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie and was very busy with the holidays. So, I'm about 150 pages into it and was interested to see that
lunas_ceiling just posted her thoughts on it. I don't want to read what she wrote until I'm finished with it, though. Unlike
cynodd, I never skip to the end! *lol*)
Yesterday, in order to relax, I did what I often do when out of town - had a manicure and pedicure. Usually, I do this when I'm away for a conference because I'm alone and have no sightseeing to do. But, this trip is similar to that, since I'm alone and have less sightseeing to do than when I go somewhere I've never been before. Also, having a "spa day" (or few hours) allowed me to rest more and catch up from my jet lag. I added in a massage, since I've been curious to try it and 2 of my colleagues at work love them. It was different - mostly relaxing, but a few times I felt like I couldn't breathe due to the pressure. I'm glad she didn't crack one of my ribs! *lol*
In the evening, I went to the performance of Hamlet, which was preceded and followed by a reception for members of the RSC who had bought a ticket for this special event (to benefit the educational programs of the RSC). I had the good luck to be assigned to a table with a very nice couple roughly my age and a very nice older gentleman. The older gentleman seemed very entertained by my American-ness and I was, in turn, entertained by his reaction to me. :) The couple told me that I didn't have a strong accent, which I thought was funny, since I thought everyone thought people with accents different from their own were the ones with the strong accents, not themselves. (If that makes any sense...) I explained that the Midwestern accent is the standard for TV and movies in the US. They told me that many British teenagers are speaking in that Midwestern accent because of the influence of American TV here, which I found very surprising, somewhat strange, and also a bit sad. I love different accents.
Hamlet itself was fantastic. I'd really enjoyed it when I saw it in Stratford-upon-Avon last summer (at a preview performance), but it was obvious to me how much it had improved with time. At the reception before the performance, the director, Gregory Doran, said a few words about David Tennant having missed most of the performances of the London run (he was fortunately back this week). He said that he thought Tennant had been so grieved to have missed so much of the run that it informed his performance. And, there was definitely more emotional depth now than there was last summer - Hamlet seemed much more fragile, as if he was balancing on the edge of a knife. My only quibble last summer was that there were quite a few moments at which his performance reminded me of the Doctor and that the audience seemed very informed by his portrayal of the Doctor. This time, there were almost none. (A word here or there, I'm sure, can't be helped, since he is the same man with the same voice portraying both...)
Seeing a production a second time allows me to focus on different things, since I know what to expect. It's one of the reasons that I enjoy watching movies and TV shows that I like over and over. This time, I was struck by how Ophelia, Laertes, and Fortinbras are all foils for Hamlet, seeming to show what he isn't. Hamlet may be mad, but he's not mad like Ophelia...he may be vengeful, but not like Laertes...he may be a warrior, but not like Fortinbras (or his father, for that matter). I've been trying to decide whether I like Hamlet in the sense of whether he's a good person. Although it wasn't really part of this production, I've always had a problem with Hamlet's disposal of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Also, I don't really like how he seems to use Ophelia and lack adequate remorse for having killed Polonius. However, in his favor, Horatio seems, without guile, very fond of and loyal to him and, in this production, there was a real rapport between Horatio and Hamlet, which helped to temper my more negative feelings toward Hamlet. (The fragility given to his character by Tennant this time around also helped with that.)
The performances that I particularly noted this time, aside from Tennant's, were those of Penny Downie as Gertrude and Peter De Jersey as Horatio. I've already mentioned the excellent rapport between his Horatio and Tennant's Hamlet, which made both characters more than what they are just on paper. Downie was very interesting to watch, even when Gertrude wasn't directly involved in the action of the play. It was clear from watching her that Gertrude was very smart - that she understood a great deal of what was going on under the surface. For example, she conveyed that Gertrude understood Claudius meant to have Hamlet killed when Laertes demanded revenge and also that Gertrude suspected Claudius had poisoned the cup for Hamlet. She doesn't just unknowingly drink the poison. She tests Claudius to confirm the cup is poisoned by motioning as if she'll drink it, then chooses to drink it, even though her suspicion is confirmed. This makes sense, given the portrayal of her throughout the play, slowly realizing what she has allowed and what Claudius is. This brings me to another improvement over the performance last summer. At that time, I found the scene in Gertrude's closet to be fairly Oedipal and didn't really believe Gertrude's sincerity in the concern she showed to Hamlet, since she seemed to allow Claudius to comfort her too easily after the confrontation with Hamlet. This time it was entirely different. They seemed very much mother and son with Gertrude taking her son's words to heart when Claudius made to comfort her.
There was a reception with many of the cast members following the performance, which was fun. I made an effort to tell everyone involved who was present how much I'd enjoyed the show, although there were a few whom I missed. I met several of the cast who had been to Ann Arbor, Michigan with the RSC a few years ago. One man (possibly
Ewen Cummins, though I could be remembering wrong) showed me that he was wearing a Michigan scarf and said, "Go Blue!" when he heard where I was from. :-D One of the people who had been to Ann Arbor was a gatecrasher from
Oliver! down the road, Julian Bleach. He'd previously performed with the RSC, but said that he's currently playing the undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry in Oliver!. So, of course, I had to tell him that I'd been in Oliver! in high school. *lol* Not entirely by coincidence, then, I've had the song,
That's Your Funeral, running through my head for much of the day. I might try to see whether there are any tickets for Oliver! available for tomorrow at the theatre box office, although I understand it's essentially all sold out.
I spoke with
Andrea Harris who was very friendly and enthusiastic. She's from New York and seemed particularly pleased to meet a fellow American, as well as an ordinary person (ie. not a literary academic/theater buff). I greatly enjoyed speaking with her. She subsequently introduced me to
Riann Steele who doesn't have a speaking part, but named her character, a "personal assistant" to Gertrude, Frieda. :)
Andrea Harris then introduced me to
Peter De Jersey and
Mark Hadfield. I spent some time speaking with Peter De Jersey, although I can't remember much of what we said. I told him that I'd especially enjoyed his performance, but I think I made a mistake in telling him that he was the first person there I'd met who'd had a significant number of lines. It was just something to say - sometimes things that are said only for the purpose of saying something are best left unsaid, though. Anyway, he started to talk about the importance of the ensemble and how everyone is important, not just those who are best remembered. Of course, I agreed with him and responded that I had been making an effort to tell everyone how I'd enjoyed the performance. He asked whether I was familiar with "David's other work" and, of course, I am. He asked about the popularity of it in the US and I had to say that most people I know have never seen Doctor Who. He suggested that Patrick Stewart is much better known in the US, which I think is accurate. I told him that I was supposed to say "hello" to Patrick Stewart from my Dad, if he was there, which he was not. As he said goodbye to me, he kissed me on each cheek, which made me wonder where he or his family is from. I don't think that's a British thing. I've mainly run across that greeting in people from South America (the people I met in Brazil and my brother's fiancee). I then spoke with Mark Hadfield who was the gravedigger. He was quite funny both times I saw the production. I spoke to him about using a real skull in the performance, after confirming that the 2 he threw onstage were not real. (The real one, representing Yorick, was carefully placed on the side of the grave.) He said that he didn't like using a real skull at first. He also said that there is another real skull in the RSC's prop collection, which was that of a criminal hanged in the nineteenth century. The one used in this performance was donated for the purpose of being used as a prop according to the wishes of the man who died.
I have to confess that I fibbed a little during my discussions with people, since I didn't reveal that I'd previously seen Hamlet during the summer. I guess I was worried that people might think it was strange that I was seeing it more than once. When they asked what productions of the RSC I'd seen, I said that this was the first, which is technically true, if all the performances of Hamlet are considered the same...a stretch, I know. So, I think they thought it was strange that I would be at this event without previously having seen something by the RSC. I explained about my interest in Shakespeare from my college course in it (which is true) and my desire to have seen the RSC in Ann Arbor (which is true), but it wasn't quite plausible, I don't think... And, I probably needn't have worried about it because the couple I met there were seeing it for a 5th time!
I got back to the hotel past 1:00 am and went directly to bed. Today, I slept in and didn't get out until nearly 1:00 pm. I went to Westminster Abbey, which I hadn't previously been inside. The tour I took gave a bit of history of the abbey, but mostly pointed out the graves or memorials of famous people: kings, queens, scientists, and artists. I stood quite awhile on the grave of Charles Dickens because that's where there was room to stand while the guide was talking. It seemed a bit strange to me. The guide pointed out the grave of Thomas Hardy and said that, while his ashes are at Westminster Abbey, his heart was cut out and buried in his hometown. If I understood correctly, Laurence Olivier was buried there, although it may just have been a memorial. There was a memorial to FDR there and, demonstrating the reciprocal relationship between the United States and Great Britain, there was a grave of an unknown soldier. This British unknown soldier had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the US Government. Apparently, the American unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery was awarded the Victoria Cross by the British Government. I hadn't previously known about that.
Since it gets dark early here and most touristy things close by late afternoon, I decided to see a movie in the early evening. I saw Slumdog Millionaire, which I would highly recommend. The story was constructed in a really interesting and compelling way. Without giving too much away, it's the story of a young man who is winning at the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." He's suspected of cheating and the movie cuts between the authorities showing him a video of him on the show answering the questions and his life experiences which may have led him to the answers. Although the movie was often violent with the main characters suffering a lot, there was definitely a payoff with everything coming together in a meaningful ending. :)