Hamlet hacked
To Edinburgh for the Festival at the weekend - well, really for the Fringe. Stayed with H in her lovely Portobello flat, waking up to the view of Arthur’s Seat from her living room window.
Was glad I’d arranged to go up on the train rather than flying. The train was extremely full because of all the disruption and the driver was announcing firmly before we left that anyone without a booked seat should assume they’d have to stand all the way to Scotland. All very quiet except when a young man was chatting loudly and signing autographs further down the carriage. Clearly he’d been recognised, but he looked totally unfamiliar to me. ‘I’m only a Z-list celebrity’, he told one woman, who responded that it didn’t matter, she was from Largs. Eventually he said something about being chucked out of the house after six days, so I wondered if he could be talking about Big Brother (which I have never seen). His name turned out to be Shahbaz, and according to the Guardian today, he is ‘a man with no social skills whatsoever’. He seemed to be doing quite well with the people on the train though.
Got to Waverley only slightly late, to join H & M & N & S for a drink and then with H go to see the Soweto Gospel Choir. We first saw them three years ago, and were stunned and delighted by their singing, drumming and dancing. I did wonder if I’d find it less exciting the second time, now I knew what to expect, but no, they were wonderful again. And this time I bought the CD, so now I have them on my iPod.
Saturday morning we went to the Bouncy Castle Hamlet. Irresistible, really, and I’d hoped it would be silly but good. Unfortunately it was silly and bad, largely because Hamlet didn’t know his lines properly. They’d decided to make a joke out of it, but after the first couple of times it stopped being particularly amusing. Gertrude was inaudible, Laertes wooden (better with his accordian - actually he had the triangle as Rosencrantz Guildenstern), Horatio not bad (though his best moment was when he put his foot over Hamlet’s mouth to shut him up when Hamlet was refusing to die at the end). Ophelia was OK, at least when she went mad, and Claudius was excellent, managing to be both silly (he clearly enjoyed the bouncing) and serious. I did like the castle (scroll down to see it), and the mini bouncy castle for the play-within-the-play, and the paddling pool for the grave, and the joke of waving swords around in an inflatable building. And the bouncing part was quite fun at times (rather good bit of Hamlet bouncing away from Claudius in the first scene, and Laertes neatly bouncing to his knees in front of the king). They didn’t appear though to have thought about what costumes would stand up to being bounced about, and were having to make running repairs with gaffer tape and safety pins every time someone went offstage. In Ophelia’s mad scene it worked rather well that her clothes were falling off, but Hamlet’s black velvet splitting up the back looked less appropriate. And poor Laertes had to wear a gold-trimmed purple velvet dress with a sash attempting (I think) to hide a gaping hole, which made him look rather strange.
And then Purple Cows were visited, and ale drunk, and comedy shows (with free cakes!) attended, and a very decent performance of Moliere's Hypochondriac by Sussex students watched, along with a splendid show with swordfighting, and a film about two women fighting a duel in the 18th century. And we went to Fringe Sunday in the Meadows, which I don't recommend, as we seemed to come to every tent or performing space just as whatever-it-was was ending, and a bored compere was trying to fill the time. Much more fun to wander along the Royal Mile or Glassmarket and watch the acts try to attract audiences there. Especially the man with a guitar and a large piece of cheese on his head.
Goodness knows how I'll catch up with my flist, but I hope you're all well!
Was glad I’d arranged to go up on the train rather than flying. The train was extremely full because of all the disruption and the driver was announcing firmly before we left that anyone without a booked seat should assume they’d have to stand all the way to Scotland. All very quiet except when a young man was chatting loudly and signing autographs further down the carriage. Clearly he’d been recognised, but he looked totally unfamiliar to me. ‘I’m only a Z-list celebrity’, he told one woman, who responded that it didn’t matter, she was from Largs. Eventually he said something about being chucked out of the house after six days, so I wondered if he could be talking about Big Brother (which I have never seen). His name turned out to be Shahbaz, and according to the Guardian today, he is ‘a man with no social skills whatsoever’. He seemed to be doing quite well with the people on the train though.
Got to Waverley only slightly late, to join H & M & N & S for a drink and then with H go to see the Soweto Gospel Choir. We first saw them three years ago, and were stunned and delighted by their singing, drumming and dancing. I did wonder if I’d find it less exciting the second time, now I knew what to expect, but no, they were wonderful again. And this time I bought the CD, so now I have them on my iPod.
Saturday morning we went to the Bouncy Castle Hamlet. Irresistible, really, and I’d hoped it would be silly but good. Unfortunately it was silly and bad, largely because Hamlet didn’t know his lines properly. They’d decided to make a joke out of it, but after the first couple of times it stopped being particularly amusing. Gertrude was inaudible, Laertes wooden (better with his accordian - actually he had the triangle as Rosencrantz Guildenstern), Horatio not bad (though his best moment was when he put his foot over Hamlet’s mouth to shut him up when Hamlet was refusing to die at the end). Ophelia was OK, at least when she went mad, and Claudius was excellent, managing to be both silly (he clearly enjoyed the bouncing) and serious. I did like the castle (scroll down to see it), and the mini bouncy castle for the play-within-the-play, and the paddling pool for the grave, and the joke of waving swords around in an inflatable building. And the bouncing part was quite fun at times (rather good bit of Hamlet bouncing away from Claudius in the first scene, and Laertes neatly bouncing to his knees in front of the king). They didn’t appear though to have thought about what costumes would stand up to being bounced about, and were having to make running repairs with gaffer tape and safety pins every time someone went offstage. In Ophelia’s mad scene it worked rather well that her clothes were falling off, but Hamlet’s black velvet splitting up the back looked less appropriate. And poor Laertes had to wear a gold-trimmed purple velvet dress with a sash attempting (I think) to hide a gaping hole, which made him look rather strange.
And then Purple Cows were visited, and ale drunk, and comedy shows (with free cakes!) attended, and a very decent performance of Moliere's Hypochondriac by Sussex students watched, along with a splendid show with swordfighting, and a film about two women fighting a duel in the 18th century. And we went to Fringe Sunday in the Meadows, which I don't recommend, as we seemed to come to every tent or performing space just as whatever-it-was was ending, and a bored compere was trying to fill the time. Much more fun to wander along the Royal Mile or Glassmarket and watch the acts try to attract audiences there. Especially the man with a guitar and a large piece of cheese on his head.
Goodness knows how I'll catch up with my flist, but I hope you're all well!