Good Things
Sorry I’ve not been around for a bit. We’ve had a few up and down patches with my mother which are always rather draining. There have been good things going on though.
We actually managed to go to our local indie cinema (resurrected by volunteers after the council closed it) to see A United Kingdom. This was the story of Seretse Khama, first president of an independent Botswana, and his British wife Ruth. They met when Seretse Khama was studying in London. He was born to be chieftain of the tribe that ruled Bechuanaland and she was a London office worker so their marriage caused difficulties from the start both from her white father and his family in Africa. They faced not just racism from both sides but also the hostility of the British government who were trying to placate South Africa. How they fought their way through all these problems, stayed together despite all opposition, and eventually triumphed was an inspiring and moving story solidly directed by Amma Asante and well played by David Oyelowo as Seretse and Rosalind Pike as Ruth The film hasn’t had a particularly wide release but we both enjoyed it very much.
(Side note: this film has done very good business for our local cinema as at one point when the Khamas were living in exile from Botswana they lived in our area. My mother can remember seeing Seretse Khama when they lived quite close by and even knew which house they lived in.)
One of J’s Christmas presents from me was a voucher for a London in Four Drinks walk and as with the chocolate tour I nobly volunteered to go with him. Also as with the chocolate tour we booked for a day that proved to be absolutely freezing. I was wearing two thermal layers, a sweater and a coat and was still cold. Fortunately, Emma, our guide, took the cold weather into account and we spent more time in a coffee shop, a pub and a gin distillery than we actually did outside. It was great fun and we learned a lot about the importance of coffee to the founding of some of the most important institutions in the City of London as well as other odd facts about London, such as the pineapple craze of the late 17th century. After a stop in a pub for beer (or in my case wine as I don’t like beer) we ended up in the City of London’s only gin distillery. This was the drink that ruined people’s lives in the 18th century but a gin and tonic proved very warming on an icy day. We had a really great time despite the cold and came home to a warming hot chocolate.
And behind the cut because it's rather long one of the most fun things we've done recently was go to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket to see the double bill of Love's Labour's Lost and Love's Labour's Won (otherwise known as Much Ado About Nothing).
I really wanted to go and see this when it was on in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2014 but never managed it. The production was revived in Chichester and has now come to London with some cast changes principally Lisa Dillon for Michelle Terry as Rosaline/Beatrice. The theory behind this double bill is that Shakespeare’s missing play Love's Labour's Won, which is referred to in several lists of his plays, is now known under the alternate title of Much Ado About Nothing and seeing them together makes quite a convincing case for this though they don’t follow each other exactly, but there are enough similarities for them to play together very easily.
The principal idea of this production was to set the plays pre and post World War I and I thought this worked extraordinarily well. Love’s Labour’s Lost begins with a group of four young men led by the King of Navarre making a foolish oath to abjure the company of women and devote themselves to study for three years. Unfortunately they had not considered that they were about to receive a visit from the Princess of France and three of her ladies making keeping this vow difficult, particularly when they proceed to fall in love with them. Hijinks ensued. The beautiful costumes of the women, the delightful music and the light-hearted atmosphere and witty wordplay did a wonderful job of evoking the summer of 1914 and the set was a wonderful adaptation of Charlecote Park in Warwickshire, which suited the period perfectly. There were some charming performances particularly by Edward Bennett as Berowne, Sam Alexander as the King of Navarre, Lisa Dillon as Rosaline and Leah Whitaker as the Princess of France. John Hodgkinson was hilarious as Don Armado, a comedy Spaniard, and Steven Pacey was having a great time as pompous school master Holofernes. There was an energetic and hysterical performance by the young men as “Muscovites” (the problems with the fake moustaches were not in Shakespeare's original stage directions) and it all danced along light-heartedly until an amateur performance by the locals of the “Nine Worthies” (not dissimilar to the acting talents on display in "Pyramus and Thisbe" from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is brought to an abrupt halt by the news that the Princess of France’s father has died. This change of tone brings about declarations of love from the young men but the women insist they must prove themselves as they have already broken one vow. The young men leave the stage only to march back on again in World War I uniform and the rose petals thrown with merriment in the Nine Worthies lie on the stage like fallen poppies. This was a downbeat ending to what had been an extremely entertaining time in the theatre. We were both charmed by it.
A few days later we went back to see Love’s Labour’s Won (aka Much Ado About Nothing). I know this play much better than Love's Labour's Lost so was fully expecting to be entertained and I wasn’t disappointed. The play began with the same set as Love's Labour's Lost but turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers with Beatrice and Hero in nurse’s uniforms and Leonato, Hero’s father, in charge. A group of young men led by Don Pedro and including Benedick and Claudio return from the war to celebrate Christmas 1918 with partying and fun but the war has left scars with Don Pedro's brother Don John sporting a crutch and a very bitter attitude to everyone. Edward Bennett and Lisa Dillon are still the witty central couple but other roles don’t match exactly to Love's Labour's Lost so Don John is played by Sam Alexander and Steven Pacey is Leonato. Again the “merry war” between Beatrice and Benedick is delightful and Edward Bennett has enormous fun hiding in a Christmas tree. The Claudio/Hero subplot is, as ever, inexplicable though Steven Pacey does a great job as a grief stricken Leonato. Dogberry is annoying as always though there was a neat hint that he was another soldier damaged by war. It all ends happily though I don’t give much odds for Claudio/Hero lasting but Benedick and Beatrice were utterly delightful together.
Again the costumes and music did a wonderful job of evoking the period with the flowing Edwardian dresses of Love's Labour's Lost (with which the actresses had a certain amount of trouble) changing into the shorter frocks of the early 1920s. The music turned from Edwardian ballads to the lively dance tunes of the 20s with a particularly fun version of “Come Live with me” which we came out of the theatre humming.
As I enjoyed it so much I searched YouTube for a few choice trailers. This is the one for the actual production that we saw (with Edward Bennett and Lisa Dillon)
and here's the one for the cinema version of the Stratford production (with Edward Bennett and Michelle Terry)
I would buy the DVD but it's £35 (ouch!)
More fun was had on Monday when I met kazzy_cee at Ikea and we had an excellent time doing much more chatting than shopping. Next week is hopefully quiet and the week after we're going away for a much needed short break. And that was the good bits of February :)
We actually managed to go to our local indie cinema (resurrected by volunteers after the council closed it) to see A United Kingdom. This was the story of Seretse Khama, first president of an independent Botswana, and his British wife Ruth. They met when Seretse Khama was studying in London. He was born to be chieftain of the tribe that ruled Bechuanaland and she was a London office worker so their marriage caused difficulties from the start both from her white father and his family in Africa. They faced not just racism from both sides but also the hostility of the British government who were trying to placate South Africa. How they fought their way through all these problems, stayed together despite all opposition, and eventually triumphed was an inspiring and moving story solidly directed by Amma Asante and well played by David Oyelowo as Seretse and Rosalind Pike as Ruth The film hasn’t had a particularly wide release but we both enjoyed it very much.
(Side note: this film has done very good business for our local cinema as at one point when the Khamas were living in exile from Botswana they lived in our area. My mother can remember seeing Seretse Khama when they lived quite close by and even knew which house they lived in.)
One of J’s Christmas presents from me was a voucher for a London in Four Drinks walk and as with the chocolate tour I nobly volunteered to go with him. Also as with the chocolate tour we booked for a day that proved to be absolutely freezing. I was wearing two thermal layers, a sweater and a coat and was still cold. Fortunately, Emma, our guide, took the cold weather into account and we spent more time in a coffee shop, a pub and a gin distillery than we actually did outside. It was great fun and we learned a lot about the importance of coffee to the founding of some of the most important institutions in the City of London as well as other odd facts about London, such as the pineapple craze of the late 17th century. After a stop in a pub for beer (or in my case wine as I don’t like beer) we ended up in the City of London’s only gin distillery. This was the drink that ruined people’s lives in the 18th century but a gin and tonic proved very warming on an icy day. We had a really great time despite the cold and came home to a warming hot chocolate.
And behind the cut because it's rather long one of the most fun things we've done recently was go to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket to see the double bill of Love's Labour's Lost and Love's Labour's Won (otherwise known as Much Ado About Nothing).
I really wanted to go and see this when it was on in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2014 but never managed it. The production was revived in Chichester and has now come to London with some cast changes principally Lisa Dillon for Michelle Terry as Rosaline/Beatrice. The theory behind this double bill is that Shakespeare’s missing play Love's Labour's Won, which is referred to in several lists of his plays, is now known under the alternate title of Much Ado About Nothing and seeing them together makes quite a convincing case for this though they don’t follow each other exactly, but there are enough similarities for them to play together very easily.
The principal idea of this production was to set the plays pre and post World War I and I thought this worked extraordinarily well. Love’s Labour’s Lost begins with a group of four young men led by the King of Navarre making a foolish oath to abjure the company of women and devote themselves to study for three years. Unfortunately they had not considered that they were about to receive a visit from the Princess of France and three of her ladies making keeping this vow difficult, particularly when they proceed to fall in love with them. Hijinks ensued. The beautiful costumes of the women, the delightful music and the light-hearted atmosphere and witty wordplay did a wonderful job of evoking the summer of 1914 and the set was a wonderful adaptation of Charlecote Park in Warwickshire, which suited the period perfectly. There were some charming performances particularly by Edward Bennett as Berowne, Sam Alexander as the King of Navarre, Lisa Dillon as Rosaline and Leah Whitaker as the Princess of France. John Hodgkinson was hilarious as Don Armado, a comedy Spaniard, and Steven Pacey was having a great time as pompous school master Holofernes. There was an energetic and hysterical performance by the young men as “Muscovites” (the problems with the fake moustaches were not in Shakespeare's original stage directions) and it all danced along light-heartedly until an amateur performance by the locals of the “Nine Worthies” (not dissimilar to the acting talents on display in "Pyramus and Thisbe" from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is brought to an abrupt halt by the news that the Princess of France’s father has died. This change of tone brings about declarations of love from the young men but the women insist they must prove themselves as they have already broken one vow. The young men leave the stage only to march back on again in World War I uniform and the rose petals thrown with merriment in the Nine Worthies lie on the stage like fallen poppies. This was a downbeat ending to what had been an extremely entertaining time in the theatre. We were both charmed by it.
A few days later we went back to see Love’s Labour’s Won (aka Much Ado About Nothing). I know this play much better than Love's Labour's Lost so was fully expecting to be entertained and I wasn’t disappointed. The play began with the same set as Love's Labour's Lost but turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers with Beatrice and Hero in nurse’s uniforms and Leonato, Hero’s father, in charge. A group of young men led by Don Pedro and including Benedick and Claudio return from the war to celebrate Christmas 1918 with partying and fun but the war has left scars with Don Pedro's brother Don John sporting a crutch and a very bitter attitude to everyone. Edward Bennett and Lisa Dillon are still the witty central couple but other roles don’t match exactly to Love's Labour's Lost so Don John is played by Sam Alexander and Steven Pacey is Leonato. Again the “merry war” between Beatrice and Benedick is delightful and Edward Bennett has enormous fun hiding in a Christmas tree. The Claudio/Hero subplot is, as ever, inexplicable though Steven Pacey does a great job as a grief stricken Leonato. Dogberry is annoying as always though there was a neat hint that he was another soldier damaged by war. It all ends happily though I don’t give much odds for Claudio/Hero lasting but Benedick and Beatrice were utterly delightful together.
Again the costumes and music did a wonderful job of evoking the period with the flowing Edwardian dresses of Love's Labour's Lost (with which the actresses had a certain amount of trouble) changing into the shorter frocks of the early 1920s. The music turned from Edwardian ballads to the lively dance tunes of the 20s with a particularly fun version of “Come Live with me” which we came out of the theatre humming.
As I enjoyed it so much I searched YouTube for a few choice trailers. This is the one for the actual production that we saw (with Edward Bennett and Lisa Dillon)
Click to viewand here's the one for the cinema version of the Stratford production (with Edward Bennett and Michelle Terry)
I would buy the DVD but it's £35 (ouch!)
More fun was had on Monday when I met kazzy_cee at Ikea and we had an excellent time doing much more chatting than shopping. Next week is hopefully quiet and the week after we're going away for a much needed short break. And that was the good bits of February :)