I have a huge bruise on the top of my foot today :-( I was on the tube yesterday and this couple got on clearly having a bit of an argument and she sat deliberately so he'd have to walk round her meaning he wasn't sitting when the train set off, stumbled, and landed BANG on my foot. I was SO glad I'd switched out of sandals but still his clomping great shoes versus my canvas shoes was never going to work out well for me. And he apologised but all that meant was that I felt I couldn't really sit their clutching my foot and burst into tears like I wanted to *sighs*
I have to put shoes on to go out shortly and I really don't want to At All because proper shoes will rub against it and it's raining WAY too much for sandals.
Why yes I did just spend two paragraphs talking about my hurt foot when last night I saw Mark Rylance, no I don't know what's wrong with me either :P
La Bête @ Comedy Theatre
You know sometimes when you're told about a performance and you nod and say that sounds great and then you see it and suddenly get why people were raving? La Bête starts with Elomire (David Hyde Pearce) complaining at the idea of having to accept Valere (Mark Rylance) into his troupe of actors when Valere himself bursts into the room and then Valere proceeds to talk at Elomire and Bejart for half an hour without stopping.
Let me just repeat that. Mark Rylance spoke for 30 minutes with barely a pause and a handful of interjections from the other characters and not for one second was any of the audience bored or distracted and it didn't feel that long at all till you thought about it and I just don't know how he does it but when Mark Rylance is on stage I understand everything I've read about having a commanding stage presences because he just DOES.
And of course Valere is an utter idiot so it's hilarious but Mark Rylance makes you believe that Valere has no clue of how stupid you looks, he believes so utterly in himself, and I honestly sat afterwards trying to decide when the last time I'd seen an actor do a monologue that held me half as well only to reach the conclusion that it was Jerusalem and Mark Ryalnce again (I asked Mum and she said Endgame with... Mark Rylance :P)
Honestly he was by far and away the performance of the night and I say that not to insult the other actors because they were great too! Joanna Lumley had a certain dignity to the Princess, even when she was being foolish, that you don't always see in her parts. Tough I will say she did a beauiful little impression of Queenie from Blackadder part way through <3
And David Hyde Pearce... I've seen reviews saying he had very little to do and it's RUBBISh because for the moments I could tear my eyes away from Mark in the first scene he was always reacting with a slowly dawning horror and anger and disbelief and it was the most beautiful reaction ever with everything from the way he twsited a handkerchief in his hands to his eyes to the way he stood being part of it. And he kept it up throughout and maybe Elomire doesn't have as many lines but the play wouldn't have worked without him, he had to balance Mark Rylance's antics and he DID.
Special mention also goes to Greta Lee who played the servnat Dorine who speaks only one word at a time and that word has to rhyme with blue which provides the opportunity for her to do these beautiful little mimes to get the rest of them to understand. She had maybe 6 or 7 words in the whole play but she's the other one I'll remember!
The play itself? It's sort of about true art versus mediocrity but with this slight edge of holding true to your values versus not starving to death... I think Elomire and Truth won out in the end but it wasn't that obvious.
I think maybe I liked the production more than the play.
I LOVED the set though,three walls of bookcases with no obvious doors <3 now that's what I want in my house!
Mum asked at the end if I wanted to go to the stagedoor seeing as it was early and I normally do and I had to explain the thing where I can't alk to Mark Rylance. Like honestly I just can't make myself do i because I know I act like an idiot at stage doors and say all those stupid banal things and it works because it makes people sile and sign stuff but I can't do that with Mark Rylance because then he'd know I was an idiot and... yeah he'd likely not actually notice or care but I just can't and it's rather sad because it means I probably never will get his autograph or a picture with him or anything but yeah. Can't make myself do it.
Then we went and had a drink in the Betjamen Arms at St Pancras (Dad did not rate the Betjamen Ale) and watched some people playing Ping Pong at one of those free tables that have sprung up around London. One of the girls playing had the most fabulous sparkly red high heeled shoes but every time the ball went flying she was the one who ran to get it, it was rather impressive, also if I could have walked in them I kind of wanted her shoes.
And now we've circled round in topics it's actually stopped raining, please stay like this weather!