(no subject)
I have had a very shiny and summery day full of greatness.
Well the trains weren't full of greatness because trains aren't. Or at least they are sort of but not in a way which involves them actually being on time (because I understand that we are delayed because of fatalities on the line and I shan't grumble but when you then admit that you drove straight past the set of points that could have allowed us to come into another platform and therefore added an extra half an hour to my journey...
Anyway. I do quite like trains otherwise and got to finish Strata (a reread because I've now completed my Pratchett collection) and then read the wholeof The Tent by Margaret Attwood (who I love very much and anyone intrested in stories and storytelling should read this book, also EVERYONE should read her Penelopiad.
*gets to the actual point*
So I went to Oxford to see The Gobe's touring Romeo and Juliet.
It was in the back quad at Waddham College and the weather was gorgeous and sunny and there was Pimms and there were trees shading us and lovely grass and generally the setting was idyllic (and considering we booked the tickets whilst Oxford was flooding it was all rather miraculous)
The play itself was great. They have this old battered minivan that they use for staging so they had a wooden stage with two pillar (with lights for the evening) exactly where they would be on the Globe stage and then the minivan at the back to be climbed on and hit and burst out of and everything else.
The cast wore modern clothes but then had jackets of the right period that they switched between as they'r characters changed, and the two women had dresses that went over their other clothes.
There were 8 players in the cast so lots of doubling up some of which worked brilliantly (the Nurse and Friar Lawrence being the absolute best) and some not so well (because it was rather odd to see Tybalt slain and then the same guy come on as old Montagu)
Romeo and Juliet were both very good, and young and impetuous so that their actions at least amde sense in the context of the play (though as ever with R&J you want to shake them for being so hasty and stupid *g*). Benvolio (who was also Paris) and Tybalt (Montagu and Balthasar) were both good and also were used as background characters so had a lot of switches. Capulet was played as an abusive husband and father which added a whole new level to Lady Capulet and to the scene where Juliet refuses to marry Paris. It was actually the most frightened that scenes ever left me.
The Nurse and Friar Lawrence were incredible because effectively the difference was he wore glasses for the Friar and a headress for the Nurse (and a skirt and corset top with a shirt under it) but his whole bearing changed between them and it showed up the confessor attributes of both characters. Rather bizarrely the Nurse carried around this doll (to which she talked whenever there was mention of "get rid of your man" etc. which I found strange and yet sort of worked for the rather over exciteble Nurse they had)
Mercutio was brilliant. He was also the Prince but really his moment was (as should be) the Queen Mab speech. I thought he played it brilliantly shifting between mockery and something more frightening as the soldier stuff comes in and then being quite angry by the end but one of the otehrs I was with said she disliked the anger and couldn't see where it came from. Generally when Mercutio was in a scene he stole it but then I lvoe the character anyway.
All in all a good show though, it's got a few more dates and ends up playing in Lords cricket ground!
The rest of the day was spent snacking and drinking tea in various cafes and then my friend's flat and meeting her new guy and catching up with old friends which was rather lovely if incredibly overdue.
To switch subjects completely sangerin, does this speculation amuse you or horrify you? Slipstream really really need a new unifrom designing. Though at least it's noticeable I suppose!
When I started this post I had another point. Oh well. Maybe it will come back to me *g*
Well the trains weren't full of greatness because trains aren't. Or at least they are sort of but not in a way which involves them actually being on time (because I understand that we are delayed because of fatalities on the line and I shan't grumble but when you then admit that you drove straight past the set of points that could have allowed us to come into another platform and therefore added an extra half an hour to my journey...
Anyway. I do quite like trains otherwise and got to finish Strata (a reread because I've now completed my Pratchett collection) and then read the wholeof The Tent by Margaret Attwood (who I love very much and anyone intrested in stories and storytelling should read this book, also EVERYONE should read her Penelopiad.
*gets to the actual point*
So I went to Oxford to see The Gobe's touring Romeo and Juliet.
It was in the back quad at Waddham College and the weather was gorgeous and sunny and there was Pimms and there were trees shading us and lovely grass and generally the setting was idyllic (and considering we booked the tickets whilst Oxford was flooding it was all rather miraculous)
The play itself was great. They have this old battered minivan that they use for staging so they had a wooden stage with two pillar (with lights for the evening) exactly where they would be on the Globe stage and then the minivan at the back to be climbed on and hit and burst out of and everything else.
The cast wore modern clothes but then had jackets of the right period that they switched between as they'r characters changed, and the two women had dresses that went over their other clothes.
There were 8 players in the cast so lots of doubling up some of which worked brilliantly (the Nurse and Friar Lawrence being the absolute best) and some not so well (because it was rather odd to see Tybalt slain and then the same guy come on as old Montagu)
Romeo and Juliet were both very good, and young and impetuous so that their actions at least amde sense in the context of the play (though as ever with R&J you want to shake them for being so hasty and stupid *g*). Benvolio (who was also Paris) and Tybalt (Montagu and Balthasar) were both good and also were used as background characters so had a lot of switches. Capulet was played as an abusive husband and father which added a whole new level to Lady Capulet and to the scene where Juliet refuses to marry Paris. It was actually the most frightened that scenes ever left me.
The Nurse and Friar Lawrence were incredible because effectively the difference was he wore glasses for the Friar and a headress for the Nurse (and a skirt and corset top with a shirt under it) but his whole bearing changed between them and it showed up the confessor attributes of both characters. Rather bizarrely the Nurse carried around this doll (to which she talked whenever there was mention of "get rid of your man" etc. which I found strange and yet sort of worked for the rather over exciteble Nurse they had)
Mercutio was brilliant. He was also the Prince but really his moment was (as should be) the Queen Mab speech. I thought he played it brilliantly shifting between mockery and something more frightening as the soldier stuff comes in and then being quite angry by the end but one of the otehrs I was with said she disliked the anger and couldn't see where it came from. Generally when Mercutio was in a scene he stole it but then I lvoe the character anyway.
All in all a good show though, it's got a few more dates and ends up playing in Lords cricket ground!
The rest of the day was spent snacking and drinking tea in various cafes and then my friend's flat and meeting her new guy and catching up with old friends which was rather lovely if incredibly overdue.
To switch subjects completely sangerin, does this speculation amuse you or horrify you? Slipstream really really need a new unifrom designing. Though at least it's noticeable I suppose!
When I started this post I had another point. Oh well. Maybe it will come back to me *g*