Temptation, Temptation
Cambridge isn't London, but it is most definitely a city of theatah* A couple of nights ago, I treated myself to Henry V at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, put on by one of the many University drama societies. This one was the Marlowe Society, which sometimes produces really top-notch actors. You could totally see why, too. Henry V took itself just
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The reason I didn't mention Montjoy was that Montjoy . . . kind of wasn't. Tall guy, red hair, beard, wore either a suit (Tennis Ball Scene) or a French Uniform (everything else), and had a tendency to blend into the background, as much as the tallest and most red-headed guy in the cast can blend into the background. You got the feeling that the director had told him, "Look, you're the herald, your job is to deliver messages, and that's it." And that is just what he did.
Henry's closest relationship was definitely with Uncle Essex, and there was a definite "past lovers" vibe going with Scroop. The presence of the Earl of Cambridge as a spy got a few wry chuckles, as it would.
Short!Henry was a really interesting casting choice, partly because the actor had a tendency to dial it up to eleven rather sooner than I would have encouraged him to do, but, in the end, I think it kind of fit. You really saw a young, physically unimposing King who seemed to be invading France primarily to prove his cojones to his circle of advisers, and it made perfect sense that he would shout and grimace and gesticulate, putting on all the external trappings of authority without having quite the personal gravitas to pull it off.
For my money (£17 of it), he really came into his own when he had to woo Catherine, and he was finally able to kick back and let his own personality shine through, without all the posturing he had to do in front of the guys. It seemed like you could see Catherine figuring out that she, possibly alone of the rest of the cast, was allowed to see the real Henry, and that's what made her say oui in the end.
Singing in another language is just something that singers do. I can sing in far more languages than I can speak! (Latin, Chinese, Hungarian, for instance) Fortunately, Hebrew is one of the languages I've actually studied, so the issue with "Hallelujah" is really more about the pronunciation than the language itself.
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The whole charming Henry thing is kinda jarring to some critics, even though it's written into the text and was there through H4. And it's historical too, of course - he really did love Catherine - musicians under her window, the works. When I take my slash goggles off, I love it.
And OMG I hadn't thought of the Cambridge spies connection. That's an absolute master-stroke and I can see that the audience would find it hilarious. Brilliant.
... I hope the big professional thing that you mentioned last week went OK?
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When I take my slash goggles off, I love it.
Henry/Catherine/Montjoy OT3?
I think I heard once that Oxford produces the guys who run England, while Cambridge produces the guys who spy on the guys who run England. That is wonderful and hilarious, and it kind of makes me glad I'm at Cambridge. Not only that, but I'm at Corpus Christi, which was Marlowe's college. He seems to have done some spying when he wasn't being a playwright. You might not be surprised to hear that I suspect Mycroft Holmes of having gone to Oxford, and that Sherlock did Cambridge.
(Should I ever do a Sherlock-at-Cambridge story, I would of course put him at Corpus!)
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well I see Montjoy as a substitute father figure for Catherine, who surely needed one, so gaaah no. it's definitely either-or for me!
Should I ever do a Sherlock-at-Cambridge story, I would of course put him at Corpus!
write what you know is always a good adage! Mind you, Sherlock would probably get chucked out in his first year for being too much of a smartarse. Or something involving harpoons, perhaps. (BTW I got the box set from the library today so I'm bracing myself.)
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I hadn't thought of that story in years. And yet yesterday while reading a biography of Manfred von Richthofen I discovered that he did much the same thing while a cadet in the early years of the 20th century. It was obviously a Europe-wide phenomenon.
What a pity they didn't all get to keep on climbing buildings.
There's an east wind coming, Watson...
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It's entirely possible! When it comes to Cambridge, stories about Cambridge, and the general weirdnesses that crop up here in this alternate dimension, I've learned to live by the disclaimer made at the beginning of The Men Who Stare At Goats: More of this is true than you would believe.
Certainly night climbing used to be popular enough that it features in one of the Sidney Chambers mystery stories. The victim is a Fellow at Corpus who plummets to his death while night climbing on King's College Chapel, and the mystery is one of the sillier ones, involving MI6, the KGB, a gay love triangle, and terminal cancer, but it also features extended scenes set at Corpus itself, a Master who is suspiciously similar to the current Master, and a reminder of just how much things have changed since Corpus decided to admit women thirty years after the story is set.
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