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Ok, I promised a more detail review of Hamlet and LLL so here it is finally.
First Hamlet,
We arrived in Stratford in the early afternoon of the 23rd. Myself, Michelle, Sam and Marie checked into our hotel then decided to take a bit of a walk-about. Our hotel was literally right across from the RSC
and about a 3 min walk from the Courtyard theatre, so we went there first.
We were very fortunate to walk into the foyer of the theatre and see that a tour had literally just started. So we joined the tour which was very exciting and informative. We were allowed to take pictures as we went as there was no stage dressing at the time.
Our adorable tour host who happens to be a Reverend at the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/michelleann68/UK%2008/Stratford-upon-Avon/LondonandStratford068.jpg Courtesy of michelleann68
Of course there were lots of pics of cast as you walked through.
We got to go back stage where we saw Claudius's and Gertrude’s thrones as well as the broken mirror. I don't have any pics of this though as we weren't allowed pics backstage.
One thing that I did get a picture of though, because it wasn't backstage, was the chair that Hamlet/David is strapped to when he is brought before the king to be questioned about Polonius's death.
I know, it's just a regular office chair with Velcro straps attached to the arm but OMG IT'S THE CHAIR WHERE DAVID TENNANT PLANTS HIS ARSE ALMOST EVERY NIGHT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS OMG! I was so tempted to sit in it and have my friend take a pic but I wasn't sure if I'd get in trouble for it. I did touch it though. :P>Some guy said to me that in several years time I'm gonna look back on that picture and wonder why the hell I have a picture of an office chair. He's probably right but for not OMG DAVID'S CHAIR!
So the tour was over so we decided to find a place for an early supper as we were all starving. We found a nice quiet pub where I had my first English fish and chip. YAY. I know me=dork. Afterward we returned to our hotel to whore ourselves up for the show.
Marie, Michelle, Me and Sam http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/michelleann68/UK%2008/Stratford-upon-Avon/LondonandStratford082.jpg Courtesy of michelleann68
The show was amazing. David walks onstage for the first time with Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius and his son Laertes and a few other characters. He stands in the corner, head bowed, quiet, wearing a tux, his hair is slicked back and he's holding a golden goblet. There is action and dialogue going on around him and he just stands there looking forlorn and lost and so very alone. From here on in, his Hamlet gets more rumpled, more animated, more insane and if possible more sexy. At the end if this scene, everyone exits, leaving Hamlet on his own and we see that he is grieving for his father, angry with his mother for marrying his uncle and suspicious of his Uncle, the new king.
There is one point in this scene and this will make me giggle for a long time to come - where David/Hamlet raises his hand and runs it through his hair for the first time. The five of us, we had met up with Hannah whom we had sold one of our extra tickets to, all simultaneously let out a sigh/titter/squee. It was very funny. That hair of his is used to great effect throughout the performance. Seriously it should be billed as its own character. It got crazier and more wild the further Hamlet fell into his, at first feigned, then actual insanity. It was gorgeous. I true gift to see Teh Hair in action first hand.
Now during this show I am sitting 5 rows back right next to the thrust on the left, if you are facing the stage. I can literally reach out and touch the actors as the move by me. Some of the costumes actually brush my shoulders. Not David's though, unfortunately. During the first half of the show David does most of his entering and exiting from the right hand side of the stage (again if you are facing the stage) and I have to admit this disappointed me just a tiny bit. During the interval I teased Michelle about how she got the tickets on the wrong side of the theatre. :D But the second half of the show had him using the left thrust a lot more, including during the curtain call which was SO awesome. He was so close and even though he never actually made eye contact with me he did grin right in my direction. And it was the biggest, happiest, most honest grin I ever saw on his face. It was lovely. But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit.
I'm afraid you will find that most of this review is very superficial as I am about to demonstrate now. I can't actually find a pic but for those of you who haven't seen it he wears this red, tight t-shirt with the outline of a very cut mans pecks and abs on it. Compensating for something David?1 More on this question later. While he is wearing this t-shirt he happens to raise his hands above his head a lot causing the shirt to ride up rather spectacularly. I was close enough to get a very good view of his flat, white, taunt belly and as well as that tantalizing trail of hair that disappears into the waist band of his jeans. Hell we were close enough that Michelle told me later she could see his appi scar. I missed the scar as I was too busy salivating over admiring the 'V' his hips and pelvis make. *THUD*
During Ophelia's burial scene I had the amazing fortune to observe him from no more than 3 feet away for a rather extended amount of time. He and Horatio literally crouch down that close to me while they 'hide' from the funeral progression. The thing I spent the most time ogling were is hands. His very LARGE, very MANLY, very HAIRY hands *drool*. He has these extremely long, tapered and well manicured fingers, I just wanna nibble on them. God they are beautiful hands. I bet they would feel amazing runn....er ahemdid I say that out loud? :P I have a thing for hands though. Hands, forearms and knees. Yes knees, as you will see in my post about LLL.
This play, despite the tragedy, has a surprising amount of sexual subtext both subtle and absolutely blatant. David/Hamlet actually 'humps the air', for lack of a better phrase in front of Ophelia. There is gay subtext between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern which is quite funny. And during Hamlet's death scene, whether intentional or not there is some obvious subtext between he and Horatio. But seriously, if you had David Tennant as your leading man, no matter what production it is, you'd be insane not to use his sexual appeal to your benefit. I mean...seriously?!
1 I said I would elaborate more on the muscled t-shirt and whether or not he was compensating for something. The answer is NO. Before the fencing scene we see him buttoning up a light blue (I think) tight fitting shirt. I say 'tight fitting' because you can clearly see the definition of his own pecs and abdomen. And let me say just one thing...Dayum, David's been working out. He's got some lovely manscaping going on. Seriously, I started to get hotflashes. :D
And I don't know if it was just me but I didn't think he seemed as skinny as he normally appears on TV. I mean he's slim sure, but I didn't feel like I had to bring him home and fatten him up or anything. Maybe that's the result of the working out I'm not sure. I did, however, want to bring him home for other, more carnal reasons.
The play really was amazing. The entire cast were amazing, David shined so brightly. The minimal stage dressing and the modern dress I think were a great choice because there is no distraction from the story, from the language, from the tragedy. It was, simply put, superb.
The curtain call had me in tears, not because I was sad but because I was so happy because he looked so happy. Like I said the smile on his face was so big and honest and joyful, I felt privileged to behold it.
After the final curtain call the five of us bolt to the stage door. I'm not kidding. We bolted. We were well positioned because we could climb onto the thrust and the exit was on our side of the theatre. When we got to the stage door, the first thing I notice is that there is no barrier set up. I knew from all the photos I've seen and from simple common sense that there is always a barrier between David and the fangirls. For his safety. Because some fangirls are a tad insane. Well, when I say insane I mean certifiable. Not me of course. I'm the epitome of calm cool and collected as I will tell you in my LLL review. :P So anyway I had a sinking feeling that he wasn't coming out that night and I was right. I didn't get too upset about it though as I knew we had another chance when we came back the next week to see Love's Labour's Lost.
Typing this up has given me a headache so I will end it here and save my LLL review for later. Besides this post is long enough as it is. And I'm also waiting for Hannah to post the pics she took when he came out to sign autographs so I can include them in my post. So LLL later.
First Hamlet,
We arrived in Stratford in the early afternoon of the 23rd. Myself, Michelle, Sam and Marie checked into our hotel then decided to take a bit of a walk-about. Our hotel was literally right across from the RSC
and about a 3 min walk from the Courtyard theatre, so we went there first.
We were very fortunate to walk into the foyer of the theatre and see that a tour had literally just started. So we joined the tour which was very exciting and informative. We were allowed to take pictures as we went as there was no stage dressing at the time.
Our adorable tour host who happens to be a Reverend at the Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/michelleann68/UK%2008/Stratford-upon-Avon/LondonandStratford068.jpg Courtesy of michelleann68
Of course there were lots of pics of cast as you walked through.
We got to go back stage where we saw Claudius's and Gertrude’s thrones as well as the broken mirror. I don't have any pics of this though as we weren't allowed pics backstage.
One thing that I did get a picture of though, because it wasn't backstage, was the chair that Hamlet/David is strapped to when he is brought before the king to be questioned about Polonius's death.
I know, it's just a regular office chair with Velcro straps attached to the arm but OMG IT'S THE CHAIR WHERE DAVID TENNANT PLANTS HIS ARSE ALMOST EVERY NIGHT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS OMG! I was so tempted to sit in it and have my friend take a pic but I wasn't sure if I'd get in trouble for it. I did touch it though. :P>Some guy said to me that in several years time I'm gonna look back on that picture and wonder why the hell I have a picture of an office chair. He's probably right but for not OMG DAVID'S CHAIR!
So the tour was over so we decided to find a place for an early supper as we were all starving. We found a nice quiet pub where I had my first English fish and chip. YAY. I know me=dork. Afterward we returned to our hotel to whore ourselves up for the show.
Marie, Michelle, Me and Sam http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/michelleann68/UK%2008/Stratford-upon-Avon/LondonandStratford082.jpg Courtesy of michelleann68
The show was amazing. David walks onstage for the first time with Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius and his son Laertes and a few other characters. He stands in the corner, head bowed, quiet, wearing a tux, his hair is slicked back and he's holding a golden goblet. There is action and dialogue going on around him and he just stands there looking forlorn and lost and so very alone. From here on in, his Hamlet gets more rumpled, more animated, more insane and if possible more sexy. At the end if this scene, everyone exits, leaving Hamlet on his own and we see that he is grieving for his father, angry with his mother for marrying his uncle and suspicious of his Uncle, the new king.
There is one point in this scene and this will make me giggle for a long time to come - where David/Hamlet raises his hand and runs it through his hair for the first time. The five of us, we had met up with Hannah whom we had sold one of our extra tickets to, all simultaneously let out a sigh/titter/squee. It was very funny. That hair of his is used to great effect throughout the performance. Seriously it should be billed as its own character. It got crazier and more wild the further Hamlet fell into his, at first feigned, then actual insanity. It was gorgeous. I true gift to see Teh Hair in action first hand.
Now during this show I am sitting 5 rows back right next to the thrust on the left, if you are facing the stage. I can literally reach out and touch the actors as the move by me. Some of the costumes actually brush my shoulders. Not David's though, unfortunately. During the first half of the show David does most of his entering and exiting from the right hand side of the stage (again if you are facing the stage) and I have to admit this disappointed me just a tiny bit. During the interval I teased Michelle about how she got the tickets on the wrong side of the theatre. :D But the second half of the show had him using the left thrust a lot more, including during the curtain call which was SO awesome. He was so close and even though he never actually made eye contact with me he did grin right in my direction. And it was the biggest, happiest, most honest grin I ever saw on his face. It was lovely. But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit.
I'm afraid you will find that most of this review is very superficial as I am about to demonstrate now. I can't actually find a pic but for those of you who haven't seen it he wears this red, tight t-shirt with the outline of a very cut mans pecks and abs on it. Compensating for something David?1 More on this question later. While he is wearing this t-shirt he happens to raise his hands above his head a lot causing the shirt to ride up rather spectacularly. I was close enough to get a very good view of his flat, white, taunt belly and as well as that tantalizing trail of hair that disappears into the waist band of his jeans. Hell we were close enough that Michelle told me later she could see his appi scar. I missed the scar as I was too busy salivating over admiring the 'V' his hips and pelvis make. *THUD*
During Ophelia's burial scene I had the amazing fortune to observe him from no more than 3 feet away for a rather extended amount of time. He and Horatio literally crouch down that close to me while they 'hide' from the funeral progression. The thing I spent the most time ogling were is hands. His very LARGE, very MANLY, very HAIRY hands *drool*. He has these extremely long, tapered and well manicured fingers, I just wanna nibble on them. God they are beautiful hands. I bet they would feel amazing runn....er ahemdid I say that out loud? :P I have a thing for hands though. Hands, forearms and knees. Yes knees, as you will see in my post about LLL.
This play, despite the tragedy, has a surprising amount of sexual subtext both subtle and absolutely blatant. David/Hamlet actually 'humps the air', for lack of a better phrase in front of Ophelia. There is gay subtext between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern which is quite funny. And during Hamlet's death scene, whether intentional or not there is some obvious subtext between he and Horatio. But seriously, if you had David Tennant as your leading man, no matter what production it is, you'd be insane not to use his sexual appeal to your benefit. I mean...seriously?!
1 I said I would elaborate more on the muscled t-shirt and whether or not he was compensating for something. The answer is NO. Before the fencing scene we see him buttoning up a light blue (I think) tight fitting shirt. I say 'tight fitting' because you can clearly see the definition of his own pecs and abdomen. And let me say just one thing...Dayum, David's been working out. He's got some lovely manscaping going on. Seriously, I started to get hotflashes. :D
And I don't know if it was just me but I didn't think he seemed as skinny as he normally appears on TV. I mean he's slim sure, but I didn't feel like I had to bring him home and fatten him up or anything. Maybe that's the result of the working out I'm not sure. I did, however, want to bring him home for other, more carnal reasons.
The play really was amazing. The entire cast were amazing, David shined so brightly. The minimal stage dressing and the modern dress I think were a great choice because there is no distraction from the story, from the language, from the tragedy. It was, simply put, superb.
The curtain call had me in tears, not because I was sad but because I was so happy because he looked so happy. Like I said the smile on his face was so big and honest and joyful, I felt privileged to behold it.
After the final curtain call the five of us bolt to the stage door. I'm not kidding. We bolted. We were well positioned because we could climb onto the thrust and the exit was on our side of the theatre. When we got to the stage door, the first thing I notice is that there is no barrier set up. I knew from all the photos I've seen and from simple common sense that there is always a barrier between David and the fangirls. For his safety. Because some fangirls are a tad insane. Well, when I say insane I mean certifiable. Not me of course. I'm the epitome of calm cool and collected as I will tell you in my LLL review. :P So anyway I had a sinking feeling that he wasn't coming out that night and I was right. I didn't get too upset about it though as I knew we had another chance when we came back the next week to see Love's Labour's Lost.
Typing this up has given me a headache so I will end it here and save my LLL review for later. Besides this post is long enough as it is. And I'm also waiting for Hannah to post the pics she took when he came out to sign autographs so I can include them in my post. So LLL later.