A Mutant and a Time Lord
Last weekend was a rare theatre treat: Ian McKellan and the RSC in King Lear and Chekhov’s The Seagull! It was so good to be home, sleep in my own bed, and eat my mum’s food. College has eaten my life. I have no idea what goes on in the headlines these days. So I got home and all the news was SOUTHERN CA UP IN FLAMES. Like it is every October. Best wishes, firefighters and homeowners!
So we drove down to UCLA, where it was opening night. I wore my ‘50s Diane von Furstenberg black and white wrap dress and ‘50s pillbox hat.
We looked for celebrities, but I don’t think we found anyone v. important. I sat in my seat reading the program before the show started and let out an audible “Eeee!” when I saw:
Lear’s Fool………….. Sylvester McCoy
Unexpected Time Lord FTW! This, of course,
And obligatory use of Seven icon.
The performances were as brilliant as one would expect. Ian McKellan was fantastic going mad and I really wasn’t expecting him to disrobe. O___o;; Do not want! Sylvester McCoy was great as the Fool, although he wasn’t v. articulate. Still, he played the spoons, rolled his hat down his arm, and had a suitably Gallifreyan wardrobe. Although the floppy blue tie and cut of the coat are more Six, neh?
Speaking of costumes, the outfits for King Lear were either 1870s or 1890s Russian style. My dad was convinced that they were doubling the costumes with The Seagull, but they weren’t. The Seagull’s costumes were more turn-of-the-century streamlined. In the first scene of King Lear, Cordelia sank to her knees in a fluffy white gown with a bustle-she looked like an albino peacock!
McKellan certainly had less to do in The Seagull. He got to be crotchety and fall asleep on the sofa! The other younger leads were lovely. It wasn’t a play I was familiar with beforehand; mostly I know “The Bear” and the short stories adapted by Neil Simon in “The Good Doctor.”
Still, good times! This is one to tell the grandkids someday. When they're old enough to hear "I saw Gandalf's staff..."
Back in Santa Barbara, boggling at the insantity that is Halloween Week.
So we drove down to UCLA, where it was opening night. I wore my ‘50s Diane von Furstenberg black and white wrap dress and ‘50s pillbox hat.
We looked for celebrities, but I don’t think we found anyone v. important. I sat in my seat reading the program before the show started and let out an audible “Eeee!” when I saw:
Lear’s Fool………….. Sylvester McCoy
Unexpected Time Lord FTW! This, of course,
And obligatory use of Seven icon.
The performances were as brilliant as one would expect. Ian McKellan was fantastic going mad and I really wasn’t expecting him to disrobe. O___o;; Do not want! Sylvester McCoy was great as the Fool, although he wasn’t v. articulate. Still, he played the spoons, rolled his hat down his arm, and had a suitably Gallifreyan wardrobe. Although the floppy blue tie and cut of the coat are more Six, neh?
Speaking of costumes, the outfits for King Lear were either 1870s or 1890s Russian style. My dad was convinced that they were doubling the costumes with The Seagull, but they weren’t. The Seagull’s costumes were more turn-of-the-century streamlined. In the first scene of King Lear, Cordelia sank to her knees in a fluffy white gown with a bustle-she looked like an albino peacock!
McKellan certainly had less to do in The Seagull. He got to be crotchety and fall asleep on the sofa! The other younger leads were lovely. It wasn’t a play I was familiar with beforehand; mostly I know “The Bear” and the short stories adapted by Neil Simon in “The Good Doctor.”
Still, good times! This is one to tell the grandkids someday. When they're old enough to hear "I saw Gandalf's staff..."
Back in Santa Barbara, boggling at the insantity that is Halloween Week.