Well I seem to have caught the plague. I don’t know what is wrong with me only that I can’t stop coughing and my throat feels like someone is pinching my glands. So that is the reason why I have missed a couple of days. Feeling under the weather doesn’t bode well for blogging apparently.
Regardless, I have set out to keep all of you (whoever you are) up to date on the goings on of this American Girl in London. So without further ado here was Sunday’s list of events. Researching Grad Schools and Harrods. Sounds a little dull until you realize just what kind of store Harrods is. If you are in need of anything, be it a designer handbag or a huge fish fossil you can find it at Harrods (yes they have fossils). I never knew that so many different things would be in one store. They even have a bakery, an arcade (which in Britain is not where you find pinball machines and air hockey, but little toys, trinkets and candies), a place to buy arcade games (like car racing games), magic wands (seriously, they control your TV), fossils, furniture (from modern to classical), antiques, musical instruments, CDs, DVD’s, spy cameras, Gucci, Fendi, Dolce & Gabana, Swarovski Crystal chandeliers pens (there is a whole room on stationary supplies, who would seriously want a £2,000 pen?), pizza, gelato, and krsipy kreme doughnuts. I even broke down and bought a grand total of…£7.50 at Harrods! This was only spent on a pastry (lemon custard filled deliciousness) and new headphones (since I broke my other pair). Even if my shopping excursion to Harrods was filled with the most mundane of items, I still have one of the iconic green bags from the great Palace at Knightsbridge.
Monday, the Tower of London.
I have now been to the Tower thrice (thanks Conan O’Brian) and I still can’t get enough of it! Since I haven’t been there in two years, they had finished the work that they were doing in the White Tower. There is now a lovely little chapel that was not open when I was there last time. It is a quaint and a perfect example of Norman architecture; you could almost see William Rufus kneeling in worship in front of the altar. They even had a whole new exhibit in the White Tower as well. Two years ago they featured Henry VIII’s armor only, this time (since they had the use of the whole building) they had on display armor from the Tudor, Stuart and even some formal wear of the current house of Windsor. There was weaponry used by the armies of different dynasties, ceremonial swords of Kings, gifts that were given from all parts of the globe to the certain monarchs (America had given Edward a Blackfoot Indian Headdress).
Saw the Crown Jewels (of course) along with the Royal Dishes (epic gold dishes), the Inspection of the Queen’s Guard (the guys with the furry hats), some people dressed like they would be in Jacobean London (living history rocks!), and all the typical sights to be seen while at the Tower.
Last Night’s Show: The Tempest by Cheek by Jowl in association with the Chekhov International Theatre Festival at the Barbican’s Silk Street Theatre.
So much can be said on this show, so forgive me if things are vague or scattered. The first Shakespeare I’ve ever seen without an interval AND in another language. The all Russian production of Shakespeare’s last play was one of the most remarkable productions of any play I’ve ever seen. The play starts with a storm and it is the storm that is the one of the critical parts of the show, this says to the audience just what they’re in store for and what they can expect. They did not disappoint. This was the most enthralling and intriguing ways I’ve seen the storm done. It started so subtly with Prospero simply holding out his hand (not in a grand gesture but gently) and the wind began, then the doors (there were three upstage on a wall) began to sway open and closed, eventually getting more violent. The sounds started, waves crashing getting louder and more intense, rain (real rain) sounds and then the shouts from the boatswain, the crew and the passengers. They all emerge at once from the doors, never leaving the doorways, all of them swaying and struggling with the tempest. Eventually there is a crash, the doors shut, the men are gone and Miranda shoots out from the middle door and grabs ahold of Prospero in fear.
Prospero does not look like a grand wizard or a wise old man; he simply looks like an old man would. He is forceful with his daughter and with Caliban (who is played more like an Adult with a mental disability than a monster or manipulative creature). Ariel, or in this case Ariel’s (there was five or six of them with one main actor saying the lines and appearing the most amount on stage) all played the music on stage using African drums, clarinets, conk shells, rain sticks, and even an accordion.
The effects of the show were spot on. One moment in particular shows Ferdinand swimming through the water, he is revealed through the middle door, hanging upside down. The lighting mixed with the actor’s slow movements made is look so real it was really hard to believe that there he was simply suspended in air.
I saw this play as exploring old Russia and New Russia and the clashes between the both. The scene where the goddesses arrive and tell beautiful things about life and love to Miranda and Ferdinand is replaced by a Russian folk dance with a film projected behind them showing farming propaganda films from the 30’s or 40’s. Then we are brought with Trinculo and Stephano to a high end shop where they dress like members of the New Russian Mafia, complete with platinum visa cards and cell phones. I think that the fight clash of eras as it were lets the play work with both these old ideas of the USSR and the new Russia it is working to become in some small way.
The acting was simply incredible. Most of the company is fairly young, as in under 30 at least (save for three older characters) and very widely talented in physical movement as well as musicality. The gentleness juxtaposed with the forcefulness makes Prospero look just as lost and sad as anyone would be in that situation. Ariel’s last moment even isn’t that of elation but more of “well now what do I do?” And with a slight calming hand on Caliban (who had been crying for Miranda (who ran back to him only to be pulled away!)) he sat quietly with wonderment and slight terror at the fact that he could now do as he pleased. A brave new world indeed.
See this show if you are in London. It is something that should not be missed.
Tonight: The 39 Steps
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