Entry
Well, seems like I'm starving hungry all day today! I've not exactly been eating less than I used to - in fact, I'm probably eating more these days than at any time since puberty. It's probably a stomach stretch job from yesterday, what with the copious amounts of chinese.....speaking of which, I need more rice. Lots more rice. People, it's 10kg in less than three months. I'm worried.
Saturday was a most enjoyable day. I spent most of it sitting in a dark room with no windows. Or, to put it more accurately, I spent the whole day at the theatre. Northern Broadsides are having their current residency at the West Yorkshire playhouse, and as I've not been to see anything in ages, I decided to go. I'm not sure if this is their opening weekend, but they were staging an edited version of a load of Shakespeare, of the Wars of the Roses. That is, three plays in a day, or four Shakespeare-equivalents. Not the whole bloomin' cycle, that would be far too painful on the arse and maddening to the brain (what with them not having literally a cast of 000's, confusion of who's who would run riot!), but just the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III. Nicely, they decided to call the second part Edward IV, makes it a bit more distinct from the load of Henries......plus some of those Henries aren't really about Henry!
Obviously it's a load of old revisionism - not least from Shakespeare but also in the current edit - but really makes you appreciate the long and bloody history we have in these isles. Barely a century without some kind of major war! Nice to know we all get along these days, and the closest we come to civil strife is when they open a new IKEA shop and people go loopy for kit-pack Swedish furniture and overpriced meatballs....getting sidetracked.....so yes, nice to revel in my own country's glory, even if it was a load of toffs topping each other over land in France, and the fact that my own family history will probably place a lot of me not in England at all!
On with the crit. A very good Margaret of Anjou, played by Helens Sheals (no internet biog. I'm afraid!), though she did have a few moments of stumbling where she was obviously getting far too into it and tripped on her tongue. A very good ensemble too, despite the fact of some of the (to me) hilarious staging, such as Talbot in full flood of vitriol getting pushed about on a little trolley. Never mind. Sparse set, as always for these kind of things (though to be fair, you arent exactly going to hop from Wakefield to St Albans to Westminster to Burgundy on a standard backdrop). I managed to get in for the first two on very cheapie stand-by tickets, and even had a prime seat for the middle part, sat next to critic lady taking copious notes and sipping her water. Shame that I had to end up right at the back and top for Richard III, which I found myself drifting away during. Probably not due to a lesser quality, but due to fatigue and having a view not totally in my face like for the previous one. Never mind.
All in all, worth going to see, especially if you dont go to many of these things. To be fair, I would say that the middle part was my favourite (being sat in the good seats really does help) but that perhaps diving straight into it would be a little hard on the grey cells, there being umpteen amounts of backplot. To be fair, even before the first part there's a lot of backplot, but you have to begin somewhere. Suppose it makes it easier when you know a little bit of history - though to be fair, most of my knowledge of the time probably ultimately derives from Shakespeare......maybe I should start reading about it.....but no, too much else to read!
Ended up kicking my heels a lot in the intervening time between shows - the actors needed that rest though, was kept at a very high pitch and intensity - and munched and did the whole overdose-on-caffeine thing. Managed to bag myself a free programme since someone left it on the seat (if I'd paid for it, I'd be reading every last damn word - programmes are a rip-off), which made for a bit of light reading. No heavy textual commentary or bardolatry there. Seems like people are forever trying to reclaim Shakespeare these days.
Sunday, today, really has been a day of rest. I've not left the house except for a quick trip to Morrisons this morning (yes, I know, a supermarket evil) which seems like it was another day! Bit of laundry, bit of folding clothes and putting them away, a bit of Aerosmith and a lot of sudoku. And all the hungry. Looking forward to getting into work tomorrow, plenty to be getting on with!
Saturday was a most enjoyable day. I spent most of it sitting in a dark room with no windows. Or, to put it more accurately, I spent the whole day at the theatre. Northern Broadsides are having their current residency at the West Yorkshire playhouse, and as I've not been to see anything in ages, I decided to go. I'm not sure if this is their opening weekend, but they were staging an edited version of a load of Shakespeare, of the Wars of the Roses. That is, three plays in a day, or four Shakespeare-equivalents. Not the whole bloomin' cycle, that would be far too painful on the arse and maddening to the brain (what with them not having literally a cast of 000's, confusion of who's who would run riot!), but just the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III. Nicely, they decided to call the second part Edward IV, makes it a bit more distinct from the load of Henries......plus some of those Henries aren't really about Henry!
Obviously it's a load of old revisionism - not least from Shakespeare but also in the current edit - but really makes you appreciate the long and bloody history we have in these isles. Barely a century without some kind of major war! Nice to know we all get along these days, and the closest we come to civil strife is when they open a new IKEA shop and people go loopy for kit-pack Swedish furniture and overpriced meatballs....getting sidetracked.....so yes, nice to revel in my own country's glory, even if it was a load of toffs topping each other over land in France, and the fact that my own family history will probably place a lot of me not in England at all!
On with the crit. A very good Margaret of Anjou, played by Helens Sheals (no internet biog. I'm afraid!), though she did have a few moments of stumbling where she was obviously getting far too into it and tripped on her tongue. A very good ensemble too, despite the fact of some of the (to me) hilarious staging, such as Talbot in full flood of vitriol getting pushed about on a little trolley. Never mind. Sparse set, as always for these kind of things (though to be fair, you arent exactly going to hop from Wakefield to St Albans to Westminster to Burgundy on a standard backdrop). I managed to get in for the first two on very cheapie stand-by tickets, and even had a prime seat for the middle part, sat next to critic lady taking copious notes and sipping her water. Shame that I had to end up right at the back and top for Richard III, which I found myself drifting away during. Probably not due to a lesser quality, but due to fatigue and having a view not totally in my face like for the previous one. Never mind.
All in all, worth going to see, especially if you dont go to many of these things. To be fair, I would say that the middle part was my favourite (being sat in the good seats really does help) but that perhaps diving straight into it would be a little hard on the grey cells, there being umpteen amounts of backplot. To be fair, even before the first part there's a lot of backplot, but you have to begin somewhere. Suppose it makes it easier when you know a little bit of history - though to be fair, most of my knowledge of the time probably ultimately derives from Shakespeare......maybe I should start reading about it.....but no, too much else to read!
Ended up kicking my heels a lot in the intervening time between shows - the actors needed that rest though, was kept at a very high pitch and intensity - and munched and did the whole overdose-on-caffeine thing. Managed to bag myself a free programme since someone left it on the seat (if I'd paid for it, I'd be reading every last damn word - programmes are a rip-off), which made for a bit of light reading. No heavy textual commentary or bardolatry there. Seems like people are forever trying to reclaim Shakespeare these days.
Sunday, today, really has been a day of rest. I've not left the house except for a quick trip to Morrisons this morning (yes, I know, a supermarket evil) which seems like it was another day! Bit of laundry, bit of folding clothes and putting them away, a bit of Aerosmith and a lot of sudoku. And all the hungry. Looking forward to getting into work tomorrow, plenty to be getting on with!
posted by J at 4:59 PM
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