To be or not to be...

[hils]

I'm not even sure meeting Michael on Saturday can make me as gleeful as today has. Ok, maybe that's a lie. LOL! It's been brilliant though.

I did all five Shakespeare houses and gardens, went around this silly little tour that was like a cheap version of The York Dungeon (but was still fun) and went on a river cruise.

I have to give kudos to the guide at Anne Hathaway's cottage who managed to keep us in the first room of the house for about half an hour while she told us stuff. At least some of it wasn't true (like Ring a Ring o' Roses being about the plague) but I didn't have the heart to correct her, and some of it was really interesting.

I managed to find time to kip for an hour before I headed out to the theatre. Wow, I had no idea how close to the stage my seat was! I was six rows back from the front and at times I could have touched some of the actors if I'd wanted to.

David and Patrick were wonderful, as expected, but the guy who played Polonius was brilliant! I always imagined Polonius to be quite a dry character but this man made him funny. It worked perfectly!

Ophelia I did not care for but I can't decide if it's just because I don't like the character or because it wasn't a very good actress.

Did the fangirl thing afterwards and loitered at the stage door. It was easy to find, I just followed the other fangirls. LOL! After about five minutes an usher came out and told us that Patrick and David had already left. I was too cold to wait just in case he was fibbing. Hehe!

I has lots of photos of my day in Stratford which I will post tomorrow. I think I need some sleep first.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

sounds totally wonderful! What a great day!

[hils.livejournal.com]

It was perfect

[notsowise-sage.livejournal.com]

The Ring a Ring o' Roses/plague fallacy has been around for over fifty years, because of the mass of repetition in various media, it's practically considered a de facto truth. Sad really. Perfect example of if you repeat the same thing over and over again, that it will be considered gospel. That's how Bush and Blair brainwashed the public through the media that Saddam had kicked out UN inspectors (it was in fact Bush had demanded that they leave, and blocked them going until it was on his own terms - even though Saddam had capitulated in many ways). Just keep repeating it, and it's truth. Anyway, I'm well off course.

In the words of Polonius, I will be brief:

It sounds fantastic, I really wished I could have seen it.

For reference, the guy playing Polonius is Oliver Ford Davies (though you're program probably already tells you that), anyway, he's been in loads of things on TV in bit parts and such - but some of the best programs out there http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ford_Davies

[hils.livejournal.com]

Hehe! Yeah, my programme does tell me that, but it's nice to see what characters he played. My programme doesn't tell me that part

I was really lucky to be honest. I wouldn't be here if one of my LJ friends hadn't cancelled her trip to the UK and sold me her ticket.

Must send her a thank you note even though she defriended me a couple of months ago. LOL!

[notsowise-sage.livejournal.com]

Probably get you her as a friend back again :), spreading the nice often does that.

He is an awesome actor, even when he's playing belligerent old fools, outright villains, or loonies.

I'm half tempted to see if I can get tickets, and get a train down - alas, money isn't unlimited. So tempting though.

I'll have to settle for the winter program of shows at West Yorkshire Playhouse

[hils.livejournal.com]

At least you get stuff in Leeds. No decent plays come to York. They're all crappy indy things with no one good in them

[notsowise-sage.livejournal.com]

Well you can always pop over and catch a show

Though to be fair - Leeds doesn't always get the talent. I mean I've danced (modern dance, no less - oh the shame), acted, and sung at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in my time - okay that time was fifteen years ago :P

[hils.livejournal.com]

Oh, now I wish I'd seen that

[notsowise-sage.livejournal.com]

You could see it now - only I sing like i'm tone deaf, and I look a prat prancing about in leggings... so no you couldn't see it now.

I'm always grateful that, for some reason, no photo's or video's survive from back then. That I know of anyway.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Hehe! You know one will turn up if you ever get famous ;)

[tasabian.livejournal.com]

A good Polonius can always steal the show!

YOU'RE SEEING MICHAEL VERY SOON! Squee!

[hils.livejournal.com]

VERY SOON!

WHEE!

[spikewriter]

I'm so glad you had a good time. :) Three months and 2 weeks for me.

Oh, and Shakespeare is so dirty -- take a look at Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. The man is nothing but innuendo. When you study it in school, though, they cut out all the naughty bits for the sake of our precious little eyes. (Yeah, I'd already done the show twice by the time I read it in school and knew what every dirty joke/innuendo/naughty word that they didn't cut out meant. The teacher didn't appreciate my sniggering.)

[hils.livejournal.com]

Hee!!!

I guess when you're reading it rather than hearing it you miss some of these things

[spikewriter]

It's very easy to miss things that are verbal puns when you're just reading -- that and the fact the language has changed, so what we read on the page takes on a whole different meaning when you hear and see it with inflection and gestures by actors who do understand what the jokes are. Especially in a production where they appear to have reclaimed the comedy of the piece.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Kenneth Bragnah could have done with going down that route. His film version of Hamlet is very pretty but DULL!

[spikewriter]

The film version of Hamlet suffers a bit from the "this is important literature" syndrome -- which the play wasn't when it first appeared. Hamlet is a revenge play, a genre which was wildly popular with the masses when this was written. If you read something like "The Spanish Tragedy" (which was quite successful when it was performed in London), it's nothing but blood, blood, blood, bodies, and a little more blood without the artistry of language. These plays were following the same formula the action films aimed at a broad audience favor today: violence and sex. Okay, the sex was mostly verbal, but it's definitely there.

Given how he handled the film version, I'll lay odds the production of Hamlet Branagh is directing with Jude Law this spring will follow much more traditional lines. He may surprise us, but I seriously doubt he'll go for the humor Doran did, especially since it's just been done. (And Jude Law, when he steps on stage will have to deal with the ghosts of Olivier, Jacobi, David Warner, Branagh, Anthony Sher -- and David Tennant.)

[hils.livejournal.com]

Good lord! Is Branagh insane? Like we need another production of Hamlet so soon.

[flickums.livejournal.com]

I was always told that Ring o' Roses was about the plague.

What IS it about?

[hils.livejournal.com]

not a lot from what I can tell