There was a slight misadventure with our visit to the National Portrait Gallery. Having arrived in Trafalgar Square at 11:00am, we soon discovered the group was not scheduled for the Gallery until 1:00pm; a confusion due to last minute schedule changes. Having not brought any money (by mistake) to grab a leisurely lunch, I made use of the time by revisiting the National Gallery and feasting the mind though not the stomach. I located many wonderful romantic paintings based on stories from Ovid's Metamorphosis, as well as revisiting the Impressionists. Our visit was also the Wednesday of the Day of Remembrance, and therefore Trafalgar Square was a bustle of activity, with clusters of fake poppy flowers floating in the square's fountains.
Upon arrival in the National Portrait Gallery, we journeyed to the portraits from the Tudor dynasty. These rooms were a delight for me, being a Shakespeare geek, as many of the court portraits of characters like William Cecil, Henry Wroithesley, and King Richard III were all paintings I had seen in various books on Shakespeare and the Tudor era. Seeing these portraits in person was a complete delight, to observe the true scale and texture of the paintings. Furthermore, we found the famous Shakespeare portrait that was the first portrait acquired for the Gallery's original collection. Interestingly, the description admits the portrait (associated with John Taylor and dated between 1600-1610) is only “thought” to be William Shakespeare the famous writer. Of the 94 associated portraits of Shakespeare, this painting would be one of the few not a post-humorous work based off of Martin Droeshout's engraving for the First Folio.
St.Paul's Cathedral
St.Paul's Cathedral on the north bank of the City of London is simultaneously a house of worship and a monument in it's own right. One of many Cathedral's to be built on the location, St.Paul's is generally considered to be Christopher Wren's masterpiece of architecture. Impressive from the outside, with city ordinances forbidding surrounding buildings from blocking the view of St.Paul's, the interior of the Cathedral is breathtaking. With very limited use of stained-glass (only the East section: the Apse), the building offers a spacious and cavernous interior, complete with ample amounts of natural light. This neo-classical style is very different from the many neo-gothic abbeys (etc) we have visited, offering a very different aesthetic.
Below the ground floor is the largest crypt in London, featuring the resting place of architect Christopher Wren, the painter William Turner, and the war heroes the like of General Wellington and Admiral Nelson. Also a cafe and gift shop. The most delightful part of St.Paul's is possibly the journey upwards through the massive dome. With a stop on the Whispering Gallery, where whispers projected into the curved wall can be heard on the other side of the dome, you arrive at the Stone Gallery and finally the Golden Gallery with unbeatable views of the Thames and central London. There are 528 steps to the Golden Gallery, but the steps to the Whisper Gallery are extremely shallow in rise, making the total tally more impressive than it should be. And the view makes the journey incredibly rewarding. Also, side doors that avoid the exit-through-the-gift-shop stratagem may involve the “suspiciously dropping to the sidewalk from over the banister” strategy since the gates are locked.
The National Theatre; As You Like It
Unless I can get return tickets for Winter's Tale, this will sadly be the last Shakespeare production of the trip. And the show got off to a rough start. In an interesting (perhaps ill-advised) modern spin to Shakespeare's play, the royal court of the plays opening was transferred to the world of a corporate office. Not a bad concept in of itself, but whomever decided to design the office space (with vibrant colored blazer jackets and a hideously colorful carpet) made the space look like the Easter Bunny's corporate head quarters. Add a wrestling match (that for some reason is taking place in the middle of the work space during office hours) and the result was more than a little silly. So I like to forget this part of the play ever happened. A bad dream that preceded an otherwise amazing production.
Entering the forest, the array of chairs and desks were lifted into the sky for form the foliage and tree trunks. Members of the company hung out (literally) in the collage of furniture to create an organic soundscape of birds and beasts, winds and gales. The actors were all well cast, with a strong Rosalind and a Celia rounded the role into something more than a bit part. Orlando's love notes were green post-it notes, which became the buds/leaves on the trees/furniture as the Forest of Arden shifted from Winter to Spring. So intentionally forgetting the opening segment of the show, this was one of the better Shakespeare productions we've seen. The office conceit led to the amazing technical moment when the furniture rose to become the forest, and I will remember this show exclusively from that moment onwards.
Tricyle Theatre: A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes or the Gospel of Tartuffe
This world premiere at the historic Tricyle Theatre easily and gracefully lands as one of my favorite shows of the trip. A modernized comedic retelling of Moliere's comedy Tartuffe, playwright Marcus Gardley sets the stage in the American south's baptist church. Apostle Toof cures the wealthy fried-chicken-chain/funeral-parlour tycoon from heart disease. There was gospel songs with dialogue in modern verse and prose. The language was wonderful and the situations hilarious. However, the play (like the original) addressed dark themes of manipulation and corruption. The script ends with Toof being struck by holy lightning for his blasphemy, but the company allowed the play to end just shy of this moment, with Toof unrepentant and successfully cheating the family of everything they own. Ending on this darker tone, the comedy delivered powerful commentary on religion and injustice.
This show also featured our first front row seats, and I was quickly singled out by actor Lucian Msamati (as Apostle Toof) to be mocked and reproofed as "ye of little faith". The cast appreciated a group of bawdy Americans in the front row, as much of the house has been filled by more elder and traditionally polite theatre going British folk. After the show, a few of us straggled to meet five of the actors in the lobby as they left. That they were all so very gracious, friendly, and receptive to us only further increased my opinion of this show.
Mercers' Hall; The Journey Thus Far
Celebrating our acting teacher's 88th birthday, James Roose Evans performed a spoken word meditation on his life accompanied by Baroque harpist Frances Kelly. Hosted by Mercers Company, the event was definitely an experience. Entering through an unassuming door in a small side alley (after earpiece and suit wearing hulking bouncers checked you off the list), we entered a refurbished hall of an old Ironmongers Guild. The lobby was impressive, with waiters in tailed coats serving refreshments off trays. The event itself was a fundraiser for James' new theatre company Frontier Theatre Productions: geared towards giving a space for more elderly performers to pass on wisdom.
The performance featured James delivering everything from "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to Mary Oliver, Lewis Carrol, and anonymously written Elizabethan love poetry. Very James, and similar to the material we've been working with in class. Also reflecting on various themes from his life, James offered wisdom on ideologies like "innocence is vastly important (distinctly different from ignorance)" or that "love is the greatest of art forms". In all, a wonderful evening highlighting a great man and supporting a new company. Made me more glad to know the man and proud to have him as a teacher for the time being.
Royal Festival Hall; Philharmonia Orchestra
As the only concert our group will attend, this was no disappointment. Featuring Weber's Overture (Der Freischutz), Mendelssohn'sViolin Concerto, and Beethoven's Symphony No 3 (Eroica), performed by a classical orchestra with many violins. World renowned violinist Sergej Kryloy was a last minute stand in for the ill Valeriy Sokolov, and was met with such tremendous applause that he performed a solo encore. Wonderful music. Most interesting was we were seated in the choir seats behind the stage. With the musicians backs to us, we had a marvelous view of the animated and expressive Juraj Valcuba as conductor. Watching the conductor added visual entertainment to the otherwise audio performance. Wonderful concert.
The road to Dublin over the Irish Sea proves to rocky without the dragon.
Billy Pilgrim rides towards Canterbury in the arms of the monster.
Dragon Malexander Supertourist rots for three days time.
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