OMGOMGOMGOMG GANDALF LIVE, ONSTAGE

All of my former english teachers would be so proud...

This is evidently the term for theater. Shortly upon arriving back in London in January, I discovered that a West End theater that used to show Breakfast at Tiffany's is now showing Waiting for Godot.

WITH IAN FRICKING MCKELLAN.

Now, I've read Waiting for Godot. I am NOT a Samuel Beckett fan. AT ALL.

This doesn't matter, though, because I would follow that man to the ends of the earth... to throw a magical ring that promises the destruction of life as we know it into a giant volcano.

I'M SEEING GANDALF IN A PLAY. LIVE. IN PERSON.

Needless to say, I'm very excited.

In other theater news, in a few weeks I'm seeing another show called the Misanthrope. This play is the hot ticket in London this season, mostly because Moliere's female lead is being played by Keira Knightley. Pshhh, whatever. *I'M* excited to see it because the MALE lead is being played by Damien Lewis. I've seen him in various things like Band of Brothers, the Forsyte Saga, and Life. For a while, I was quite confused--- his character in the Forsyte saga is so vicious, hateful and selfish that those feelings transferred to the actor, but his character in Band of Brothers is AWESOME. Life tipped the balance, and now he's one of my favorite British actors.

SO EXCITED.

Sorry for the English Essay! How 'bout some pictures...

After my absurdly long post on Twelfth Night, I thought I'd include some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

The poster, highlighting Richard Wilson as Malvolio during the famous garden scene. Fabian, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby Belch can be seen lurking in the square tree behind the curmudgeon.

Nancy Carroll as Cesario/Viola and Jo Stone-Fewings as Orsino. They're actually married in real life, which lends them an interesting familiarity on stage. Can I just say how awesome his mutton chops are?

Another view of the garden scene, which was quite funny. Also shows the audience how desperate Malvolio is to be loved. Not enough hugs as a small child?

The stage, as seen from the stage-right balcony. I love how the wave seems to erupt from the stage. It had a slight bluish tint, probably some sort of wood stain rather than paint, so it gave the stage a rather dusty feel. The costumes and stage design did a remarkable job of creating a Mediterranean old-world vibe.

*DISCLAIMER--- NONE OF THESE PHOTOS ARE MINE. TAKEN OFF VARIOUS SITES FROM A GOOGLE SEARCH. I now return you to your previously scheduled program...*

Oh, What a Week! Part Four... Thursday 1/21

This was a night worth waiting for, and it exceeded my expectations.

I'm a HUUUUUUGGGGGEEEEEE Shakespeare buff. HUGE. When I discovered that the Royal Shakespeare Company was performing Twelfth Night in London, I flipped out a little bit. When I discovered that they were giving away free tickets to under-25s, I flipped out A LOT. Part of the reason I dragged my friend down St. Martin's Lane on Monday was to get tickets.

I'm always surprised by the seat quality that London theater's offer for their youth programs. In December, I saw Inherit the Wind with Kevin Spacey. I paid only £12 for a seat in the first row of the Dress Circle--- I had a bit of an obstructed view, but I could see a lot more than people who paid way more money than I did. For Twelfth Night, we again got amazing seats--- 4th and 5th row from the stage.

The production was amazing. Beautiful set design, interesting production choices, and lots of color. The director took inspiration from 19th century romantics who would go on Grand Tours of Europe and the Middle East. This Twelfth Night was enhanced by sweet incense, whirling Greek dancers to live music, orthodox priests, and vibrant costumes of woven cloth and intricate embroidery.

The characters seemed to be romantics themselves, almost enjoying the pain of love more than the relationship itself. I was particularly struck by Duke Orsino, played by Jo Stone-Fewings, who loved a woman beyond reason or necessity, even though she could not love him back. Granted, Shakespeare did this so Orsino could hook up with Viola in the end--- I get that. In this production, though, Stone-Fewings reveled in each rejection, each spurned advance.

I also thought that the director made an intriguing choice to emphasize the bitter and melancholy aspects of this comedic work. Generally, there are only two ways a Shakespeare play ends--- everyone dies, or everyone gets married. Since Twelfth Night ends in a triple marriage (Orsino and Viola, Sebastion and Olivia, Toby and Maria), it can undoubtedly be considered one of the Bard's happier plays.

The director ended this production in discord, though. As the fool Festes gives us one more song, miniature scenes are played out before the curtain call. Antonio, who rescued Sebastian from the waves, is abandoned by his friend, life debt unpaid. We see the effects of Toby Belch's destructive alcoholism as his marriage to Maria dissolves. Finally, a broken Malvolio wanders across the stage and pauses before the audience. This highlights another interesting aspect of the production. Malvolio was played with marvelous old-man arrogance by Richard Wilson. Because of his age, the cruel trick played on Malvolio is more than helpless fun--- it destroys a man, uproots his vision of the world and his place in it. If a younger actor had played the part, Toby's jest would have been just that--- the character would be embarrassed, hopefully less arrogant, but still intact. Wilson, on the other hand, showed how the tailored, buttoned-up steward dissolved into a fragile old man.

All of these aspects, especially the set design and costumes, resulted in a vibrant, transportive production. For a few hours I was taken out of the Duke of York's Theatre (which is really cool, by the way--- it was built in 1892!) and transported to Illyria. God, I love it when Shakespeare is done right.

Oh, What a Week! Part Two and Three... Tuesday 1/19/10 and Wednesday 1/20/10

Tuesday was a little less hectic, but just as enjoyable. After suffering through 4.5 hours of class, I decided to head up towards Euston road to hang out with friends at their dorm.

Tuesdays have become our de facto movie night, and this week's choice was (5oo) Days of Summer. All of my girl friends, and one daring guy, piled into the room, draping ourselves across beds, the floor and rolly desk chairs. One person was kind enough to bring a Waitrose apple tart--- if there's one advantage that stores like Waitrose and Marks and Spencer have over US grocery stores, it's creative desserts. We've all become addicted to Waitrose mini puds and cheesecakes...

It was really nice to have a relaxing night in the middle of the week to hang out with friends. By this point, we'd only been back for a short while, so everyone was still catching up about events over break and the like.

Wednesday, on the other hand, was a rollicking good time. I've been trying to break out of my central London bubble, so my friends decided to venture out to Notting Hill to sample some of the nightlife. Our venue of choice was the Notting Hill Arts Club, which is quite a change from the clubs we normally go to.

Now, I'm no stranger to Hipsters (I'm related to one, and I'm practically a Hipster light). Key features include plaid shirts, tight jeans, interesting hats, obscure taste in music, and irony. Notting Hill Arts Club seems to be the home of the London Hipster--- my kind of place. Finally! A club that plays my kind of music! Rolling Stones, David Bowie, the Clash, Kings of Leon, Queens of the Stone Age, Daft Punk--- even some Lady Gaga thrown in for my friends.

Definitely some place I'll go back to. My friends immediately pegged it as a venue I'd like, even though they're less inclined to visit again. A good time was had by all, though!

Oh, What a Week! Part One... Monday 1/18/10

After the complete and utter slothness of my first week back in England (due in part to jet lag and lotslotslots of work), I decided to reverse the trend and do lots of stuff over my second week.

BOY DID I EVER!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post because I haven't charged Robert the Bruce (my camera) in several weeks, but I figured that my loyal readers could enjoy a narrative post (posts?) instead.

On Monday I was still shaking off the cobwebs from last week. I don't have any classes, so I met up with an old friend from American University who is also studying here this term. *Sidenote--- it's crazy how many AU kids are here. There's probably 40-50 of us in London alone...* I met up with him at the British Museum, and we tooled around for a while. Even though I live about 5 minutes away, this is only my 3rd or 4th time going to the BM. I've stopped doing the touristy things in London, because I figure I have all the time in the world! In reality, the clock is always ticking... Since my friend was unfamiliar with the West End, I dragged him through Covent Garden and down St. Martins lane to Trafalgar Square. Every time I get used to London, every time it feels like just another city, I see Nelson's column and remember just how lucky I am to be here.

I put my friend on a bus back to his dorm, but my walk wasn't over. I love wandering around, letting my feet carry me through back streets and unknown neighborhoods. It's the best way to learn a city. I know my stomping ground pretty well, so I decided to cover some new territory out by Coram's Fields. It's a cool area, especially down by Lamb's Conduit Street--- lots of international restaurants, boutique shops, and unique pubs. I stumbled across something that I never knew existed, even though I walk past it almost every day. Red Lion Square is a little patch of green, hidden between two major roads. Funny what you can find...

Later I hooked up with some of my LSE friends for yoga and dinner. We're all members of the LSE yoga club, but none of us did it over the Christmas holiday. Bad news bears... What started as a beginner's class last term has now graduated up to intermediate. Needless to say, we were all a little intimidated by that. Our teacher loves to put us through our paces, and she really brought out the stops. She tried to teach us how to put our feet behind our heads--- maybe in a few months. LOL.

We were starving, so we trekked to Covent Garden for Ben's Cookies... a perfectly marvelous post-yoga snack! 6 cookies for £6 ain't bad. After regaining our strength from the crumbly goodness that is Ben's cookies, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in London--- East Thai on Drury Lane.

Excellent Thai food for great prices! This is my favorite local place because it's right around the corner. Especially recommend the Pad Thai!

Thus commenced the busiest week EVER.

Thanksgiving!

Ah, Thanksgiving. A time honored American tradition...

So how do the Brits do it?

Not quite as good as Mom's, but not too shabby either. My study abroad program put together a nice little spread (out of the 300 people in the General Course, the overwhelming majority of us are American), which was great because it meant that I didn't have to try and cook a turkey by myself. That would have exhausted my cooking skills and would probably result in me burning my dorm down.

The catering staff got most of it right, but a few things struck me as odd:

1) They put orange juice on the table. ???? I wasn't aware that orange juice was a traditional Thanksgiving drink! Thanks for the enlightenment!

2) They posted a sign of words associated with the holiday, and included "jesus". I realize that Thanksgiving has religious elements for a lot of Americans, but what about the pilgrims? Thanksgiving is a secular holiday about family and realizing what's good in life, not Jesus.

3) They had something called nut loaf instead of stuffing. I'm a big fan of stuffing, so this annoyed me a bit. You can kind of see it peeking out from behind the sweet potatoes. Someone thought it was a giblet... thankfully it wasn't!

The girls! When people told me that they were getting dressed up, I thought they mean dressed up. Here I come in wearing fancy makeup, nice curly hair (although you can't really tell from this picture), and a sparkly dress... and find that I'm WAY overdressed. OOPS!
Barbara's mulled wine. SOOOOO GOOD! I'd give you the recipe, but then I'd have to kill you. I nearly died myself!
Ah, the bakers victorious! This is right before the moment of truth...
Sitting around, watching the football game. People wandered in, slightly confused, before we told them it was Thanksgiving. Some people even tried some pie!

OK, OFFICIALLY OFFICIALLY BACK. I MEAN IT THIS TIME.

Most of my computer bugs have been sorted out now. Aside from losing a few docs and photos, I'm now completely operational! I finally uploaded all my photos from the past two months now that I'm positive they won't disappear into the ether.

And now, as promised...