Category: travels

today “uncle vanya” at vaudeville theatre, a reception at the w hotel near leicester square and then matilda, the musical. not sure about matilda, altho i’m told it’s thrilling.

twelfth night and richard III at the apollo theatre yesterday – a transfer from shakespeare’s globe, “original practices” and all male cast, mark rylance and stephen fry, complete fidelity to the original text. simply magnificent.

saw this wonderful ballet yesterday, along with two other plays. loved what matthew bourne did with sleeping beauty. he gave agency to aurora, who is an energetic and passionate young woman in love with a working class lad, leo the gamekeeper, before she ever falls asleep. half the fairies are male dancers, including the lilac fairy, and they exude more power and athleticism than leo, the prince character. it’s not the evil fairy who exacts revenge on aurora but her charismatic son, who looks like a cross between the flamboyant freddie mercury and a young antonio banderas. he also falls in love with aurora so there is this rivalry between him and leo. oh yeah, and the lilac fairy is a vampire. smashing.

had lunch at the british library yesterday. the cheese cake with berry compote was delicious but not so much the quikes cheddar, tomatoes and rocket sandwich. dinner was out of this world at this small lebanese joint. i had chicken shawarma, hummus, shredded lettuce, pickled peppers with some hot sauce, wrapped in a toasted pita. yum! the play we saw was hilarious. it was feydeau’s “sauce for the goose” (le dindon) at the orange tree theater. it’s the only in-the-round theater in london. the acting was brilliant, the timing of the comedy perfect and the staging ingenious. was interested in the play’s sexual politics. altho lucienne (the female protagonist) is committed to sexual equality (if my husband cheats, so will i), it’s interesting how she’s kept chaste to the v end. she’s only trying to pretend to cheat in order to win her husband back. a clear distinction is made between a “tart” and a respectable married woman. so funny how social norms take such a long time to die.

saw strindberg’s “dance of death” today at trafalgar studios. small theater. i was sitting in the front row, almost inside the set, an unwitting part of the conjugal storm exploding on stage. modernized to accommodate a strong, equally devious woman, this prelude to “who’s afraid of virginia woolf” is a vicious battle of equals. brilliantly acted by kevin mcnally, indira varma and daniel lapaine. tomorrow morning off to stratford-upon-avon for the whole day, to see “merry wives of windsor” and “the orphan of zhao.”