Theatre Abroad Part 1 - Heroes, Waiting for Godot, Bizzare Bath, Oedipus,& Romeo and Juliet,

On Sept. 2oth (I think) we saw Heroes, a new comedy by Gerald Sibleyra, translated by Tom Stoppard (of Rosencrantz fame). It was our first theatrical experience of the trip and totally unexpected. I spotted the poster in the window of a theatre while we were wandering about Cambridge, and we decided to take in the 7.30 show more or less on a whim. As my first theatrical experience abroad it did not dissappoint, but I did find some elements out of place. The basic story is as such:

Three grumpy old men reside in a military hospital. Could today be the day they escape? Its 1959 and three First World War veterans pass their days in a military hospital. Meeting every morning, Gustave, Philippe and Henri bicker and tease each other as they reflect on their lives. Looking over the cemetery to the poplars beyond, they dream of escape. Will today be the day they finally make it to Indochina or perhaps only as far as the top of the hill?

Malik, Timothy, and Jayston's understudy did a fine job of exploiting the comedy's more subtle nuanaces- eliciting laughs from moments I would not have thought possible, and they also managed to finesse the larger laugh-lines, I was disappointed they did not get at the chance for something deeper in the play. There were many chances for showing a more honest, caring relationship between these three men. The last moment of the play attempts to evoke an image of them as a flock of birds, taking in turns the responsibility for leading and steadying the flock, a nice piece of writing and imagery that came off slightly false as it was nearly the first time we felt any depth of feeling among them. This is not to say that their relationships were not apparent, only that it was not nearly as well developed as I expected from professional actors doing a play about men who are spending their dying moments together, two of which have been friends for ten years.

That said, the comedy was played with excellent timing and craft. One of the funny bits of the show concerns the stone dog that sits on the terrace. Timothy's character is convinced that the dog moves, and Malik is only too happy to move it himself when the other's back is turned. Timothy also suffer's from fainting spells caused by shrapnel in the head, after which he always shouts "From the rear, captain! We'll take them from the rear!" which we later find out, is not a battle cry, but something much more interesting.

The next unexpected theatrical coup was an outstanding performance of Waiting for Godot at the Oxford playhouse, directed by the eminent Sir Peter Hall. We saw this on Sept. 21rst.

The actors in this show had a command of the language and craft I'd not seen before in a Beckett play, with Lucky being a true standout among the more minor characters.

Didi was played well, but was surpassed (only by a little bit) by his counterpart Gogo, who was far more spare in his interpretation, and in this case, stronger. The lighting was beautiful, and I was shocked how much I enjoyed this production in a proscenium space.

This is one of my favorite plays, and this production only made me love it more. Beckett is a master of examining existentialist and absurdist issues while making them hilarious and though provoking. This may be the top piece of theatre I've seen here yet.

Next was a recommendation by Rhett Bryson. I went on the thoroughly enjoyable Bizzare Bath comedy walk. This tour of Bath had absolutely no redeeming historical or social value and was all the better for it! A tourguide leads you from the Huntsman tavern at 8pm on a ninety-minute sprint of laughter and magic including a daring escape, ribald balloon humor, people getting things cut off, and lots of poking fun at the Germans. At only 5 pounds for a student, it was a steal. (Sept. 22nd) (http://www.bizarrebath.co.uk/)


In a more serious vein, on the 23rd of September I was fortunate to witness a stunning four person version of Oedipus Rex performed by the Actors of Dinoysus. In this brief but powerful production, one actor plays Oedipus while the other three double and triple as a citizen chorus, Tiresias, Jocasta, Creon, and others. The set was a master work of simplicity and function and the sound design was evocative and eerie with its use of radio static distortion and the haunting rain at the end which was reminiscent of The Wastland by Eliot. The only objections I heard had to do with the play having some political references (referring to Tony Blair and GW) but I felt that these were subtle and appropiate. The real pleasure of the play was seeing these four actors render such a great performance with such a small cast. The adaptation was written well too. I did take slight issue with the actual performance of the character of Tiresias; he sounded falsely geezerly as well as not being nearly as creepy enough, but this was outweighed by the overall high quality and gut-wrenching immediacy of the piece. The play ended with a sublte tableau sequence that brought Oedipus's kingdom back into balance as the gods' wrath subsided. (http://www.actorsofdionysus.com/)

Lastly (for now) we have a production of Romeo and Juliet that far surpassed my expectations. In this RSC production, the classically overdone Shakespeare play is given new dramatic life. It is framed in an extra story of two Sicillian families that come together once a year to put on their own production of R&J and put aside their weapons and hatred for one night. Fights are re-imagined as tap-flaminco-esque dances with quarter staffs, and as characters fall prey to the two families vile blood feud, hooks descend from the ceiling to recieve their outer garment, so you can see who had died for their blood feud.

Juliet was a radiant vision for her spare but powerful perfomance that showed both craft and passion. Romeo was far less appealling as the young actor had apparently found the role too large for him, and substituted emo-comedy for true emotional depth, hitting the same whiny note the whole way through the play. The Friar Lawrence and the Nurse delivered notable performances, showing a thorough grasp of craft and character-history. We were honored to have a talk back with the actress who played the Nurse, Sorcha Cusack.

The choreography was beautiful as well, specifically the dance-fights mentioned above. The set was gorgeous, although some were confused by the more abstract elements. I was impressed at how well it conveyed the mood and how well it was adapted to the various needs of the production. The play was also accompanied by haunting music, both played and sung, all live, that wrenched the heart. The lighting was evocative, and the costumes a vision. For me, all the stylistic elements fitted together into a whole that was both artistically beautiful, but also viable for actors to work in. This was one of the best Shakespeares I have ever seen. (Romeo and Juliet at the RSC)

I arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon on Sunday, and it is a lovely city. Coming soon as well, updatesand pictures regarding the day's non-theatrical events that aren't covered here.

Tonight we see Cymbeline as a cornish/musical theatre adaptation. You know you're jealous. :)

John Knox's grave is sad, the Scottish Parliament is amazing, Durham Cathedral, York minister, and a few more things:

To start this big picture update, we have the sad, unmarked grave of John Knox, Presbyterian reformer, and church father of some note, who St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Edinburgh has thought fit to have a grave marked with a yellow square of concrete about the size of a child's notebook. I am not kidding. Sad really.

The beautiful, bizarre and exorbitant Scottish Parliament Building.

The entrance area:

The outside office windows:

The stunning (and controversial) exterior

A beautiful internal stairway:

The Debate Chamber:

The much less impressive (and much older) Holyrood House of Edinburgh.

Durham Cathedral: (no internal pictures allowed here, just the exterior.)

Moving on to the glorious York Minster...

A statue of Constantine the Great, at York Minster:

The great city wall of York:

Clifford's tower in York.

And, just for fun, myself and Laura-Ann at the Jorvic Center looking as frightening as we were bored.

And, a charming street performer who fiddled and made a little devil dance while he did so:

And that almost catches me up on pictures. Hopefully, technology will allow future updates to have the pictures and the text together, as it normally works. We depart for Stratford at 10 tomorrow. Shakespeare, here we come!

Sheep, Hadrian's Wall, and Edinburgh.

Blogger is still being friendly, so I'm posting some more pictures. More up to date info coming soon about the past few days. We leave for stratford tomorrow.

Here is a picture of some of the many scottish sheep we passed on our way through the country side:

Here I am standing on the Hadrian's wall:

Lauran-Ann is chopping me in half at the Refretory of the Military complex at Hadrian's wall:

Harrison, Laura-Ann and Myself at Hadrian's Wall

A wide view of the Houstead's Military Complex at the Wall:

Same here:

A wide view of both the wall and the milirtary complex:

A picture of Beautiful Edinburgh at night:

Chester Cathedral (pictures working now)

Finally pictures are working! here are some pictures of the glorious Chester Cathedral!

York.

So I'm on day two of York now. Tomorrow morning we leave for Cambridge.

Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now, but lots are coming.

Sept. 14th - We saw Chester Cathedral. This beautiful gothic cathedral has many lovely stained glass windows (see pictures to come), but unfortunately none of them date from the construction of the Cathedral, having been destroyed by Henry the 8th's anti-monastic rampage around 1540. The modern stain glass windows remain impressive, however. The Cathedral itself was built around 1250, having been built as an addition to the abbey first constructed in 1092 for Benedictine monks.

Sept. 15th - This day was a murderously long drive to Edinburgh. However, we were fortunate to be able to stop at the Housteads fort of Hadrian's Wall. This wall, which stretched roughly 80 miles across the northern border of Roman Britain, was meant to keep the vicious barbarian hordes that frequently attacked. Amongst these hordes were the canny Scots. The Wall is built on a natural rise in the landscape that provides a commanding view of the countryside.

Sept. 16th - Our first stop this day was John Knox's sad little grave, an unmarked cement square in a parking lot, outside St. Giles Cathedral. After this stop, we went to Edinburgh Castle.This was the first castle we had seen that was still almost entirely whole (no bombing in the world wars!). It of course had been refitted as many little shops and seperate mini-museums. The museum displays (particularly the war memorial, and the Scottish Regimental museum) were impressive and conveyed the tremendous national pride of the Scottish people. The display with the Scottish crown jewels, and the "honours" (a ceremonial scepter and sword, given to Scottish kings by the Vatican), and the "Stone of Scone" or "Stone of Destiny" was particularly interesting.

Sept. 17th - We saw a surprising dichotomy between two Scottish Identities; Scotland as part of the United Kingdom in Holyrood House, and a re-emerging Scottish Nationalism in the new 400 million Pound Scottish Parliament. Holyrood House, while interesting, was predictably similar to many other displays of British royalty and authority we have seen before (and will see again). They also were not inclined to let us take pictures. Scottish Parliament, on the other hand, was a striking example of what beauty can be achieved when a people is totally committed to the modern paridigm of Architecture. The beauty however, ended up costing the taxpayers 430 million pounds, nearly eleven times what was originally projected. Not sure how I would feel about that if I was paying the taxes.

Sept. 18th - Another arduous drive, this time to York. The English countryside is so different from the Irish. At one point, I fell asleep on the bus and looked out the window, and thought I was looking at Pickens, SC farmland. Terrifying experience. I miss Irish countryside. Our primary stop on this trip was Durham Cathedral, the first really good example of Norman Church architecture we have yet seen, and the finest in the world. We arrived at a charming bed and breakfast called "The Lady Ann Middelton's Hotel," which has lovely rooms, amazing food, and full exercise facilities.

Sept. 19th - Today was the York Minster, or the York Cathedral. "Minster" is a corruption of the Latin monasterium. It is the largest Gothic Cathedral north of the Alps, and one of the most impressive I've ever seen. One of the really special things about the Cathedral is that it's stained glass is all original. No glass mashing in this Cathedral's past. It also has one of the widest naves in the world. We also saw, Cliffords Tower a tower seated high about York on a mot, or mount, that has a interesting quadraloop structure (similar to a four leafed clover). We visited the Jorvic Center this afternoon, a musuem/ride that seeks to recreate early viking settlements sights, smells and feel with bad animatronics and creaky theatricality. Avoid it all costs. Please. Seriously.

Having a grand time. Miss all of you. Lots of great pictures to come.

In Edinburgh...

Hello all!
I'm in Edinburgh, which is a lovely city, with charming people. It is perhaps indicative of the international quality of the city that the first two people I spoke to here were not from Scotland at all, but from Australia, and Liverpool, England. Saw Edinburgh Castle today, incuding the crown jewels of Scotland and the Stone of Scone. Being the in presence of so much of the history I've been reading about for months is quite powerful. I will update with pictures, including pictures of Chester Cathedral, from the day before yesterday, and pictures of the all the road we've been traveling. That's all for now. I will update again as soon as I can.

Continuing with the catch-up.

Sept. 11 - We went to Belfast. I highly reccomend reading Belfast Confetti (check it out online) in order to begin to undrestand this wound that has been stitched shut despite not being fully healed. Granted, I was there for one day. One day. That hardly compares to the years that people have lived the horror that is Unionist-Republican conflict in Northern Ireland. The city hurt to be in though, even to me. The murals that depict the story of the city and struggle are something to behold, however. Here are just a few of them.


































Sept. 12th - We arrive in Dublin. Shockingly, I like it. A good bit. I'm not a big city person, but it felt warmer and friendly than other big cities I've been too. Far too little time there. Picture is from the Trinity College Dublin Campus.

We also saw the Knowth burial ground, which is around 4-5,000 years old. Beatiful structure. The carved stones are still un-interpretable.

















Sept. 13th - We tour Kilmainham Gaol. Powerful place. I had first seen it when I say the excellent Sheridan film "In the Name of the Father." Highly recommend it. The conditions of the jail, especially the solitary confinement (hard to get good pictures there) were appalling. The main area (shown in photo) was a much later Victorian development, designed to inspire the prisoners to look heavenward to contemplate their sins and repent. It at least made it look less terrible, even if the conditions changed little.




















Sept. 14 - Today we left early in the morning for Wales, and then Scotland. We toured Conwy Castle, a Norman stronghold from the late 1200's. Quite impressive in it's applied technology.















Finally caught up, if briefly. Much more to come! I miss you all. Edinburg tomorrow

In England. For now.

Arrived in England today, via Wales. But we leave for Scotland tomorrow. Busy times!

Sept 9th- We saw Yeats' grave, the adjoining abbey and Donnegal Castle. Impressive places. I am consistently impressed with Ireland's Silences. They are deeper and more powerful than I thought possible. Yeats, although a stuck up prick in some ways, was also a brilliant poet, and his grave is suitably unimpressive and peaceful. His silence was satisfying.


Next was Donnegal Castle. We had a fantastic guide named Danny. You can notice in the picture that the castle had been repaired and updated considerable over the years. (the bay window was added by the Normans, as was the townhouse like structure to the left of the main tower)




Sept. 10th - We went to the Giant's Causeway, a natural wonder that lives up to the mystique of it's name in grandeur and sheer stark beauty. At this place, a geological oddity has caused volcanic rock to cool in a bizzare polygonal pattern of columns. The Giant's Causeway is millions of years old and incredibly biodiverse, as well. I have included a number of some of the better pictures I took there.

A big update...

Hello all!
What a whirlwind tour this is turning out to be. I'm having a wonderful time, but I have to admit that I was a little dismayed to find out that we have seven more cities to hit before we get to Stratford, and stay put for awhile. Where to start?

I'm in Belfast right now. While it holds a certain fascination (as, indeed, all Northern Ireland does) it is also a very dreary city, with dirty and foul reminders everywhere of its more prosperous industrial past. I will talk more about Belfast later, when I have some more perspective, perhaps.

On the 6th we traveled to the Aran Islands via a lovely ferry ride in the open air. The Islands themselves, Inishmore, Inishmaan and Innisheer, are beautiful jewels set in the sparkling waters of the Atlantic. Perhaps unfairly, we have been blessed with particularly un-Irish weather- sunny skies and balmy temps (at least until we hit Belfast yesterday). We toured the Isle of Inishmore and saw the fort Don Angus, which is presumed to be roughly 2,000 years old and has a semicircular defence wall, and lines of great rock spikes that jut out at an angle from the ground to disrupt a head-on charge. The view was spectacular. This was where I got that great picture of me struggling to hold on the edge of the cliff. I regret to inform my horrified parents that I was indeed right at the edge of a sheer cliff, perched on a ledge about a foot wide. BUT, I'm safe now, writing this, so don't worry about my safety. (It's certainly nothing worse than what my crazy outdoorsman brother has done :)

Counterclockwise: Me at the Don Angus fort. The beautiful clear waters at Inishmore. The stone spikes used for defense. The cliff Don Angus sits on.














Clockwise from left. Another beautiful view of the cliff (which I hung off of...). A view straight down from the cliff. Kevin and I at the cliffs.

We also went to the Galway cathedral- but as it is still a functioning church and not so much a monument, I didn't feel real comfortable shutterbugging there.

On September 7th we went to Athenry and Emily Robinson sang a touching rendition of “The Fields of Athenry.” We also saw Athenry Castle.From there we went to Thoor Ballylee (where Yeats lived and wrote for a time), and Coole Park, where Lady Augustus Gregory lived and wrote as well. From there, we went to Clonmacnois, a monastery that is notable for its High Crosses. Clonmacnois, founded in 548, means “Meadow of the Sons of Nois.” The high crosses at the site are beautiful carved limestone crosses that depict stories from the bible.

The famed autograph tree at Coole Park. Yeats' winding staircase. Thoor Ballylee. Athenry Castle.














Below: Highcross at Clon Mac Nois.


On September 8th we traveled a great deal. We stopped in Westport, and Kylmore abbey- both interesting places in their own right, but we didn't see them in any depth.

On September 9th we visited Yeats' grave, and the adjoining abbey. That's all I've got time for for now!

I miss all of you, please write me an e-mail when you get a chance!

I leave Belfast tomorrow for Dublin. I'm thrilled to go back to Ireland (and to the Euro. The English pound is murder on my wallet.) Wish me luck.




Extra pictures: First fish and chips ever. First Guinness ever. Ireland is amazing.

busy busy busy

Today I'm in Belfast.

Things are crazily busy.

I miss all my friends, family and loved ones. Lots of pictures ect. when steady net access available.

Yes, I know it is Cliffs of Moher.

Here in Ireland.

Hello all! Here I am in Ireland.
I appreciate all the e-mails I've gotten asking if I was ok.
The answer is- we'll see... :)

Yesterday we went to the Cliffs of Moor (sp?) and Dunguaire Castle and our first Irish pub ever, Monk's; which was fantastic!

I promise to write more later, but here are some pictures for now:

Here I am in Ireland!

This is the sign for Monk's. Amazing seafood. You must have the salmon.




Here is a picture of part of our group through the mirror in Monk's
Here is Kevin saying "Oh my Gosh I'm in Ireland!"












Here is a picture of the castle we saw:












Here are some pictures of the cliffs, and the famous Matchmaker pub:












And here is a special sneak peak at tomorrow's pictures:
Tune in tomorrow to see if I make it out alive!

Today's the Day

I leave today for parts unknown to me.

There be dragons in these waters.

My last day on planet earth.

A little dramatic, hm?

In a way, though, that's exactly what today feels like. It feels like I'm experiencing all kinds of things, sensations, places and people for the last time.

I'm going to a wholly different world than the one I currently inhabit. I'm leaving here and returning to "The Old World," where in some ways, it all began for Western culture. Will it be similar to the world I currently live in? Sure. But it will be a similarity of seeing distant relatives. When I'm in the UK, I picture having conversations with strangers, and suddenly hitting upon some commonality- like recognizing a familiar gesture of a friend in his or her father or mother- and realizing we're all the same.

So, while I'm working hard to finish the last bit of academic work this trip requires (Damn you Henry the Sixth and your TEN HOUR LONG CYCLE!) and struggling to pack everything up neatly, I'm also pausing to reflect about how exciting this world I'm going to will be, and how much I will miss my "Old World."

Snakes in a Zoo! (video test)

Hey Guys!

Below is a video of a snake that we saw at the Birmingham zoo. I'm just testing out various bits of technology I might use on this blog.


If you can't see the video window at all, you can download the file direct here.
That's all.

(if you can hear but not see the video, get the newest codec from here.)

Farewell tour...

I've been making my way back and forth across the south trying to say goodbye to everyone I can before I leave for three months. Pretty tall order. As you can see on Kevin's blog (at Alabama isn't Europe), Kevin and I went to Birmingham, Alabama to see our friends Chess, allison, Ian, Jeb, and Meg. That was a blast!

More recently, I went to Atlanta, GA to see allison allgood and her new apartment and the theatre she is working at, Actor's Express. I logged 380 miles on my trip there and back.

380 miles?! you say, Isn't that a long trip to just hit Atlanta and back?
Why, yes it is! I took an unintended detour that added a couple of hours to my trip. Argh.

Anyway. Seeing allison was wonderful, and everyone should go visit her in Atlanta. (And see their production of Pillow Man, which is a fantastic play) It ain't too far, you Furman people.

I also noticed how crowded Atlanta is and how much it irritates me. In New York, it is crowded too, but it is different.

In New York City, everyone is in your way because they're rushing around because no one is where they want to be. In Atlanta, everyone is in your way because they're exactly where they want to be, and will never move again.

Yesterday I took a jaunt over to Clemson to see some friends I hadn't seen in years. Crazy how some things change so much, and other stay the same. Hey Guys, if your reading this, it was awesome seeing you again. We'll hang out again when I get back from the UK.

I had some milk today that will expire the day I leave for Europe. How bizarrely metaphysical.

That's all for now.

Oh yeah, it's allison allgood's birthday on September 10th. Show her some love!