Alleged house where Shakespeare was born.
I had email from my Seattle acting pal Janet Cole that she was coming to London and the UK for a few weeks on business with the volunteer organization Habitat for Humanity, and some vacation time. She gave me her busy schedule so I could try to get into town and catch some shows with her, but between her schedule, my schedule, and tickets selling out, we ended up only seeing each other once. But it was all day long on Good Friday, and a fantabulous day it was.
And Lo, Carolyn met Janet at the train station, and there was much rejoicing. We then commenced to drive to Stratford-upon-Avon, singing along with Sarah McLachlan ("Mirrorball") on the car stereo, off to the land of Shakespeare's birth, death, and posthumous exploitation. And Jellybabies were eaten in the car, and Thai lunch was had upon arrival, and hence to the sights.
Stratford is a lot like Bruges (Belgium) in that it's really, really touristy, but it's such a nice place that you don't mind. You buy a pass to several historic spots in town and walk yourself through a tour, using a pamphlet. This we did, and some mild shopping betimes (to get out of the pouring rain). Photos are up at: http://geocities.datacellar.net/minsq/stratford.html
Janet has greater theatrical knowledge than I, since she actually studied theatre, so it was grand for me to have her along to discuss what we saw. But also we had a big giant catching-up conversation all day long, which was wonderful, and a few laughs. The last site we toured was a doctor's house, showing the scary leech application cups and 19th-century gynacological implements (kee-yikes!!) and stylish shoes that may have once been worn by Shakespeare's-cousin's-wife's-uncle's-cat's-acquaintance's-sister. There was a wall display about the Plague, with a stuffed and mounted rat to show us what Plague-carrying-rats just might have looked like; I was just walking away when I heard a giggle out of Janet, who pointed out a tag by the rat showing that it was on loan from Warwick Museum. "The rat's on loan!" she whispered to me and we both chortled hysterically, as quietly as we could. Photos were not allowed, or we would have recorded that comic moment for all of you to enjoy. I just love that! This display...it needs something...
When we were done giggling we stopped for tea to have a break from walking, which I pointed out as the secret to how much Europeans walk; they're never far from a cafe where they can stop and revive themselves. Some more strolling and shopping, as the shops were British chains that Janet hadn't seen yet, and Janet was bummed to find that she'll miss the next Harry Potter book release, and an Italian dinner, and we were off to the theatre to see As You Like It.
It was a great production with lavish costumes and a very creative needlepoint theme to the sets, and fine acting. The only problem was an American (*sigh*) family sitting by me; the father was next to me, and the 11 year-old or so daughter behind me, and she continually leaned forward to whisper loudly "Dad, who is that guy? And why did he fight the other guy?" etc. and the dad would have some moronic response that showed he wasn't paying attention anyway. He also whipped out a video camera and taped parts of the play - I thought about telling on him, but he only did it for a few minutes, so I just laughed extra loudly and annoyingly whenever he had the camera out. Mostly when they talked I tried to ignore them, but occasionally gave them the stinkeye so they'd be quieter.
Afterwards, being actor-types ourselves, naturally Janet and I ripped the show apart - she felt the pacing was slow; mostly I was drawn in, but I could think of a few places where it dragged. The female lead was losing her voice but otherwise she was great. But we spent more time discussing the annoying Americans. Now, we're all for educating your kids about Shakespeare, but not at the expense of 11 or 12 theatregoers within hearing range. Janet and I thought: read the play first, prepare the child for the language used, clarify the story at 'the interval' (intermission, in British) and not all evening long, leave early if the child is bored and finish the story by reading the book, etc. It's not a Disney movie, people, which is what your kids are used to.
Back to the car, and an epic drive to return Janet to the place where she was staying in Croydon, south London. There was limited train service that day so we had planned this drive. So back down the M40 to the tune of the soundtrack to "The Secret Garden," to the M25 (the Orbital that circles London), then anticlockwise (counterclockwise, in American) to the right spot, both of us singing along with Dar Williams' "The End of the Summer," and into the city streets we went with Janet navigating. We got there at 2 am, and Janet offered a couch for me to nap on before going back, but I felt ready to drive home to Hemel Hempstead, and thought that Saturday morning traffic would be much worse to deal with, so we said goodbye and I headed back out.
I sang along with the soundtrack to "Jesus Christ Superstar," which I think was fitting for Good Friday, and got back to my apartment at 4 am.
In Other News: I'm coming back to the States for a two-week vacation, the second half of June! I'm leaving around June 16th and going to San Jose, and popping up to Seattle for 4-5 days in the middle, around the 22-26th of June, and at this point it seems likely that I will have Belgian pal Gery Van Emelen along with me. Please mark your calendars! I hope to have coffee with my San Jose pals, and there's talk of a Shakespeare-hot tub-ferret frolic-etc. party in Seattle, and I must have a chance to sing with the Sassycats lest I become slack and uncool in my a cappella abilities. A little wearing-o'-the-leopard and saucy rehearsal to regenerate my Sassy cells, I think, is called for.
Hope to see lots of you, and my current travel plans are to Dublin next weekend where my sister will be briefly, and to Leuven, Belgium after that to visit the pals there and purchase a load of chocolate to bring with me to the States.
Cheers,
C a r o l y n
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M i n s q
"Come the measles, you can quarantine the room;
Comes a mousie, you can chase it with a broom.
Comes love...nothing can be done."
- Billie Holliday, "Comes Love"
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