I'm a slayer, ask me how.

Okay, I've been mentally planning this post for awhile now and I figured I better write it before we're not even in the same damn MONTH as the trip!!!! I'll try to keep it from getting too long, but I was there a week!

Tuesday/Wednesday:

Got to the airport nice and early, went through security with no problems. My friend had warned me that the UK was using Chip & Pin credit cards so in a moment of panic, I went to the currency place and not only got sound pounds but also one of the cards. (In the end, I shouldn't have bothered - London is too much of a tourist town to not take our old magnetic cards...plus I could never remember the damn PIN!) My flight left with no problems at all. Had a yummy chicken curry dinner on the plane and watched episodes 6 & 7 of 'Game of Thrones' on my iPhone, then passed out for a little while.

At the last minute, I managed to convince Perri, one of my bestest buds, to travel with me. She flew Virgin Atlantic and made it to Heathrow BEFORE me LOL! So she was waiting at the gate when I landed. We headed over to the hostel, Palmer's Lodge. This was my first hostel experience and, let me say, I do not think I'm cut out for hostel vacationing. I like my own space, even if it is just to sleep in. Had a little bit of a shock when we went into the room and found that it was twin-sized bunkbeds. And Perri & I had gotten a TOP bed. You can see how thrilled I am about this in the photo Perri took of me "settling in".

Even though we were running on fumes at this point, we decided we better keep moving so we didn't fall asleep! We wandered back out in to the city and ended up at St. Pancras station. Perri drooled over the Eurostar train for awhile, then we went outside and found an Irish pub for lunch. The food was okay, but the highlight of the meal was the little ol' Irishman sitting next to us. You could tell he was a regular by the amount of *eyeroll* he got from the young waitresses every time he ordered another Guiness. Perri got a Guiness with her meal and he took this as an opportunity to chat with us and tell us about all the great vitamins contained in Guiness beer and how pregnant women should be encouraged to drink it!

We ate our food (Perri got a Shepard's Pie, I went with an Irish burger) and then we realized we were right next to the British Library! We went inside and wandered around. It was being heavily used, lots of floors, though many of them were for special collections and studying so you couldn't just go walking. The "King's Collection" was in the middle of the building. We did manage to wander into the Science Fiction exhibit they had going on, though at this point, we were SO tired, we just sort of walked through and glanced at everything. It was pretty cool though. You forget that mankind has been fantasizing about going to space since before there were even rockets or cars or any technology that could make it seem possible.

At this point, we stumbled back to Palmer's Lodge (after getting ourselfs a week-long Oyster card for the Tube -- which means we bought a subway pass that would last us all week). I think it was only 6 or 7...but we were so tired. Perri was smart and brought along earplugs so we took quick shower (oh god, hostel showers, never again!) and passed OUT! We both woke up around 11pm because people were shuffling in and the bass beat from the bar below was thumping loud enough to penetrate our earplugs. Plus we were REALLY HUNGRY! Unfortunately, there were no places to eat at the lodge, but a little Deli was open down the street, so we walked down and got a yummy sub and a water and I picked up a Cadbury chocolate bar, which hit the spot. So then we passed back out again.

( Day 2 and BEYOND! )

Wonderful trip all around. I am so happy that Perri was crazy enough to hop on that plane and join me because a week alone in London would have been a LONG time. I don't know if I would have been brave enough to go to Cardiff by myself too. Definitely going to remember this one for a long time!

If you'd like to see all of my pictures from the trip - the set is on FLICKR here

On Sunday night I saw the performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C.. This place has never let me down. I'll admit, I was not 100% on Sunday night, after the long evening before that of Rocking and Rumming. But after some chorizo at Jaleo, I got a second wind (well, first wind actually).

Sunday was actually preview night, so apparently members of the media were there. There was a table set up in the lobby of the Sidney Harman Hall and folders were being handed out. Nothing special for Susan and I though, we are just normal theater goers. haha.

First of all, the reconfigured the entire staging area (apparently known as the "thrust configuration" if I was a theatre buff). It was so cool. I started to walk down the steps to find our usual seat and when I looked up I was like "whoa!". It was almost a theater in the round sort of setting. It felt as though they were trying to recreate the Globe, with the audience surrounding the players and the players within reach of the crowd.

That wasn't the only bit of the play that harkened back to Shakespeare's time. This production was all men. Yeah, I was worried at first - all men? Like a drag show? But no, it was just men playing women, the way a man might play a bartender or a woman might play an archeologist. Just another role. According to the playbill, the director decided to try this because of how much emphasis R&J puts on "manliness". (I'll admit, I haven't seen R&J since I was forced to read it in school and they made us watch the Zefferelli movie. Most of my knowledge of the play comes from Shakespeare in Love, which also focuses on the whole "men only" aspect of the society. I try not to think too much about the love story, because when you live in a society where you die at 40, I guess 14 would be the best time to settle down.)

I really enjoyed the show. It was easy to tell that some were uncomfortable with the men playing women, as they snickered at the wrong moments. I felt the actors did a fantastic job all around, so it was no fault of theirs. James Davis' Juliet was very much a spazzy 14-year old girl, jumping and skipping about. Finn Wittrock as Romeo also captured the youthfulness of his character. I think we tend to forget that Romeo and Juliet are barely adults, and they are still trying to figure themselves out as well as understand their families and their issues.

Of course, my favorite is Mercutio -- Aubrey Deeker. He's a regular at the STC and he always does a great job, whether he's playing comedy or drama. Mercutio is a great mix, and he played him as both the class clown/frat boy and the young man losing his best friend to romance. I thought his take on the death scene (whoops, spoiler!) was very well done.

Anyway, in Shakespeare's time, this performance would be nothing to blink at, as women were not allowed near the stage. But in 2008, the role of women being played by men feels so shocking. Yet the Shakespeare Theatre Company pulls it off as though it was 1660 yet underneath it all is a dash of 2008...it's hard to describe. Another job well done by the men (and there must be some women backstage!) of the STC!

(FYI: the dress Juliet is wearing in the photo that is on the STC site is not Juliet's dress. It's actually Lady Montague's dress. Guess they were not done with the wardrobe when the photographer arrived. So don't judge the costumes by that photo! Lady Montague is not the same size/proportions as Juliet)

Wowza. Just got back from 'Hamlet' at the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C. and let me tell you - it was amazing.

I'll be honest - I wasn't really looking forward to 'Hamlet'. I was forced to read it multiple times in school, I'd scene the Mel Gibson and Kenneth Branagh versions on TV, and I was sick to death of the whole "is he or isn't he cRazY?" argument. But I couldn't say no to free Shakespeare, and this theater has never let me down, so I still went, but I was wary.

In about the first 30 seconds, I realized it was foolish of me to ever worry. First of all, the stage itself was AMAZING. The set had tree limbs dangling from the ceiling, the structures around the back a weird, not quite transparent plastic that distorted the light and made the eerie smoke on the stage seem that more ethereal. And then the guard entered, not dressed in some Elizabethean garb, but as a modern day solider (actually, the outfit made me think of a Soviet Russia style uniform for some reason, with the little square fuzzy hat and rifle with bayonet). The ghost appeared, Horatio and the guards gasped, and then ran off to get Hamlet!

The next scene was the wedding reception for Claudius and Gertrude. Surrounded by men in suits and photographers, they entered - Claudius with his arms around her waste, constantly pulling her close. Hamlet's entrance is perfect - in one glance you know that this is not the adult Hamlet we have seen over and over, this is Hamlet as a true young man. Ripped from his life of studies at some far off college, he has returned home for his father's funeral and now must tolerate this. He enters across a ramp above the stage. He has his backpack slung across one shoulder, a hat pulled down covering his face, and he has on a suit - not cut to fit perfectly like the King and his subjects, but a suit that hangs off of him like a rockstar.

He sees Claudius and Gertrude hand in hand, going on about the wedding. He drops his backpack over the edge of the ramp and lets it land with a loud *THUD*.

And it works. Hamlet isn't some weird 30 year old hanging around the castle, moping. He's a very upset young man, probably in his early 20s, still mourning the sudden loss of his father (and we all know what wonderful relationships 20 year old men tend to have with their fathers...I'm just saying, he probably had lots of other (emotional) baggage he never got to unload). It feels so much more believable that this young man is so quick to go into emotional outbursts.

And Ophelia was also done so RIGHT. Usually, they just play her as a ditsy chick, so when she goes crazy later, it's a bit harder to tell. Ophelia in this production was a young girl that you really understood. She was totally normal (she even had a moment alone with her and her iPod). In that second scene, after Hamlet has made his way down from the catwalk above the stage, the first thing he does is slip her a little note and try to steal a few quick kisses, much to her brother's (Laertes) dismay. Again, because she is cast as this age, it works! When the champagne tray goes by, she tries to grab a glass, but Laertes quickly pulls it from her hand - a note to the audience that she is too young to be drinking.

I could go on and describe the WHOLE play, because it was just that good. This interpretation of Hamlet may be the best I've ever seen, and I wish every student who was sitting there now, stumbling through the play, trying to understand what makes it so great, could SEE this production. Because Shakespeare should always been seen and not just read. And this production was hypnotic. We all know Hamlet, it seems every other line has been quoted out of context since the play was originally performed, but the director (Michael Kahn) took care to make sure the soliloquies and other famous lines were delivered in a different way.

Jeffrey Carlson played Hamlet and he was fantastic! I hope they bring him back to do more shows at this theater (though apparently he's recently gained fame from playing the first transgendered character in 'All My Children'). For pictures from the play, check out the Shakespeare Theatre Company's blog. If you have the means, I definitely recommend seeing this play before it's gone.

There was even a nod to Tom Stoppard's 'Rosenzcrantz & Guildenstern are Dead' - when the two first appear on stage, one of them flips a coin, shows it to the other, who sighs and nods. LOL.

Oh, and as a dorky fandom bonus - Horatio was played by an actor that appeared in "The Freshman" (S4 e1) episode of Buffy!

Went out with jimithingy's mom today and saw 'Love's Labors Lost' at the Shakespeare Theater in D.C.. It was a whole lotta fun (except for the part where I got lost driving to and driving home, I have no sense of direction)! I had never seen or read LLL before so I got to test my skills at understanding the language without and knowledge of the play. I think I did pretty well.

This version of LLL had a twist - instead of setting it in the traditional shakespeare time, the director (Michael Kahn, who is THE MAN, every time he directs a play it is fabulous) decided that a story about young men seeking spirtual enlightenment and young women seeking to be independant (with spunk) could be easily set in the 1960s. So the three noblemen become three rock stars (they rush the stage in the first moments of the play ala the Beatles, complete with paparazzi chasing them down the aisle) and their leader? Why, the Prince is now dressed very similar to the Maharishi! It worked so well! The language still fit, the jokes were still funny, and the play worked.

The basic plot is the boys arrive at the Princes home after agreeing to spend 3 years studying with him, and while studying they are also to fast once a week, only eat one meal a day, only sleep 3 hours a night,...oh yeah, and not come near any women at all. No sooner have they thought up this brilliant scheme, then they recieve notice that the princess of France is on her way to have words with the prince (the king of france is old so he has to send his daughter...and her friends too!). Of course, the guys all fall head over heels for these fair maids (or perhaps fair mods would be a better term) and attempt to woo them. The girls know better, and poke fun at them, play games with them, and pretty much drive them nuts, all the while dressing in go-go boots and mini-skirts. The boys attempt to woo them with sonnets, which they sing in 1960s styles - from the folk song to the rocker.

Stealing the scene was the character of Costard, the fool of the play, this time portrayed as a peace loving stoner. haha. He stumbled around, flashing peace signs and generally being out of it. He had the bandana, the tie-dyed shirt, everything.

This is definately a play where I want to go back and read it, because there was so much said and so fast. Lots of puns and wordplay that I think shot right over my head, especially while I was getting used to the accents they were using with a few characters. I'm gonna watch the Kenneth Branagh one as soon as I can (I took it out of the library) to see what spin he gave the film (he set it in the 1930s and used Irving Berlin songs).

The end of the play was sort of odd - it just kind of ends. It's like Shakespeare was writing and counted his pages, said "Hm, that's about 2 hours worth" and then just ended it. You don't really know what happens to the couples. It was odd.

But other than that, this production was a lot of fun. And to top it off, this is the show they are taking to the Stratford-On-Avon Shakespeare festival! I want to hear how it's recieved in England!

If you're in the D.C. area and have the means, I think this would make for a fun matinee. Check it out!

Oh, and afterwards I was bad and bought stuff in the gift shop, which I don't usually do, but this time they had handbags made out of material used in the play! And since it was set in the 1960s, the bags were fun and colorful so I bought one. Also got some earrings and necklace that are very moddish. So cute!