Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, As You Like It, Stratford-upon-Avon and Marylebone

I took a long weekend in Stratford with my boss. Not business, just a bit of a Shakespeare fest, starting with Hamlet. But also for my part the first time I had been in the re-vamped theatre in Stratford, which we managed to get to coincide with some nice weather. The theatre is itself an interesting historic piece of architecture, being a combination of Victorian Gothic, much extended in Art Deco style, and now with 21st century additions, notably the tower.

So first up, Hamlet on the Friday night. Of the three plays on the itinerary actually the one I enjoyed least, not a reflection on the performance so much as on me. First I was probably too tired having been on the winning team in the Firm charity quiz night just before, but perhaps unfortunately we celebrated by drinking our winnings (a bottle of wine each) and then having gone for a bite to eat around midnight so I was probably not in bed until 1:30am, with my alarm then going at 7am. I did a bit of snoring in the car going up! Secondly, it is a play I had seen before and I really prefer coming toplays cold. One thing one appreciates from the play is not just its familiarity, but just how quotable it is, ie how many lines are famous just as sayings, as well as the Alas Dear Yorick stuff.

All done in something akin to modern dress, and with Hamlet for the most part in fencing garb. All perfectly well-acted and so on, but just didn't excite me that much.

The more permanent Hamlet - in bronze

Next morning after a good night's sleep I met up with Nigel again (he was staying in a guest-house and me with friends) for a bit of pottering and lunch before Titus Andronicus. We started off with a 40 minute boat trip, which was a nice enough idea on a lovely sunny day. And wasn't a bad trip, but we perhaps hadn't anticipated spending quite so much of the time in a lock. But the trip did at least afford good views of the theatre from a slightly different angle.

We managed to get a table at the Arden, just across the road from the theatre, the Black Swan and the Dirty Duck both being full and we fancied a table outside. Which was a good call.

Fortified by a nice salad, we headed in to the smaller theatre, the Swan, for the gorefest that is Titus Andronicus.

This is not a very commonly performed play, which is what attracted me. And I don't think that is because its a bad play - far from it. But it is just the opposite of what people would like it to be for modern sensibilities. The theatrical community love to push the relevance of such plays to a modern audience, the time less themes. This is of course largely tosh, and for Titus Andronicus, obviously complete tosh. Its speaks of its time, and a very different time to our own. Its a story of spiralling revenge, and of horrendous brutality. And it also has probably the least positive image of a black man in all literature. But that only tops off a truly awesome body count that would put a Bruce Willis action picture into the shade. So not ideal for a summer garden party production for all the family.

 If you are not familiar with the plot, Titus Andronicus returns triumphant to Rome with his Goth royal captives. Despite the entreaties of the Goth queen, he promptly does his "religious" duty and has her eldest son dismembered for the Gods. She, somewhat implausibly, is promptly married to the new Roman Emperor, Saturninus. And swears her revenge on Titus Andronicus and his family. From then on its just death all the way. Titus Andronicus loses three of his four sons (plus his right hand - sawn off on stage as part of a trick by the treacherous Moor, deceived into thinking he was exchanging it for the lives of two of his sons, but in fact gets only their severed heads in return), his son-in law (or at least he would have been his son-in law if he had lived long enough), his daughter (who he kills himself, but only to stop her living with the "shame" of having been raped, had both her hands cut off and her tongue torn out (thankfully not all on stage), and of course he dies too. So in the end, does the vengeful queen, (but only after having eaten the remains of her two youngest boys in a pie baked by the not surprisingly miffed Titus), along with her husband, the Emperor. And along the way a nurse is gratuitously stabbed (that Moor, Aaron, again), a messenger is hung, even more gratuitously, and the Moor is buried alive, his parting words being only that he wished he had managed to commit even more evil deeds. (You see, not a positive role model for racial tolerance. He can't even really be misunderstood.)

And pretty much all the other dinner guests are slaughtered at the end too - even those without having a decent speaking part. I think only one son, Lucius, his brother Marcus and his grandson survive the carnage. Needless to say, the censors would stop this play ever being written or performed if it weren't by Shakespeare. But of course it reflected a more barbarous time, where tortured death was just part of the judicial system. And well worth the admission fee.

After a little more ambling around the town, we headed back to the theatre for dinner in the rooftop restaurant which to my surprise was excellent, in being a reasonable price, excellent food and excellent service. All we didn't get was a rooftop view, but let that pass. If we had been lucky enough to get the right table, this is what it would have been (ok, with a zoom lens as well).

Then back into the main theatre for As You Like It. Complete contrast to Titus Andronicus, this being one of Shakespeare's comedies. Of course this is not comedy as in funny, at least not to a modern ear (or at least my modern ear). Ok people laugh, but they feel they have to, and by and large the laughter is all at the modern off script stuff. For this purpose, the chap who played the fool, Touchstone, was brilliant. So, rather than comedy (which you will get more of in any 3 minute snatch at a comedy club), think light hearted romance, and again consider that one is viewing a museum piece, not modern humour. This is a nice tale of honourable handsome young man falling in love with honourable attractive young woman (after a wrestling bout enabling him to display both valour and bare chest. Not a courtship technique open to most young fellows these days.). Its a light enough piece, allowing that very Shakespearean device, a bit of cross-dressing. Something that might have been more convincing when all the female roles were played by boys anyway, before all this mad political correctness of having women played by women. Whatever next? They will be letting them become bishops, and then where will our society be?

And it all ends up happily ever after with a bit of music and dancing. Bless.

 

  

 

Sunday morning I got up at around 6am and went for a walk in peaceful (well apart from the odd rubbish truck) Stratford-on-Avon. It is a lovely little town and it retains a surprising amount of medieval buildings, not all of which have been made into Shakespearean themed exhibitions. If I was to try and define a quintessentially English landscape it would be the meandering River Avon. All much nicer to see before the day trippers arrive. None at all at 6am!

  

Then back home on the slow train from Warwick to Marylebone. A sensible thing to do when one finds oneself in an unfamiliar part of Town is just to go and take the opportunity to wander about. Marylebone is a very smart area, with some interesting Art Deco architecture and Marylebone library - a real statement piece of architecture.

Dorset Court

Marylebone library

And a relatively short walk takes one to the Wallace Collection, one of the lesser known gems of London. Its free to enter and has a phenomenal art collection (albeit slightly short on space at the moment due to refurbishment). Great collection of Dutch Masters, including Rembrandt, Van Dyck and most famously Frans Hals' Laughing Cavalier, plus a lot of later French rococo stuff, and much else besides. Plus a large collection of armour.

Then back home to my garden.