SFoodie is among the throng regretting SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s successful effort to pressure Coors into removing essentially all of the active ingredients (caffeine, taurine, guarana, and ginseng) from their energy drink Sparks.

When Herrera, emboldened by success, enlisted other government lawyers to pursue purveyors of energy drinks both with and without alcohol, SFoodie responded as Americans traditionally have to Prohibitions past– he retreated to his bath-tub, and brewed up a batch of home-made Sparks:

The [resulting] drink was reverse-engineered from a vintage can of caffeinated Sparks and rigorously tested via blind taste-test by SFoodie and four people who agreed to come over to the author’s house and drink this stuff, plus two random guys on the street who should be applauded for their daring and general zest for life.

The results? It’s virtually impossible to tell the difference between Bathtub Sparks (or Not Sparks, or Moonshine Sparks) and real Sparks. Between tastings, palates were cleansed with beer.

A side-by-side comparison. The one that looks more like urine is the actual Sparks.

Actual testimony:

“God, that’s so f**king gross.”

“This is actually hurting my stomach.”

“I’m buzzed, I’ve got so much caffeine in my body.”

“This is the best day of my life.”

In other words, it tasted just like Sparks.

Bathtub Sparks

2 pieces Pez candy, one yellow, one pink
1 can King Cobra
1 can Red Bull

Crush the Pez until reduced to a fine powder. Transfer the powder to the bottom of an empty glass. Pour in equal parts King Cobra and Red Bull. Don’t be alarmed when the foaming begins; it will subside. Adjust for flavor.

More at SFoodie.

As we reach for the rush, we might raise it in a toast, as it was on this date in 1582 that the Pantheonic William Shakespeare, then 18, posted a £40 bond in Stratford-Upon-Avon for his license to marry Anne Hathaway (then 26)… Their first chid, Susanna, came quickly (six months later:  What, Egg!  Young fry of treachery! , followed in two years by twins.

Mrs. Shakespeare

When it comes to Stratford upon Avon there is only one person to show you around and that is our dear friend Steven Healey.

Stratford upon Avon should not be confused with Stratford E15

or

It’s an easy mistake for an unsuspecting Essex girl to make as you can see from the pics above.

Stratford upon Avon is the home to William Shakespeare, the bane of many teenage childrens lives and the main staple of English taught at senior school. Stratford E15 is one of the sites for the Olympics in East London in 2012, its the drain on all our taxes for the next 3 generations but the good news is it will have the crossrail by then and we should be able to go from south to east of the river in a jiffy.

I have to admit to being a bit of a Shakespeare fan, I saw as a young girl a version of Romeo and Juliet starring Niamh Cusack (sister or cousin of John Cusack the Hollywood actor) and in the famous fight scene Mercutio drove a Porsche onto the stage. Instead of fighting with swords they used chains which echoed around the theatre. One of the secondary characters was played by a teacher from then popular TV show Grange Hill and it was utterly mesmerising and I then understood why Shakespeare had stood the test of time, he was the Martina Cole of his day

One of my top ten films is Romeo+Juliet which is billed as Shakespeare for the Tarantino generation, it has Leo DiCaprio and a young Claire Danes, and I bet every teen would understand Shakespeare after watching this. For those that haven’t seen it, it’s a must, Baz Luhrman should be commissioned to film Shakespeare’s complete works or at least Julius Caesar as well.

So, I video’d Steven with my Flip and uploaded it to Youtube and here is the outcome -  The Essex Girls Guide to Stratford

Sarah

Read my review of Gregory Doran’s new RSC production of Twelfth Night – starring Richard Wilson – over at Helium…

The weather was terrible yesterday – rain, and more rain.  The forecast for today was more of the same, so I am staying indoors all day.

In an effort not to look miserable, I am wearing brown trousers by Basler, purchased in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006.

My top is also brown, from Boden circa 2005.

To inject some colour I am wearing a red cardigan by Pure Cashmere (2007), and red shoes that I bought at Marks and Spencer in Eastbourne in 2007.

The first thing which has to be said is that The Cherry Orchard is a stunningly good piece of writing. I realise that other people have known this for a lot longer than I have, but it still has to be said. Outside of Shakespeare I have seen nothing else which is able to expose the human condition with such wisdom, humour, and compassion. Quite simply it’s all there-the idealism of youth, the blindness and despair of love, self deception, bravery and endurance. All shown with a merciless humour, within a story whose structure is as tight as a drum. Not a word or a gesture is wasted and every moment serves to illuminate the characters as if by lightening. We see their vanity, lies, and misplaced hopes, as the truth of each situation and relationship is spelled out to us. We know these people. They are people you see every day, on every street. You laugh at them and suffer with them. It’s hard to know what more you could ask from a piece of theatre.
I have been enormously lucky to see it for the first time in a production which was just perfect. I’m sorry-I would love to sit here and be clever for you and take it apart explaining where I thought the faults were but …………I can’t. The whole thing rang true like a piece of perfect glassware and every character was a living breathing human being who had a complete rounded life. I somehow feel that one day I will meet Madame Ranyevskaya down Settle market and ask her how she got on with her lover in Paris, and I could easily find myself wondering if Gaev actually made a decent bank clerk. Trofimov,the perpetual student is probably doing some tin pot liberal arts course at Yorkshire Coast College. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this I intend to ring Dunyasha and tell her that Yasha is a worthless shit who is not worth crying over-I’ve been there so I know. Mind you, of all the characters the one whom I felt most desperate for was Varya, Madame R’s adopted daughter. In her late thirties, too old, too plain and too clever to be a good marriage prospect, she has been hoping against hope for a proposal from Lopakhin. God knows he isn’t much, in spite of his money, but he’s the only chance she’s got. She alone among all the characters has the realism to see her situation clearly, but when the moment comes, and all he can manage to talk about is the weather, it still tears her apart as she faces the empty drudgery of life as a housekeeper. Unbelievably it was a moment which was also supremely funny. This really is genius. There were so many clever links in the writing too. For example the running joke about Gaev was that he loved making empty speeches at the drop of a hat-including one to a bookcase. The family spend their lives telling him to shut up. Until the moment when he arrives at the party just ahead of Lopakhin with the knowledge that the estate has been sold and he is utterly unable to communicate. Wonderful irony, and a very human truth……..most people are very articulate as long as they have nothing important to say. There was also a magical little performance from one of my favourite actors, John Dougall, who played a hapless clerk called Epihodov. Show this man a chair in the middle of an empty ballroom and he’ll fall over it. A small speck of humanity who is forgotten the instant he leaves a room. He’s one of natures fall guys. Life is an unknown country that he is rushing around desperately without a map. All the same, Dunyasha would be better off accepting his proposal, rather than sighing after Yasha and letting him put her through hell. He needs someone to look after him after all. And yes it was hell -her brave smile didn’t fool me any more than Ranyevskayas does. Penelope Wiltons performance as Ranyevskaya was wonderful. It is a part any actress of a certain age would walk over dead bodies for, and she didn’t miss a trick. She is warm and generous, embracing life with a feckless enthusiasm and a magnificent disregard of reality. Something will turn up and oh dear, yes, she has screwed up again but she just can’t help it, don’t you see? On just a few occasions the mask slips, we see the pain, and it’s heartbreaking. You admire her bravery, and her appetite for life, while despairing of her lack of realism and practicality.
The director, Adrian Noble, must have done something to earn his money but I’m not sure what, which is exactly as it should be. The piece moved forward with simplicity and clarity and all the key moments were allowed to resonate with no distraction or over-elaboration. The set was very simple too. A large wooden floor with plain pale blue furniture and dust sheets-as little as possible. The orchard was something we saw through their eyes at the back of the auditorium. The key image was a large gauze cage that let down around the thrust stage before the opening. You wondered why at first, pretty though it was, until it became a key part of the most poignant final image I have ever seen on stage.

When I was a little girl, my sister and I used to build forts in our basement. Blankets and books became our bricks and mortar. My parents kept many books on the shelves, the topics as numerous as the books.

Even in my illiterate days, these books captivated me. I could barely pick up the book with the burgundy and tapestry cover. It’s cryptic cover enchanted me. Awestruck, I waited for the day when I would be big enough to open the book and flip through the flimsy pages.

Time passed. I grew older. I recognized what the letters said. “The Riverside Shakespeare”–one of my mom’s college textbooks. I could hold the book now, but still didn’t dare open it. Shakespeare was a name to be revered.

In fifth grade, my family visited England. Two days after my eleventh birthday we left the States and flew to London. One side trip was to Stratford-Upon-Avon, where we visited Shakespeare’s house. Well, we got there a half hour prior to closing, and rushed through the place before stopping at the gift shop. There, I got my first real taste of his words. My family bought an illustrated collection of his twelve best-known works, with summaries, character descriptions and excerpts from the plays. For years, I poured over this text, learning the characters and stories of Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar.

My first taste of the Bard’s words as they rolled over my tongue was a little over a year later. We read a scene from Julius Caesar in my history class while studying Rome. My teacher assigned me to read the role of Brutus. I stayed up late the night before the scene “performance” going over my lines, testing them for the right sounds. There is magic in these words.

Shakespeare performed became a reality for me a year later, when I saw Romeo & Juliet performed. Though I now don’t care for the play much beyond Act III (Mercutio and Tybalt are my favorite characters), the production was outstanding. I loved every minute, and my introduction opened up worlds. Alas, the following week I sat through an awful production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, but it was the atrocious acting that scarred me, not the words.

It wasn’t until high school that I realized how much I worshipped the man’s words. While reading Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech from Romeo & Juliet out loud, I fell in love with the words. I continued to read his plays on my own, listening to actors play the roles.

The summer before my senior year, I participated in an acting camp based solely on Shakespeare. We performed snippets from Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth. I played Tybalt (we only had two guys in our cast). Though I didn’t have much to say, I had so much fun! I learned stage fighting and had a spectacular death.

My love for Shakespeare grows every year, with every play I read. Next up is Othello, I think.

Whoa! I’ve hit 32 entries…I made it a whole month! This gives me hope that I really can pull off a whole year of this insanity.

Today’s entry will be short since I have an insane workload today (9:00-3:00 at one job, 1:00-10:00 – that’s AM – at the other). Sorry. I’ll do better tomorrow. Maybe.

I’m a fan of adorable cottages, and I stumbled across this website the other day. They have a list of all these precious, cutely named places in Shakespeare Country, such as Quince Cottage, Hathaway Hamlet, and Bottom Lock Cottage. I am absolutely dying to book one of these and go on a vacation! Or, I should say, a holiday!

Read The Stratford-upon-Avon Herald’s Review of ‘Encounters’…

Read my Review over at Helium…

You better believe it, Richard Wilson is appearing onstage as Malvolio in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night. Wilson triumphs, despite being terrified at the age of 72 having never tackled Shakespeare before. Malvolio has attracted top actors like Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale, and more recently Derek Jabobi; oddly for Wilson it is the tragedy of a duped Malvolio, who is left walking alone in the dark at the end onstage, that he is better at than the hilarity of the yellow stockinged one. There has never been a more sympathetic Malvolio.

As the opening lines representing excess, “if music be the food of love, play on” are spoken, director Gregory Doran takes us into an exotic world of violins, hookahs, fine mats, and silken cushions. The play tells the story of twins Viola and Sebastian who have been shipwrecked and lose each other, as Viola finds herself swept ashore and alone she disguises herself as a man and takes a job working for the Duke Orsino. What ensues is mourning, madness, and love triangles. 

Doran’s production is sensitive, perhaps from having been a twin himself, which makes moments like the twin’s eventual reunion incredibly touching. What the play gains in empathy it loses in comedy, and this is meant to be a Shakespearean Comedy. It does not have enough laughs or sex appeal like most Twelfth Nights, instead quick laughs come from having Sir Toby Belch break wind rather than from Shakespeare’s funny lines. 

It is refreshing to see an alternative Feste, this all-singing all-dancing Feste is playful making music from rubbish bin lids and spinning through clothing lines. He is Puck-like rather than elusive like Ben Kingsley’s famous portrayal in Trevor Nunn’s version that many Festes follow. Stand out performances come from Milton Yereolmeou’s Feste, Wilson’s perfectly cast Malvolio, and Alexandra Gilbreath’s Olivia. As Feste ends the play singing “we’ll strive to please you everyday” though, this production does just that, it pleases rather than impresses.

Runs till 21 November, and moves to the Duke of York’s Theatre from 19 December till 27 February 2010. 

To see or not to see: * * * 

Poste de señales indicadoras en el centro de Stratford-upon-Avon.

Este municipio, que en la actualidad cuenta con unos 24.000 habitantes, es la localidad, entonces una pequeña aldea, donde nació William Shakespeare en 1564. La población se encuentra cerca de la segunda ciudad más grande del Reino Unido, Birmingham, en  el condado de Warwickshire, en el centro de la isla y muy cercana a Gales. Este condado sufrió importantes cambios administrativos en 1974 que dejaron fuera a Birmingham y Coventry, difiriendo considerablemente en relación al condado histórico y al de la época del nacimiento del pequeño William.

El río Avon a su paso por Stratford-upon-Avon.

El nombre del lugar significa Stratford sobre el Río Avon, que es el río que atraviesa el pueblo. Avon es la anglicanización de la palabra galesa afon que significa río en ese idioma. El Avon es llamado también Upper Avon, Warwickshire Avon y Shakespeare´s Avon.

Camposanto de la Holy Trinity Church. Las tumbas de la familia Shakespeare se encuentran en el interior del templo.

En relación con el dramaturgo se pueden visitar la Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad (Holy Trinity Church) donde fue bautizado  y también enterrado junto con varios miembros de su familia. Otra de las atracciones más importantes son la casa natal, así como Hall´s Croft que fue de su hija Susannah y New Place que adquirió en mayo de 1597 (en la esquina de Chapel Street y Chapel Lane). Esta última propiedad estaba hecha de madera y ladrillo, tenía diez chimeneas, cinco espléndidos tejados y espacio suficiente para añadir dos establos y un huerto. Posteriormente fue totalmente remozada cambiando considerablemente su aspecto. Este fue el lugar donde vivió los últimos años Shakespeare y donde falleció en 1616.

Casa natal de William Shakespeare.

En la ciudad se encuentra ubicada la Royal Shakespeare Company que actúa en el Royal Shakespeare Theatre en dos pequeños teatros con los que cuenta el complejo, el Swan, remodelizado como el Elizabethan y el black box theatre. Existen también varias instituciones dedicadas al estudio de Shakespeare como la fundación Shakespeare Birthplace y el Shakespeare Institute.

Entre otros lugares de interés no shakesperianos señalar el Teddy Bear Museum (Museo del osito de peluche) y una granja de mariposas (Butterfly Farm).

La afluencia de más de tres millones de visitantes al año para conocer in situ los lugares donde nació, vivió y murió William Shakespeare, y las molestias que esto ocasiona a sus habitantes con el ruido y el tráfico han causado multitud de tensiones entre las autoridades y los residentes.

Yesterday I went to my weekly Pilates class, always an enjoyable hour.

Back home, I had a longer than expected chat with my cleaning lady, then turned on my computer to find train times.

I had arranged to meet a fairly new friend for lunch in Cafe Rouge, in a town about 20 miles north of my home.

I was shocked to see that I needed to catch a train in about 10 minutes!  And I was still in my Pilates clothes!  And my new friend always looks tres chic!

So I dashed into my bedroom and threw on clothes, hoping they would match.  As I ran to the rail station I wished I had picked shoes that stayed on my feet a bit better.

When I got on the train I noticed that I hadn’t actually pulled my jersey down properly, it was rolled halfway up my midriff.  Thank goodness I had a mac over the top.

I wore my new teal blue jersey that I purchased in Marks & Spencer in Chester last week, with my brown Boss skirt.  The latter came from Guildford in 2005.

I wore a pair of teal blue tights, which actually did match the jersey, and my brown Hobbs shoes.  I know open toed shoes are a bit tacky with tights, but I was in a hurry.

I had my brown Lube handbag.  This is one of the oldest items in my wardrobe.  I bought in Chester in 1995, reduced to half price.  A true bargain.

My Basler mac  (Stratford-upon-Avon, 2006) covered up my jersey faux pas.

Yesterday was my second ever visit to Peterborough.  I was there about 15 years ago, and that was for work.

The weather yesterday was wet, but not cold.  

Peterborough has a huge indoor shopping centre, with John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.  I always need fresh air though, and was disappointed to find the outside was fairly messy as many of the streets seemed to be dug up.

There were construction vehicles and cement mixers everywhere!

So I took refuge in the Cathedral.  This was a good move.  There was hardly anybody there, and it is an exceptionally interesting Cathedral.  Katherine of Aragon (first wife of Henry VIII) is buried there.

I bought a photography permit and enjoyed taking pictures.

Then I walked back to John Lewis and had lunch.  On the way I called in a few hairdressers and left business cards for www.looklovely.net.  I never know for sure whether these have any effect, but I like to think that it helps to build ‘brand image’.

For this outing I wore my orange Jaeger jersey that I bought in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006, with my orange beads from Amsterdam (2008).

I wore my In-wear skirt that I purchased in Norwich a few weeks ago.  I tried to brighten this up with a pair of purple tights.

As I was on my feet all day I wore my purple Ecco shoes (with orange laces) .  I bought these in Chichester this year.

It was raining, so I wore my brown Basler mac.  This was acquired in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006.

Tom studied at Magdalen College School, Oxford, began a BA in Biology and switched to Art History at Trinity College, Cambridge. When school friend Sam Mendes, now director of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, needed a set designer for a university play Tom volunteered to do it. He went into complete a postgraduate course in Theatre Design at the Slade School of Art, and is now the Associate Designer for the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

How did you get into theatre designing? 

I enjoyed building tree houses as a child and then at university where I was meant to be studying Biology I got into student theatre . I did thirty shows in four years; I built and painted them all myself with not much sleep, including trips to Edinburgh and Avignon with shows

What skills are important to be a theatre designer? 

You have to be able to think like a sculptor, engineer, dress maker, painter, model maker and have a passion for theatre and how plays work. Be a collaborator and be prepared to change and develop your ideas all the time.

How much do contemporary concerns affect your creative choices?

After 9/11 I was designing The Tempest and it very much influenced how we thought about the production. The ship was an abstract structure made of tall ladders almost like a tower. The storm a bright light that seemed to hit the structure. The island was made out of the ruin of the tower. Modern politics often seems to be reflected in Shakespeare’s plays which deal in universal themes, the rise of popular leaders, and their inevitable downfall.

Do you think theatre reacts quicker to news than other art forms?

Not always. There are examples of plays that are made in a rapid response to world events, but there is still the time it takes to commission, write and rehearse. Another example was when I was doing a production of Twelfth Night that started rehearsing immediately after the 2006 Tsunami. All the initial reference material I had gathered of ship wrecks and storm damage seemed voyeuristic after the horrors of that event, so we move away from any literal depiction of the storm and instead found a more abstract way of representing the terror of a ship wreck.

What would you say to young people about the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new production of Twelfth Night to encourage them to see it?

Theatre in the Courtyard is an immediate and very involving experience. The actors are in the same room with you, the audience are on three sides, so there is a very direct communication between the actors and audience. It is not the stuffy experience you might imagine in an old fashioned theatre. There is a great mix of people throughout the theatre, with even seats up in the gallery having a great view. Nobody is more than thirteen metres from the stage.

Twelfth Night, at the Courtyard Theatre runs from the 15 October till 21 November, and at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 19 December till 27 February 2010.

Stratford-upon-Avon has suffered a lot recently.  The Bancroft Gardens have been covered in heartless concrete and stained granite.  The art deco interior of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s home theater has been gutted and bizarre tower raised.  Fields and terraced cottages have been dug up and demolished, turned into rat-runs of flats and Americanised three story town-homes.  World Class Stratford has spent millions on harebrained schemes while Holy Trinity Church has been reduced to begging for donations to repair its historic structure.  The town center’s local shops have been priced out, the tourist tat and sandwich shops that filled the void have been hit by the credit crunch and now  many empty shells and vacant storefronts line the streets.

What more could happen to bring infamy to the town?  How about this…

A firm called Internet Eyes will be allowing members of the public to monitor CCTV footage taken in the town and offer up to one thousand pounds if the “viewers” spot a crime in progress.  If this sounds like 1984 meets bingo it gets even better because on the Internet Eyes website they state:

Users are individuals watching random video feeds. Users can register for free with no recurring fees.

The locations of the feeds are not disclosed and users reporting remain anonymous.

So the cameras are monitored by members of the public, who are not trained professionals, aren’t licensed or insured, and have not had a background check carried out. So basically any Peeping Tom can join in the fun, but that is okay because the “locations of the feeds are not disclosed” except unfortunately that isn’t completely true because:

The private company scheme – due to go live in Stratford-upon-Avon in November – aims to stream live footage to subscribers’ home computers from CCTV cameras installed in shops and other businesses.

- BBC News – Public to monitor CCTV from home

and

The project will be trialled in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks, next month, but the consortium behind the idea hopes that it will eventually attract a global audience of viewers monitoring Britain’s 4.2 million security cameras.

- The Telegraph – Snoopers could win £1,000 prizes for monitoring CCTV cameras on the internet

Wow, I’m fairly certain there aren’t that many CCTV systems in Stratford but they’ll soon be available to a global audience of spies watching for crimes and prizes!  Now I know that in this modern world of heightened security cameras have been the silver bullet for so many fears of the age, but I agree with Charles Farrier, director of the No-CCTV pressure group, who said:

“It is an appalling idea for a game and will create a snoopers paradise.

“It is something which should be nipped in the bud immediately. It will not only encourage a dangerous spying mentality by turning crime into a game but also could lead to dangerous civil rights abuses.

Especially when James Woodward, head of the technical team for Devon-based Internet Eyes, is quoted in the Telegraph saying:

“Whoever has a CCTV camera, be it the police, local authorities or business or home owners can sign up to have their cameras watched. We hope to include police cameras very soon.”

Who exactly will be monitoring the monitors?

In September 2009 Britain had 4.2 million CCTV cameras

– the equivalent of one per 14 people.

Last Wednesday I wrote a list of the things that I would do today (Monday).  What a waste of time!

I failed to predict that my elderly friend would have problems with her ATM (cash) card and PIN number.  Nor that the church would receive an electricity bill for over £3000.

It has taken the best part of my day to sort out these two problems.  In fact, they are still not sorted, but I think that I have done everything that I could to get them resolved.

I did manage to meet friends for coffee this morning, even though this meant walking into town in the rain.  We’ve had such a lovely summer and early autumn that chilly rain is something of a shock.

I wore my blue-grey top by Sandwich, bought in Seaford in about 2006.

My trousers were beige linen that I purchased in Exeter in 2008.

Apologies to my critic (Melissa), but I wore my sensible Ecco shoes because of the rain.  These came from Stratford-upon-Avon this year.

Because of the chill I wore my green Whistles cardigan (vintage Brighton purchase), and to cheer myself up I added a necklace of Kazuri beads that I got in Aberdeen in 2008.

I also wore a Gortex parka , but no photo included.  It’s really not very interesting unless you want to be wind and water proof.

Well, an early start on Sunday, stopping off en-route for a coffee and an awfully chewy sausage muffin on the A34. I drove into Warwick town centre expecting to see lots of Triathlon signs, but nothing!!

I re-read the instructions and then drove to Stratford-upon-Avon!

I collected my registration pack, and ill-fitting t-shirt.  There  was no way I was going to fit in to that, not without looking like the “only gay in the village” I then met up with the protagonist of  this awful situation Liz Lewis, who was her usual bouncy Duracell bunny self.  She proceeded to sellotape some energy sweets to the cross bar of my bike, and that coupled with the litres of bright blue energy drink meant that I would be buzzing for quite some time.  Meeting up with Vikki, the  two A’s and a B team was complete.

So – first the swim, I was impressed with my time, but not with the bright yellow swim cap that made me look like a children’s television character. I think I scraped under the 12 minute time for the first time!

Next up was the cycling – just a running distance from the pool, in the cold!  I did spend a little time drying off, before completing the 23k in just over the hour!  I was pretty impressed with myself until I came to rack up my bike and realised my legs no longer worked and I still had a 5k run to contend with!.

And so it was, the run, the part unanimously voted (by me) as the bit not to be looked forward to! And so after 45 mins of  run / walk  walk walk run!  I eventually stumbled across the finish line! Just over 2 hours after I had begun.

I stayed sat next to the ambulance whilst I recovered just in case!

I didn’t get a medal, but I still have a pulse!

On the first Sunday of the month we have ‘normal’ church at 9.30, and then Pilgrims’ (which is a family service) at 11.15.

Usually I look after my friends’ children while they play the organ  – both of them are organists, at 2 different churches.  Then I take the kids to the Pilgrims’ service, which is at my church, which is also where their mother plays the organ.

I thought that I would not be at home today, so said I could not have the kids.

The weekend was not what I anticipated, so I was home today, and I decided to go to both church services.

I wore my turquoise Jaeger silk jersey, acquired in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006.

With it I wore my black Coast skirt, bought in Reading in 2005.

My shoes were black with ties, from Hobbs in Guildford in 2007.

I carried my trusty Marks & Spencer metalic-look handbag.  I purchased this in Sheffield in 2007.

As it is now autumn I wore my white Lands’ End mac. 

The kids were pretty good during the first service, but a bit of a pain in the second.  But really it was  a long morning for them.  And me.

09/08/08       

Tennant strikes an attractive pose for the cameras

Many were sceptical about ‘The Time Lord’, David Tennant being cast as Hamlet: one of the most demanding and famous roles in theatre. But all their scepticism must have dissipated as fast as the killer Christmas tree can spin (think Christmas special 2005), as Tennant seized the legendary role in his hands with admirable vigour, and ran with it. Quite literally. Tennant delivered a tremendous performance, captivating the audience not only with the whims, vacillations and conflicting energies of Hamlet, but also by injecting some exciting mimetic vigour and wild humour into the character.  

Tennant has a wonderfully expressive face and his comic skills are simply superb. Although Hamlet’s aim is to put on a false exterior of madness, it has been suggested that Hamlet does in fact become slightly internally deluded-but Tennant steers away from this notion with his quick and witty remarks, which enforce that this is a man very much ‘on the ball’. Yes-he skims and slides (most elegantly, may I add) around the shiny stage in jeans and bare feet, shocking the court-but this is clearly a sane man’s considered diversion. Tennant took the ‘prankish provocateur’ Hamlet and illuminated it somewhat and really excelled in doing so, for example: he whizzes off the stage on a swivel office chair (which he had been tied to by Claudius’s henchman) crying, ‘Come, for England, Wheeeeeeeeee!’-Sending a soft wave of chuckles through the audience. Tennant too deployed a variety of voices, accompanied by those famous mocking brows of Tennant as he parodied almost anyone he could: from the delicious verbal absurdities of Polonius to the verbally ornate Osric.

Sarcastic, witty, restless, curt-yet vulnerable, exposed and affectionate: Tennant certainly has created a most likeable Hamlet. In fact, if one didn’t feel great affection towards this Hamlet, I would just assume that they were a kaled mutant in a mechanical shell, i.e.: that they are a Dalek. (No, not because I think I live in the world of ‘Dr Who’, and that people who dislike Tennant must be Daleks-after all, they are his biggest enemy) but rather because I understand Daleks are utterly without pity, compassion or remorse. 

Yet, I do have one criticism, which I shall highlight, because if Tennant fixes it I really think he could become perhaps one of the finest Hamlets in history. It was weight and depth that lacked from Tennant’s performance, leaving the audience bereft of that ‘strange double feeling of exposure and spiritual connection’. Tennant seemed acutely aware that the role is particularly revealing about the personality of the actor playing it, and this, it seemed, he didn’t want to reveal; and at times, it was almost as if Tennant was afraid of himself. He needed to bare his soul-but this he did not do. Instead, for example, in his first soliloquy, Tennant crouched and buried his head in his hands, screeching in agony: struggling to deliver the words that disgust him so, ‘…incestuous sheets.’  Yes-the lines were delivered very coherently, and his dramatic pauses were effective, but I wanted to see his eyes, so I could understand and feel his pain. I am almost certain that Tennant has it in him to do this, and he will find this emotional depth of the role in time, which will develop into the powerful sense of spiritual illumination Hamlet endures.

 Steward’s Claudius was a frightening and powerful one: supremely composed and clearly a calculated killer, yet showing a man burdened terribly with guilt in a speech delivered with so much emotion that I even began to feel sorry for the bastard. He doubled wonderfully as the pungent and revengeful Ghost. Both faultless performances-as was Ford Davies’s, as a canny and tough Polonius: dithering around the stage whilst delivering delicious rhetoric with superb comic timing, which achieved many enthusiastic chuckles from the audience. Mariah Gale as Ophelia played the role quite beautifully, only she showed a lack of affection towards her father, Polonius, making her descent into madness perhaps a little confusing for first-time viewers. Nor did she seem in love with Hamlet at all. Gertrude (Penny Downie) gave a fine performance of a woman falling from grace, and Edward Bennett acted Laertes very convincingly indeed: transforming himself from a ‘goofy Hooray Henry’ to a passionate predator. Peter de Jersey delivered some admirable acting as a particularly poignant Horatio, and Mark Hadfield should also be commended for delivering a genuinely funny performance as the Gravedigger.

The actors were placed on a fine-mirrored set, giving the impression of a ‘double world’- adding to the misconceptions and absurdities of the play. High credit should go to the lighting, sound and set designers, who really gave this production some unique edge and rich intensity. Doran directed this production wonderfully-playing it safe, yet injecting a few gratuitous oddities here and there to make the production a really thrilling spectacle that will cling onto your soul like a piece of haunting music.

Beauty, power and artistic exuberance oozed from the stage, which left me completely mesmerised; making it perhaps the best piece of live theatre I have ever seen. And this, teamed with a very fine Tennant as the protagonist, made it a production I will relish for years to come.

Susie is 19 years old. She is currently doing amateur theatre and is hoping to apply to Drama school. She loves reading Shakespeare and acting Shakespeare, but hates his hair and thinks that her hair is much better.

Describe The Drunks in three words.

In your face.

The Drunks or The Grain Store, which do you prefer?

I’ve seen The Drunks twice and The Grain Store once. Having read the scripts I can see that the Royal Shakespeare Company really transformed them, and with The Drunks it was the intense style that grabbed me. The Drunks is more relevant to a desire for change in a modern day society, there seemed to be parallels, perhaps unintentional, with the treatment of soldiers returning from Iraq and the use of heroic deaths for political means.

What attracts you to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions?

Their productions breathe in a way like no other. They grow individually from the text to produce something engaging, relevant, and always different. As an audience member I constantly feel involved, almost as if I helped create what I’m seeing.

Kevin is 18 years old. He is studying English Language and Literature at Cambridge University. He loves art house films, classical music, and Dizzie Rascal, and hates post modernism.

What attracted you to the play readings?

All of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s stuff is done to an incredible standard, so being a fan of Russian literature and the fact that it was different to the usual full on stage production intrigued me.

What was the highlight of the play readings?

Seeing so many views and ideas coming from the same society was the highpoint for me. All of the performances were different from the usual Stratford-Upon Avon theatre event, and this difference came from a single source: having young, foreign playwrights. It was inspiring to think that some of them weren’t that much older than me and had developed a very different type of theatre from what I’m used to.

Who would the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Revolutions season appeal to?

I’d say the Russian season will appeal to regular Royal Shakespeare Company visitors who are looking for something different, or anyone interested in Russian society, culture, and history. However, I’d also recommend it to people new to the whole thing. The plays presented are fresh, original, and serve as an accessible entry to the world of theatre.