This past week was as eventful as promised. To begin the week, I was able to see The Duchess of Malfi at the new Sam Wanamaker Theatre. The theatre is a Jacobean reconstruction, created to provide a year-round space to perform theatre in the round; the Globe, not having a ceiling, is only open for performances during the summer. Duchess is actually the inaugural play for the theatre, which opened at the end of January.
The space itself is incredible. It is an exact replica of historical Jacobean playhouses: gallery seating, made entirely of beautiful, light-colored wood, and lit solely by candles. Needless to say, being there, and seeing The Duchess of Malfi of all plays, the quintessential Jacobean tragedy, was a magical experience. The play was absolutely amazing. Gemma Arterton was exquisite as the Duchess, but David Dawson completely stole the show as Ferdinand. He was manic and tempestuous to a fault - it was perfect!
While the play was magical, so was the fact that Maddy and I even made it there in time. Due to the tube strike, we had to maneuver our way to the city from Gower St. By the time we finally made it to St. Paul's, we had about 10 minutes to make it all the way to the theatre. As this play represented the culmination of all of my life's hopes and dreams, there was absolutely not a chance in hell that I was missing it. As such, Maddy and I sprinted there, all the way from St. Pauls, across the Millenium Bridge, and to the theatre. With our school bags thumping along with us and passersby staring at us like we were possessed. Right before the Millenium Bridge, we even passed a running group - clearly, they were in awe of our superior speed. Luckiily, I had worn my trainers that day (Ha! Assimilating already!), as we had taken a city walk in Urban Geo earlier and climbed the 311 steps to the top of the Monument - we even got certificates!After this mad dash to the theatre, we were waylaid once again - they had blocked off the entrance. Not ones to be swayed, we hopped the barriers and made it just in time. Sweet victory!
On Wednesday, I went to a performance of an entirely different nature. Entitled The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, it took place in a creepy warehouse converted to look like a 1950's movie studio. We all had to wear masks, and wandered through the various floors. The actors would go about doing their thing, and you could choose who to follow through the studio, and which of the many storylines to follow. The actors worked completely around the "audience," as if we were not even there. You could wander completely on your own, too, exploring the sets, waiting for other actors to appear. In retrospect, it was a really cool experience. Had it been any other subject matter, other than multiple chaotic murders among old movie sets, I probably would have really enjoyed it. But since Maddy and I had gone to the toilets before entering, we went in alone. The whole point is to go off on your own, so we did: in the creepy basement of an old warehouse, with blood on the walls and scary music blasting from dimly lit rooms. The floors even had picutures of actors with their eyes scratched out. Someone all in black stepped out of the shadows in front of me and I almost burst into tears I was so scared. Due to being so initially terrified and psychologically messed with, it took a while for me to get comfortable enough to engage myself with the storyline. It was very interesting, but not something I plan to do again any time soon.
Thursday, I treated myself to an early 21st birthday present. I had been dying to see Tom Hiddleston in the eponymous role of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, being put on at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Gardent. However, it was absolutely impossible to get tickets. I am talking people camped outside of the theatre for days, like some sick Black Friday frenzy. However, the National Theatre videotaped it live, and had shown it at select theatres the previous weekend. Unable to even get tickets for that, I was able to get one for an encore performance. The downside: the theatre was all the way in Greenwich. However, I managed to get myself there in time. And it was 100% worth all of the struggles. The Donmar Warehouse is a tiny theatre, seating only 251 people, with a stage consisting of a flat area and a backdrop. However, the way the space was used was ingenious. To parallel the Roman gladiators, a red square was painted on the floor - the "arena" - and all of the action took place in that concentrated space. Not being a Shakespeare play that I am overly familiar with, it was fantastic to be on the edge of my seat watching the production!
