From the above, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’ve been to see the recent
production of Richard III in York, and to be honest the idea of watching it at
the pop-up theatre (in a car park) amused me, but with the year I’ve been having,
I looked at the cost of tickets and thought no way! Plus, I wasn’t quick enough
off the mark and tickets had been booked by the WA group before I’d made
up my mind when I could go and what I wanted to see, but in retrospect, maybe
fate was playing her part.
Hello all. I’m back blathering about what is going on in my
world. Hopefully things have started to get back to normal and I can now find
time to share some of the more interesting moments of my life again. The last
year has been a bit tricky if I’m honest… not that you’d find me whining about
it all over social media; the original 6 month contract turned into two years
and an office move that required an even longer commute – and father-in-law’s
cancer became progressively worse meaning that organising my time started to
become trickier. Is it really fair to be gadding around the country when your
partner is cancelling event after event? Not really supportive of me if I did,
so theatre trips became closer to home, or booked closer to the event itself. Tickets
that had already been bought were honoured so there were a few trips away, but
even though plays were watched, books were read and tea was drunk, it became a
chore fitting in the time to write about them. (Plus lap top was no longer a
laptop as it only lasted 5 mins when not plugged in!)
Cut to August, and my contract was not going to be renewed
(hooray, no 60 minute drive [minimum] to and from work anymore) and father-in-law
had passed away. My mate got in contact to say she was thinking of heading to
York to watch Romeo and Juliet, did I fancy a get together with her and someone
else. She could get a ticket for about £40. I love York and it would be nice
for a catch up so yes, a weekend away was just the tonic. A celebration to
being unemployed!!!!! As the end of August approached, a deal was made with
work…yes I would come back, but only for 3 days a week until the end of November,
I WAS NOT DRIVING DOWN THOSE COUNTRY ROADS IN THE WINTER.
So our plan was to meet Friday and watch the play Saturday. My friend had been called
away with work, she was going to get to the hotel later than planned, so with
time to kill and a sketch pad in the back of the car, I decided to start a
sketch of Alexandra Downing and Alexander Vlahos in their roles of Romeo and
Juliet. If I caught them after the show it would be something to sign. I
normally take play scripts along to be signed rather than programmes, but I’m
not a huge fan of Shakespeare, so whilst I have an old volume of the complete
works which belonged to my mum, I wasn’t going to be buying any new versions,
and I couldn’t be bothered with a programme when this was the one play he’d
written I knew a fair bit about!
The pop-up Rose Theatre was fabulous. Set alongside the
imposing 13
th century Clifford’s Tower, a medieval village had been created
on the periphery showcasing the best food and drink that Yorkshire had to offer,
creating a unique environment for theatregoers. Inside the 13 sided temporary
theatre (based on the 1587 London Rose Playhouse and pre-Globe Theatre) we headed for our seats. The lady
inside told us to “head all the way round” so we did. Then we saw a sign…”The York
Experience Box”…erm that can’t right…that’s like sitting on stage almost…they
were the most expensive tickets in the whole place…no…best to head back to the
usher. “Erm, you know when you said head all the way around…did you mean ALL
the way round?” “Yes… to the bottom…first row.” So we headed back, and took our
seats right next to the stage. It was a spectacular view…it was like being
allowed back stage and peeking through the curtains on the wings. How on earth
my friend managed to get such great tickets for such a great price was
astounding, and yes, I’ve told her that in future she is in charge of all
future theatre purchases!!
The show was fabulous. It had been reworked into a 1930’s
Verona, complete with café on one side and a discarded bicycle on the other. Obviously
the first thing that entran ced me about the production was the costumes! I
loved the fairy like costume Juliet wore to the party towards the beginning of
the play, and as the play continued, in my head I was reworking many items into
something more wearable, especially Juliet’s high waisted trousers which I coveted!
Something else that captivated me was Mercutio’s blue velvet catsuit, unfortunately
that was the only thing that did captivate me about Mercutio. Normally Mercutio
is a male character, but in our modern world of theatre, women can now play men’s
characters. (Let’s face it, in the origins of theatre, men played women’s
roles, so what’s the difference?) The problem here was that Shanaya Rafaat’s
Mercutio was more shouty that witty and a mix of tom-boy one minute and
party-queen the next. Her death was a blessed relief and meant that we could
concentrate on the stars of the show – the star-crossed lovers themselves!
From the moment he burst through the central doors to
deliver the prologue, Alexander Vlahos (Versailles) showed he was going to be a
vibrant Romeo, even when arriving at the party donned in a harlequin suit and
mask he still connected well with the audience, captivating you throughout the
whole play. Even more captivating was when he left the stage and sat right
behind us, enjoying the performances of his colleagues alongside us. At one
point he was laughing along with us as we watched the groundlings waving their
arms in the air. As we turned and looked enquiringly at him (well he must have
seen the show a few times) he explained “he’s never made them wave their arms
like trees before” it was as if each cast member was making this penultimate
show bigger and better than all their past performances. And with those words,
Alex darted off back on stage and was once again Romeo!
 |
| The finished drawing |
Alexandra Dowling shone as the forlorn Juliet, destined to
marry Paris, who in this production is much older and duller than she. She was graceful
and came to life with every scene she shared with Romeo, so you could feel her
heart breaking at the news that Romeo had been banished from Verona. Sadly this
is where Shakespeare’s tale breaks down for me. As practical as ever, if the
love of my life had been banished and I had to marry an old boring bloke I’d
have just run off with Romeo and start afresh somewhere new. That wouldn’t make
for a tragic play though, and audiences don’t always want a happy ending! I
guess this is why I will never be a full up paid member of the Shakespeare
appreciation society!
After the play we headed to where the actors should come
out. I was surprised that no-one else seemed to be there, but patience reaps
its rewards and Alex Vlahos headed out and was kind enough to sign my drawing
and to offer me a packet of Haribo. He saw me friends sitting further away and
headed over them to hand out more packets…a surreal experience that we were a
bit tongue tied to comment on with him. It looked as though all the ladies had
left as darkness enveloped us and so we booked a taxi to take us back home. As
we started heading down the road I caught a glimpse of a brown coat and
recognised it as Ali’s. Out of the gloom I started scampering towards her
waving my piece of paper to get it signed by her too. After apologising for the
fact it was only half finished, she chatted whilst signing it and then I headed
back down the road to join the others and the waiting taxi driver! It was the perfect
end to a perfect evening.
Sunday morning started bright and sunny, and as I only had to
make it through one day at work (Monday) and could have a lie in on Tuesday (yes
7:30 is a lie in) I wasn’t in a rush to drive back home. We headed towards the
river and saw an ice cream boat, complete with mahoosive plastic cow on the
top, and decided it would be rude not to have ice-cream for breakfast on such a
glorious sunny day. Nikki “3 scoops” as she will now forever be known, led the way.
As we sat at the side of the river, we finished our unorthodox breakfast and
went to get on the boat…which by this time was full (unless we sat inside,
downstairs.) Hmmm, we’ll get the next one, just time to head to the Christmas
shop and cause chaos. Yes you heard right…Christmas shop. Trinkets bought (and
now home and wrapped) we headed back to the river, picking up a strange stone
object tucked onto a wall enroute, and got a good seat on the top of the boat.
York Minster was next on our agenda, and complete with our
shopping we attempted the 275 steps to the top of the tower. Half way up there’s
a walkway and the perfect opportunity to take ome photo’s of the Minster’s
glorious architecture. The sun was casting fabulous shadows and so I took some shots
for that week’s photography challenge. (Yes I am still doing my photo course…no
I haven’t opened the notes for a while.) Having submitted a couple of photo’s
to the student forum someone said the photo would be even better if I had got done
a bit lower and the shadows would be exaggerated. This was a fair point, well
made, however I wonder what they would have said if they’d seen me hanging onto
the railings mid-air, camera in one hand and shopping in the other, trying to
take a decent picture!
After that adventure there was only one place left to visit
before heading home…Betty’s. For those unfamiliar with Yorkshire, Betty’s is
THE place to go for afternoon tea. We had the most delightful waitress and were
spoilt with beautiful food, and once sated, we then headed to the shop to buy some
goodies to head home with. I bought some cake for work. As the lady rang the
items through the till she mentioned the cake only had a best before date of a
couple of weeks and was that ok. I told her not to worry…if the cake made it
past a couple of days it would be a miracle.
So there you go. A bit of pontificating and fate allowed me
to have an unexpected and glorious weekend away, with good food, great friends
and a wonderful ambience. Who could ask for more?
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