December 31, 2024

Dateline – London, England

Happy New Year everyone from across the pond. It’s after midnight here. The fireworks, which sounded something akin to the blitz outside the window, have quieted and I have a little time to reflect, ruminate, cogitate and let my fingers dance across the keyboard before bed while those in the US are still making their plans regarding their NYE shenanigans.

Today was a lowkey day. No racing to catch a train or any such thing. After breakfast, I decided to take an aimless wander through the West End. The weather is cool, cloudy and quite suitable for walking long distances. I passed a lot of theaters, monuments, impressive public buildings and ended up at Foyle’s, the famous book store on Charing Cross Road. I, of course, looked to see if there were any copies of The Accidental Plague Diaries on the shelves (there weren’t). Perhaps I should sneak a set in and see if they notice. It will probably greatly confuse some innocent employee in six months when they shelf read for inventory. I browsed, had a nice cup of Earl Grey tea and a piece of carrot cake in the cafe, and people watched.

I then headed over to Theatre Royal Drury Lane for a matinee of Jamie Lloyd’s new production of The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver as Prospero. Mr. Lloyd is the new enfant terrible of British theater, well known for stripping materials down in minimalist ways that highlight new themes. His current huge success is the new production of Sunset Boulevard that’s all black and white and projections and oodles of blood in the finale. I liked his version of The Tempest. I didn’t love it. The setting is a dark undulating rockscape (which I took to be a barren volcanic Mediterranean island) with a fabric sky and lots of very skillful lighting. The cast has been pared down to eleven: Prospero, Ferdinand, Miranda, Ariel, Caliban, Trinculo, Stephano and a ducal court of four. Everyone is in timeless outfits of grey, black, and pale blue (with some gold for Ariel) so it’s all very monochromatic with lighting setting scene and mood. Ariel flies, but there’s otherwise not much in the way of magic (and no masque).

Sigourney was a bit of a disappointment. Having seen several dozen of her performances in film over the years, she has no problem projecting, strength, power, and domination but here she’s less than. I don’t think she was helped by the staging which basically has her sitting center stage most of the time with the action swirling around her. She delivers the Shakespearean language fine but doesn’t get to use her physicality the way she might which I think was a directorial mistake. Therefore, the focus shifts away from her to Ferdinand and Miranda who are both excellent (in what are usually nothing roles). Ariel, however, is the one who really steals the show, especially with assistance from a sound design that allows his voice to change in tone and timbre.

After the show, time to get ready for New Year’s Eve. The tour group put us together with some other groups in a financial district upscale restaurant called Brown’s. The food was reasonable but not overly distinguished (I had lamb chops – when in England). It also took a rather long time to serve it. After three and a half hours to serve three courses, we decided we were done and headed back to the hotel to beat the NYE revelers rush on the underground. Tommy and I made the mistake back ion a visit to London n 2007 of going out to a nightclub for NYE. We came out about 1 am to masses of people leaving the Thames fireworks displays. It was impossible to go anywhere other than where the crowd was heading and we eventually got herded into Waterloo station along with a hundred thousand of our closest friends until we were popped like a watermelon seed into a tube entrance and were finally able to make our way back to our hotel. Not an experience I care to repeat, especially now that I am in my senior years. I was still in my 40s then.

Uncertain what tomorrow holds. There are supposed to be gale force winds so a number of things that are usually open are unexpectedly closed. It’s a dark day for theater so that’s out. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something in one of the world’s great metropolises which will keep me entertained.