Fabulous day with Singapore girlfriends Emilie, Beth, and Anna. Lunch through to dinner, from 12:30 to 10!
Thursday, 3.
At Sadler’s Wells for Matthew Bourne’s “Romeo and Juliet”
The dancing was brilliant. The powerful driving music fired up raw passion in the young dancers’ every gesture.
It also drilled itself into everyone’s brain. The “Dance of the Knights” earworm hummed around us on the way out of the theatre, as we crossed the street, and at the bus stop.
The narrative though, a laboured twist on the very premise of the tragedy, didn’t work for me.
Wednesday, 2.
At ICA, the Institute of Contemporary Arts. We made a special effort to be there despite a heavy downpour.
We didn’t get much for the trouble of getting there as ICA is not fully operating as an exhibition place just yet. We saw just the one exhibit, “Moki Cherry: Here and Now”. Sone of the textiles and some writings are interesting. The upper galleries are either closed, being renovated, or being used for interviews.
To be fair, we were really more interested in the in-house Rochelle Canteen and the John Nash building itself. As it turned out, there was only a very basic cafe. But the building is beautiful.
We enjoyed walking around anyway. This is a delightful city to walk in, even in the rain.
Walking in the rain is tiring work though so we had a sit-down, a drink, and a snack in Fortnum and Mason’s 3rd floor bar 3'6.
Afterwards, we put togeter delicious stuff from the food shop downstairs for an indulgent bed picnic later: duck rillettes, prosciutto, and figs.
Tuesday, August 1.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
It is a farce, yes, and should be farcically funny but I found it too stressful and strenuous to watch.
The play is adapted from a 1970 Italian political farce tackling corrupt police practices to do with the real-life case of a suspect’s death while in police custody. While the subject is undeniably very relevant today, a lot of the relevance has somehow been lost in translation.
I was more intrigued by the venue, the storied Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Thehistoric Grade I listed Victorian building, theoriginal structure dating back to 1720, was subsequently moved and redesigned by architect and town planner John Nash (BuckinghamPalace, Brighton Royal Pavilion, Marble Arch).
Sunday, 30.
This will be our final week in England.
London’s cold and wet and Stuart has a cold but we’re happy to be back.
“Carlos at 50” at the Royal Opera Houseis completely sold out. It’s Carlos Acosta’s birthday celebration, a return to dancing after retiring in 2016.
Because he’s from Havana and used to be with the National Ballet of Cuba, I’m interested.
We’ve seen the ballet in Havana twice. Once in 2010 when the company’s founder, Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonzo, then 94 and almost totally blind, held court in the theatre’s royal box.
So, I wondered if we could somehow get tickets anyway. By dint of perseverance, Stuart did.
I loved being in Covent Garden. The rain made it even nicer. You could almost see Eliza Doolittle… and hear Henry Higgins…
Just mentally erase the crowds.
At the Royal Opera House, Carlos Acosta opens his 50th birthday bash draped in figure-flaunting silky whites as the young god Apollo. He has bragging rights.
Reprising their Royal Ballet partnering in “Apollo”, “Swan Lake”, and “Manon”, Carlos and Marianella Nuṉez are superb. That they are doing this today, exquisitely, when Acosta is 50 and Nunez is 41, is simply incredible.
It’s still raining when we come out of the theatre.
Walking in rain soaked streets somehow feels acceptable when on holiday. And if one has to take the bus with damp seats and smelly wet floors, why not? It’s not your daily grind and there’s always a cozy pub to serve you a hearty Sunday roast.
