Yes, I did make it back. It took Global Baggage Solutions a solid hour to get our bags from plane to baggage belt, mind you. They "handle" most of the airlines in Terminal 1, it seems, and the crowd forming around their desk - where, apparently, neither complaint form nor manager was to be found - was increasingly large and irritated. But I did get home eventually.
Tuesday dawned wet and miserable, and stayed that way. After walking to work, I was sufficiently wet and miserable not to go out that night - instead, I caught up with this week's episode of the last ever season of True Blood. Love that show!
For last night, mind, I was determined to get out - because what was coming up was The Ring Cycle, in The Scoop. Yes, Wagner's Ring Cycle - the non-operatic version. Had the weather continued as it was on Tuesday, I couldn't have - but mercifully, it was dry - if not particularly warm or sunny. Sadly, I wasn't going to make it in time for the first play - Das Rheingold - not with having to cross town after work; so I decided to swot up on it before I left. I never have seen these before. The second - The Valkyrie - didn't start till 7, so I was ok to make that.
Having gorged my short-term memory with tales of gods, godesses, trolls, and Rhine maidens, I headed off in due course. The Tube wasn't horrendously crowded - disembark at London Bridge (Tooley Street exit), turn right, cross the road, head down More London Place. As I approached, I could hear the first play still in progress - they were running about five minutes late all evening. They were out of cushions, so I got to rent a bean bag! (Very comfy, some back support - I'll definitely have to invest in one to bring to these things in future.)
As I chose a seat, Woten and Fricka were just proceeding into Valhalla at the end of the play, and we were into a 15-minute interval. For the next 3.5 hours, we were treated to a helluva tale. A sword embedded in in a tree trunk, only to be extracted by the hero it's meant for. A cursed magic ring of power, guarded, with a stash of treasure, by a greedy dragon. A troll, embittered and obsessed with the ring that's been stolen from him. A sword, reforged from its shattered pieces. Any of this sound familiar..?
As the foreign-sounding lady beside me remarked later on, what a fantastic quality of entertainment to be provided for free! The production was pared-down (of course - the opera takes 15 hours!), great liberties had been taken with the script, which was pacy and modern. Brunhilda, far from being a rather portly woman in a pointy helmet, was an athletic young lass in what looked like hunting gear. Although the performance wasn't sung, snippets of the music were played at certain points in the production, and at the intervals - there was a 40-minute interval between plays 2 and 3 (Siegfried), and another 15-minute interval before the last (Twilight of the Gods).
It was a terrific production, and imaginative - the final scene, in particular, where Valhalla is burned and mortals inherit the earth - is quite memorable. Pretty much a must-see, this: but hurry, it only runs until Sunday! I was lucky to get to see it - I'm in Guildford today and back to Ireland for the weekend.
For Monday, at the moment, it's looking like a film - and currently, the highest rated showing on Monday is The Grand Seduction, a comedy starring Brendan Gleeson, set in a Newfoundland fishing village that's deteriorating and badly needs some new blood, in the form of a new young doctor.
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