Play: Henry IV Part I

This evening, I treated myself to a trip back to the Globe! It's been so long. Looking back - OMG, the last time I was here was with the Man with the Hat! nearly two years ago. His very last event. My mother - given my continuing garden leave - tried to get me to stay with her a few extra days, on no notice at all! but this was one of my main arguments against. Henry IV, Part I was the occasion. Funnily enough, the Globe thought I'd already been, and offered me a special offer on Part II! I contacted them late on Saturday night to confirm that I could show the ticket on my phone - first thing next morning, they got right back to me to reassure me that yes, I could, or get the ticket printed on the spot. Very helpful.

It wasn't actually too cold today, although not exactly warm. I took the bus most of the way, and had a short walk - once Google Maps stopped sending me in the wrong direction! My, it'll be such a short walk from my new office.

Mind you, I associate this venue so much now with the Man with the Hat that I felt quite lonesome, as I crossed the bridge to it. (I could have gone with Cultureseekers, but they charge £12 to join.) Never mind, I arrived in decent time, and took my seat in the front row of the lower gallery (stalls, if you like). I have to compliment them on the decor - alluding to the several alliances in the play, the galleries are festooned with banners, and quite fetching!

Let me start by saying that this is far and away the worst thing I have ever seen here. It's a very good thing that I already knew the history, because the production is so confused that it was no wonder the audience just laughed at random points through it, apparently assuming it was a comedy. There seems to be no distinction between serious scenes and humorous ones, the delivery being hysterical in general. Now, you can excuse that in the case of Hotspur - after all, he got that nickname for a reason: but that's the campest king I've ever seen. Even the actors don't really seem to understand the meaning of the lines - or perhaps they just don't care, playing everything for laughs, emphasis in weird places.

A lack of clear diction, and bad projection of voices throughout, doesn't help - and neither does the cross-dressing. I saw so many women dressed as men - and one man dressed as a woman, who got a laugh (why?) - that I was seriously confused when I saw a woman dressed as a woman (Hotspur's wife). It's taken to a ridiculous degree in the last scene of the first half, with Owain Glyndwr played by a woman, and his daughter played by a man - it took me several minutes to figure out that that was supposed to be him speechifying, and not his daughter. I was just too busy trying to strain to hear what she was saying!

I will say this - the Welsh song that the "daughter" sang to finish the first half was hauntingly beautiful. Not enough to make me stay past the interval, though - with only the battle of Shrewsbury to come, I could imagine the screeching that would ensue, and I left. It was getting too chilly anyway. Had to agree with the guy who walked out behind me, remarking to his companion that he couldn't take any more standing, listening to something he couldn't make any sense of. Runs till the 11th of October - I strongly advise against seeing it. In fact, given that the same actors seem to be in the accompanying plays - Henry IV Part II and Henry V - I'd probably advise against those, too.

Well, it was a lovely stroll back.. and after a strenuous climb onto the bridge, it was lovely to see a bus ready and waiting to whisk me home!

The next three days are all with Up in the Cheap Seats. Tomorrow, we're at the Royal Opera House for a mixed programme by the Royal Ballet.

On Thursday, we're back to Sadler's Wells for the opening night of Yang Liping's Rite of Spring.

And on Friday - for something completely different - we're off to the Park Theatre for The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson! Brexit, of course, should feature strongly..

On Saturday, mention was made last week of Ivan playing piano, at some bar or other. But as a venue wasn't specified, I doubt it'll happen.. Instead, I thought about cinema. Top of the list came Amazing Grace - a documentary about Aretha Franklin, who recorded an album of the same name before a live audience in a church. Apparently, she repeatedly blocked its release while she was still alive! I believe I saw Mick Jagger, in the audience in the trailer.. Anyway, with both showings at the Curzon Bloomsbury sold out, I thought I'd better book when I saw availability at the Rio. I booked the matinee - then remembered I'm supposed to be able to pick up the keys to my new place on Saturday! Still, it shouldn't take too long to get back - depending on where it's happening. I've emailed the estate agent to find out what's happening there, having had no news yet.