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Friday, November 25, 2011

Some surprise Shakespeare with Kristine

I've had really bad luck with my health lately and the day before yesterday was the first day in ages that I felt completely healthy. I spent the day working on my uni stuff and in the evening I got a call from my friend Kristine asking if I wanted to go and see a play at the National Theatre. In an hour. On the other side of the city. After four days at home, the answer was a definite YES. The play in question was William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

Not that I knew it when I jumped on the bus. The fact that I don't hear that well and Kristine doesn't speak that loud sometimes leaves me a bit confused. And that there is a limit to how many times how many times you can say "Pardon?" in one conversation without annoying the hell out of everybody. (Last time Kristine asked me to see something I thought I was maybe going to a rock gig. It turned out to be the opera Damnation of the Faust...)

I tend to veer towards Shakespeare's tragedies rather then his comedies but I really enjoyed the play. It took me a while to get into it since I found the combination of the lead actor's accent and old english quite hard to follow but especially after the intermission it didn't bother me anymore. The Comedy of Errors is a very classic Shakespeare comedy with mistaken identities and a bit of slap stick thrown into a fast pasted play. The National Theater's production was placed in contemporary setting. I have to say that the props and clothing of the production were spot on. From the cast Claudie Blakley and her chavy Audriana rose to be my favorite. Her performance was absolutely hilarious!

After the play we went for a drink at the British Film Institute's bar. It's been ages since I visited southbank and had completely forgotten how nice it can be.