A very evenly balanced weekend

When I went out of the house and didn’t wallow in my current still-jobless state, this weekend was actually pretty good – certainly was helped by cold but brilliant sunshine over all three days. I think Londoners (myself possibly included) are very susceptible to Seasonal Affective Disorder with the constant shade of grey that is perpetually in residence over the country.

Friday night marked a welcome return to the theatre scene to see Happy Days by Samuel Beckett at the National Theatre, with Fiona Shaw in a brilliant almost-one woman show with a twist. She spent the entire show immobilized in the middle of a sunny mountain field, buried to the torso in act one and to her upper neck in act two. I had a front row seat and got to see the direct effect. It was never directly explained why her character (Winnie) had ended up in that state, but it didn’t need to be. She bravely and gamely carried the show with a monologue analyzing the state of the day for her from her “perch” and some things that she craved (attention, feelings, compassion from her husband “Willie”, who lay clumsily on the side of the stage) and things she didn’t like (having a gun in her purse, the prospect of the day ending, just being stuck there in the hot field.) The staging was enhanced by having almost all of the stage lights on at full power, which made the theatre at least ten or fifteen degrees warmer (and like a hot field) than it had been for other productions I’d seen there. Shaw thoroughly deserved the partial standing ovation and lengthy round of applause the audience gave at the end. It seemed to be a real labor of love for her,. It’s also clear she’s fond of Beckett, as that is what she had my classmates and I rehearse for her when she visited BADA – and now she’s doing his work professionally. I was impressed with her commitment to the role in staying completely non-physical, and just trusting her initial physical movements and power of character enough to carry the whole performance.

Saturday was house-bound for most of the day, and felt static. I should remember not to do that on the weekends especially when it’s nice, although I did catch up on pleasure reading, which is something I need to do more of. It also gave me the idea for Sunday’s trip, which arose from a desire to get out of the city for a green breather.

And so this morning I boarded a train from Euston Station to travel to Tring, Hertfordshire (about forty miles from London) and visit Aldbury, a town that achieved cult-famousness as the setting for a classic episode of The Avengers, and I had wanted to see in person for ages. I almost exactly followed the plot of that particular episode as I walked from the train station to the village green. The next stop was the north of the village, at a hotel and golf course which was being extensively renovated, and then back down to the village green in the sunshine. I eventually retraced my steps through an incredibly wide and open sheep field as the sun began to set in front of me.
It was extremely restorative to see the countryside (I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful to see some GREENERY), get a lot of exercise (must have walked about seven miles today) and also put my London experiences in a bit of a wider context ~ I have been making lots of progress, even if there are times I don’t feel like I have. I also feel re-energized to focus and commit to job searching in new venues over this work week.

Impressions

By the time this trip concludes sometime next week, I will have traveled 7, 615 miles.

Off to catch the final show of The Empress tonight. I'm impressed with everyone's growth in this show and the continuing daring originality of Hampshire theatre work that has been in full display.

Cleveland Calmness at Case

Aside from being a little too wired these past couple of days (three computers at my friend's house to access, and now at Case Western's library where there are even more computers) this has been a nice "bridge" day and a half of laid back time to rest up, and also see a little bit of Cleveland itself.

Case Western has lived up to its geeky reputation with a lot of technology students roaming around campus. I was more interested (and pleased) going into their theatre building and seeing photos of my four friends from BADA who are recent Case theatre graduates all over the lobby area. Their recent production slate is impressive and my friends seem to have gotten theirselves in the middle of all of them (just like I did for myself at Hampshire...) from Look Back In Anger to The Philadephia Story to The Pillowman and more. Unfortunately, those friends who I think are still in the area have been hard to reach, but if we don't make connections now, there will probably be another time. Not sure what the rest of the day will bring ... maybe a movie, maybe more exploring of Cleveland, we'll see.