![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Let the reunion commence!
Back home from a fantastic weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon. I'd originally intended to go up for the day to see Hamlet because ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zinke had kindly offered me a spare ticket. But then things sort of grew a bit, and Mr Caz and the girls came too on a longer visit. And added to that, we met up with hooloovoo_42 as well, so the demented fangirl reunion started a little earlier than originally planned :-)
We travelled up on Thursday and went to Warwick Castle
which the kids really enjoyed (and so did we!). I think the last time I went there was about twenty years or so ago, and there's a lot more to see and do there now than there used to be. Mind you, it's a lot more expensive than it was, too - 50 quid for a family ticket and they have the gall to charge you £3 for the car park!
There were swordfights, falconry displays, processions and at the end of the afternoon, they fired the trebuchet, which they proudly proclaimed (at regular intervals!) as the largest working one in the world.
Usually, there's a jousting tournament as well, but unfortunately, the ground was so wet as to be unsafe for the horses,
so instead the "knights" beat the crap out of each other on foot!
At the end of the day, after a last look around some of the castle interior, we headed into Stratford
to meet up withhooloovoo_42 for some food and some general pre-fangirl reunion squee. She duly presented me with my official "Demented Fangirls" T-shirt (which I'm instructed MUST be worn on Monday!) and also gave Mr Caz a "Fanboys Anonymous" T-shirt, with which he was delighted and proceeded to wear with pride all the next day!
Friday was the day for "all things Bard-related" - and after a joyous text from Fenny to say that she'd managed to get a ticket for Hamlet we all headed off to Anne Hathaway's cottage
- which was a longer walk than we'd anticipated!
Then we went to Nash's House, the home of Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth and her husband, John Nash. New Place, the house in which Shakespeare lived and died was demolished in the 18th century over a dispute about taxes and is now a garden
You really can't beat a traditional English garden in bloom, can you?
We hooked up withzinke at lunchtime (woot!) and walked to Hall's Croft, which was the home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna. As with the other properties, it's a fascinating place, well maintained and laid out, and the guides are really knowledgeable and informative.
After a delicious cream tea we went to Shakespeare's Birthplace. I couldn't get a decent photo because there were too many people milling about aimlessly in front of it :-(
After that, it was time for a pre-theatre dinner withzinke and her friends and hooloovoo_42.
I'll do the Hamlet stuff at the end.
On Saturday, we'd intended to go up to Kenilworth Castle and then head home, but the weather was so crappy, we called that off. Instead, we went out to Mary Arden's House - which was the last of the five Shakespeare Houses and the one we hadn't been to yet, stopping off at Holy Trinity Church first
to see the burial sites of Shakespeare and several of his family members.
Mary Arden's House is actually on what used to be a farm, and there were supposed to be some outdoor activities going on, but the weather was too bad for that, sadly. We did get to meet one of their falcons, and spend a good deal of time talking to two of the guides who were actually preparing a 16th century meal in one of the farmhouses. Elinor was absolutely riveted by the food preparation and the cooking - I think we must have been there for over an hour just watching and chatting with them.
So all in all, a successful - if hectic - weekend. Mr Caz told me this morning that he'd actually not been all that keen on going. But now he can't wait to go back!
And so to the reason for the early start to the DFRTM.
I really enjoyed it. I think my bum was starting to go to sleep about 10.30, but David Tennant and Patrick Stewart on the same stage was enough enticement for me to do my best to ignore that! Tennant was very, very good. Sure, there were times when there were echoes of his famous alter-ego on display, but then I guess that's unavoidable - it's him. I said to Fenny afterwards that it was a similar experience to watching Brad on stage, in that there were some familiar mannerisms, facial expressions and vocal inflections - but when you've watched someone on telly each week for a number of years, you're bound to notice things like that. And when an actor is putting quite a lot of himself into the character, as I think both of them do, I should imagine it's nigh-on impossible to avoid. Of course, I expected him to cope well with the more manic parts of the role, but it was a well-rounded performance, infused with humour and pathos and everything you'd expect from a Prince of Denmark. Oh, and that reviewer who said that "the hair" deserved it's own award was quite right! ;-)
And it was a fabulous cast - Patrick Stewart was wonderful as Claudius (and the ghost). I remember seeing him on stage a few times back before his Star Trek days - and he doesn't seem to have altered! Penny Downie, Oliver Ford-Davies, John Woodvine... the thesp spotter's heaven!
Unfortunately though, Messers Tennant and Stewart legged it out of the back door so there was no opportunity for any dedicated fangirling. I can't say as I blame them - there were a lot of people hanging around, and I think if they'd both come out and taken the time to autograph and chat, we'd have been there until one in the morning! And they had a matinee performance today, so I can understand them wanting an early night! And given what I'd heard about David Tennant getting mobbed in M&S earlier in the week, I imagine he'd have been eager to avoid a repeat performance.
It's been a busy holiday so far - visits, friends coming to stay etc. but it's been great. And it's not over yet! It's off to London on Monday for more hi-jinks with my fellow DFs. Sadly,coloneljack isn't able to join us, but we'll be thinking of her and having an extra Starbuck's (or two) in her honour!
zinke had kindly offered me a spare ticket. But then things sort of grew a bit, and Mr Caz and the girls came too on a longer visit. And added to that, we met up with hooloovoo_42 as well, so the demented fangirl reunion started a little earlier than originally planned :-)We travelled up on Thursday and went to Warwick Castle
which the kids really enjoyed (and so did we!). I think the last time I went there was about twenty years or so ago, and there's a lot more to see and do there now than there used to be. Mind you, it's a lot more expensive than it was, too - 50 quid for a family ticket and they have the gall to charge you £3 for the car park!
There were swordfights, falconry displays, processions and at the end of the afternoon, they fired the trebuchet, which they proudly proclaimed (at regular intervals!) as the largest working one in the world.
Usually, there's a jousting tournament as well, but unfortunately, the ground was so wet as to be unsafe for the horses,
so instead the "knights" beat the crap out of each other on foot!
At the end of the day, after a last look around some of the castle interior, we headed into Stratford
to meet up with
hooloovoo_42 for some food and some general pre-fangirl reunion squee. She duly presented me with my official "Demented Fangirls" T-shirt (which I'm instructed MUST be worn on Monday!) and also gave Mr Caz a "Fanboys Anonymous" T-shirt, with which he was delighted and proceeded to wear with pride all the next day!Friday was the day for "all things Bard-related" - and after a joyous text from Fenny to say that she'd managed to get a ticket for Hamlet we all headed off to Anne Hathaway's cottage
- which was a longer walk than we'd anticipated!
Then we went to Nash's House, the home of Shakespeare's granddaughter Elizabeth and her husband, John Nash. New Place, the house in which Shakespeare lived and died was demolished in the 18th century over a dispute about taxes and is now a garden
You really can't beat a traditional English garden in bloom, can you?
We hooked up with
zinke at lunchtime (woot!) and walked to Hall's Croft, which was the home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna. As with the other properties, it's a fascinating place, well maintained and laid out, and the guides are really knowledgeable and informative.After a delicious cream tea we went to Shakespeare's Birthplace. I couldn't get a decent photo because there were too many people milling about aimlessly in front of it :-(
After that, it was time for a pre-theatre dinner with
zinke and her friends and hooloovoo_42.I'll do the Hamlet stuff at the end.
On Saturday, we'd intended to go up to Kenilworth Castle and then head home, but the weather was so crappy, we called that off. Instead, we went out to Mary Arden's House - which was the last of the five Shakespeare Houses and the one we hadn't been to yet, stopping off at Holy Trinity Church first
to see the burial sites of Shakespeare and several of his family members.
Mary Arden's House is actually on what used to be a farm, and there were supposed to be some outdoor activities going on, but the weather was too bad for that, sadly. We did get to meet one of their falcons, and spend a good deal of time talking to two of the guides who were actually preparing a 16th century meal in one of the farmhouses. Elinor was absolutely riveted by the food preparation and the cooking - I think we must have been there for over an hour just watching and chatting with them.
So all in all, a successful - if hectic - weekend. Mr Caz told me this morning that he'd actually not been all that keen on going. But now he can't wait to go back!
And so to the reason for the early start to the DFRTM.
I really enjoyed it. I think my bum was starting to go to sleep about 10.30, but David Tennant and Patrick Stewart on the same stage was enough enticement for me to do my best to ignore that! Tennant was very, very good. Sure, there were times when there were echoes of his famous alter-ego on display, but then I guess that's unavoidable - it's him. I said to Fenny afterwards that it was a similar experience to watching Brad on stage, in that there were some familiar mannerisms, facial expressions and vocal inflections - but when you've watched someone on telly each week for a number of years, you're bound to notice things like that. And when an actor is putting quite a lot of himself into the character, as I think both of them do, I should imagine it's nigh-on impossible to avoid. Of course, I expected him to cope well with the more manic parts of the role, but it was a well-rounded performance, infused with humour and pathos and everything you'd expect from a Prince of Denmark. Oh, and that reviewer who said that "the hair" deserved it's own award was quite right! ;-)
And it was a fabulous cast - Patrick Stewart was wonderful as Claudius (and the ghost). I remember seeing him on stage a few times back before his Star Trek days - and he doesn't seem to have altered! Penny Downie, Oliver Ford-Davies, John Woodvine... the thesp spotter's heaven!
Unfortunately though, Messers Tennant and Stewart legged it out of the back door so there was no opportunity for any dedicated fangirling. I can't say as I blame them - there were a lot of people hanging around, and I think if they'd both come out and taken the time to autograph and chat, we'd have been there until one in the morning! And they had a matinee performance today, so I can understand them wanting an early night! And given what I'd heard about David Tennant getting mobbed in M&S earlier in the week, I imagine he'd have been eager to avoid a repeat performance.
It's been a busy holiday so far - visits, friends coming to stay etc. but it's been great. And it's not over yet! It's off to London on Monday for more hi-jinks with my fellow DFs. Sadly,
coloneljack isn't able to join us, but we'll be thinking of her and having an extra Starbuck's (or two) in her honour!
no subject
I remember seeing him on stage a few times back before his Star Trek days - and he doesn't seem to have altered!
It's extraordinary isn't it. I saw him on stage in the 1970s and then a couple of years ago in The Master Builder and I swear he hasn't aged at all.
I haven't been to Stratford for years but your photos made me think that I really need to go again. Glad you all had such a good time :)
no subject
But now, two kids, less money, less energy!
Good luck in getting tickets for London. I'm starting to wonder if I can get some for Love's Labour's Lost at some point...
no subject
no subject
(Ok, you guys too, but mostly them ;))
The estates are making me jealous. I want thier gardeners. (Geez, I want a lot of things. heh)
Also, see how I typed 'thier'? I'm contributing to alternate spellings.
::runs and hides:
no subject
Ratbags!
no subject
I imagine there may well be some shots of demented fangirls after our day out in London tomorrow!
no subject
Speaking of Stewart and Claudius, did you see the BBC production of I, Claudius? Stewart played Sejanus... with hair!
Sounds like you had a great time!
no subject
no subject
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/sep/06/news
Hard to imagine a 'pretty boy' like DiCaprio intentionally turning himself into a club-footed stutter.
Regards to everyone!
no subject
I have to say that I think di Caprio can actually act. Maybe he's trying to go down the Johnny Depp route of deliberately avoiding the obvious pretty-boy roles and going for the meatier stuff.
Not that I think he's at all pretty myself.