Wednesday 25 July 2012

RICHARD III

24/7/12, Shakespeare's Globe


With the legendary Mark Rylance in the title role.  It sounded a cracker and I was desolate at having to miss it: work and sleeplessness thanks to gastric reflux.  Then D came home early: they left at the half.  She called his performance Uriah Heep-like.

OLYMPIC OPENING CEREMONY REHEARSAL

23/7/12, Olympic Stadium


D went.  She'd volunteered but they hadn't given her anything; a ticket to the tech rehearsal was the consolation prize.  She texted before it started to say the set looked like a Fuzzy Felt Hobbitland.  But when she came home she was very discreet: Danny Boyle came on before it started and implored them to (Twitter hashtag coming up) #savethesurprise.  I think she was a bit underwhelmed but I can get no details.

PROM: THE TROJANS

22/7/12, Royal Albert Hall


One of the best Proms I've been to in years: a work of the requisite scale, with the delight of discovering something new (we'd never knowingly heard it or any part of it), plus top notch performances by a team who've already done it several times at Covent Garden (this was a concert version of the Royal Opera's recent production, for which we couldn't get tickets), and this time we managed to get a programme so we could follow the words.



PROM: JUDAS MACCABEUS

19/7/12, Royal Albert Hall

Tuesday 17 July 2012

TEN BILLION

17/7/12, Royal Court (Upstairs)

THE PHYSICISTS

12/7/12, Donmar

BIRTHDAY

10/7/12, Royal Court