I bought this hardback book of When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne on eBay for just over two pounds. It was in immaculate condition, just like new. The layout was marvelous, the pictures by Ernest H Shepard were great and in colour. Everything was fantastic. First published in 1924, the first coloured edition came in 1989.
There are twenty three poems, some more familiar than others. I have always preferred these to Winnie the Pooh.
Part 10 Much Ado about Nothing
- 2002: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Haymarket Theatre, London
Greg starts with the legacy of the now departed Artistic Director Adrian Noble. His plans to demolish the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and build a brand new theatre sound awful to put it mildly, Thank goodness this never happened, and instead we have this wonderful three and a half year renovation. See my post of 25th August 2011. So who to replace Noble? The two joint Associate Directors are in the running. Greg and the equally excellent Michael Boyd.
On to the play. As Shakespeare set Much Ado in Sicily, Greg and (Tony) Sher are off to Taormina (did they stay at the same hotel as us?). Most productions shy away from Italy, but not this one. He wants to respect the Sicilian way of life for his. He talks about the music, the composer, the sets and costumes. Again there is so much detail about how he interprets the plot (oh to have read this before seeing the play). There is, for instance, one bit where "Nick le Provost, a master of the very serious business of the conventions of comedy, would point out that his Benedict cannot talk directly to the audience unless his line of communication is clear. He cannot address them from upstage centre, for instance, especially if the others are in mid conversation across the stage from either side of him. That would not be credible to the audience".
When Beatrice is hiding in the shrubbery that Harriet then begins to water, Beatrice comes out soaked to the skin. There are so many scenes like this that are similarly described. These may be the longest in the book, such a detailed dissection of how they were performed. Michael Billington in The Guardian gave the play three stars at Stratford and then four when it transferred to London.
There are then another four pages, partly a diary, of the ramifications of Adrian Noble not renewing his contract as Artistic Director. (" He had faced hostile abuse from the press and attacks on his family"). Quite an emotional section as Michael Boyd is selected for the top job. He becomes Artistic Director from 2002 to 2012. Greg's disappointment is tempered only by knowing that he became Artistic Director from 2012 to 2022.
20th October 2014 - Royal Shakespeare Theatre
28th February 2025 - Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Part 11 The Taming of the Shrew
-2003: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon; Eisenhower Theatre, John F Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; Queen's Theatre, London
With Michael Boyd not programming his first season as Artistic Director until 2004, we have an interim season. Greg proposes, among others, The Taming of the Shrew. "Not so much to direct .... as try to solve it". The play had fallen out of favour, but Greg says "I thought I may have found the solution". His plan was to use the same cast for another play, The Tamer Tamed, a sequel to the other by John Fletcher, to be performed in The Swan Theatre. The cast was thrilled. They included in smaller roles Rory Kinnear and Eve Myles. Both now big stars.
On to the play. Greg thinks that he knows Kate. He presents a long passage about his family background that ends with "So I knew who Kate was. I saw a young women in pain". Next up comes Greg's detailed interpretation of the text. Later on this includes a piece about an encounter between Kate and Petruchio, and "how a single stage direction changed the meaning of the whole play". This they felt was a mistake and changing it made far more sense. Doran then compares the first half of the play (pages of discussion) with the second half which only gets a half page. That is because he feels that this is "at best mean, at worst sadistic".
The pairing of the two plays opened to great reviews leading to the transfer to Washington DC and later a season at The Queen's Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. Tony tells Greg "All's well that ends well".
10th July 2008 - Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Pert 12 All's Well That Ends Well
-2003: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon: Gielgud Theatre, London
Judi Dench is invited to play the Countess. The last time she was in Stratford was twenty five years ago in Cymbeline (1979). They visit Wilton House near Salisbury as the inspiration for the setting and "where the co-incidences with the play are too extraordinary to ignore". Again lots of background to the play before we get to the rehearsals. Here Greg concentrates on Judi's "masterclass in Shakespearian verse. He tells us "the art is to hide the technique, to marry application with inspiration, and balance concentration with relaxation".
When we get to exploring the text, sometimes line by line, he calls Judi devastating. "But I can't tell you how she does it". In amongst the detailed account of how they interpreted the plot, there is one amazing fact. The costume designer isn't happy with how Helena looks. She comes back with a simple black dress. Judi spots the label (as all the RSC costumes do have them) of a previous production The label has her name and "Lady Macbeth 1976. The new actress could not be more thrilled.
19th July 2011 - The Globe Theatre, London
On our holiday in Chichester last year, I walked a short stretch of the city walls. This year I found the above free leaflet in Tourist Information and bought the thirty two page souvenir guide that describes each section of the walls in great detail, what to look for on the way round and some history of their construction. Each quadrant has it's own part together with lots of photographs and sketches.
We started at the Promenade Quadrant which starts at West Street, our entry to the old city from our accommodation. The walls have been rebuilt using the old stonework.
The guide told us to "keep an eye out for an unusual object in one of the gardens. What appears to be a large mass of rubble is actually the core of a Roman bastion". See photo below.
We enjoyed our week in Chichester so much last September that we booked the same bungalow for this year, albeit a week later.
Friday 26th September
An easy drive to our stopping off at Cowdray Park. No polo this year, but the same excellent cafe for a superb lunch.
A walk around the grounds, deserted unlike last year. Then Alison took some time buying some lovely stuff in the shop, while I toured the display of plants for sale, noting quite a few that looked promising for our garden.
It was then a short drive to Chichester to find our accommodation. A cloudy day with a quite cool 14C.
Saturday 27th September
Monday 29th September
Chichester Walls Walk - see separate post.
Dinner at ASK Italian. Another lovely sunny day, clear blue skies and a warm 18C.
Tuesday 30th September
Our day in Portsmouth. Parked in a pretty empty car park in Southsea, (that is actually two miles from Portsmouth) just back from the seafront. Sat on a bench looking out to sea and all the ships in and out of the harbour. No breeze and the flag above the castle was completely still.
