Now is the Winter of our Discontent

Thursday was about Shakespeare's Richard III, the culmination of several days of reading and discussion about the play and its historical basis, and then the opportunity to see the play live tonight at the Apollo Theatre, an extension of the production that ran during the warmer months at London's Globe Theatre.  This morning, we discussed the play in earnest, and then 6 volunteers read out parts of two acts to help us consider Richard's strange wooing habits as well as Shakespeare's dark humor during the murder in the Tower of Clarence, Richard's brother.

I have been advising the class that preparing for Richard III is like climbing a mountain; hard work with the text before hand will result in great illuminations while in the theatre.  We found this to be true, but the deeper meaning of my comment only became clear when we climbed the stairs to our seats and found ourselves among the very back rows, with chilly seats, little leg room, and tough sight lines.  In the end, the play was excellent, and the class did great--but it was a change from being in rows 1-3 at Spamalot!

There is nothing like seeing a Shakespeare play about London and the Tower, in London, after just seeing the Tower, and actual portraits of Richard III and Henry VII.

Earlier in the day, we also visited both London's National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery, which allowed us to see all the major Tudor monarch portraits, as well as amazing works by Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Fillipo Lippi, Masaccio, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and so many others.  When we consider that we have the Louvre and other museums in Paris to come, it is pretty humbling.

On the pop culture side, today there was also a UK movie premier here in Leicester Square--Django Unchained--so we were in the presence of Quentin Tarantino and Jamie Foxx on the red carpet runway--from a great distance--with lots of hip hop and search lights going.  Check it out at:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a450140/quentin-tarantino-jamie-foxx-at-django-unchained-london-premiere.html

And now a few photos!

Jill, Katie (center), and Kelsey listen on...

Queen Elizabeth I says "hello" from her coronation painting at the National Portrait Gallery...

Here is the beautiful Anne Boleyn portrait in the same museum...

Amber and Prince Charming pose in the Tower of London

Ruth, Ericka, and Joshua in front of the National Gallery...

And here is an elaborate interior archway near Lincoln's Inn, London. It is technically called an "undercroft" and it has gothic-style fan vaulting that reminds me of what one sees in gothic chapels such as Henry VII's Tudor Chapel in Westminster, King's College Chapel in Cambridge, St. George's Chapel in Windsor, and Bath Cathedral. On the floor are slabs from tombstones.  (You'll see this space in various English films--super interesting.)

Mike H.