A pound of flesh...

Woo hoo! The sound I make on learning that my birthday treat in May this year will be to go and see Patrick Stewart in The Merchant of Venice with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon.  It's directed by Rupert Goold who also directed him in the version of Macbeth recently broadcast on tv, and whose version of Romeo and Juliet at the RSC last year almost converted me into liking it.  He's rather good.

Now Merchant is not one of my favourite plays, this probably has something to do with having to study it for O Level English Lit many moons ago, but I could probably listen to Patrick S read the telephone directory and still be enthralled.  I've always found the character of Antonio a tiresome wimp and I couldn't care less what happens to him, and how badly is Shylock treated? (I know, historical context blah, blah, blah, but still...).  And what the heck does a woman like Portia see in Bassanio?  I think she should have just set up her own legal practice and told all the men to take a running jump.  David's never seen the play so it will be interesting to see what he makes of it.

What has caused some 'gasp, shock, horror' however is the price of the tickets.  We're going on a Tuesday evening and it cost £92 for the two of us! £92!!!  I dread to think what it would be on a Saturday. Talk about a pound of flesh... what are the RSC thinking?  And why don't members get even a small discount on tickets?  I'm not going to moan, I'm really looking forward to it (possibly the only trip to the theatre that will happen this year at those prices!), but crikey that's expensive.  

And I thought the RSC were trying to make Shakespeare less elitist... 

Home alone...

Today Ben, the cats and I have had a lovely time at home together.  D is at Silverstone so we have had the house to ourselves which is such an unusual treat for me.  In the week I'm at work, and at the weekend we're either out and about, or I'm out or shopping etc etc etc so today has been a really nice change.  I got most of the shopping yesterday with just a brief trip to the 24 hour Tesco very early today.  Then after D had gone I got the boring stuff out of the way and cleaned the kitchen.  After stopping for this...

...I chopped up some carrot, swede, potato, and leek, cooked them for a few minutes in the frying pan then threw them with some vegetable stock into this...

...which is my tiny, new slow cooker, ideal for one or two servings, and which I got for the bargain price of £3.99.  The result was that after I'd liquidised it, I ended up with the most delicious Winter Vegetable Soup for lunch.

Then in between watching a few episodes of StarTrek: Voyager (with the Borg in them), I made some cupcakes and then put a bramley apple filled with sultanas, spices and some sugar into the slow cooker as an experiment.

As well as making some of the tried and trusted Gingerbread Cupcakes, I became adventurous and tried these, which are Chocolate Orange Cupcakes. I then became very ambitious and put Orange Buttercream Frosting on top.

If D gets back in time tonight, and if I haven't had a glass of wine or two by then and fallen asleep... we're thinking of going to see The Secret in Their Eyes at Warwick Arts Centre.  It's a Spanish film and won this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Oh yes, and Pod has Cat of the Week this week for her exemplary behaviour at the vets yesterday.  She had a sore ear and also had to go for her thyroid check (she's fine and has put on weight as well so the tablets must be the right dose).  She's also got tablets for a skin irritation which should hopefully clear up in a week of two.  Of course the day after she went to the vets is when she started limping on the leg that the cyst is on.  Apparently the tablets for her skin should help with this... so we shall see.  At the moment she couldn't care less and is fast asleep on the basket, the now rather flat basket, that the cat toys are kept in.

Another piece of news that has please me is that the BBC have filmed Patrick Stewart in the Macbeth we saw him in at Chichester.  It was a wonderful production and I can't wait to see it again.  Perhaps they'll show it as Christmas like they did with the RSC's Hamlet last year?  Something to look forward to anyway...

Tony and Cleo...

As I'm at work on Tuesday for my birthday, yesterday was my birthday treat.  Cath and I went into Stratford, started with a posh breakfast then went up to the theatre for a behind the scenes look at some of the techniques used at the RSC.  They concentrated on movement and had people up on stage to show how they developed the scene for the battle of Actium in Antony and Cleopatra using paper boats and polonaise dance moves!  It was fascinating... especially as we got to see the final version in the afternoon as we went to the matinee performance.  Despite the seats in the Courtyard Theatre being enough to give you a square backside for the rest of the day, we really enjoyed it!  Excellent performances from the whole cast, especially the two leads, (although Harriet Walter and Patrick Stewart are still way out in front of everyone else in the roles - they just brought the poetry to life). 

I am too much i' the sun...

Well the title is slightly misleading. Amazingly for a Bank Holiday Monday there was some sunshine yesterday, and as I was left to fall back on my own devices yet again, I went to Stratford upon Avon. Had a lovely time - first breakfast, then walking around taking photos and finishing with a pot of tea at the Courtyard Theatre cafe. I also bought a signed copy of Keith Osborn's Something Written in the State of Denmark. A year in the life of an actor with the RSC - and what a year it was... The 2008-9 season saw Greg Doran's Dream, then his Hamlet with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant, and then Love's Labour's. Amazingly I saw all three and the book brought back many happy memories. That was a crazy year at Stratford - the frenzy that gripped the town as fans tried to get a glimpse of either David T or Patrick S had to be seen to be believed. Because so many actors can be seen in and around the town they can usually walk about without anyone bothering them, but not them. We actually saw David T in disguise once. My friend Cath and I were just coming out from the matinee of Dream when she frantically grabbed my arm and pointed to someone next to me; and there was DT wearing a baseball cap walking though the crowds in the foyer of the theatre to avoid the fans at the stage door. And no one else recognised him! Cath only saw him as she is rather short and was able to see under his cap. And we didn't give him away either... :O)

Lime Trees in Bancroft Gardens (note sunshine - but it was b****y cold!)

A swan of Avon

Blossom along the path in the RSC Gardens

More blossom - this time in the churchyard (Holy Trinity Church)

A dandelion! The close-up filter had to come out at some point...

Rain on its way... Luckily I was just heading back to the car at this point