London Calling

Hello everyone.
I want to let you know that I love the city called London.  I'm a bit of an anglophile and guessed that I would have a blast there- long tick on that count.
Our adventure started with Hero and I driving from Dayton, OH home to New York City.  We stopped briefly in the Poconos to see the Lipitz household (Ben is Pumbaa in LK).  We then took an overnight flight to Heathrow.  Jumping in the deep end and learning the tube to meet up with Amy at NYU's London campus and housing = perfect intro.  A touch of rain to greet us as we made it to our flat in Camden.  Other than that and maybe one other time, the weather was amazing.
Typically, the days were for Hero and I to explore a bit while Amy was running the study abroad.  Evenings were for seeing shows.  I think we saw 15 shows in 14 days. Too Fast, The Beauty Manifesto, and Gargantua which were all at the National as part of their Connections series.  Also at the National was One Man, Two Guvnors, War Horse, and Cherry Orchard.  Let's talk about the National...Unreal.  Tons of great work- classics, rethought work, challenging stuff.  One of Our favorites was a verbatim musical called London Road.  It was Autotune the news meets The Exonerated.  So forward and exceptional.  Another show we were blown away by was Shakespeare's Globe's Much ado About Nothing.  Charles Edwards and Eve Best were Benedick and Beatrice and it may have been perfect.  All of the traditional devices were employed to such a wonderful effect, down to the boo/hissing of the villain and ending with a dance.  A few months ago, Amy and I saw Jerusalem with one of our favorite actors (and Globe alum) Mark Rylance.  That show was originally put on by the Royal Court so we were excited to see Chicken Soup with Barley.  Beautiful theater.  Very interesting socialist play with some rich performances.  Less thrilled by Government Inspector at Young Vic, but it was cool to see The Mighty Boosh's Julian Barratt.  We hit a mildly absurd realism at Soho Theatre.  There was such a cool vibe at this theater.  A couple spaces dedicated to new and avant garde works and acts.  Had an Edinborough feel.  Terrible underwhelmed by Trevor Nunn's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.  A lot of play acting and it really made me rethink what I have liked about previous productions.  We were fortunate to visit RSC and see the controversial Cardenio.  It is thought by some to have been cowritten by Shakespeare and Fletcher.  I thought there was a lot to like bout it and the history of the play made it more interesting.  A few cool design elements and some talented performers couldn't save Macbeth for me, but I am glad to have seen it.  The rep of the Donmar Warehouse made a visit a priority and Louise Miller was the fare.  Well acted and reminiscent of some Shakespeare.

We did see a lot of sights, some museums and the Eye and such, but this trip was about being together and seeing as much theatre as possible.  The town is just wired for the arts.  The National is a place to go to see free events, in their Watch this Space area, spend 12 pounds to see world class theatre, or participate in celebrating theatre for young audiences for around 5 pounds.  The variety was ridiculous.  RSC, same deal.  So so rewarding.  I know we will be back.  Like Uganda several years back, this was a truly life changing time.

p.s.  The most interesting fact to me was that London was started as a Roman colony.


Excelsior!(?)

Here are some photos