Stratford

Well, I'm back from my first trip. I went to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of King Lear. I ended up taking a train to Stratford, which I enjoyed. Despite the fact that I was across from a guy loudly chewing his Burger King and near an overindulgent grandmother and her adorable screaming grandchild, I really liked going via train. The ride was much smoother than it would have been on the highways, and I got to see all the scenery and kick back.
Stratford itself was gorgeous. I walked along the river for a lot of the afternoon, seeing all the statues of Shakespeare and his characters. It turns out the RSC owns a lot of the riverfront, and they put a walk in, and even a big garden.
Unfortunately, the play wasn't so hot. I haven't read the play in a while, but I knew what the characters were saying the majority of the time, so that wasn't the thing. I didn't find the Lear believable. Most of the actors were good - a few were more interested in hitting the meter and making it sound good rather than believable - but for the most part they got the character across. Okay, Edmund sounded somewhere between American and Scottish, and I didn't like that he directed the soliloquies at the audience, but that's probably the director's fault.
But the Lear said everything pretty much the same - he had the same intonation for the division of the kingdom, the insanity, and the grief, except insanity was a littler higher pitched and longer, and the grief was deeper. The first thing Lear says after carrying Cordelia's body in is "Howl. Howl. Howl. Howl." - and that's pretty much how the actor says it. Maybe he was going for stiff upper lip, or trying not to overact and be subtle and understated, but there's nothing subtle about losing a child. If that scene, I think one of Shakespeare's most heartbreaking, does not make the viewer weep and feel the weight of the tragedy, then there is something wrong.
That said, two of the actors I really liked (Kent and the Fool) are the leads in Antony and Cleopatra, which starts running in April, so I might go back to see them.

Oh, the gift shop!
The gift shop was everything a consumerist Shakespeare-nerdy girl could ever hope for, and I think what my parents have been dreading. Luckily I made my purchases in the interval, because they weren't open after the show. I wasn't expecting it - APT has theirs open all the time - so future travelers to the RSC, take note! Buy, buy buy, and do it early. I'm thrilled, and in love with my purchases.

And I also had two good nights of sleep in a row! Amazing. I love vacations.