King Lear

Colm Feore as Lear

Bernard LaMarsh told Kelvin he would like to go see King Lear.

Bernard told Kelvin that he is not sure how accessible it would be to him, since he has never studied Shakespeare.

 I have been thinking about that dilemma off and on – how in the first 15 minutes of the play it is hard to throw myself back into the sixteenth century language.

I have usually done some homework and at least refreshed my memory with the plot – the names of the characters and the major families represented in the play. And I try to get the places in my mind where scenes might happen ie, the castle, the moor, the edge of a cliff.

But all of the above doesn’t seem to be enough in the initial scenes and I worry that this is all going to get by me and I won’t know what happened. And I won’t deny that I have to work the whole play – keeping myself on the edge of my seat, since there are no subtitles to help me along.

At any rate – the play? Exquisite. We had some technical difficulties in our theatre. The play didn’t start automatically as it was programmed to, so we were 20 minutes late – though it did start at the beginning. Then three other times the projection went down and we had a black screen. Don’t you just hate it when that happens at home. At the theatre we had all come too far, had set aside this time too many weeks ago, to get up and leave. But I was laughing at that tremendous amount of energy that gets let down, just as we are climbing to a high point in the play and then it is over. Or at least interrupted. And then interrupted again. Nothing like getting an audience coalesce over their collective desire to keep the action going.  I could feel an internal giggle when we had an interruption and I heard a male voice yell out, "Whose got the control?"

I have forgotten how much fun Shakespeare’s fool is. He just about out shone Lear. Well, I shouldn’t say that for not much can be better than watching a figure in a play get older and then make foolish mistakes. That is how I feel. Better to see someone else making those poor judgements on screen, than to have any eyes turned on me as I make my own.

I adored the play. The scene at the cliff is amazing. And having never been to Stratford for their Festival, it was a joy to see inside of the theatre and to get a tour backstage during the intermission.

As to the question, was the play being accessible? I was thinking that Bonnie could even take David. Kids get out of these performances what they can – so why deny them that. Yes. Young and old. There is a place for you at King Lear.

Watch for the Encore, March 7, 2015

Arta

My Moose Book

Photo: Bela Baliko

I get lots of invitations to go out for breakfast, lunch and supper.

The invitations come from Michael Johnson, who lives next door.

He sometimes calls on the phone and asks me over.

I like to go over with something we can play with or talk about.  I took my Moose Book over a few days ago.

Now it is not really a Moose Book.

I couldn’t throw away my 2014 Moose Calendar which is really a set of photographs by Bela Baliko.

Photo: Bela Baliko

I enjoyed every month last year.  Three sentences of text accompanied each picture.  For example, in January, the text read, Moose (Alex alces) are common in the northern portions of Europe and Asia.  The Europeans call this magnificent animal an “elk”.  But here in North America they are called “moose”, an Algonquin Indian word meaning “twig-eater.”  This is a very appropriate name, considering that their diet consists of mainly leaves and twigs.

Now that is about all of the information I could take care of in an early morning read.  By the time 12 months had gone by, I was getting to be quite the expert on moose. 

We ate breakfast and I held up my Moose Book for Michael and Alice, explaining details about each picture:  how the moose can hardly see, but has excellent hearing and scent; their enormous size (up to 1300 pounds); the bawling and thrashing in the brush during rutting season. 

Photo: Bela Baliko

Richard demonstrated the sound of bawling and thrashing in the bushes.  His arms and legs were flailing and his voice was deep and loud -- a frightening sound.

I demonstrated the cows’ bleating in the same manner.  We did our best replica of the animal's call and response.  We tried to get Michael to join in by throwing his voice down, way down in his throat and making a sound.  He just couldn’t do it, but 18 month old Alice joined the fun.

Yes.  

Those early Saturday morning breakfasts can be a lot of fun.

Arta

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year has come and gone. Wyona gave me a box of decorations from her overflow of lanterns and hanging good-luck talismans. Now ... can I find them. The good thing about looking for these treasuires has been that I have found other things: mortgage papers I have mislaid; rice that I had stored under a desk and forgotten about; a box of unpacked documents, brought back from the lake so that I could take care of them.

Our house is going to celebrate the Year of the Sheep by having a pot luck on the 19th. I am bringing hot and sour soup and egg foo yung, but I could my mind any time between them for Cantonese noodles and sweet and sour pork have been on my mind lately.

And then I find out I can’t get to the party that we are having.  I have an appointment somewhere else.

Just goes to prove, all of the fun is in the planning.

My wish for everyone is ... lots of red paper money.

Arta

Rembrandt: His Later Period

Rembrandt: From the National Gallery, London and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The title of the In the Gallery Series says it all. Rembrandt, His Later Period, to be broadcast again, March 1st. The evening started perfectly with an LRT ride up to Crowfoot. The sun was just setting – at that point where the sky was crimson. The mountains were in silhouette. And I was looking west getting a breath-taking view.


 My heart sank to be at the theatre foyer and not be able to see Rembrandt advertised on the digital marque about the ticket seller’s head. “I guess I have come to the wrong theatre. I wanted to see Rembrandt.” She swung her head around and pointed to a line so tiny that I couldn’t even see it, so miniscule compared to the advertising for the other shows.

I like to count how many people are in the theatre. Tonight, the theatre was ¾ full. When the show started a hush fell on this group that lasted the whole evening. I don’t think I have heard that stillness before.

Here are my highlights, … for you can read the more learned reviews from the critics so there is not much use in my repeating what they say.

1. At one point, to carry the story line, there was animation. ie a small figure of Rembrandt as a child using a brush to paint on a canvass. What was charming is that the animation was in the same style as Rembrandt’s etchings that we were later to see.

2. This show partnered at the National Gallery in London and at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Transitioning between the two venues, there were scenes of the canals or scenes of those wonderful square houses along the canals – whatever we were seeing was perfectly mirrored in the water of the canal.

3. Rembrandt’s house is a museum – the one where he lived in his later life. The camera was sure to scan the tall walls full of paintings and the bed Rembrandt slept in. Everything was just as I remember seeing it live.

4. The painter did many self-portraits. One of the scenes showed self-portrait after self-portrait; from one of the initial paintings he did, then gradually showing him getting older and older.

5. I am not one to buy something from the gift shop after I see a show like this. But I could feel the urge to get a few 5 x 7 replica’s and put them on some small easels that Wyona gave me. Why not have a Rembrandt in every room house? Or at least a print.

6. The credits were incredible. If you go to the Encore on March 1 notice the number of museums or private collectors that loaned the works for this exhibit. Who would ever get a chance to see all of these works side by side, have it take only 1 ½ hours and be able to sleep in their own bed that night.

And now, tonight? King Lear from the Stratford Festival.

Arta

Today I ate a chicken bone

Oddly, my colleague had a few in her candy bowl.

When was the last time you ate a chicken bone?

I  mean the pink cinnamon flavored ones with chocolate in the middle.  Weird.  Only a Canadian could have come up with that!

https://ganong.com/product-category/product-type/chicken-bones/

To Nagano

We went 306 km. to Nagano and beyond today and the same distance again on the way back.

The approx. 1 1/2 km. hike in and back was amazing.

The trail was small and many people were there.

Those monkeys come right up to you.

One of them jumped towards Celeste hissing at her.

Her mother jumped in between them and then the monkey tried to go around Desiree to see Celeste.

 Desiree just kept in between them and finally that monkey took a swipe at Desiree’s pant leg to show it’s displeasure at her interference.

There was so much snow.

This is the monkey that jumped at Celeste.

Nagano was a beautiful place to hold the Olympics I think in 1998, was it?

The morning comes early and again, remember how much walking we all did in England?

Well it is the same here.

Church is on three different floors of a high rise and it takes 30 minutes to walk there.

Moiya

The 100 Yen Store

Hello from Japan,

We are putting kids to bed and then getting ready to go see the Snow Monkeys. It will be a long day. The children are usually asleep when we arrive home, the two oldest in the strollers and Parker in the carrier on Desiree’s chest.

 I love pushing one of the strollers. It is my walker!

The Japanese people are so kind and many of them offer us help when they see our confused looks.

Yeah for us.

We are enjoying Japan and thank goodness we have two strollers to carry all of our things.

The 100 yen store is totally awesome. The largest dollar store I have ever seen.

I was hoping to get some of those most delicious real Japanese oranges but they are not as inexpensive here as I thought they would be.

Love,

Moiya