Treading the boards

With two trips to OZ, Christmas, and six weeks of teaching in less than two months, it would seem difficult to believe that T and hubs had managed to squeeze anything else in. However, T managed to see a ballet, two Shakespearean performances, and she ice-skated at the Tower of London. T and hubs also spent their fifth wedding anniversary in York and they saw the biggest snowfall London has experienced in over 20 years! Life in London Town is never dull.

This brings T to her current favourite topic of conversation - theatre in London!

The first performance T was lucky enough to see was the ballet production of, 'Edward Scissorhands'. The production was housed at Sadler Wells, and was simply one of the most engaging and colourful perfomances T has ever seen. The visit was a gift from her brother and sis-in-law, and it was a real treat.

The second performance T and hubs saw was at Wyndham's Theatre. This is the second production T has seen at Wyndham's Theatre - the first was Chekhov's 'Ivanov' starring Kenneth Branagh. This time around they were seeing, as a gift from their flat-mates, 'Twelfth Night', starring Derek Jacobi. The peformance was outstanding - both uproariously funny and completely mesmorising. The next two performances of Wyndham's theatre season are 'Madame de Sade' starring Dame Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike, and 'Hamlet' starring Jude Law. Needless to say, T will definitely be along for those two!

The other performances T has seen have been school theatre trips she has organised for her fifth and sixth formers. It is an interesting task taking 12 and 13 year old boys to the theatre, but they have been respectful audience members and so it has been a pleasant experience, so far. She has taken them to see, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' put on by the RSC and 'Lord of the Flies' at the Unicorn Theatre. 'Lord of the Flies' was outstanding - a little bloody, but so powerful. It made for much discussion in the classroom the following day.

If there is one thing that T will miss when the time comes to eventually leave London, it will be the theatre. Besides New York, it seems there is no other place in the world which houses such amazing productions night after night. There are so many experienced actors and the productions are so profitable that they manage to have one actor for each part, unlike many other places which see one actor playing two or three small parts. T (and hubs) love it!

T's signed copy of Ivanov's program

A Cultural Day-Out

One of the things that Hubbie and Traveller love about London is how much there is to do here. Whatever you like to spend your time doing - T guarantees you can do it here. Last Saturday morning (after a late, last minute decision with our favourite French friends) we headed into Leicester Square to buy some cheap theatre tickets to whatever was going.

We arrived in Leicester Square agog at how many different places you could buy theatre tickets. After much discussion and question-asking, we bought tickets to see 'Mamma Mia' at the Prince of Wales Theatre. The best seats that they had were for a matinee session that very day, so we quickly decided to stay and explore the city whilst waiting for our show.

As Leicester Square is right near Trafalgar Square, we made our way over to the National Gallery as we all had never been. We promptly split up and covered the parts of the Gallery that we really wanted to see - it is much too big to do in one day. It was quickly discovered that the Gallery is one of the BEST free places to visit in London. Traveller was absolutely delighted with the amount of famous paintings there were in the gallery. There were paintings from Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Renoir and so many more. Now, T isn't the most discerning art student, but to stand a mere half-metre away from Van Gogh was simply breathtaking. We all walked away from the Gallery extremely inspired and uplifted and we hadn't even listened to any ABBA songs yet!

'Mamma Mia' the musical was something else. It was T's second London musical experience, and she will just say that it was oh so much better then the first! The songs, the costumes and the dancing were so much fun that even the people in the very back row were dancing in the aisles. Traveller can't wait for the film!

Another of T's and hubbie's cultural experiences over the weekend was a look through the latest art exhibition on the River Thames. We were walking by the river after having a lovely dinner and came across the 'Telectroscope'. Pictured, it is a device which allows people in London to see people in New York, in real time, through a person-size lens. Whilst there, after paying our £1 entry fee, we found ourselves waving at people in New York.

Close to us were Londoners talking to friends and family on the other side of the Atlantic, whilst looking at them through the massive lens! It was quite a reminder of life in London, as in the middle of June we were standing in a coat and scarf, whilst the Americans, on the same side of the equator, were in shorts and singlets boasting of their warmth. They also (we heard this from the people on their mobiles) had no entry fee!

Ah, London - why would you want to live anywhere else?