an entertaining week

oh my, there's so much to do in london (why am i leaving again?)...

i met up with my friend laura on the wednesday after having suffered two very restless nights because of jet lag. we had bought tickets to see la bete and i had (foolishly) thought i'd be all caught up on my sleep by then, but regarless, i showed up tired, but excited to see the play. the play had a short run here at the comedy theatre in leicester square where the play would have a bit of a warm up before kicking off its revival on broadway later this month. you gotta know its a big play when it kicks off the theatre season in new york! i had been to the comedy theatre way back in 2005 where with isabell and gina, we saw an epitaph for george dillon starring the gorgeous joseph fiennes. the star power for la bete was even more so sublime.

our stars:

mark rylance - from england, he's won olivier's, tonys and baftas, and not to mention he was the artistic director for shakespeare's globe for 10 years. he's had a bit of controversy as well...he had signed a declaration of reasonable doubt stating that shakespeare didn't even exist but in fact, his canon came from a series of other writers from his time.

joanna lumley - patsy stone from absolutely fabulous to the world, but she has a serious side to her as well. when i moved to london she was in the middle of the a campaign as a human rights activist for survival international and the Gurkha Justice Campaign, and is now considered a "national treasure" of nepal because of her support.

david hyde pierce - most people know his as niles crane frasier's funnier brother, but its his film and stage work that shows what a fantastic actor he is. i wish i could have seen him in spamalot. the man's penchant for comedy is quite extraordinary!

set in france, 1654, the play is about a princess (lumley) who forces her troupe of players head up by elomire (pierce) to include the very loud, and very obnoxious writer/actor valere (rylance). one thing to note as well is that the play is written in rhyming couplets so not only do the actors have to learn their dialogue, they have to learn it as poetry. and what fantastic delivery - they speak the lines so finely that at times, you don't even hear the rhymes! rylance steals the show with his entrance and for about 25 minutes non-stop talks about how fabulous he is all while drinking/eating/pooping (ya, you read that right) and climbing the furniture. the man is amazing. anyhoo, it closed here on the 4th and opens in new york on the 23rd. see it if you can.


on friday i got to experience 'secret cinema', where not only is the film secret but so is the location (until about 3 days in advance). our hint - dress as bedouin (or did i forgot to say it was a fancy dress/costume party too?). so i went with juliana and we wrapped ourselves in scarves and sheets and made our way to alexandra palace (excellent venue - was there for guy fawkes day '09). they had us walk through the park on a dirt path (very fitting) for as we walked along almost like a pilgramage, we passed fellow bedouin trying to sell us donkeys, goats and lambs (real ones), we saw people riding camels, street mongers trying to trade stuff with us...it was great to get us to the landing stage where we met our leaders (me, from the south) to take us to damascus to mount an attack on the british. love it.

we walked into the first part of the palace and it had been converted to look like an arab market. it was AMAZING! there was all sorts of things for sale - arab mint teas, tagines, roasted lamb, scarves, bags, the market was extraordinary. there was a stage (for post film music and dancing) and areas where we could sit down and play chess, drink strong coffee...it was stellar. after we made our way through the market we found the back part of the palace where the screen awaited. we laid down our carpets and pillows, and for the next 4 hours proceeded to watch lawrence of arabia. what a great night! may have to start this sort of thing up in calgary...if they can handle it!

tonight i go to meet my friends jo and lynne at a fundraiser where we'll watch black gold. i'm not sure what to expect but i imagine it'll be fun to be with them.

xoxo
gio