Theater in London

Just a quick note on some of the fine theater I've seen here in London so far...first, the other night, Peter Shaffer's ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN at the National Theater, a play from 1964 (by the author of Equus and Amadeus, the greatest composer-bio ever) which was also performed there during their first year in the wild neo-brutalist building.

The play itself, which concerns Pizarro and the Incas, is a bit dated, but Trevor Nunn's production was brilliant--operatic, epic, enormous, as befits the subject. Two huge sheets that come rippling out of the cut-out circle in the back wall, one a river of blood as the Spanish are massacring the Incas, another a river of gold as they are melting all the Inca treasures down into gold bricks for transport back to Spain. Alun Armstrong, who I've seen in plenty of films, was Pizarro, tormented by his own post-World War II nihilism; Paterson Joseph stole the show as the Inca king Atahualpa, who believes he is god, the son of the sun, and is really a fabulous character.

Then, last night, Ernesto and Jonathan and I went to Handel's ARIODANTE at the English National Opera (the Coliseum, where I'd never before been, turns out to be right next door to St. Martin-in-the-Fields, where I stumbled upon a Ralph Vaughan Williams concert the other day. The very first cd I ever owned, back in 1991, was SM-i-t-F playing VW! What memories! What luck!). Handel's operas are never as easy for me as some, but this was gorgeously sung, particularly by two singers who are flying to Seattle in a couple of weeks: the amazing Alice Coote, who was Ariodante, and the ever-brilliant Peter Rose, who was Ariodante's girlfriend's dad. It's an old ENO production by David Alden, which does as well with Handel's difficult dramaturgy as most Handel productions do. (Now, Rodelinda at the Met...that's a different story!)

A couple more London adventures (I went on a great bicycle tour of the city all day yesterday) and then it's back to the States! My computer is having terrible problems, so don't get your hopes up that you'll ever see any of the missing pictures.