At the end of April to the production of Richard III at the Rose at Kingston, with Adjoa Anjoh in the lead - also known as Lady Danbury - a lady who is near twice the age of Richard III when he fell to the Welsh pretender at Bosworth.
A play which we have seen at least twice before, but still needed a spot of revision beforehand, including our near hundred year old copy of the text and Wikipedia for the true story. Which last includes the suggestion that Henry VII, not having a particularly good claim to the throne himself, was all for blackening the name of his predecessor, an efficient if ambitious soldier who was probably not very visibly defective. While Henry was not a soldier, but did have the good sense to delegate military affairs to those who were - although to be fair, he was present at Bosworth.
Puzzled about Richard hoping to marry his brother's daughter Elizabeth, who eventually married Henry. Against the law since before the time of the Conqueror. Definitely within the prohibited degrees enumerated at the back of my fat Prayer Book.
Reminded of the more recent problems after the first and second wars, when war heroes, perhaps rather damaged in their minds, found it hard to adjust to the peace.
I was also reminded that Richard III was a very early play, one of the first in the canon, with the Bard not having reached full volume.To the point where some of the text was just that, not even rendered into blank verse.
We thought about the sausage house at reference 3 for afterwards, even thinking that perhaps one needed to book early Saturday evening - but a few days before that it turned out that they were fully booked from mid-afternoon to mid-evening. So sausages were off.
We also misjudged how long it would take to get to Kingston and park, getting caught up in traffic and then in a queue to get into the car park, only just making to the Rose in time. Which we both found a bit unsettling, liking to arrive in good time to settle down and soak up a spot of atmosphere.
Set, lighting and music good. Set plain, dominated by a central tree (snapped above) and two more trees, one to each side. This afternoon I wonder whether we are supposed to be reminded of the three crosses on Calvary. While at the time I wondered whether all the smoke swilling around the auditorium was good for our health. Had it been enhanced with nicotine? Would that be covered by the artistic exemptions from the tobacco regulations?
Clever use of Chinese shadows on the backdrop. Costumes simple but good, with leather shoulder harnesses and plastic swords answering well for the military. No need to go to the bother and expense of real knights in armour. Two song and dance sequences, one shortly after the start and the other shortly before the end, providing a bit of light relief.
Acting rather patchy. With most of the (rather pale & podgy) men, once again, being quite unconvincing as feuding, battle hardened aristos. A problem which we used to come across all the time at the Globe. While Anjoh in the lead was simply a female playing a male role; the role had not been transitioned, which was good as far as I was concerned. And while the programme made much of the insight that she, as an outsider, as it were, was able to bring to a portrait of a hunchback, I did not see it myself. We were spared the leg brace of reference 4.
Three hours with the interval, so quite long enough, even with great chunks of the text cut out. But checking this afternoon, it seems that other productions run for roughly the same time. Maybe three hours of obsolete language, even when it is poetic, is about as most people can take.
Afterwards, over the road to check on the fish in the Hogsmill, where eventually we picked up a few of them, with probably more lurking under the bushes adjacent. There was also a large heron perched a few yards away. Don't know how big a fish a heron would go for.
[the view from our slot near the top of the car park]
Given that sausages were off, we eventually decided that it was time to try the chipper at Horton Retail, once Sea Fare, now King Fish. Where we were able to admire the expanse of curved stainless steel panels making up the front of the counter, complete with 'Sea Fare' in vertical reverse relief on alternate panels. They must have cost the former owners a good deal.
And while we are on money, there had been correspondence in the free paper about predatory practises by the car park contractor, fining cars for understandable or even trivial contraventions. Including using the slots snapped above - before the yellow had been added - so that it was not at all clear that they were reserved for staff.
Including parking one's car in such a way that it overhung the grass. With the heat of the cars and their exhausts being claimed to do bad things to said grass.
The fish and chips were very good and plentiful. The best fried fish that I have had for a while. One forgets that fresh cooked is better than a public house can manage, although, to be fair, they do a pretty fair job these days, particularly at Wetherspoon's. Only slightly let down by the wally, which was a bit spongy.
References
Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjoa_Andoh.
Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England.
Reference 3: https://www.kingston.stein-s.com/.
Reference 4: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2011/07/king-kev.html. Richard in a leg brace.
Reference 5: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2015/10/part-three-of-three.html. The wanton ambling nymph noticed here getting rather lost in the present production too. Act I, Scene 1, Line 17.
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