After a rousing discussion of Persuasion, the program took off for our fourth and final Shakespearean play, Hamlet. En route to Stratford-Upon-Avon and the RSC Theatre, we stopped for an hour at ruined Kenilworth Castle.
Kenilworth is associated with Queen Elizabeth and Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth gave him the estate, and then visited him-- staying for nearly a month during her initial visit. In his desire to entertain her lavishly, he almost bankrupted himself.
This ghostly, historic ramble inspired me to watch the pixellized, cloudy version of ELIZABETH (with Cate Blanchett) available on YouTube.
This is the view available from one of the turrets.
There was a group of little kids running around, with their mothers following along behind-- to pull them out of the lake-like puddles they kept finding and wading out into-- and to yell every now and again not to jump off of that, that was dangerous.
After Kenilworth, we continued on our way to the RSC. Kathleen and I ate at a little pub we found, and the bartender promptly put us out of our wits with his brash greeting. There was no hello-- as our eyes adjusted to the dim interior, he yelled, "Ah, there you are! Didn't I just see you last night?"-- to which we just kind of shook our heads in confusion, and he continued on in a genial fashion, "Ah, of course, it must have been your sister"-- and we hemmed and hawed and laughed and he complimented our beauty as he came around the bar to seat us.The place was nearly empty, and he seemed determined to pursue a conversation. Usually I have a male around-- like, oh, say Dad-- to handle situations like these. To strike off on manly topics, like firefighting or fishing or something-- but no. There was no man to fill that office, so I laughed, and then laughed again, and then coughed up another laugh every time a silence seemed like it might be about to fall.
It was good pizza. And an adventurous experience with a local. I always knew I would make something fabulously awkward out of such an interview-- but, really. What do you do when someone quite determined decides to be gallant?
Well, I laugh.
Hamlet was cool. As cool as Hamlet can be, at any rate, when the spectator is me and I'm faced with hours of insanity and severely messed up relationships. The actor cast as Hamlet played the young Barty Crouch in Harry Potter movie number four, which I'm familiar with-- both characters are insane; he's obviously forming a niche for himself in the character market-- he played both roles with the same manic touch. I kept waiting for his tongue to flicker out during the play (but it didn't). He's also Dr. Who, according to the Dr. Who fans in the program, who seemed like good authorities on the matter.
Hamlet was cool. As cool as Hamlet can be, at any rate, when the spectator is me and I'm faced with hours of insanity and severely messed up relationships. The actor cast as Hamlet played the young Barty Crouch in Harry Potter movie number four, which I'm familiar with-- both characters are insane; he's obviously forming a niche for himself in the character market-- he played both roles with the same manic touch. I kept waiting for his tongue to flicker out during the play (but it didn't). He's also Dr. Who, according to the Dr. Who fans in the program, who seemed like good authorities on the matter.Patrick Stuart played both the ghost and King Claudius. That was certainly an experience, being so close to a famous actor. He played the part with great dignity and grave solemnity. I find that I prefer the comedic Falstaff character from Merry Wives.
We returned to Brasenose a bit before 1am. I dreamed of kings and queens, and castles and things.
We returned to Brasenose a bit before 1am. I dreamed of kings and queens, and castles and things. 
