Tim took me to see Hamlet last night at the Barbican. Having never read Hamlet, I’m sure I missed about half the play. This was especially noticeable during the intial 20 minute break-in period in which my mind adapted to Shakespeare-speak. Tim was wonderful and whispered the occasional synopsis into my ear throughout the show.
I definitely enoyed Hamlet - the acting was superb, the set was marvelous. It was directed by Yukio Ninagawa who is apparently quite famous. The set and costume design revealed obvious Japanese influences which worked very well with the themes. The most flare was exhibited during the play scene in which colorful masked figures dance and sway acting out the King’s heinous deeds. I would have liked to have seen more of this, but Hamlet is a very dark play, after all. I can’t really think of a place where he could have fit in more color. Perhaps in the final scene, which did not pack as much punch as I would have hoped.
Could this have been affected by the girl sitting in front of me with the giant afro?
We’ll never know.
After Hamlet, we headed towards Farringdon area to check out Tinseltown, London’s Hollywood-themed 24-hour diner. I generally avoid these types of ludicrous establishments, however, there is a severe shortage of late-night dining options in London, and Hamlet, which started at 7:30, was nearly 4 hours long. You get the picture. And since it was featured in TimeOut’s Cheap Eats In London guide, we figured it couldn’t be all bad.
The diner was located in a basement with a neat old brick ceiling. Beyond that, it’s Hollywood “theme” amounted to photos of movie stars hung on the walls (un-autographed) and TV sets showing music videos. As advertised, Tinseltown had a decent list of milk shakes. Tim tried the Malteaser shake, which was good, but a far cry from the creations at Mickey’s Dairy Bar (though it doesn’t really seem fair to London to compare its milkshakes to that of dairyland Wisconsin). The food was average, the environment, dark and smokey. It’s the kind of place you’d kill for after a long and late bender, after which greasy food is both delicious and essential. As such, Tinseltown’s large booths seemed to anticipate the arrival of a late night posse of club kids coming down after a night of partying.
However, Tinseltown didn’t really match our Shakespearean moods, and I’m not exactly jonesin’ to return. It’s good to know there’s a 24 hour diner around. That’s about where my fondness for Tinseltown ends.
As does this entry. Another weekend begins, and I have a travelcard!
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