Yesterday was one of the most exciting days and it was also one of the busiest. I had classes until one o'clock and had to rush up the spiral stairs to my dorm room to drop off my backpack since we were leaving for Stratford-Upon-Avon at one-fifteen. We met outside the Porter's Lodge and walked through the scenic gardens of Claire College to get to our coach.
As we settled into the bus's velour seats one of the program's officiates passed out tickets from the Royal Shakespeare Company. We were headed out to see The Merchant of Venice featuring none other than Patrick Stewart as Shylock. My excitement mounted with every roll of the bus' tires. My nerdiness once again rears its head. I was about to be in the same theater with Jean Luc Picard and Professor X, you've got to be kidding me!?!
When we arrived we were told to meet outside a Italian cafe in order to hear the actor Scott Handy speak about Shakespeare and his craft. Scott was to play the part of Antonio in The Merchant of Venice. But most of you would probably recognize his face from A Knight's Tale as the servant to Count Adhemar. I stared at him for the longest time as he spoke to us trying to place him. When the light bulb went off I about had a heart attack. He told us that the play was to be set in Las Vegas. I'm fairly certain that the entire room of students gaped at him. The Merchant of Venice in Vegas? And then he told us the most depressing news: the play would be done in American accents. Patrick Stewart speaking American English. I don't get to hear the brogue? Horror. Scott himself opened his mouth and spoke the Ohio brand of English with which I have become so familiar. It was the strangest thing to hear the sounds of home from a Britt's mouth.
We had about an hour to eat dinner. A group of us--Nathan, Jordan, Lauren, Angel, Erin, Britany, Megan, and myself--walked the short distance to a place called The Encore, the sign of which had a caricature of Shakespeare's face painted on it. We browsed the menu and asked if our food would be ready by seven-fifteen, which is when the show was set to start. They assured us that our food would be ready in time. May I just say, LIARS! Our food was given to us at five-till-seven. We all shoveled in our various orders as quickly as can be, including Nathan who ate his hamburger in a record three minutes. We bolted down the block to the theater and slid into our seats with five minutes to spare.
Before the show officially started they had a tableau of a casino going, with craps tables and all sorts of clichéd American tourists. A man with a mullet and a Jack Daniel's t-shirt. A black man with golden chains and a sparkly suit. A tourist couple complete with green visors and star shaped balloons. Is this how they see us? We were four rows back from the stage, an unfortunate angle from which we could see up the waitress' skirts. As the music sped up the actors began a choreographed dance. At the climax of the song Elvis spurted out of the craps table singing Viva Las Vegas. This set the tone for the entire show.
All of the characters spoke with a variety of accents. Every corner of American stereotypes were represented. Guido. Gangster. Southern Belle. Valley Girl. Everything. It was fascinating and horrifying at the same time. The play as a whole was magnificent though! Even being in Vegas couldn't throw off the wonder of being in the theater. And forget about it when Patrick Stewart walked on! He was amazing! You could even hear a bit of the burr, which made me incredibly excited! He even did a little two step dance. Made my night!
The Elvis theme continued throughout the play, even Glee's rendition of Don't Stop Believing had a moment in the play. So funny! The set shone with vibrant colors and glowed with neon lights. I was so charmed by the show I forgot to be incredulous. The show closed to roaring applause.
The drive down was ridiculously long and we didn't get back to Cambridge until one a.m. So I definitely slept in this morning! I've got to get up early so we can head off to Dover and then Canterbury. I'll be taking my travel pillow and crashing on the bus. I can't even begin to recount how much fun I had yesterday but I hope that you got a glimpse of it all. More tomorrow!
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