King Lear Rules!
Friday morning was cool, sunny, and lovely! In the evening we would be going to the Duke of York's Theatre for a performance of King Lear. We decided to try to find the theatre ahead of time, so that we wouldn't have any problems in the evening when we may have less time. This was smart, because it was a little tricky to find. We planned to use a line on the subway which would have placed us very close. Unfortunately, at that time, that line was down for maintenance, so we used a different route and had to walk farther. However, the theatre was found, and the box office was open, but we would not be able to retrieve our tickets until a short time before the performance.
The Duke of York's Theatre is in the Theatre District, also called the West End. There are many theaters in this area and lots of restaurants; it is hopping!
Next we walked to the British Museum. We made a few wrong turns, and the museum entrance was not where we expected it to be according to the map. So we walked a little farther than necessary. However, we eventually found the way and were able to spend a few hours. We spent most of our time on the top floor looking at exhibits of Egyptian tablets with hieroglyphics and Egyptian mummies and their tombs, including that of Cleopatra! However, one of the most interesting exhibits was of an actual mummified body that had been found preserved in a rock tomb. Even the hair on his head was preserved!
Since we were tired from our extra walking, we decided to catch a cab back to the hotel. We cleaned up and got ready for our play.
By the time we left the hotel, the Underground Line we needed was back in operation, so in short order we were in the West End. We chose to eat at "J. Sheekey", a seafood/oyster bar near the theatre, claimed our tickets, and ordered dinner. I again had Dover Sole, fried in nut butter, and Brock had oysters and a crab/soft shell crab "burger". Both meals were delicious! Even better, we sat right by the kitchen and watched them prepare a variety of seafood specialties!
Our performance of King Lear began at 7:00 p.m. sharp! Our seats were excellent. We sat in the sixth row, two seats away from the middle. As you can see from our photos, we were very close to the stage which also came into the middle of the room! We were so close that we could have reached out and touched King Lear (played by Sir Ian McKellen) if we had tried. The entire theatre space was used by the actors; they were running in and out from every nook and cranny!
We had prepared for this play by reading the book first, but it was still confusing to follow (since you can't completely understand what the actors are saying), and there are many characters to keep track of. Like the play we saw the previous night, this play was not done in period costume but was a more contemporary version. For example, in both plays some characters written to be male were played by women, and in this play one of King Lear's daughters was black - and a soldier! That's not the way the play was written! Brock thinks it would have worked better in original costume. However, Ian McKellen was tremendous, as was all the acting, and we enjoyed it immensely! We are so fortunate to have been able to witness this great performance in person!
Well, we made it through two long Shakespeare plays and are proud of ourselves! It was an amazing experience!