With our recent move, I have been neglecting the blog. So I have much catching up to do…. I never got around to telling you about our local March holiday. It was much needed . We saw a star-studded cast of a play at the Young Vic called Bingo (Edward Bond). It wasn't groundbreaking, at least not in 2012 terms, but I enjoyed the calm unassuming nature of the play. In it, a passive, elderly somewhat-lost Shakespeare (Patrick Stewart) meandered in and out of the struggles of a town before it became the tourist-created oddity it is today. The town is in the throws of enclosure, a practice which results huge savings for land owners at the expense of the non-lander owners. This situation would resonate with our current economic predictament, if we cared to look. But as most of us have do not look past our own fences, there is little chance for it to. Shakespeare is depicted as struggling to stay connected to reality, but with little insight as to what is occupying his mind. It left me feeling sad as the most plausible explanation of the play's trajectory is that the author of so many remarkable plays and poems must be suffering from some age-related dementia. Comic relief was provided by Ben Jonson's (Richard McCabe) visit and was a thoroughly enjoyable distraction. But even Jonson cannot rouse Shakespeare out of his dullness. But the Young Vic is an excellent venue. We were right in close. Excellent experience.
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