The 100th Blog Post!

This is my 100th blog post! In celebration of this special event, and because I was really bored on the train to London, I’m making this a super-long post. Enjoy!
Thursday morning I got up at 6:30 in the morning to catch the group bus at 7:15. It was not a good start to three days of a very busy schedule. I’m used to waking up at 7:45, but 6:30 is just too early to get out of bed. Nevertheless, I made it onto the bus, mostly because I figured it would be more bother to miss the bus and have to take a train instead.
After about two hours we arrived at the Houses of Parliament. After having our pictures taken, our bags scanned, and walking through the metal detector, all under the gaze of security guards with really big guns, we were allowed to go on a tour of Parliament. It’s really a cool looking building, and it’s much newer than I would have guessed. It was actually built during the reign of Queen Victoria, though it’s built in the much earlier Tudor style. We got to see the rooms where the House of Lords and the House of Commons have their debates. I realized about halfway through the tour that I’ve now seen more of the British government buildings than I’ve seen of my own government. I’ve seen the White House, but to the best of my memory I’ve never been in the Capitol Building or the Supreme Court (maybe I’ll go next time I visit Chris and Mel). Here I’ve seen the Houses of Parliament and the Old Bailey, the high criminal court. 

After the Houses of Parliament, I headed to Piccadilly Circus to see if I could get tickets for a matinee. I’m starting to feel as though in five weeks, all I’ve really seen of London is Piccadilly Circus. I’m glad I’ve seen so many shows, but I was starting to wonder if maybe I should see some of the sights instead. But my feet hurt so I was glad when I got cheap same-day student tickets to see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I’ve been considering seeing it for a while, but I couldn’t justify advance tickets when the same-day tickets were so cheap. I’m glad I waited because I got a second-row seat! I didn’t love the play. I thought it was very well done, but a bit too long and the plot was a little bit pointless. But I was in the second row! After intermission I actually moved into an empty seat in the first row. Whatever my opinion on the script of the play, it was really cool to be that close to the actors. I was close enough to have a conversation with them. I’m glad I wasn’t having a conversation with them, though, because most of their conversations were circular and pretty annoying. It was funny to watch, but it would have been very frustrating to be a part of. One of them, although I’m not sure which one, (and they didn’t seem to be able to keep their names straight either) reminded me a lot of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. He knew some things very well but was completely clueless about normal things.

I think what really bothered me about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was that I don’t know what the point was. Maybe I missed something, but the play didn’t seem to have a point. The best theme I could derive was that we all just drift along and things happen to us that we don’t understand. I don’t like this theme. I like to think I’m in control of my life. I know that there are parts of my life I cannot change, but I’m still going to change the things I can. (just give me the wisdom to know the difference). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don’t have any control. They take orders and answer questions and when the action is elsewhere, they just sit around and wonder what’s going to happen to them next. And neither or them seems to have the wisdom to know the difference between a hawk and a handsaw.

After R&G are Dead, I spent about two hours getting to and from the Globe Theatre to pick up my tickets for All’s Well that Ends Well. After watching the groundlings get soaked during Much Ado about Nothing, I refused to get groundling tickets for the Globe without a good weather report. (the seats at the Globe are covered by the roof, but the groundlings are under the open air) But All’s Well had been sold out for days when suddenly tickets opened up. My bright idea was to buy tickets for both days and then see which one was going to be rain-free. As the weekend drew closer, it became evident that both days would be clear, and so I promised the spare two tickets to two friends. The result of this mess was that I needed to pick up the tickets myself, so I had to go on Thursday. I have to say that as much as I love the Globe, it is very inconveniently located in relation to the Tube. The best tube stop is across the river, and it takes a while to cross the Millennium Bridge. When I saw Much Ado, I missed my train back to Oxford because I underestimated just how long it would take to get to Paddington from the Globe.

I took a picture of Trafalgar Square as I walked past.

After the Globe, I went to the Apollo Victoria to see Wicked. I really enjoyed it, although I did not like my seat. I have been completely spoiled by the wonderful seat I had last time I saw Wicked, combined with the front row seats for R&G are Dead. My seat for Wicked was nearly the back row of the top balcony, and it was pretty far away. The music was still phenomenal, and I still enjoyed the show, but it’s a completely different experience from that far back. I think in the spring I’ll have to try to get good seats for Wicked again, and also a really good seat for Les Mis. Maybe I’ll do that for my birthday. I certainly can’t afford to do it often, but I would like to see my favorite musical from a good seat.

In case you’re wondering, I’ve seen twelve shows so far. It’s hard to say which is best, because you just can’t compare musicals to plays or regular plays to Shakespeare. So, divided into categories, here’s my opinion:

Best Musical: Les Mis


Best Shakespeare Comedy: Much Ado at the Globe


Best Shakespeare Tragedy: Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon


Best Actor: Patrick Stewart (duh)


Best Actress: Eve Best, Beatrice in Much Ado.


Best Non-Shakespeare Play: R&G are Dead (but it’s the only non-Shakespeare play I’ve seen)