A lot happens here in a short amount of time, it seems. Or at least a lot happened in the last two days. Wednesday I went to the Science Museum and saw a production of Nicholas Nickelbey. Thursday I went to the Museum of Natural History and saw After Miss Julie. All of these things deserve attention.
While I was not able to finish either of the museums, despite spending about four hours in each, I greatly enjoyed them. Each of them will be frequented again. The Science Museum held some pretty cool stuff. I liked the time and space exhibits the best. Surprisingly, the evolution of clocks is rather fascinating. Another fascinating tidbit: the point of view of the space exhibition. In American Science Museums it's always Buzz Aldrin this and Apollo 11 that. Not in Britain. They actually had a large section dedicated to the Russian side of the Space Race. The downplay of American achievements and the highlight of the Soviets was extremely interesting. I guess every country does this sort of thing, though. We all boast of our achievements and sweep our mistakes and our competitor's achievements under the rug. Britain did this, too. Sure they may have had a few space blunders but they were at least able to develop their technology further, so says the Science Museum. The failure is not what matters. What matters is the processes. Shameless. That's what we are. Simply shameless.
Now, Nicholas Nickelbey is a book by Charles Dickens that was adapted for the stage. It should have stayed a book. The play we saw was a half, cut down version of an eight hour play. This meant that the actions jumped about, the script was jumbled, and there was no conclusion. There may not have even been a climax. There were plenty of entertaining parts, to be sure, but the play as a whole was very much a blunder. Thursday night's performance was much more well received.
Thursday was a wonderful day. The Natural History Museum taught me about dinosaurs. It also explained to me how my memory works and how the body operates. It even demonstrated that the mongoose is the closest genetic relative to the hyena (I know!). Of course, after four hours it was lunch time and we hadn't even finished the blue section of the museum. But all is well. The museum is free and open all year round. It was a splendid beginning to the day.
After Miss Julie played that night at the Young Vic, a hip and young theatre on the other side of town. It was a fabulous performance. The acting was raw and exceedingly convincing. Dominic Cavendish says in his review of the play, "With an alcove-hidden band of three allowing fragrant echoes of wartime standards to waft across the evening’s haunting, ardent action, here’s a kitchen-sink drama with an erotic difference, a blast from the past that feels like a play for today." It was gripping. You couldn't look away even when you wanted to. Natalie Dormer, the actress who played the title character Miss Julie, was sensational. She was able to play her innocent, deteriorating, bipolar, upper class character perfectly. She also played Anne Boleyn in the Tudors series, among other t.v. and movie roles. Her fellows were also fantastic in their roles and the intimacy the theatre provided allowed for a closer relationship to develop between the audience and the actions on the stage. All in all, I'd call that an instructive and entertaining first week.
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