wrong side of 20s
Well, it doesn't feel any different. It never does so I guess I am doing fine (though I just glanced at our fridge and realised that out of the 5 photos stuck on it 3 are of babies of friends... that sure made me feel old even if the candle on the budday cake didn't!)
My brave little boy had got the evening all planned perfectly, though the stress is showing on his face today! The "surprise" appointment turned out to be Checkov's Cherry Orchard at the Huntington theatre. The mere feeling of entering an old theatre, waiting for the play to begin over a (so what if plastic) glass of wine is so thrilling that even if the play is as yawwwwn as "The importance of Being Earnest", you come out feeling almost satisfied. Though, it's also happened that i've come out of a theatre feeling like banging my head against a wall, I guess that happens when I paid a lot for the tickets/ had great expectations/ not even the sets and lights were worth the money or I didn't get to drink any wine!
With Cherry orchard the feeling of upliftment came with the wine, the gold & the chandeliors of the theatre, the "we are such theatre types" debate over classic playwrites vs. theatre of the absurd and the dignified looking audience. But the ambience is always easier to describe.How do I describe the actual performance?
In the 80s, when India-Russia bhai bhai (Indo-Russian alliance) was still strong, I was barely 8 and was periodically bombarded with Checkov books by Baba. So I grew up learning to enjoy his stories, even if I didn't really understand the politics. I was encountering Checkov after a long time yesterday. The play, was not exceptional. Well, I never do like straight forward plays as much as the twisted. But as A pointed out in our little theatre debate, the straightforward often have nuances which are as twisted.
So you, who accused me of sleeping through the entire play, read on... See see, I made something out of it even in my half-comatose state! The play is set in real early Russia, somewhere in the transition from feudalism. An Aristrocatic family is struggling in the new era, its finances dwindling, serfs free and their only land - the one with the Orchard is ironically being bought by a former serf.The acting was flwlesss, the sets magnificent.. but the play overall was just another grand production. The lighting, the costumes and the sets were genuinely ooh-aah-able. But the heat was somehow missing. I laughed out loud once or twice (yeah I might have missed a few joked when I dozed off!), but I wasn't moved by the apparent poignancy of it all. The pathetic looking teddy bear at the beginning of the play and the pathetic looking forgotten old man at the end of it did not push me to anywhere near tears or thought. I guess that is my only complaint, Mr A!
Post play the dinner, however, was flawless. We went to tapeo, a Tapas bar at Newbury Street. Great music, the cutest decor with sculptures of spanish dancers near a crackling fireplace and the cutest waiters! A, my veggy boy, usually enjoys the wierdest of meat through my taste buds and ordered braised rabbit in red wine, squids in their own ink and shrimps for me. The squid was intersting to the point of being almost scary (!), the shrimps were predictably yum but the rabbit ohhhhh was just out of this world. Too bad that such a pretty animal has to taste this good ("too bad that such a tastty meat has to come from such a pretty animal)! For lucky people who don't get a migraine from red wine, the sangria is recommended as well. Burp.
My brave little boy had got the evening all planned perfectly, though the stress is showing on his face today! The "surprise" appointment turned out to be Checkov's Cherry Orchard at the Huntington theatre. The mere feeling of entering an old theatre, waiting for the play to begin over a (so what if plastic) glass of wine is so thrilling that even if the play is as yawwwwn as "The importance of Being Earnest", you come out feeling almost satisfied. Though, it's also happened that i've come out of a theatre feeling like banging my head against a wall, I guess that happens when I paid a lot for the tickets/ had great expectations/ not even the sets and lights were worth the money or I didn't get to drink any wine!
With Cherry orchard the feeling of upliftment came with the wine, the gold & the chandeliors of the theatre, the "we are such theatre types" debate over classic playwrites vs. theatre of the absurd and the dignified looking audience. But the ambience is always easier to describe.How do I describe the actual performance?
In the 80s, when India-Russia bhai bhai (Indo-Russian alliance) was still strong, I was barely 8 and was periodically bombarded with Checkov books by Baba. So I grew up learning to enjoy his stories, even if I didn't really understand the politics. I was encountering Checkov after a long time yesterday. The play, was not exceptional. Well, I never do like straight forward plays as much as the twisted. But as A pointed out in our little theatre debate, the straightforward often have nuances which are as twisted.
So you, who accused me of sleeping through the entire play, read on... See see, I made something out of it even in my half-comatose state! The play is set in real early Russia, somewhere in the transition from feudalism. An Aristrocatic family is struggling in the new era, its finances dwindling, serfs free and their only land - the one with the Orchard is ironically being bought by a former serf.The acting was flwlesss, the sets magnificent.. but the play overall was just another grand production. The lighting, the costumes and the sets were genuinely ooh-aah-able. But the heat was somehow missing. I laughed out loud once or twice (yeah I might have missed a few joked when I dozed off!), but I wasn't moved by the apparent poignancy of it all. The pathetic looking teddy bear at the beginning of the play and the pathetic looking forgotten old man at the end of it did not push me to anywhere near tears or thought. I guess that is my only complaint, Mr A!
Post play the dinner, however, was flawless. We went to tapeo, a Tapas bar at Newbury Street. Great music, the cutest decor with sculptures of spanish dancers near a crackling fireplace and the cutest waiters! A, my veggy boy, usually enjoys the wierdest of meat through my taste buds and ordered braised rabbit in red wine, squids in their own ink and shrimps for me. The squid was intersting to the point of being almost scary (!), the shrimps were predictably yum but the rabbit ohhhhh was just out of this world. Too bad that such a pretty animal has to taste this good ("too bad that such a tastty meat has to come from such a pretty animal)! For lucky people who don't get a migraine from red wine, the sangria is recommended as well. Burp.
posted by Amrita Pande at 6:53 AM
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