Around London in 80 days
In these uncertain times, I need a lifeline and a horizon so I have — somewhat arbitrarily I’ll admit — set a date. April 1st will be my horizon ; my lifeline will be the 80 days separating me from it.
And as I cannot go around the world right now, I give you A Mad Belgian’s “Around London in 80 Days” : eighty impressions of London, eighty stories, places, thoughts from my experience of this wonderfully mad and maddening city.
Day 31 : RSC
A couple of years ago, I booked tickets for a Don Quixote performance at the Garrick Theatre. I had fond memories of my last evening at that theatre. But this was different. A special occasion: this was the first time I was going to see a RSC production. The prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company’s take on this famous tale of windmills and chivalry.
I had vaguely known about Don Quixote for years, in the same way I vaguely know about a lot of classics I haven’t (yet) read. But I did not know the particulars of the story. I did not know what to expect exactly.
What followed was one of the most inspiring pieces of theatre I have ever seen (and I have seen a few — I did grow up in a theatre company after all). A true masterpiece: brilliant acting, stunning musical pieces, a beautifully designed set. The whole thing interspersed with a few delightful interludes in which Rufus Hound, who played Sancho Panza, ad-libbed brilliantly, seducing all and everyone of us.
The RSC truly brought Cervantes’s novel to life that night, this tale of a wandering knight (or fool?) setting out to defend the helpless and vanquish the wicked. And sure enough, it resonated strongly with myself, A Mad Belgian: a fool too perhaps, a dreamer and idealist for sure.
