WORKING HARD, READING, WATCHING, LIVING - MISCELLANEOUS POST

Hello and happy beginning of May, everyone. What have you been up to? Great things, I hope. I've been working hard, reading, watching, living.  If you have some spare time to read, I'm here to share with you. 

Working hard

Just have a look at the picture on the right, focus on the image in the middle, consider it is May and draw your own conclusions. How would I answer the question "How are you?" these days?
I usually describe myself in these moments as "drowning in a sea of paper".
What kind of paper, you ask? Hundreds of sheets, all scribbled on with blue or black ink. They are supposed to be in English but I have some difficulty to decipher them at times. My students are quite creative, you know, and their speciality is Anglian (English with the addition of some Italian) or Italish (Italian with the addition of some English).
They will improve, they will improve, they will improve ... I must believe all my efforts and theirs (?) will end up with some good results. For now, I simply have to hold on and contribute a great deal of red ink to their uncertain attempts. It is almost over, let's hold on!  Summer is coming, the last day of school is near.

LONDON LABOUR AND THE LONDON POOR. HENRY MAYHEW'S LONDON AND ITS FIRST ITALIAN TRANSLATION

London Labour and the London Poor is a remarkable work of Victorian journalism by Henry Mayhew, Dickens's contemporary and like Dickens celebrating his bicentenary this year (both were born in 1812). 

Mayhew observed, documented, interviewed, described hundreds of poor people living in the abyss which was London in the 1840s-50s for a series of articles published in the Morning Chronicle. Those articles were later on compiled  into book form (1851 in 3 volumes, 1861 a fourth Extra Volume was added). 

As a fond reader of Victorian literature, yesterday I was in Rome, at Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, for the presentation of the first Italian translation of Mayhew's work by Mauro Cotone: Il lavoro e i poveri nella Londra Vittoriana.

The Italian version of the work is a selection of 138 articles out of the many hundreds Mayhew wrote. Mauro Cotone selected them obtaining a significant wide range of typical figures from the crowd inhabiting London slums: beggars, street entertainers, mudlarks, prostitutes, labourers and thieves. A great portion of those destitute beings had no fixed place of work nor a fixed abode, they lived in the slum alleys and streets where Mayhew meet them. The caricatures full of pathos we find in Charles Dickens's pages become sketches of real people in these articles, people telling about themselves in authentic first-person accounts and objectively described by a professional reporter. 

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD FROM THIS DAY FORWARD ...

Since I love everything British, I recognize and I admit, I am totally biased. I want to be  completely honest. But please, grumpy criticizers all over the world, anarchists and anti-royalists out there, let me be excited and proud of this very special, romantic, exceptional event. You've got enough for today? Just don't go on reading, click and go! Escapism? Yes, please! Mindless entertainment? Can't do without, lately. Remember: I live in Italy. Do you remember who represent my country in the eyes of the rest of the world? Yes, you do! Do you remember why he is so often in the news ? You do, of course. 

So, please, let  me rejoice for this sunbeam of happiness and enthusiasm, between a war and a bomb attack. Let me dream about this new colourful, tender, royal tale. Cinderella Middleton, or better, commoner Kate - since she's not as poor as lovely Cindy- has just married her prince. Prince William.  And everything was perfect! London, the crowded streets and merry cheer, the flags, Westminster Abbey, the choir and the music, the flowers, the horses, the bride and her royal groom, the illustrious pompous guests. So British, so far from our everyday reality. Allow me this suspension of disbelief, this harmless (but very expensive to the British finances, I know) way of blocking out the real world, of seeing other people's lives achieve the happiness we all dream about. 

AT THE OLD VIC: A FLEA IN HER EAR. MEET ONE OF THE YOUNG PROTAGONISTS ON STAGE: GREG BALDOCK

As I told in one of my latest posts from London, I was at the Old Vic on 29th December to see  A Flea in Her Ear by G. Feydeau. I was so excited to be there on my own! I was quite proud of myself  for the first time in that prestigious theatre and going to attend a performance of two actors I had admired in  some of my beloved costume dramas: Tom Hollander,  I had seen in Wives and Daughters, Cambridge Spies and, of course, Pride and Prejudice 2005 , as well as Lisa Dillon,  who was one of the lovely protagonists in Cranford. But my enthusiasm was soon cooled down by the announcement of Mr Hollander's absence for a sudden indisposition that night.

If the start was so disappointing the end of it was total enthusiasm. If the success of a farce is based on how much the audience laugh, that performance of Feydeau's play was definitely and hugely successful. I couldn't stop laughing and neither the rest of of the audience! 

The pace of the performance was really  fast,  the cast brilliant, the rythm and timing almost perfect: each  door was slammed just at the right moment, each gag and paradoxical situation were manifactured with convincing energy, the sequence of misunderstandings were escalatingly hilarious, though stereotypical the characters were all extremely involving. My favourite ones were the jealous manic Carlos Homenides de Histangua, interpreted by volcanic John Marquez; Camille, the protagonist's nephew, whose speech impediment (being unable to pronounce consonants) leads people to lose their patience with him , played by  a sparkling blond talent, Freddie Fox; and,  last but not least, the young excellent understudy who substituted Mr Hollander  and carried out the hard task so stunningly well that I forgot my initial disappointment, Greg Baldock, who was  both Victor Immanuel Chandebise and his look-alike drunken hotel porter, Poche. Young Mr Baldock substituted a great name with great talent,  so I wanted to congratulate him but first I had  to get to know his name, which I hadn't caught during the announcement of Mr Hollander's substitution. Now I know his name and even something more about him, since he was so kind to accept to answer some questions of mine about himself, that evening, his career and dreams. Yes, I interviewed him!

MEET GREG BALDOCK

MG: Hi Greg! Glad to make your acquaintance, though only via the Net.  First of all, I must congratulate you for your performance as Chandebise/Poche in  “A Flea in Her Ear”.  I was there at the Old Vic few days ago, in the audience, and I was one of those who booed a little  when Mr Hollander’s sudden indisposition was announced. Honestly,  I was disappointed. Then, you appeared on stage after some minutes from the beginning and I thought “O my God, he’s so young!  It won’t work”. Well, after  a while  I had completely forgotten you were the understudy.  You were so self-confident and … brilliant! I enjoyed myself so much.  I couldn’t stop laughing, I think I’ve never laughed so much at the theatre. 

Now, it’s your turn, Greg. Can you describe your emotions on that evening? Was it your first great occasion or had you already worked on an important stage like the Old Vic?

GREG: Firstly, thank you for your compliments. This is my first, as I only graduated from Rose Bruford College Of Theatre And Performance in September 2010, so this is all very much exciting and amazing work for me to have achieved in such a short space of time. The emotions for that evening were a very heavy combination of adrenaline and an incredible amount of reaction to the great performers on stage. 

  

MG: How did you keep yourself ready to substitute Mr Hollander any time it was needed?

GREG: Really you just need to be on the ball all the time. As an understudy, I find it very important to keep watching the play every single night, and constantly make sure I’m updated with any new moves or changes to the structure of the performance. The real trick is to be off script when the play goes up in the preview nights, and then it’s just a roll of the dice if you have to go on at any point.

MG: The double role of Chandebise & Poche must be extremely exhausting both mentally and physically. You were very good at giving a different  posture, stride, speech to the two characters.  Was that the most difficult aspect of this performance?

GREG: Not at all, the script informs you of the characters with their different language rhythms and your physicality sort of develops from their speech patterns. I would actually say for me that the most difficult part of this job is to stay energized for the entire performance. I am a trained beach lifeguard, and that requires 16 lengths in under 8 minutes and a length and a half non-stop underwater, amongst other skills. In comparison, performing on stage for the most of the 2 hours in a farce is by far a lot more exhausting. I am usually drinking a pint of water between scenes, a banana before the play starts and one at the interval, and a whole host of multivitamins and isotonics wherever I squeeze them in. Because of cramping in my thighs, I’m also licking salt from the back of my hand just to get some into my system because I sweat it all out. 

  

MG: What is your relationship with the rest of the cast?

GREG: Pretty good actually. They are by the far best cast I have ever worked with and they are all very very supportive, not to mention utterly professional to a standard I have never seen before.

 

            MG:  In Feydeau ‘s farces the secret  of success is … ?

GREG: Tempo, tempo, tempo. You must never drop the rhythm. It’s  not quite like an English comedy, where you can afford to wait for laughs, but, instead, there is a ‘pressure cooker’ idea which builds and builds and builds, which is why by the time it gets to the third act, the speed is like lightning. 

  

      MG:  Have you substituted Mr Hollander again after 29^th December?

GREG: Yes. In fact I substituted him on Tuesday, on the night before. I will be covering him all the way up to Saturday 8^th January. Apparently he will be ready to go again on the following Monday.

      MG:  Now, Greg, can you tell us briefly something about yourself?

GREG: I’m only 23, I trained for 3 years at Rose Bruford College Of Theatre And Performance, and I’m originally from Merseyside. I’m a big fan of poetry, movies and music from the 1980s, and playing the electric bass guitar.

      MG: As a promising young actor I’ll keep an eye on you and your career. Sooner or later I’m sure I’ll see you on one of my favourite BBC dramas or in a new period movie. Why period, do you wonder? Because it’s my favourite genre. LOL!  However, would you like to work on TV or would you rather go on with  the theatre?

GREG: Hmmm. Well, I would like to do some more TV and possibly film, as I actually find them a little easier. If doing theatre is like running a marathon, then I would say TV is a bit more like sprinting. It’s great because you can sort of condense all your work into one brief moment. However , theatre is your art really, and it always gives an actor the opportunity to explore, play and constantly make new discoveries.

      MG:  What is your greatest dream as an actor?

GREG: For me? I’m pretty realistic, so for me, I would love to play a long term character on a long-running drama series for television. A lot of American television drama series can afford seasons with lots of hour long episodes. Either that, or a couple of stints at the Royal Court would do me just fine.

      MG: What’s next? I mean, after finishing at the Old Vic?

GREG: I have no idea. My agent is inviting as many casting directors as possible to the show this week, so I will have to see what crops up. I imagine I will get some understudy offers, but hopefully there will be a  chance to get to grips with a character of my very own.

MG: Good Luck, Greg, for anything in your private and professional life. Thanks for finding the time to answer my questions. 

GREG: Thank you!

Visit Greg Baldock's site

Read more about the play 

Watch a video on the Old Vic Facebook page

VISITING THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

London 28 December, 2010

Misty murky London from the 8th floor

We woke up in a foggy, rainy, cold  London this morning. It was less cold then yesterday though. Our first goal was the Victoria and Albert Museum. We spent the whole morning there till 1.30 p.m.

I didn't expect such an amazing, astonishing variety and quantity of exhibitions and collections, though I had read and studied about the British Empire and Prince Albert's Great Exhibition (1851) . First thoughts that came to my mind in front of  the luxurious show off were pages from Dickens and Gaskell about poor people starving or having to witness, helplessly,  their children's starvation, however, I could but be amazed and feel admiration for such supreme achievements of the Royals of the time. To compensate the awkward feeling I had to be honest and think that  it was during Queen Victoria's reign that England began a stunning  process of reformation and progress.

 You can find so many interesting things inside this huge museum that you can't see them all and carefully in a few hours: from lots of statues to numerous paintings, from ordinary life utensiles to very precious ancient jewels, from common objects and fabrics  from distant colonies to very British collections.

I particularly liked the fashion and furniture items from different ages. Look at these beautiful dresses, for instance...

Chintz costumes, a fabric coming from India. At the beginning it was used by humble people then it became  fashionable both among  rich men  for gowns and among fashionable noble  women for their dresses in the 17th century, especially after Willam and Mary ascended the throne  in 1690. It was in fact a successful  Dutch fashion trend they brought into the English court.

This was James II's attire on the day of his marriage

Male fashion in th 17th century

A rococo dress (1740-45)

Loving period drama I was enchanted  at the sight of these beautiful clothes above . Gorgeous dress that last one, isn't it? But how could they possibly pass through a door? Well, it was necessary for the wearer to go sideways. No other way. Anyhow, this embroidered silk dress was impressive.
My husband and son had fun  trying to make the Byron cravat and the Gordian knot while I was wandering about.
I also saw  a dress and pottery from the Regency Era and a wonderful book case full of precious volumes from the 18th century. There was not much from my beloved Jane Austen's time  but the little I found was very beautiful.
Dating back to the 18th century there was also a portrait of the Garricks and pieces of the luxurious furniture in their house. David  Garrick was a very famous  actor, playwright and theatre manager  at the time of Jane Austen. Dr Johnson wrote he lived as a prince more than as an actor.

18th century library

The Garricks

The bed from the Garricks' London house

A dress in the Regency neoclassic style

 As you can imagine, I've got so many pictures from the Victoria and Albert Museum  that I could go on for long still. But  I'll add just  one more, ok? A painting of the Queen and Prince Albert inaugurating the  1851 Great Exhibition,  from which most of the items I've seen today come from. The location was the Glass Palace in Hyde Park that  was  destroyed by a fire later on.

My pictures are not perfect, I know. However they are my memories of these days full of good emotions and positive sensations. I love concretely seeing history with my own eyes after reading about it so much. That is what I did today in this immense museum.
The afternoon was dedicated to shopping and entirely spent in the crowded central streets. Finally, exhausted for the endless wanderings, I had time to finish watching BBC1 Upstairs, Downstairs. The third and final episode was on tonight and I was lucky enough to watch the whole series here in London. Brilliant costume drama. I loved it. It deserves a proper space and a proper review on Fly High, doesn't it? Till very soon from London or home. Hugs. MG

LONDON - THE OLD VIC, SOUTH BANK, SPOOKS LONDON

London 27th december 2010

I arrived yesterday afternoon, Boxing Day, in the middle of a tube strike and with many shops closed though the beginning of the winter sales. Long journey by train and then bus to our hotel and ... what a beautiful surprise! I arrived just in time to see the first episode of the new BBC re-make of Upstairs, Downstairs! It was beautiful wasn't it? I love watching British Tv in the original language and who follows this blog know about my passion for period drama so you can imagine how glad I was.

It's freezing here. We left Italy with 13° C and found -2 here! But, fortunately, no snow in London.We saw plenty of it from the plane all around the city but none at all here... so far. Fingers crossed. It's been very cold all day and everything was terribly grey, London unique grey.However, task one for day one in London was... the Old Vic. Yep. Can you guess why? Do you remember my wish for Christmas? The perfect Christmas gift I longed for? I wanted to see the "The third wish" from the 24 Hour Plays.

But it seems it must remain just a wish... I  went  there and asked the very kind young ladies at the box office if they had a brochure, a leaflet, a book of the event. "No, I'm afraid we have nothing about it". Then I directly asked if they recorded anything from the performances or if they were preparing a DVD with the plays and "No, I'm afraid we only have a video on our facebook page about it". Well, I know, I've seen it, but that's not what I intended. Ok. Thanks a lot and since I'm here are there any tickets left for "A Flea in Her Ear"? Final result of my enquiry: Wednesday evening I'm going to see Tom Hollander in Feydeau's comedy. Mr Collins instead of ... well you know who I mean. But I think it'll be fun, don't you?

Task 2 for the day was to walk in one of my favourite London areas, South Bank. We started from the Old Vic and walked, walked, andwalked up (or down?) to the Tower Bridge, passed the London Eye, the City skyline with the Gherkin and St Paul's, passed theTate Modern, the Globe, Millenium Bridge as far as The Tower Bridge. Many of  these landmarks reminded me of Spooks,  of course.

Long afternoon shopping and having coffee (needed to sit and drink something hot!) at Piccadilly. Nice dinner at Baker Street and, finally, episode two of Upstairs, Downstairs. Wonderful series! I hope I can finish watching it once back in Italy. But maybe I'll have to wait.

By the way, I've met a good friend of mine ... just have a look.

Hey...you won't be thinking I quite  look like Alice, if only I had  a pair of glasses on.  I've already listened to this one and ... do not like it! Nothing against lovely Alice ... only ... I'm not that funny. Now, that's all for tonight. No precise plans for tomorrow. Improvisation may be great fun while on holiday! Love. MG

LONDON IS LONDON

Thursday, November 25th

We left, my friends and I, resigned to the idea that we would have to cope with terrible weather: for days the weather forecast had been telling us that freezing temperatures and snow would expect us in England.

But nothing would have stopped us. Nothing indeed. And we left for London after travelling by car, bus, train, underground from our different home places and, especially after standing at the embark gate for 2 hours because of a delay. Two hours’ delay for flights is something rather average. Only one always hopes in exceptions! We arrived in London and again we took a train + bus and got to  our hotel quite late at night, half frozen for the bitterly cold temperatures. I insisted with my friends, all wool clad from head to toes that  I didn’t need gloves, scarf or a hat because living in the mountains I’m used to cold and do not usually use them. I had to surrender after two days and buy at least a pair of gloves since that cold weather was unbearable!

Once in the hotel, we were exhausted, freezing and dreaming  of being sleeping under warm blankets but our stomachs claimed their rights: what about some spaghetti?

 Day 1 over. No snow in London. Lucky us!

Friday, 26th November

On Friday we woke up to a surprisingly sunny day. Our plan was to travel to the countryside for a picturesque trip. Wwhat better weather, then? We happily took a bus to Marylebone station, then a train to High Wycombe then a taxi to … Turville! What a lovely picturesque place! An enchanting village where peace quiet and fresh air welcome you in the middle of nowhere! Well, actually it is in Buckinghamshire but neither the funny but kind Indian taxi driver knew where it was.  He needed help to find it! What can you do in Turville? Very little indeed and life must be everything but stressing there. The village is much loved by TV and film companies. It is smaller than we’d anticipated, but certainly lovely. 

What did we do? Walked, stared at every little familiar corner, door, path and alley, entered the little church, took a lot of pictures, got our shoes dirty with mud, laughed a lot and , last but not least, ate delicious fish and chips in the local pub. (Sigh!) In the afternoon? Oxford Street. Shopping, shopping, and shopping. Actually I hate it but what wouldn’t you do for your friend? It can be even less boring with friends . Just a question: is London administration in great financial restraints too? The Christmas lights were just the same I had seen last year on TV!

Day 2 over. No snow in London.  Lucky, indeed!

 Saturday 27th November

 On Saturday our goal was Hampstead, a beautiful area of London located 4 miles north-west of Charing Cross. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for the large and hilly parkland Hampstead Heath. It is also home to some of the most expensive housing in the London area, or indeed anywhere in the world, with large houses selling for up to £50m . 

The village of Hampstead has more millionaires within its boundaries than any other area of the United Kingdom. Were we looking for a wonderful house in London? Not yet. We live in hope to win the lottery though. Were we in search for a very rich husband? Not indeed. Too late for me . While my unmarried, happily single friends wouldn’t mind finding one. 
Actually, we just wanted to visit the parish of the place, St John's-at-Hampstead. What a beautiful church! Perfect location for any kind of religious ceremony, from weddings to funerals (Sigh!)

Lunch in the park of the church at Covent Garden. Our sandwiches were so good that we were surrounded by hungry fat pigeons! We finished them quickly (the sandwiches, not the pigeons) because they were good and we hungry, but especially because we didn’t like the company and it was tremendously, bitterly cold. My hands were purple and ached. That’s when I surrendered and bought a pair of pretty, quite Regency style gloves. 
Then, we walked in the streets nearby Covent Garden in search for Henrietta Street. A plate on the wall reminds the  passer-by that Jane Austen lived there in 1813-14

Early in the afternoon we were in the crazy crowded frenzy of Piccadilly Circus. We had to meet an English friend of one of us, Christine, in the luxurious tea room at Fortnum & Mason’s (since 1707) The lovely lady arrived on time and we had our tea with scones and cakes. Delicious afternoon. So British style. Though I had a very good hot cappuccino very Italian style with my English scones. And strawberry jam.  After a couple of hours there… shopping, shopping, and shopping again!

Day 3 over. Again, no snow in London. 

Sunday 29th November

On Sunday we visited The National Portrait Gallery . The Gallery was founded in 1856 to collect portraits of famous British men and women. You can explore over 160,000 portraits from the 16th Century to present day. Think of any famous British  person you know from history to the arts, from the 16^thcentury to these days …

 you’ll find their portrait there. Jane Austen? The Brontes? King Richard III? James Joyce? William Shakespeare? Queen Elizabeth or Bonnie Prince Charlie? They are all there. At the moment you can also visit the exhibition “Thomas Lawrence. Regency Power and Brilliance” .

In the afternoon? Try to guess… Shopping, shopping and shopping!

Day 4 over. No trace of snow. What lucky girls!

Monday 29th November

On Monday,  we sadly packed all our stuff,  had a half British- half Italian breakfast,  faced a strike of the tube workers and took our way to the airport. Incredible but true,  there was only a bit of traffic on the surface and there were plenty of buses running. London is London, not Rome!

Even that last day, with a cloudy sky promising snow …  Not a flake in London. Not until yesterday, when we were  back home. 

What a pity it didn't snow... It could have been the perfect excuse to stay on …


By the way, did you spot any familiar place apart from Westminster with Big Ben? Really familiar?  Pardon? Where am I in all those places?  Behind the camera, of course! However, more pics  (unfortunately of me too!) and words next  (RA) Friday!