By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes...

After an exceptionally drunken night at the Red Lion with Rachel's new classmates and later with Elias and Sabine, Saturday brought some much needed rest and then, a night of art. Since we do live in London, it seems only fitting that we should visit the theatre at least once a week.

So, in a fit of inspiration, Rachel and I behaved like actual people and met up with Allie (British Rachel) and her boyfriend to see a show, have dinner, converse and just enjoy new people. Since we have a soft-spot for all things National Theatre, we decided to see, On the Shores of the Wide World. As billed, this was truly, "a tender play" which centered around a family and their various troubles and avoidances of those problems. "About discord, heartbreak and the redemptive power of love across three generations", this play was, for me, a very beautiful and poignant piece, distinctly lacking contrivance and pretention. I really loved it and am so glad we saw it.

However, after the show had ended and we had spent some time in the book store, we left the complex and chanced upon a performance of Macbeth, which had just begun, in the courtyard, and it really stole the cake for the night. Friches Théâtre Urbain's production involved a lot of pyrotechnics, actors wearing animal heads, on stilts, speaking in English, French and Spanish, really cool music, large flags, and SOOO much stylization. Another cool factor with this production is that it didn't stay in one place very long. Instead, the audience was forced to follow it wherever it wanted to go along the south bank of the Thames. Eventually, for the climax, we ended up back in the courtyard for the final speeches, fireworks, confetti and bows. It's a shame that such things only happen but rarely. If you care to look at the MANY pictures we took, do so by logging into www.winkflash.com with username: seethepics and password: showme.

After the show(s), we went to Allie and Phil's for dinner (at one a.m.), wine, cards, laughter and a general good time. When Rach and I eventually crawled home at 4:30, we had a wonderful (and maybe a little drunken) feeling of elation. (You'll note above my penchant for cliche.)