Space Station Mir

I braved ice and snow to see the performance at the Folger the weekend it closed, and it was well worth every second. Coming in at the end of a run, my fear is that the actors will be getting complacent, less full of nervous opening night energy. While nervous energy may have been at a low point, finesse and skill were not. Nearly every cast member, and especially the primary two, channeled their character. Instead of depleting energy, the time spent in their roles seemed to have enriched their portrayals. When I saw Kate Eastwood Norris, I felt Mary Stuart as Friedrich Schiller envisioned her. Her carriage, her hands, her very spirit oozed of this peculiar and complex character, who is both spiritual and martyrlike, and yet vain, proud, self-righteous, perversely courageous. Likewise, while not quite embodying the spirit of Elizabeth (sidenote: I have spent years of my life studying Elizabeth I, so I have my own very particular conception of her), Holly Twyford kills with imperial...

I'm not really up for long reviews right now, unfortunately, but I do want to record my recent reading. 16. All's Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare I'd never read this one before, and I think it's a new favorite. Helena is hopelessly in love with Bertram, the son of her mistress. When Bertram goes to serve the king, he laments the illness of his soon-to-be master. Helena, a physician's daughter, concocts a plan. She will cure the king and, in exchange, ask for Bertram's hand in marriage. Her plan is successful, but Bertram is not pleased. He marries her at the king's behest, but quickly escapes to be a soldier in Italy, refusing to consummate the marriage. He tells Helena he will love her when she wears his ring and bears his child. Well, no impossible task for plotting like the Bard's! What I loved about this play was an even more sophisticated than usual use of language in discussing and contemplating themes of the true virtues of virginity, t...