The Purple Penguin

Otherwise known as shows, food, and walking. Oh and that Shakespeare bloke who apparently had something to do with the town I guess since his name is on just about everything. A friend and I went up on Saturday morning and came back on Sunday afternoon and had a great time in between.

 We went up to see The Penelopiad at the Swan Theatre. I’d never been in the Swan and it’s a lovely space. I haven’t been to the Courtyard Theatre either and having now seen photos I want to go! But we decided since we were going up to see the show we might as well hang around and see a bit of the town. We got lucky as well and the weather was wonderful. We finally have summer here.

 The show was, well, uneven. There were some directorial and design decisions that just should not have been made. One local reviewer was dismissive of the script, but the script was actually very good; it was the directorial decisions that were on the dodgy side. There was some very strong acting and over all it was enjoyable, but there were a few moments that were just unfortunately cringingly awful. Actually the review in the Guardian by Michael Billington really says what I want.

After the show we wandered around Stratford. Walking to the theatre we realised the Bulldog Bash was going on as there were hundreds of bikes around, most parked up along the waterfront. So after the show we had a look at the bikes and headed up to the birthplace of that poet bloke. Got tickets for the three properties in town and went through the house and gardens. We saved the other two properties and the church for Sunday. Seeing the town and houses was fun. The church is lovely, the houses are well kept and interesting, and a lovely time was had. Generally though we just took it easy, took our time looking around, and lazed by the river watching the boats and swans.

Lovely weekend and really must do it more often. Hmmm, the RSC are doing every one of the History plays, all in order, over a week or so.