Hip-hop Othello and The Globe

You know those days when everything is mellow yellow? I had one of those yesterday and it was wonderful. It was very refreshing. Today, I am on Dayquil, but it has been fabulous (not because of the Dayquil, but because of everything I can do with Dayquil in me). Yesterday, was a fabulous Friday. I went to the Globe Theatre, that hallowed place for Theatre and English students, that is in fact a recreation. But we did not dwell on technicalities, but embraced the spirit of The Globe, especially after I got a Venti Hot Chocolate from Starbucks right across the way. This was needed with the cold wet wind off the Thames. But I survived and pledged to dress more warmly for tomorrow.

The Tate Modern then was perfect. My mind was in this state of pure relaxation so I could just stare and absorb art for hours. And that is what I did. It was wonderful. Picasso, Matisse, Ernst, and so many others. They just seemed to empty my soul and it was light and sunny. Then after a few hours of that I went down to the cafe and watched some of the Tour de Romandie on youtube. I love cycling. The sport and the hobby, but I haven't been able to watch Romandie yet this trip, so it was wonderful. After the fringe theatre show last night I also watched Romandie, and when I woke up this morning. I am watching it now.

The fringe show we saw was called His Greatness and it was about Tennessee Williams. It was decent and in an interesting theatre above a pub. But it was nothing compared to the Hip-hop version of Othello we saw today. The Globe was just as windy and cold today, but this play warmed everyone up. It was done by Chicago Shakespeare Company, but they decided to make the entire piece a series of hip-hop songs with a DJ in Juliet's balcony mixing the whole time. It was brilliant and amazing. And this is not the Dayquil talking - it really was. Everyone was dancing and when the music finally stopped was when Desdemona died and when Othello died. The silence was audible. They didn't stick to Shakespeare's words but made up their own verse

chock full of pop culture references and it worked. They rapped out Othello and had a couple cool dance moves, though they were obviously not dancers. It was an amazing show and almost ties with The Collaborators as my favorite show in London.

And before I went back to The Globe today I went to the British Museum again and got lost for a bit in an Asian art exhibition right next to the Picasso etchings. For this I entirely blame Dayquil. I walked into a different entrance and felt no need to even figure out where I was, much less what I wanted to see, but wandered. But it was amazing wandering. I saw mostly Asian things today but not everything yet. There is so much still to see there. But to continue the Asian theme I am going to see Wild Swans (the play) tonight. But for the next 30 minutes I am going back to the Tour de Romandie. Then the Giro d'Italia which starts today.