Theatre Seen

Robin Hood by Sebastian Archibald
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin
Itsazoo Productions
Queen Elizabeth Park - at the Bloedel Conservatory
 August 4-7, 10-14 and 17-19, 2010 at 7:00 pm.
Run extended  - 25th to 28th August

Vancouver, BC: It is definitely becoming one of  Vancouver's  summer theatre traditions - a promenade play by Itsazoo Productions in Queen Elizabeth Park. With the natural scenery of the park as the stage, the audience follows members of the company along pathways and grassy areas as the story moves from scene to scene. Company playwright Sebastian Archibald adapts and creates the stories from varied sources.

Last year's show was drawn from The Canterbury Tales. This year Archibald has taken the story of the medieval folkloric hero, Robin Hood, and his Sherwood Forest gang and set it in contemporary Vancouver.  The premier, Nottingham (played by Archibald) and his pal MLA, Rich White (I kid you not) played by David Benedict Brown, are planning a Big Deal event to put the city on the map, and in the process get themselves re-elected. To succeed they need lots of money, which they get  by cutting funding for everything else. They also want to clean up the streets and get the drug dealers, petty thieves and the homeless out of sight.  And they have just the person to do this, taser-happy Chief Gisbourne (Julia Church), helped by cop (Mel Brown) and other cops.

Falstaff
Adapted by Errol Durbach from Henry lV, 1 & ll.
Directed by Glynis Leyshon
Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival,
Studio Stage, Vanier Park.
to September 22nd, 2010

Vancouver, BC: Having enjoyed both the Mainstage productions of  Much Ado about Nothing and Antony and Cleopatra, I did not want to miss Bard's two Studio Stage shows of the 2010 season. So before I took off for a London visit to dine and see theatre prior to going Ballroom Dancing round the British Isles, I made my plans to see Falstaff and Henry V on successive nights soon after my return. 

Well I really must learn to read my travel information more carefully - though even though the man who checked us in for the coach transport to Southampton agreed that the ship transfer information was  written somewhat  ambiguously.  I found that other people also experienced the same confusion regarding where to go, so it must be partly the way the Cunard documentation is written.

Basically the transfer details state: meet the Cunard representative at the Information desk at Victoria Station and they will direct you where to go to get the coach. Then it says that the coach will leave from the Victoria Coach Station between 11 and 12, and gives the address.  

What it does not say is that the information desk to which you must go is at the Victoria Coach Station. For foreigners who have not done their advance research and who do not know that Victoria Station and Victoria Coach station are two separate locations, that is a problem as they are more than  two very long city blocks apart.

So my very helpful and chatty cabby dropped me off at Victoria Station as I had asked and it was only after I lugged my suitcase inside that I  was told by one of the customer assistance guys at Victoria Station that I needed to be  at Victoria Coach Station.

As I lugged my suitcase, weighed down by dance shoes and dance dresses, for two very long city blocks along the uneven pavement, I thought maybe I should change my hobby from dance to swim racing and just pack a few skimpy Speedos instead. The problem is that I hate to put my face in the water, so maybe swimming would not be such a smart idea.

Disaster strikes. At least disaster for someone who does not like saunas and steam rooms.

For four days and nights in London I had enjoyed the arctic-like temperature in my room, turned the AC off before I went to sleep, and slept like a baby all night. Actually probably not like a baby since babies wake up crying for food every few hours.  But I do sleep well, and wake up thoroughly rested and ready to go despite only 5 to 6 hours of sleep.

At this hotel, each day when I hopped out of bed in the morning the first thing I would do was switch on the AC and the room would cool within minutes to a comfortably arctic level. But not today. I switched the AC to high as usual. At first I did not notice that anything was wrong - it sounded as though it was working,  but when I got out of the shower, and the room was steamy instead of cool, I realized something was wrong.

Vincent came to check. We agreed that it seemed as if cold air was coming out of the unit but the room did not get any colder. When I went down to speak to Keisha, the manager, it became apparent that the problem was not just in my room but that the entire AC unit that supplied the guest rooms with cold air had gone on the blink.

They offered to move me to another room. It was larger and marginally more comfortable that my bargain priced single room but the AC was not working there either and I could not see any point in moving for one night. So Keisha suggested that they  put a fan in my room and I figured I could last out one night of heat.

She bought me a drink at the bar downstairs where I sat and worked for a while to escape the sauna in my room. In the hour or so that I sat downstairs in the lounge where the temperature was cool, group after group of guests were checking in. I felt really sorry for the desk staff who would have to deal with complaints about intolerably hot rooms - and for the other guests who were expecting air-conditioned comfort.