For my birthday in December, L bought me 2 tickets to see 'To Kill a Mockingbird' at the Gielgud Theatre in London. I was thrilled as it is my favourite book; it even managed to survive the 'kill a book' sessions at school, where the class took it in turns to read a page - an exercise almost guaranteed to take the joy out of any piece of literature. On the appointed day, I set off for London with a light heart; looking forward to seeing L, having a nice lunch, and enjoying the play.
Well, what can I say? The lunch was excellent and it was really lovely to see my baby. The play, on the other hand, was dreadfully disappointing. Aaron Sorkin had butchered Harper Lee's glorious novel. I could have wept (actually, a few tears may have been shed when I arrived home and R asked me all about it!).
Changes were made, for no apparent reason in some cases and merely to fit a present day narrative in others. Sorkin had the jury coming to a swift decision over the guilt of Tom Robinson. Atticus supposedly muttered 'You're welcome' to Calpurnia after telling her that he was going to take the case, resulting in her sulking for the remainder of the play. Worst of all, instead of Atticus calmly wiping saliva from his face when a post trial Bob Ewell spat at him, Sorkin had Atticus actually brawling with him - a complete betrayal of Harper Lee's beloved character. Subtlety was completely absent, as was any sense of hope and change. I was appalled by the sheer arrogance of the playwright who appeared to have missed the point entirely, replacing nuance with a ham-fisted, mediocre revision. The actors did their best with a poor script, but if you have any fondness for the book at all, I suggest that you give this travesty a wide berth.
Am I the only one who is infuriated by present day 'sensitivity writers' taking it upon themselves to change other people's work? I could have cheered this week when the Queen Consort waded into the debate about Puffin altering Roald Dahl's books. The nerve of them!
Anyway, rant over. L and I enjoyed a delicious Thai meal at Rosa's, pottered round Soho, and bought a couple of Portuguese vegan tarts to take home. It was lovely. :O)
We shared an interval cocktail, but even alcohol couldn't improve matters!
Other events this month:
R and I went to see this at Shaw House. It was a bit of a frantic dash to get there - for some unknown reason, I had written 7.30 on the calendar and we realised at 6.50 that it was a 7pm start! We made it with no time to spare - our bottoms had literally just hit the last 2 seats at the back when the singing started! Once we had recovered and our heart rates had returned to normal, it was quite a fun evening. The singing was mostly excellent, although the acting was a little ropey in parts!
R went along to the stone carving workshop that I bought him for his birthday:
I met my friend, C, for a day trip to Ledbury:
St. Michael and All Angels Church contained Titian's 'The Last Supper', which lay unrecognised for over a century!
Doing the 2023 Garden Bird Watch:
Researching Edward Thomas' poem 'Adlestrop' recently, I discovered that that there was a memorial window to him in the nearby village of Eastbury. R and I popped in for a little explore:
Edward and his wife, Helen. Helen is buried in the churchyard, along with their 2 daughters; they moved to Eastbury following Thomas' death in WWI.
A play at the Watermill. R and I enjoyed this, although we couldn't quite work out if the actor playing Bryson had a speech impediment or if he wasn't entirely sure of his lines. I feel it may have been the latter, as at one point he resorted to turning his back on the audience and referring to his notebook.
Gathering together some of the plants that needed repotting:
A trip to the cinema to see a live streaming of Rossini's opera:
A trip to Bristol to see E. We had a yummy lunch at Koucha and a wander round the local plant shops:
Finishing my 'Fury' tank top - apologies for the strange combination, I just popped it over what I happened to be wearing:
Last, but not least, a trip To 'Unravel' at The Maltings in Farnham. A few sneaky purchases may have found their way home with me!
Anyway, that's all for this month. I hope that everything is fine and dandy at your end. Anything exciting planned?
Toodle pip for now. x
