drskatt

[drskatt]

Didn't take many pics on this New York trip, but here's the Shed and the giant schwarma at the new Hudson Yards, and all those cute police Smartcars.

[drskatt]

Nancy and Tour, France.

[drskatt]

Tobacco barn in Virginia.

[drskatt]

The theatre at Gripsholm Castle. The wings and drop are from the last play done in the theatre - in 1785. The originals! The little windows in the ceiling above the small auditorium (which I didn't get a good picture of) were for the servants to watch from. The last five are the machinery under the stage. Note the wheels on the chariot and the last picture looks up to the slot in the stage floor.

[drskatt]

Architecture photos from Gripsholm Castle.

[drskatt]

Stockholm! 1) Poor Linnaeus (in the park by my apartment) has a bird on his head. 2) The National Library. 3) This strikes me as very Stockholm - a beautiful old building with conspicuous advertising for expensive things. 4) The Royal Dramatic Theatre. 5) The grouchy old man himself. 6) Swedish actress Margaret Krook. The statue is always warm, hence all the touching. 7) There’s an amusement park at the end of the harbor, and no end of waterside restaurants from one end to the other.

[drskatt]

Odd sights in Hangzhou, China.

#Hangzhou #China #NewWorldGrandHotel #CrazyAppleland #wtf

[drskatt]

Scenes from our trip to Hangzhou, China, October 2015.

#Hangzhou #China #travel #Siberia

[drskatt]

Scenes from my most recent New York City visit. That city always treats me so well.

[drskatt]

Trees at Smith Mountain Lake, VA.  Trees and stairs are, respectively, nature's and humankind's best architectural endeavors.

[drskatt]

Cape Cod travels - June 2014. 1) Chatham Lighthouse; 2) The Lobster Claw, Orleans, MA. We talked to the owner. He opened it 45 years ago. Our family has been going there almost that whole time. Good, simple seafood in a fun family atmosphere. And a great gift shop! 3) View of Town Cove in Eastham from Fort Hill; 4) Just a guy playing the bagpipes to the ocean; 5) Eastham; 6) Wood's Hole, MA; 7) Pier at Wood's Hole; 8) Smoke tree, Falmouth, MA

[drskatt]

Sites around The Burren, County Clare, Ireland. 1) Dunguaire Castle, 16th century; 2) and 3) Corcomroe Abbey, 13th century; 4) outside the wall of Cahermore, one of the early medieval cahers in the area; 5) I so love the limestone landscape; 6) the Cliffs of Moher - otherwise known as the Cliffs of Insanity! (for all you Princess Bride fans out there); 7) the Cliffs of Moher - cave from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; 8) am I crazy for loving this landscape? It makes me want to hike! 9) spring finds a way; 10) cow and wall - I love the walls.

[drskatt]

Galway and environs: 1) I love the structure of these trees; 2) dinner on night 1, at Sheridan's Cheesemongers - delicious! 3) and 4) on the Galway waterfront; 5) fishing; 6) the plaque says it all - very moving; 7) the aforementioned lighthouse is a point in the distance, on the walk to Salthill; 8) the beachwalk was closed because of a storm that destroyed most of it - thank goodness the Irish just ignore these signs and walk wherever they durn well please; 9) got past the crowds to spend contemplation time on this (mostly) deserted beach)

[drskatt]

Dublin, June 2014. 1) Beautiful weather, and sunset - at 10:30 pm. 2) the view from the upper deck of the bus; 3) O'Connell Street crowds; 4) Millennium Tower; 5) so much great art on the UCD campus; 6) more public art (? - your call) outside the big concert venue in Dublin.

[drskatt]

March trip to New York: 1) a hazy landing; 2) Mayor DeBlasio welcoming folks to the St Pat's for All parade; 3) How awesome is this dude?; 4) the sun came out!; 5) a little dude on my favorite building; 6) and 7) I love these tiny sculptures in the subway; 8) the view from the roof deck of the apartment

[drskatt]

Theatre in 2013

I was lucky enough to see theatre all over the world this year. I thought I'd list them for my own remembering. I posted reviews of a few of these pieces on this blog.

The year started (well, the first performance of the year for me, in late January) with a kabuki performance at the Asakusa Public Hall in Tokyo. It was the New Year performance, so included the good luck mie (long, powerful stare) from a member of the Ichikawa Danjuro family. Also the plays Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi and Kanjincho (known in the west as The Subscription List).

Next was a return trip to one of my favorite theatres. We saw The Rose of Versailles: Oscar and Andre by the Takarazuka company in Osaka. It's one of their signature shows, and it was every bit as thrilling as I knew it would be.

Cantonese opera was next on the list, in Hong Kong, at the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre. Alas, I don't have my program here at home and I can't remember which show we saw, but it was  much fun. I liked it more than many of the students, but you have to develop an ear for it.

My first "cultural show" was in Saigon, showcasing many of the region's performance styles.

The  Crucible in Singapore by the Toy Factory was an incredible experience in cross-cultural performance, and I was thrilled to see my students reading the performance so well.

Another cultural show, including Burmese puppetry, in Yangon, Myanmar, was fascinating. Made me decide to write about these performances as tourist culture.

In Cochin, India, my students and I saw a Kathakali performance.

My puppet class went to a show at Rainbow Puppet Company in Cape Town, where we also saw presentations by members of Handspring Puppet Company and Cosmos Productions.

I also was lucky enough to see Alexander McCall Smith's opera Akavango Macbeth at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town. It told Shakespeare's story through the history of baboons. It worked amazingly well, and was probably my favorite thing I saw overseas.

Back in Charleston, I saw some good shows by local theatres: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Woman in Black were both at Woolfe Street Playhouse. Tribes by Nina Raine was at Pure Theatre, and Kimberly Akimbo by WhatIf? Productions

Our own theatre at the College of Charleston presented wonderful productions of As It Is In Heaven, by Arlene Hutton, and The Who's Tommy.

The Spoleto Festival brought several great entries:

The modernized noh drama Matsukaze, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, was a stunning way to start the festival for me.                                                      

Shantala Shivalingappa returned to the festival to provide a beautiful performance of Indian classical dance once again.

Rob Drummond's Bullet Catch was exciting and entertaining.

I quite enjoyed Midsummer Night's Dream as done by the Bristol Old Vic and Handspring Puppet Company, although it wasn't reviewed terribly well. I liked that the puppets made me think in depth about the characters.

Mayday Mayday was a moving and humorous memoir written and performed by Tristan Sturrock, about the accident that almost ended his life.

Stephen Berkoff and Nottingham Playhouse's Oedipus was a yelling mess, or so I thought - I reviewed it quite harshly on this blog.

I saw both parts of Intergalactic Nemesis, although I really didn't get all the hype about it. Fun, but not for that long.

Three trips to New York provided me with opportunities to see some terrific theatre in the second half of the year.

John Guare's Three Kinds of Exile, featuring the playwright himself as an actor, was a touching collection of three plays. I quite liked it.

Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike was a love letter to Chekhov and included brilliant performances by Kristine Nielsen and David Hyde Pierce.

I finally saw Peter and the Starcatcher in its new off-Broadway location. I enjoyed it, but was oddly underwhelmed.

I went to the Toy Theatre Festival at St. Ann's Warehouse and saw two performances. The Paper Hat Game was a revelation of tiny figures and activities and quite moving. Secrets History Remembers was a weird amateur mess. Very cool concept with dopey execution.

In October, the winner by far was Julius Caesar by Donmar Warehouse at St. Ann's Warehouse. I was riveted by Harriet Walter and Frances Barber. I quibbled with some of the production choices, but the acting was so stellar it didn't matter.

Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, by Anne Washburn and originated by The Civilians, was definitely something new. I loved it. Others didn't. I was moved by the mask work.

Snow Geese, by Sharr White, was just blah. Everything about it, except the set by John Lee Beatty and the acting of Evan Jonigkeit and Brian Cross, was odd and wrong.

Fun Home was the main reason for my trip to NY this month, and it didn't disappoint. I couldn't see how this terrific graphic novel could be made into a musical, but Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron managed it beautifully.

In December, good timing allowed me to see Waiting for Godot, with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. They did the buddy version of the play rather than the absurdist version, but it was quite a treat to see.

Nutcracker Rouge by Company XIV was everything burlesque should be. Fun and full of talent.

The Pigeoning, created by Robin Frohardt, was an excellent example of what HERE is doing with puppet theatre. Charming and moving.

Finally, the best possible way to end the year was with The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, produced by CSC, and written and performed by Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac, directed by Susan Stroman. It was the reason I went to New York and was worth every penny. Also a buddy play, but truly about the end of the world and hope for humankind, all communicated through song. I can't wait to see it in future incarnations.

It's possible I've forgotten something, given how many shows I saw. It was truly a wonderful year of theatre for me. Over 30 shows for someone who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, isn't too shabby. Here's hoping 2014 is just as full of travel and theatre!

[drskatt]

Holiday time in New York. 1) The Coburg Cow on the way to the airport, all dressed up for the season, but having a hat malfunction; 2 & 3) snow in Central Park and lights at Columbia University; 4) the Christmas tree at Lincoln Center has a train running around the bottom; 5 & 6) the globe from the World's Fair in Queens - in front of the Queens' Museum; 7 & 8) Rockefeller Center; 9) some of the wares on sale in the Christmas shops at Union Square.