Victober 2020 ~ In Memory of Vivianne ~

[MissAutumn]

That's awful. If the food is good why let it go to waste? Restaurants waste so much food.

That's pretty cool that she was able to get it for free. That's something that doesn't happen over here. That bit about Cratchet is probably based on Victorian reality. I don't remember if it was mentioned in the book.

Victober update: I finished Agnes Grey. It was definitely better on the 2nd read through. Some of Brontë's prose reminded me a bit of Jane Austen's - one of the characters seemed like she could have come from one of her novels.

Now, I'm surprised I actually have time but I'm now going to tackle the over 500 page read. I've switched my choice for this one. I'm now going to read George Eliot's Middlemarch as I really loved her writing style in Silas Marner. It's a heafty 800 pages. I don't think I'll finish it by the end of the month but I'll see how it goes.

[Vivianne]

I don’t remember which books exactly, but I’ve heard it said that one of the Bronte sister’s books was inspired by a minor character in an Austen book. I wouldn’t be surprised if Austen provided even more inspiration.

Good luck! I need to get back to reading...

[MissAutumn]

I know it wasn't Charlotte. She said in letter to someone that she hated Pride and Prejudice. It was probably Anne if the other two sisters read her as well.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I would like to have a time machine to go back and have a first hand look in history but wouldn't want to live then.

[MissAutumn]

Same here, Lemon. I think the people say that they want to live in history don't comprehend how difficult live was back then. Most people would be very poor, not wealthy, and uneducated.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Did I mention I finished watching "Dombey and son" (Dombais et fils), by Charles Dickens. I was glad it ended happy for Florence. Couldn't figure out if her maid and the school room mate of her brother Paul (Msr. Toubin? who had a crush on Florence) ended up together, they looked very chummy in the ending scene.

[MissAutumn]

I thought I replied to you, Lemon. Guess I didn't press submit. I'm not familiar with Dombey and Son. I'll have to look into it. It's nice it has a happy ending.

I've just come back from the play of The Strange Case of Dr Jykell and Mr Hyde. It was a brilliant version. The staging, the music and acting where top quality. It is different from the novella. In the original it's a cast of men but in this version they changed it so that the main character, Gabriel Utterson, was now Lady Gabriel. His cousin Richard Enfield, was a girl called Rosemary - in this version they were an aunt and niece. Bits of the plot had changed slightly and was more condensed as it is only an hour and 20 mins long. I wish I could go see it again but it was the last show tonight.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

The play sounds fun! Will they be preforming close by in another town that you could make a small trip out of it?

[MissAutumn]

I loved the lightning effects to represent the inner struggle of Jykell and Hyde. Sadly, it was an adaptation written just for that theatre otherwise I would. They may put it on again in a few years as they've done that before with other of their plays.

[Vivianne]

MissAutumn - that play sounds quite interesting! A lot of work and creativity must have went into it!

Can you describe the lighting more?

[MissAutumn]

Be warned. I have gone into a lot of detail haha.

On the stage floor there where four square grates. Two at the front and two at the back. These grates could emit light. Towards the back of the stage there is a wall of pipes. There are two door shapes made from pipes (central and on the right). This is used to represent a street and at other times a corridor (again with light - Blue for street and orange for a domestic scene). Towards the front the stage was connected with the audience entrance doors with walkways on both the left and right sides. These walkways had lanterns hooked onto more pipes.

At the start of the play, the threatre goes into complete darkness. You hear some eerie music that represents a fast heartbeat. One of the grates at the back lights up and you see Jykell on that grate looking like he's struggling to maintain control. The light goes out. Behind the pipe wall it's briefly lit in a blue light, so you can see a silhouette of Hyde. A different grate lights up Jykell is now here and he mentions a dream he had. It goes out again. This happens with all four grates and the pipe wall in between. When Jykell is at the front a spot light is on him as he tries to piece together his dream. In his dream he recalls that he's a "juggernaut", sees a matchstick girl, she's getting closer in his field of vision and he heard screams as the juggernaut knocked down this girl. As Jykell recounts this, it's played out behind the pipe wall, they use the same blue light. As Hyde runs at and attacks the girl the lighting here goes on and off like a heartbeat - in time with the music.

At other times in the play one of the grates is used to represent a fire place in a study, so they made it look like a fire was burning inside it. The doors I mentioned earlier? One could be rolled further onto the stage and they used a simple strip of light at the top to use as a mirror. The lanterns by the front could be picked and carried by the actors.

I found a couple of promo photos of some of the effects if anyone is curious:

[+] SPOILER

It's ashame it was only on for a couple of weeks. I go watch plays about once or twice a year and it's definitely one of the best ones I've seen. It would have been perfect for Halloween.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

wow, it looks like they put in a lot of detail...not just a local amateur production then! Sounds like they appealed to all senses.

[MissAutumn]

Indeed they did. They're still relatively a new company but they've grown so much these past few years.

[galled]

It looks awesome! I hope they continue their creativity. I typically find plays lacking (more of a cinema type), but that troupe seems exceptional.

[Vivianne]

Wow, that play sounds and looks amazing! All the attention to detail...

I’m really glad you got to see it! It sounds very memorable.