Our second last day in London was just as enjoyable as the previous ones but, thankfully, not as jammed packed full of people and places. It did however present us with a whirlwind of negative emotions.
On Friday we headed into the city and started our day with an early lunch under Waterloo Bridge. We then joined a group for a backstage tour of the National Theatre, much to Matt's squealing delight. Over lunch he had begged me to let him tell me about the history of the NT and the inner workings of its famous drum revolve in the Olivier Theatre but I protested - "What are we paying to go on a tour for then if you're just going to tell me all the interesting things now!?" He was just excited he learnt and remembered something from Carl Cauldfied's drama class at uni.
Luckily he didn't tell me, as we had the most wonderful and knowledgable tour guide who showed us all three theatres, the many specialty rooms for making props, swords and explosives, metal welding, set construction and painting (yes they have a GIANT room dedicated to painting) and told us about the awesome repertory system that operates at NT. The guide laughed at my reaction when she told us of the Olivier Theatre Rehearsal Room which itself has a revolving stage - "I can see we have some very jealous people involved in the theatre here".
And that's pretty much how the tour went - Matt and I wandering around, mouths open and salivating slightly. The NT is such an amazing government funded resource that puts on a staggering 26 shows a year, with 6 running at a time on three stages. Each show runs for 5 days and then swaps with the other. They put on well known plays that draw the crowds in the Olivier Theatre and take daring risks with new and young writers in their smaller ones. The word jealous doesn't describe it.
After our tour we retreated to the NT courtyard to absorb what we had just witnessed. Our minds started racing and soon we were in a heated discussion planning our own ideas - what sort of shows would we do, how should we get funding, what should the target audience be, what resources do you need to do a show in rep, how do you split the time between popular money makers and experimental theatre, would something like this work back at home, where would Australia have something like a National Theatre. Glancing at a clock I realised we had been sitting there talking for almost two hours - no need to get all soppy on you but this is the reason I married this creative and thoughtful man. And I have no doubts that, with a bit of hard work, we could make our dreams a reality, although not perhaps on the same scale as the NT.
We then experienced a terrifying ordeal of watching Super 8 at the IMAX. Don't get me wrong, it was a great movie despite the fact I screamed out loud several times and Matt was squeezing my hand in fear. We did however need a quiet sit down and a cold beer to recover, and enjoyed a delightful dinner at some outdoor markets on the Thames (yay for 5 pound paella).
Then it was time to head back to the NT to see Chekhov's final play -The Cherry Orchard - starring Zoe Wanamaker (or as I call her - Madame Hooch from Harry Potter). It was a wonderful production of this somewhat depressing play with superb sets and costumes. Matt and I didn't miss a single word as the sound carried through the theatre wonderfully. The adaption was done by Andrew Upton and the whole story, despite being written so long along, had many elements so reflective of today's society.
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