Today was theatre day - this visit was really planned around Alice's wish to take the opportunity of the boat being near Stratford to take her Granny to a proper Shakespeare play. Not to be outdone, Mike and Jess had tickets booked for Wicked at the Hippodrome in Birmingham. All of this meant that there was quite a logistical exercise, one which eventually led us to staying in the marina these few days before we return home,
We left the marina by car late morning and drove to the Park and Ride at Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway railway station. We were in plenty of time for the planned train into Birmingham, only just missing the earlier one as a result of people ahead of us having problems with the ticket machine in the rain! The wind and rain swept station platform, with the simplest of shelters was not really the best place to have to wait but there was not much alternative.
Meanwhile, Christine and Alice caught the next bus into town where they set about deciding how to spend the next few hours as their tickets were for an evening performance.
It was still a bit early for lunch but because it was quite wet and cold they didn't want to be outside. They walked in the direction of the theatre but passed this large commercial modern art gallery and stopped to look. Alice was especially taken with these paintings in the window. They ventured inside, met by a very friendly staff member who was quite happy to explain about the different mediums and styles. There was a commendable range; Christine was particularly impressed by the paintings on glass and also the cityscapes painted on aluminum sheets.
Then down to the theatre where they found they could book for an afternoon 'Behind the Scenes' tour.
As they left the drizzle was clearing but visibility still poor.
Before the theatre tour they had time to take the trip up the theatre Tower, eight storeys up, for a great view of the theatre complex - buildings dating from four different periods. From the land side it was pointed out that the row of cottages were those made available to the actors for the period of their contract.
They walked down to the river, water level still very high but the trip boat was able to go out of the canal basin for a short trip down the river
Then the tour, which they found most interesting. Right to the top of the theatre to see the control desks for audio descriptions and the Deputy Stage Manager, who gives timing directives to actors and staff. Back down to view the auditorium, remodelled just a couple of years ago, now with a thrust stage with audience surrounding three sides, very steep seating, a bit more what the original Globe layout would have been. From the corridors behind the seating there were thick velvet curtains and they were shown where these covered changing spaces (complete with washbasins for washing off the fake blood!) for the actors when a quick change of costume was needed. On then back stage: they were surprised to find how spartan the main changing facilities were, all actors sharing. Their costumes were lined up on a rail in the order they would be required. There was a large area for assembling scenery, including they were told a 7m deep space underneath the stage which can be used for scenery and for trap doors if a performance requires it. The theatre also has 600 separate lights for different effects. We saw where the Stage Manager has a small desk and monitors back stage; his job is to trouble-shoot if things go wrong in a performance. Our tour ended with a visit to the costume dept. to see the extensive laundry facilities with e.g an oxygen cabinet to clean items that cannot be washed. Finally we were shown the boxes of human hair used to make wigs - and yak hair to make mustaches and bushy eyebrows! Also not to be forgotten the false blood, Problood, so much better than the animal blood that was used since it washed out of clothes and does not stain. It is packed in pouches of cling film ready to be squashed at the right moment to make a realistic squirt!
Now to fill in the time before the performance: energy levels were replenished by a take away cake acquired at Huffkins. Next a walk down to the river and over the bridge to the grassy park area opposite, before returning to a quiet space in the theatre foyer for a brief rest. At 5.30 they set off in search of a pre-performance meal; Pizza Express proved perfectly able to provide for their requirements..
Back at the theatre with half an hour to go. Their seats proved to be on the front row high up at the very top in the Upper Circle where they looked directly down on the stage. Fortunately neither worry about heights!
The performance was quite amazing. Scenery was very limited the aim being to focus on the words and actions. A large digital clock intrigued Alice: it was to show the countdown to Macbeth's death.
The doorman marked on the wall the deaths as they occurred, a shower of ash descended from the ceiling. The performance was in modern costume to emphasize that the story of the lust for power and the consequences that can have, continues to be relevant today. However, as Alice pointed out, the text demanded that the actors still had to use swords, and armies advanced on foot! It was certainly a performance they will not forget.
The train which Mike and Jess caught was one of the fast services into Birmingham, via Hatton Junction and they alighted at Moor Street Station. They found their bearings and walked up to the entrance to the Bullring Shopping Centre. The plan had been to walk through the undercover mall and emerge not far from the theatre.
However, they soon found that there was a lack of meaningful signs once inside and they had to come back outside - not where they stated - to find a walking route! Even so, it was not far but by the time they reached sight of the Hippodrome they were ready to go inside for warm and dry. In the Middle Circle foyer there were plenty of comfortable seats and Mike treated himself to a coffee whilst they waited.
In good time they moved into the auditorium - Alice spotted a pile of extra seat cushions and collected one so that she could make sure that she was both comfortable and able to see all of the action on stage. Once settled, she took time to take a good look at the architecture - which they chatted about during the interval.
As with the Stratford theatre, there were dire warning about switching off mobile phones and not taking any photos during the performance. However, along with most other people we did sneak in a shot of the stage before the lights went out!
Wicked is a musical re-telling of the story of the Witches of Oz, very different from the classic Hollywood movie but using the characters of the Good and Wicked Witches, The Wizard of Oz (who could not work any real magic at all and not at all scary) and a brief appearance of the Tin Man. Other characters included the winged monkeys (a large version of which hung above the proscenium arch and lit up and flapped its wings at one point in the action), the principal of the University where the girls were enrolled and the last remaining Animal Professor who was cruelly discriminated against when his post was taken away from him, despite his popularity with his students. Whilst the musical was first performed in 2003, many of its sub-plots have a contemporary social and political import)
The singing, dancing, costumes and the band accompaniment were all most impressive - sometimes it was hard to work out how characters changed so quickly!
An interval gave us a chancre to stretch our legs and Jess preferred a packet of Minstrels to the conventional ice cream! We also tried to work out whether the highly ornate ceiling in the auditorium was meant to look gold or silver - but Jess had already conclude that it would have been far to expensive to have been solid either.
The second part was slightly shorter but no less entertaining and by the time the final scene arrived, the various strands to the story had woven together satisfactorily. There was tremendous applause from the audience - some of whom stood in admiration for what was indeed a most impressive production. As we joined the lines to leave we realised that, even though a matinee, most of the audience were adults and only a modest proportion under 18.
Jess had plenty of ideas about where we should eat - she had checked out some of the options on Google Maps yesterday, but as we had plenty of time, we walked all the way along New Street. However, once Jess had spotted Bella Italia, all else was only second best - but it did mean that we had to go back to the start of New Street.
The restaurant was very busy but eventually a table was found for us. The menu was much to Jess's liking even though her first choice for mains turned out not to be available tonight. We both enjoyed our food and our drink - Jess ended with a personally escorted trip to the Gelato Cart - to be honest he service was somewhat overwhelmed by the numbers. However,. we did not mind as we had time to fill before we could catch a train back to Stratford. In Birmingham, Off Peak tickets Cannon be used until after 6.30. However, since they had cost us only just over £6 return for the two of us, who's complaining?
Mike thought that they would not make it to the station in time for the 7.30 departure so we ambled along but as we came to the Bullring entrance, Jess spotted the way down to Moor Street and we speeded up to arrive on Platform 1 with three minutes to spare. This time we were on a stopping train - the fast service does not seem to run in the evening - and we came back along the alternative route via Wootton Wawen and Wilmcote. Although several stations are 'by request' we actually stopped at each of them as passengers alighted.
Back at the car we thought about what to do until it was time for us to collect Christine and Alice from their theatre. There was about an hour and a half so it was decide to return to the boat - at least we could make sure that it was warmed up. Mike had his first chance to light the stove on this boat as normally this is Christine's province.
Time then to drive back into Stratford and just as they were reaching the town a phone call came through to say that the performance had just ended and we arranged where to meet.
It has to be said that at this stage, two of us were mightily relieved that all of the planning had worked out without major hiccup. So much so that we took a wrong turning in the back streets of Stratford as we left Waterside and had an extended tour of the other possible routes out of town! We were all still on a high as we swapped stories of our adventures and the many details of both productions.
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