The End of Fall

Fall's ending in London. It was a lovely long fall full of beautiful weather. But with Halloween comes the chilly air. Apparently, before 5 years ago London did not celebrate Halloween. However, once people started realizing how much money they could make on merchandise, it started to spread. Now, it's not to New York's psycho standard's, but but it's still got some spirit. I have to admit I did miss the pre-Halloween buzz though. The lead up to the madness.

There's still plenty to do though. Yesterday, I saw a play called Birdsong, starring Ben Barnes (AKA Prince Caspian from the Narnia move Prince Caspian). The play started out rather slowly with a look at an unconvincing love story in aristocratic France. Didn't really seem to have much heart to me. But, with the second act came World War I and a bit of a pick up in pace and intensity. Afterwards, I got to meet Ben Barnes, which was great! Then it was off to see Easy A. It was delightfully American, and overall a good job by Emma Stone (who I coincidentally saw in a Duane Reade once buying a copy of Obsessed.) There was also a cool carnival going on in Leicester Square where I got to go on this amazing ride that took you up to get an incredible view of London and then flipped you over plummeting to the ground. AWESOME.

Earlier in the week I went to a quadruple mixed bill of the Royal Ballet. I found the new piece Invitus Invitam quite moving. And the interpretation of Three Sisters, called Winter Dreams, was beautiful, but would have been better if I knew the story. La Valse was distractingly imprecise for a ballet, and Theme and Variations didn't move me like the narrative pieces.

I also saw Men Should Weep, a play about the tenements in Glasgow, Scotland in 1930s. Although the accents were a little hard to understand, overall, I found the piece very believable and moving. The family dynamic was intriguing, and it truly gave you a window into the lives those in Glasgow might have lived.