Paganism And Revolution: An Eventful Day

[sophieisgod]

Yesterday I saw a play called Mad Forest, and it completely blew me away. It was about the Romanian Revolution of 1989, its aftermath, and the effects on two families.



It was really well staged, quite theatrical (which I rather like sometimes, because then you know you're watching a play) and really tightly rehearsed. The second, when they presented the actual revolution, was incredible. The actors cast off the roles they'd been playing up 'til then, and started narrating statements from the people who'd experienced it on all sides. At the same time, these horrific images of the revolution were projected onto the screen behind them. I felt pretty torn, I didn't know whether I should be looking at the screens or the actors, so I ended up playing a vigorous game of Eye Tennis. When they got to the execution of the dictator, they were all lined up, pointing imaginary guns right into the audience. The space was so intimate, their eyes were looking straight at us. It was uncomfortable, but in the best way.

What I really loved about Mad Forest was that nothing was ever black or white. The revolution didn't solve all the problems, the characters aren't all good people and they're not evil, there are questions that still need to be answered. The thing that interests me the most about revolutions is what happens afterwards; things always go wrong. You can trace it back through history- once you get rid of one set of problems, the ones they were masking become ever more apparent.

Also, I was so impressed by the Writing And Performance students. Within minutes, I'd forgotten that it was a student production, the quality was so high. They were so well rehearsed, and there was so much that required complete synchronisation. I'm incredibly jealous that they're a few years older than me and they've found something they're so good at, something creative.


Anyway, I came out feeling amazingly ignorant about.. everything, so I did some very reliable 'research' on Wikipedia. If anyone's interested, here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_revolution

Then we went to Ask, num num. One of these days I'll get some pictures up, because the place has to be seen to be believed. This was followed by another evening trip to Borders. I love that shop more than words. Anyway, my loan took another hit as I purchased:
1x Tristan & Isolde, DVD
1x Maragarita And The Master, Mikhail Bulgakov, Novel
1x The Map Of Love, Ahdaf Soueif, Novel

I really do have issues. Anyway, I started the Bulgakov, did the first chapter. It's completely amazing, but I started feeling really really guilty about not having finished Portrait of A Lady, so I manfully set it aside.

So, having returned home, we got stuck into Tristan & Isolde. I wasn't realy expecting great things, but I ended up enjoying it. Mainly because of Rufus Sewell. James Franco isn't the best actor, and his accent wasn't great, and the posters I'd seen had led me to belive that his hair would be better than it was. Anyway, Sophia Myles was fine, and the scenery was fucking breathtaking. *is wistful for Connemara*

Anyway, we paused the film at about 11.40, and pranced outside to see the lunar eclipse. I've never seen anything like that before. The moon was red. Anyway, we were all wrapped in blankets/ cloaks/ coats tied like Batman, and we were all feeling pretty pagan, so we basically danced around on the grass until it ws too cold to stay outside anymore.





This is the best picture Lizzy could get. Believe it or not, this is actually zoomed in as far as we could. Anyway, it's red and pretty.



Lord knows what happened to the camera at this point. Anyway, this is us being vaguely pagan, and working our pagan trickery on the camera lens.


Apparently it was the best lunar eclipse for ten years.

Comments

[movie-licious.livejournal.com]

I love recent European history, especially the one connected to communism and socialism in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany etc. I even remember some bits from it, but all these revolutions happened when I was only 4 :/

[sophieisgod.livejournal.com]

It's an area that I feel like I need to read up on, because there's really not much excuse for not knowing this stuff when it was so recent. I feel a bit guilty about it. But, I was only about a year old at the time...

I don't know if you know much about the play, but the way it was created was amazing. The writer, Caryl Churchill, took a group of drama students to Romania in 1990, and they just spent weeks interviewing people and improvising scenes.

[movie-licious.livejournal.com]

It's wuite complicated, but once you get all the facts clear, it's really fascinating! Especially if you know someone who has been through all this. My parents often joke about the ridiculous realia back then ;)
And I haven't heard about this book, I might check it in the local library :)

I've just got an email from a friend who's from York, saying that if I want to, I can have a summer job there in a pub, haha :D

[sophieisgod.livejournal.com]

You will not believe this.

I was looking at a copy of the play in an old bookshop on campus, and it had the original cast list in it. One of the main characters was played by... Philip Glenister! That is insane.

And there are lots and lots of pubs in York! :D

[pie-face88.livejournal.com]

I saw the eclipse too, and I nearly texted you guys to make sure you caught it. It's very mushy, but I love that the HC4 were looking at it at the same time from different ends of the country!

You can throw up now.

[sophieisgod.livejournal.com]

*throws up*