Endgame

This past weekend I went down to London to see a play. Endgame by Samuel Beckett. It was a very interesting play but I'll get to that later.

The Friday before I went though was a pretty interesting one. My theatre and cultural politics course was another really interesting one. This time we were discussing the ethics of Hell Houses which are "haunted houses" but they are told from a Christian perspective. So, there would be scenes depicted suicide or abortions or a gay man dying of aids or ravers and afterward they would be dragged down to the fiery pits of Hell by demons. It's all that fire and brimstone crap. The kind of Christianity which is really disgusting. Gandhi once said that "I like your Christ but not your Christians." So true. Another interesting quote came from one of our readings. "Haunted houses are meant to scare the bejesus out of you, while Hell Houses are meant to scare the Jesus into you."

However we were not looking at it from a perspective of good or bad performance. We were actually supposed to be looking at it fairly objectively. We were supposed to be looking at the mechanics of what this sort of theatre was doing. It was a very interesting lecture and the lecturer, John Warwick was another American. He was also asking very tough questions. He told us that all theatre is exclusionary in some form or another. It was hard hitting, blunt and to the point. We were not discussing ethics but mechanics.

Many people in the lecture were a bit thunderstruck by it and sort of either missed the point or tried to make it into an ethical debate. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. After class, Serafina and I had a pretty lengthy discussion about it. We parted ways because she had to finish work on a project.


Later on that night, my friends from Oakley Court and I grabbed dinner at the pub. Green Man. God, I love that place. I wasn't planning on going but, hey I just can't say no to a good pub meal. I had the grilled lemon chicken with jacket (baked) potatoes and peas. I also had a pint of Guinness with it. I downed the Guinness pretty quickly. That stuff tastes so good. I had another pint. This time it was an ale called Ubu. I do enjoy a good ale. Don't worry, I'm not becoming an alcoholic. I do feel that one can enjoy alcohol responsibly.

The meal was good but I grew weary and headed home. I passed out and woke up that morning pretty early. I had soup for breakfast and killed time before I had to be at the station.

I collected my tickets and I was a little concerned by the way they printed out. I thought I had only purchased a one way ticket. Thankfully I hadn't but still, it was a worry.

The train ride down was uneventful. Although it was sunnier than normal which was a shock. I actually had to put my sunglasses on during the train ride. Once in London I grabbed a tube map and proceeded to head where I needed to go. I got off at Oxford Circus and I went to a Bella Italia for lunch. It's an Italian chain here in the UK. It's sort of like the Olive Garden only it's a lot nicer.

I headed to Embankment station and from there I went across the river Thames via a walkway bridge. I saw the Eye which is a giant sightseeing Ferris wheel. At the base were many street performers as well as a small Christmas market. I walked across another bridge and saw one of the major landmarks of London. Big Ben and Parliament. Big Ben isn't as big as they say. It's a little underwhelming. Old Joe, the clock tower on campus is actually taller than Big Ben.

After exploring around for a little bit, I headed back to try and find where I needed to go for my play. That was a bit trickier. Thankfully I gave myself plenty of time just in case something like this happened. I ended up taking several wrong turns. I broke down and bought a street map. Found where I needed to go and arrived with a 1/2 hour to spare.

Endgame is a play by Samuel Beckett. He is sort of a major figure in the play world. They recently had a showing of Waiting for Godot, his other seminal work which starred Ian McKellen. That play was so successful that they are bringing it back for a limited 10 week run in the spring. Yes, I'm going to buy tickets to see that.

Endgame doesn't really have a plot. It's four characters are living in what is essentially a post-apocalyptic world. Hamm is blind. Clov can barely walk. Nell and Nagg, Hamm's parents, live in waste bins. They more or less looked like demented Oscar the Grouch off of Sesame Street.

I'm fortunate at having seen the play because it was the second to last showing of it. It was a strange play. Intense doesn't even scratch the surface. I was very claustrophobic whilst watching it. I did have killer seats but the Duchess Theatre is a lot smaller than the Old Vic. One of the cooler set ideas was the window curtains, when moved, actually had quite a bit of dust fall from them. The door leading to the unseen kitchen creaked and creaked once open.

It was a one act play lasting only 100 minutes but I felt like I got my money's worth.

After the play, I walked around a bit in the rain and found a nice pub. I had fish and chips which were a lot better this time around as well as a nice good ale. Then I found my way to Euston train station and went home.

All in all it was a pretty good day.

For mementos of my play going experiences I plan on buying the programs of each show I attend.