Liv's 30th - Pt.1
2008 has so far been shit, no two ways about it. That said, the weekend of Liv's 30th birthday was a much needed oasis of decadence. I'll split this post into two parts - pt.1 the cultural side and pt.2 the food side.Liv spent Saturday in The Sanctuary Spa at Covent Garden while I went to watch a couple of films. First up was Sweeney Todd. I'm not a massive fan of musicals by any stretch, but then again I don't have the deep disdain for them that others do either. In fact, one of my favourites films is West Side Story. Whether you like Sweeney Todd is dependant on the following factors:
- Can you stand 90 minutes of Stephen Sondheim songs? I can.
- Do you like Tim Burton films: I do.
- Do you like Jonny Depp: Usually I do.
- Can you stand copious amounts of throats being slit and the ensuing blood? Sure.
So I enjoyed it as a piece of escapism which suited the dark mood that has followed me around these last couple of months. I also enjoyed seeing it in a near deserted theatre with a digital projector and an awesome sound system (the Odeon West End). Shame about the leg room, for my £15 ticket I'd have expected a little more.
The next film was Eastern Promises. This came out many months ago (and has just been released on DVD) but I never got around to seeing it at the time. Funnily enough, the film is set in London and opens with somebody's throat being slit so it actually sat alongside Sweeney Todd quite nicely in some ways. The characters weren't as prone to bursting out into song when slitting throats though, instead choosing to remove the body's teeth and finger tips before dumping it in the Thames. The film contained a lot of very dark humour, and at the same time dealt with some really tough themes in a very full on manner (girl trafficking, murder, the Russian Mafia to name a few). In the hands of a lesser film maker, this would have been descended into pornography, but it was directed by David Cronenberg and so was intelligent, gripping and thought provoking.
Myself and Liv followed our seperate indulgences with an evening at the ballet. Believe it or not, this contained throat slitting too, but only in an isolated incident. I'm not one for ballet normally. Whilst I respect the extrordinary abilities of the dancers I find it very difficult to get away from the fact that basically they are prancing around the stage. In tights. I'm sorry, I wish I understood it, I just don't. Modern dance I like though, so fortunatley this was a tripple bill containing two pieces which were more dance than prance.
First up was Chroma, with music by Joby Talbot out of The Divine Comedy. He also composed the music in The League of Gentlemen, and the style of that music was very much present here. I don't know what the fuck it was all about but it was amazing.
The second act was Different Drummer, a ballet based on the play Woyzek (which incidentally is the play that one of my favourite operas is based on - Wozzek). This piece represented everything that mistifies me about ballet. It's a very dark story about isolation and delusion and contains the afforementioned throat slitting, and the story is told through the medium of gayly prancing about the stage. Thankfully it was only 30 minutes long, any longer and I'd have slit my own throat.
Finally, what we'd actually come to see: The Rite of Spring. I love the music and have long wanted to see it performed on stage, and I enjoyed it vey much. If you ever go to see it yourself, be sure to sit in the higher (and cheaper) seats as you get a much better view of the patterns being danced.
[Continues tomorrow...]
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