Adaptation Week: Mansfield Park

The winner of the Wait and Hope 1000 Giveaway is my good friend and fellow blogger: Cami!  Congrats, Cami, and thanks for everyone who entered.

* * * * * * * * *

Anyone who chats to me long enough is bound to discover I love adaptations.  I simply love classic stories retold well.  Adaptations serve to introduce some to a story for the first time, others get to relive it and rethink their prior assumptions.  What's more, they often prompt great discussion about characters, plot points, and the way in which we understand a narrative. Being that I love adaptation so much, I thought I'd take this week on my blog to hi-light a different adaptation that is new or currently going on.  So, welcome to Adaptation Week!

[via]

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, the BBC is re-airing a radio drama they recorded initially in 2003.  That's right, before Tennant flew the TARDIS, before Felicity Jones played Northanger Abbey's gullible heroine, and far before Cumberbatch sleuthed in a long overcoat - they all were in a production of Austen's third novel.  Mansfield Park is interesting in that it is the author's most controversial novel as it can be read as exceedingly moralistic or covertly subvertive.  Due to the fact that she sits in the canon between Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, Fanny Price seems a frail and prudish heroine by comparison - but, this of course depends on how she and the novel is interpreted.

The BBC will be airing 10, 15-minute episodes beginning today, May 12.  You can listen to these episodes within a week of their airing via iPlayer Radio.  The stellar cast includes:

Fanny Price: Felicity Jones  
Sir Thomas Bertram: Tim Pigott-Smith
Lady Bertram: Liza Sadovy 

Tom Bertram: David Tennant  
Edmund Bertram: Benedict Cumberbatch  
Maria Bertram: Kate Fleetwood  
Mrs. Norris: Julia McKenzie  
Mr. Rushworth: Toby Jones  
Henry Crawford: James Callis  
Mary Crawford: Susan Lynch  
Narrator: Amanda Root

Est. 1963

This weekend marked 50 years of Doctor Who!!

Some friends and I got together to celebrate the Time Lord and, of course, watch "The Day of the Doctor" together :)

[Kayla made fish-fingers and custard from scratch!]

[Jammie-dodger assembly - lovely designs by Ashley]

[The Shrine - TARDIS, bowties, Matt, and Melody Malone from "Angels Take Manhattan."]

[Fish-fingers and custard, jammie-dodgers, tea, and bananas - perfect Whovian fare :]

[Ash: 11 on top, Amy on the bottom - adorable all the way around]

[Ash & Kayla trying fish-fingers and custard.  Let's just say they tasted better separate]

[Counter-clockwise: a pair of 11's saving the world with a jammie-dodger and banana,
Donna Noble with her TARDIS purse,
and Amy Pond fending off the Silence - complete with Sharpie necklace]

 And then it was time for the show!!

[Title and theme from the original episode - Oooeeeoooooooh...]

[Nice to see 10 + 11 working together]

 

[The Doctor - many faces, one man]

 Happy 50th Doctor Who!

 Many happy returns!!

10: Farewell, pt. 2. "Vale Decem"

As I said, my flatmate and I recently bid David Tennant a fond farewell from Doctor Who.  And we did it in style.



[One of my favorite pics of Tennant with the chapter heading of my current book...
which is coincidentally (?) by Doctor Who guest-writer, Neil Gaiman :]



My coworker let us borrow this fantastic TARDIS-disappearing-mug.

Seriously, the TARDIS is sitting on the street outside Rose's house

...and then you put hot water in it and the TARDIS vworps into space (the other side of the mug).

Complete with sound effects - if you're cool like that and do the sound effects ;)

(Thanks, Jennifer, for adding to the festivities!!)



[via]



Then, I printed some cute and funny pictures for our "backdrop."

I also did a quick (and shoddy) rendition of the TARDIS.

And, of course, Allons-y!

I had the soundtrack from Season 4 playing when Beks got home (fabulous stuff!)

And made our own little 3-D glasses.

Without even conciously thinking about it, I was already wearing "TARDIS colors"

and Beks put in her TARDIS earrings.  Such fun!

Then we settled in with pizza and chocolate for the End of Time 2-parter.

Oh wow!!  Brilliant.

Sad.  Funny.  Poingnant.

And Brilliant!

"Vale Decem" - Farewell to Ten

In love with this song... and even more so with it's latin lyrics.



After crying through the "End of Time," we spontaneously jumped right into "The Eleventh Hour."

I'm pleased to say we enjoyed Matt Smith from the get-go.

But as they say, "My only problem with Matt Smith as the Doctor... is that he isn't David Tennant."

We look forward with hope, but back with fondness.

I can say it now more than ever:  Ten is my Doctor.

Vale Decem,  Salve Undecim.



10: Farewell

Tonight is the "End of Time" - at least of our time with David Tennant.

He is just the bestest.

I know, I know. Matt Smith is grand.

He's adorable and quirky and the Doctor in his own right.

But Tennant lived and breathed Doctor Who since he was a kid.

He owned the role in the best way possible.

And, excited as I am for the future...

I will miss you Ten(nant)!



...at least until November 23rd when he returns for the 50th! ;)

It is hard... even for the Doctor!

Wednesday Creatives: The London Stage comes to Seattle

I need live theatre.  Not just want... I need it.  If I go too long without it I get twitchy!

And I'm not too much of a snob about it; a $5 UW Undergrad production of Macbeth satisfied me just as much as some ventures to 5th Ave.  But, like with Peter and Alice (which I wrote about here & here),  there are times when a production sounds SO good that the quality matters.  That's when I'm so very grateful for the digital age! 

Two sources in particular are doing great things to bring London's Stage closer to home:  Digital Theatre and National Theatre Live.


Digital Theatre works with several great theatres - including the RSC, Royal Court, Shakespeare's Globe, and an array of West End productions.  Their site allows you to rent or buy digital copies of these productions.  They have a strong Shakespeare collection, but also several award-winning, contemporary options.   My personal favorite is their modernized Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant & Catherine Tate


[This was actually playing when I was in London, but, alas, was sold out]



[Yes - Doctor Who S3 becomes Shakespeare!]

The other, is National Theatre Live.  Beginning with the National Theatre of Great Britain 5 years ago, now extended to several other theatres, NT Live's purpose is to broadcast productions to cinemas around the world - making theatre accessible, while maintaining the collective viewing experience singular to the theatre.  When possible, they broadcast the plays live.  That means going to see a play in Seattle at noon while it is concurrently taking place at an 8 pm showing in London.  100% live.  They do encores as well, where they have recorded productions.

Through NT Live I've seen Danny Boyle's Frankenstein (starring the Olivier Award-Winning pair, Jonny Lee Miller & Benedict Cumberbatch) a few times - and it's returning this Fall!! - as well as Alan Bennett's play People.  They've both been fabulous quality!

Through SIFF, you can catch most NT Live productions.  Some upcoming hilights:  Helen Mirren in The Audience,  Rory Kinnear & Adrian Lester in Othello, and, coming next January, Tom Hiddleston is Coriolanus (!!)

All that to say - London can sometimes feel closer than it actually is.  And there are some surprisingly affordable ways to catch a viewing of some of the greatest actors reciting the greatest lines. 

If any of the NT Live showings strike your fancy, leave a comment - maybe we can go together!