Monday 25 August 2014

Stratford festival camping out

Tonight at cards I was talking with my friend Dora about being in Stratford yesterday.

She mentioned that some of the statues were erected in honor of the people that used to put up the theater tent.

I had no idea that the theater used to be in a tent. She said it was a whole day event to come watch it being put up and taken down and knew the name of the man who was in charge.

I asked if it was striped like a circus tent and she said no it was dark olive green and hot as Hades in the summer.

She also mentioned that the trains going by were not allowed to toot during performance times and that the Exeter Goderich train was actually rescheduled because of this.

I mentioned that they still have a day set aside for the releasing of the swans and she said yes that was a big event too. It happens in April on Shakespeare's birthday. I hope to attend next year.

I asked Dora if she lived in Stratford most of her life and she said no, only 40 years. That might give you an indication of her age.

She says she was born in 1928 and that the stock market immediately crashed and people jumped out of buildings implying that it was the news of her birth that was the catalyst.

Is it any wonder that I love her?

Here's a bit of a history of the theaters in Stratford.

It was actually only in a tent for the first four years.

I have never been to a performance in any of these theaters and that might have to change.

A poster from the opening season. Top ticket price six dollars! Don't know what they cost now but I bet they run upwards of $10 :)

Truthfully I'd really rather take pictures of the flowers. Shakespeare is white noise to me. Begging your pardon sir.

I think what I would find more interesting than the plays as well would be the stories behind the decisions to commission these statues. I bet there was some intense and bitter committee work going on. Kind of like I'm more interested in how a movie gets made then the movie itself. I'm weird.

Plus also the fact that Stratford is very much a farming community as well. The juxtaposition between the actors and the common folk fascinates me. Throw in Justin Bieber and you've got something going on.

Yeah sometimes I can't decide.

That's when you need to remember that I'm also kind of doing this for back up :-)

The Terrace Gardens were not quite as spectacular as spring but still pretty cool.

We wished this lady had stayed around longer to be in our pictures.

Not dead, just a better angle for eating.

These flowers were huge, bigger than my head!

Swans and ducks to come.

&

Honeymoon couple in rainy cool England giggling over the funny names and hopefully heading to warmer climates on their cruise soon.

There's no such thing as a bad Selfie, they are supposed to be kinda bad pictures. I think maybe they're in front of the White House in this one.

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