Today I will be able to check off another thing I want to do during my lifetime, we are off to see Macbeth at Stratford. But first we must get our web site updated while we have the opportunity. So it’s off to Dorothy’s sister’s house we go. While there, the parents show up and we spend a great time visiting again over lunch. Dorothy’s sister Ruth gives excellent directions and we are in Stratford without our usual ‘getting turned around’. Stratford is a beautiful town.
In no time we have located the festival centre, the river Avon and artists displaying some of their beautiful works in the park. We spend some time chatting with Annette Goodale about some of her works. Her medium is watercolour and one of her favorite subjects is stones. She even shares a stone with Lynn, just one more to add to the growing pile. She and her husband canoe and we invite them to Yukon for our canoe trip on the Snake River. If they come that would make a wonderful group, two knitters, a landscape artist, a tugboat captain, and a correctional officer!
There are, of course, swans. They are quite beautiful and bold. They come right up to you looking for food. You can never trust a goose and swans are no different. When you don’t offer them anything they look quite indignant and I’m sure would have tried to bite us (I can see it in their eyes) if someone else wasn’t offering bits of bread. Then off they go waddling in a single line as if auditioning for a part in Disney’s movie Fantasia.
The Keystone Alley restaurant is recommended to us, and thanks to excellent directions, we are able to find the place and make a reservation. We were told the place is one step up from the Keg. The meals we ordered were excellent and we both agree that this place is more like three or four steps up from the Keg. The food presentation, textures, taste and service (and of course the price) were all top notch. Do eat here if you ever have the opportunity.
Well, Macbeth, at the festival theatre, what can I say… I’ve never been a theatre person but ever since reading Macbeth in high school, I’ve always wanted to see it at Stratford. So here I am.
We are very pleasantly surprised by the gardens surrounding the Theatre. As good as the Royal Botanical in Hamilton. After a quick walk through them, some picture taking of the statues and a visit to the gift gallery, it’s off to find our seats. Fourth row centre, main balcony, aisle seats… what the heck if you are going to come this far to see Macbeth you might as well do it up right. A few words of caution, you don’t get a lot of room between seats and there is not a lot of padding in them! For those of you who are not familiar with Macbeth here is a synopsis of the play taken from the festival programme.
Returning from battle, the Scottish warriors Macbeth and Banquo are accosted by three ‘weird sisters’ who predict that Macbeth will one day be king – though his successors will be Banquo’s descendants, not his. When King Duncan names his son Malcolm as his heir, Macbeth, urged on by his wife, decides to take his destiny into his own hands: he murders Duncan as he sleeps and assumes the throne. To consolidate his position, he orders the assassination of Banquo and his son – an act that has unexpectedly horrifying results. Haunted by manifestations of his guilt, Macbeth consults the sisters, who assure him that his rule will be secure until nearby Birnam wood is seen to move toward his stronghold at Dunsinane. Meanwhile, Malcolm is persuaded to return from exile in England and claim the throne. As Macbeth prepared to defend his crown, he discovers the fatal ambiguity of the weird sisters’ prophecies.