I am sitting here, writing tonight's blog post. It is late and I should be sleeping, I have a huge day tomorrow, but I am so hyped up. (Remember in the Ghost and Mr. Chicken when the occult ladies group saw something of note and came home and vibrated for an hour? Yep, that's me.)

I am here. I am in Stratford Upon Avon. I am getting emotional (again, it has happened a bunch today) as I consider just how much this means to me. Yes, I have posted some silly fangirl stuff about David Tennant tonight, but in the end tis all about Shakespeare. It always comes back to Shakespeare. That is who I am the ultimate fangirl for. And to have this opportunity to watch Shakespeare, performed by some of England's finest actors in Stratford Upon Avon is..well...it truly is like a dream. And this town, it is the quintessential English village. I am so in love. And this flat is gorgeous and even smells like my grandma's house. I teared up when we opened the door because of the smell, which must be something that old homes smell like I guess. (I know that I say a lot about scent, but that is a key memory factor for me.) This is perfection and I am so grateful to Erin and Karen for the working and planning that Erin especially went through so that we could have the perfect experience.

Now...the play's the thing...

As a Shakespeare scholar/actor/freak, I am filled with all sorts of emotions about tonight's performance. We have the privilege of being one of a few number who get to meet with the director of this show for a presentation tomorrow evening and I CANNOT WAIT. I am dying to hear about some of his choices, a few of which I question, in directing this play in this fashion. It is doubly powerful thing to see this particular show just 24 hours after being in the Tower of London. I am nearly back to the history overload that I was feeling last night. This is my history. Not my direct line, but this is my history. And it is rather overwhelming to feel it so personally and so in your face. And as I see the earlier history, the bloody history of these islands, I am even more overwhelmed with the choices that a few people made to break free of this ages old battle for power and try a new way. The emotions are intense.

Shakespeare. Oh how I long to one day have a conversation with that man. While I understand that he took some license with history, how masterfully he captures the flaws and strengths of humans an their decisions. And his words, oh heavens, his words. I laughed, I wept, I gasped, I swooned. And this all happened at the lesser known of the history plays. He is THAT good. And this play is so very lyrical and beautiful. As I told my companions earlier today, this is a play that, did it not star David Tennant, I could just listen to with my eyes closed. It flows so beautifully, especially towards the end. I know this play. I have seen it repeatedly and I read it through a few times in the past few weeks preparing for this trip, but as I sat there watching it performed, there were two times when I had to grab my program and my pen and write down a line I had just heard. IT IS THAT GOOD. SHAKESPEARE AND HIS USE OF WORDS IS THAT INCREDIBLE. Oh, I am just so excited and fluttery. The two lines that struck me tonight were, "Grief makes one hour, ten" and "Comforts are in heaven, we are on earth". Just a few words, simple words even. And yet, they strike my heart as though it was being pierced through with one of those huge swords they had on stage tonight.

Okay. I could go on all night but I need sleep. "Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care" (name that play, it should be easy). I am going to really channel Shakespeare tomorrow and then get angry at King Richard II all over again tomorrow night. So...until tomorrow...