The day was still excellent. First, we had afternoon tea at the Ruben Hotel. We loved the food; we both got seconds on the salmon sandwiches (I've never had seconds of any seafood that wasn't some type of fried crab). We were able to be seated immediately without a reservation, but other folks who came in after us were told the restaurant was booked up--we couldn't figure out their algorithm. We have decided to believe that we were welcomed immediately because of how charming and worldly we seem.
The staff was delightfully friendly. The waitress offered to take our picture, so we were able to obtain a photo memento without being uncool and asking for one.
When we paid, the hostess enthusiastically voiced her support for our decision to combine our finances when we got married (Jon and I both went for our cards to pay, when I beat him she asked if it actually mattered or if it was the same account). I am fairly certain I've never been praised for my personal finances by American restaurant staff. It was sweet but slightly bizarre. Americans don't do so much of the casual discussion of finances.
After tea we headed to Buckingham Palace. The queue was pretty long, but luckily it was a beautiful day. There weren't any photos allowed inside, but here are some exterior views:
St. James's Park:
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| Jon breezily wondered, "Do you think they used to put heads on those spikes?" |
Where the Queen has her Garden Parties:
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| I'm sure it gets the job done in terms of hosting thousands of people at once, but when it's not Garden Party day it's a bit uninspired. |
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| Agatha Bas, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1641. "Rembrandt introduced a new compositional device in this painting: the figure is posed within a painted ebony frame which blurs the boundaries between the imaginary space within the composition and the real world outside." |
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| Portrait of a Man with a Puzzle, attributed to Bernadino Licinio, c.1520-1530 "An unknown man...holds a child's toy, a puzzle trick known as 'flick-flack'. It consists of three or more rectangles of wood, held together by tapes in such a manner that a small object placed under the tapes may be made to vanish." And he is quite vexed by it! |
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| Mars and Venus, Antonio Canova, 1815-1819 It was carved from a single marble block. |
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| This vase is perfectly lovely, but the reason I like it so much is that it was a gift to King George V and Queen Mary from five-year-old Puyi, the last Emperor of China. I just love the idea of a five-year-old child going vase shopping for his peers' coronation. |
There was a lot to learn on the tour. Some favorite Fun Facts:
- Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms, including 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. Liz must have a bitch of a time when she misplaces her keys.
- They used to use stale bread to clean soot from the chandeliers.
- The Queen has her own in-house dressmaker and milliner. And I thought I was fancy for having washer and dryer in unit!
- Her personal jewelry collection includes a gorgeous tiara that can also be worn as a necklace--I love a good multi-functional accessory!
- At State banquets, the place settings have six different glasses for six different uses: water, champagne, white wine, red wine, dessert wine, and port. If you want to drink beer at a State banquet you're SOL.
- The White Drawing room features two cabinets that are built into the wall under tall mirrors. One of these mirror/cabinet combos serves as a secret door, so that the Royal Family can sneak into the room from their private rooms. I feel like whipping open a fifteen foot tall mirror is the opposite of being discreet, but I didn't see the action in practice so perhaps I'm picturing it wrong.
After we finished the Buckingham Palace experience, we were able to see the final performance of Kristin Scott Thomas in The Audience. It's been on our theatre list from the beginning, but we didn't realize it was nearing the end of its run. It disappeared from TKTS on Thursday; on Friday we found out Saturday was its last day and we luckily secured two excellent seats for the evening performance.
The Audience is some of the best theatre I've ever seen (at intermission I overheard a woman in the bathroom say that she had seen the play 17 times). Since Elizabeth II became Queen, she has met with each of her 12 Prime Ministers in a weekly audience. They are completely private. The play imagines conversations she had with eight of her PMs throughout her reign (from her very first audience with Winston Churchill to an ultra-recent session with David Cameron). It seems that the production tweaked the script throughout the run to keep up with current events--some of the most up-to-date references in this performance included discussion of Grexit, the images of young Elizabeth II giving the Nazi salute, and the release of the Galaxy S6 Android phone.
The exchanges range from strictly business discussions to heart-to-hearts that border on therapy sessions. There is a lot of humor as well as heart. Between her meetings with her PMs, we also see Elizabeth provide comfort and support for her younger self--a young woman who resents her move to Buckingham Palace and her constant presence in the public eye.
My favorite plays tend to be ones where a small number of characters just stay in one room and talk, so this was right up my alley. The performances were incredible, and we hung on every word. While the text understandably assumes more familiarity with the last sixty-three years of British history than Jon and I have, the storytelling is so strong that we did not feel completely clueless. My favorite scenes were between the Queen and 1970s PM Harold Wilson. I couldn't tell you anything about Wilson before watching this play, and I have no idea how accurate the actor's representation was, but you become heavily invested in him the moment he walks onstage.
The production's design was also exquisite. Scott Thomas had eleven different costumes and wore three different wigs. The sessions were not presented chronologically, so there were a lot of jumps in Elizabeth's age. Several of her costume changes occurred seamlessly onstage, so props to her and her dressers! The set was beautifully intricate forced perspective, depicting a long series of portals leading to two (so tiny!) thrones. Of course, there were two corgis who made adorable appearances. Cute animals onstage is such a cheap way to grab an audience, but damn if it isn't effective.
The Audience with Helen Mirren closed in NYC last month after a four month run, but I hope that it returns relatively soon, especially since the nature of the script involves constant updating. If you ever find yourself in a city where The Audience is playing, definitely try to catch it!
xo
Hannah
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