Viva Las Venice

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–143

The production of The Merchant of Venice which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre tonight was an interesting modern take on the classical play. Set mainly in Las Vegas, there was an Elvis impersonator, a thug and a couple of southern belles. The language was all as Shakespeare wrote it. I was surprised how many passages I can still recite from my grade nine study of the play. Patrick Stewart was cast in the role of Shylock. As Jacob put it, he was absolutely brilliant.

Our night at the theatre was the perfect end to our time in Stratford. Today we enjoyed the history the city has to offer. We toured the home that William Shakespeare was born in and the remains of the home he died in. We toured the home of his daughter and son-in-law who was Stratford's doctor. We all learned some things about Victorian England,though I probably learned more than the boys as my knowledge deficit was far greater than either of theirs to begin with.

Tomorrow morning we will head to London for the last leg of our journey. Before going into the city we will take our rental car back to Heathrow and then take the train into the city. Tomorrow night we have tickets to see The Woman in Black. I saw it five years ago when I was in London on business with my friend Mike. Neither of the boys have seen it. As I recall it is quite scary. I think they will like it. We have yet to determine our plan for Saturday. I will go along with whatever Jacob and Merv choose. I would be content to just walk around the city and absorb the energy that is London. I do want to figure out, though, between now and the end of my shopping time on Saturday, what treasures I might pick up as table gifts for our Christmas Eve dinner. I've decided we will be having an English Christmas this year.