Marlowe at the Shakespeare

This was posted yesterday but something crashed. Lesson learned. Well, see the next post to see if lessons were learned.

On Saturday, we got up early to get to Washington, DC by eleven, when Amelia and her friend Abi were supposed to meet Phil. When we got to the Russell Street entrance to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, however, it was blocked off, with no signs, no detour (we later found out that there had been a derailment of twelve railcars, some containing hazardous chemicals; the last time this happened was in 2001, which was the day we had tickets to see the Orioles at Camden Yards, a game that was cancelled).

We followed a cab and then some other cars and eventually made it to the Parkway. From there, it was entirely uneventful to Washington, and even stopping for gas we were half an hour early to meet Amelia. We parked directly under the Sidney Harman Theater, and I took a picture of Phil in front of it.

It was so cold that we walked to Starbucks and bought stuff (they didn't quite get the idea of steamed eggnog with no coffee) just to keep warm. Amelia arrived as we left Starbucks, though without Abi. It was, as always, wonderful to see her, though Phil pointed out this was the first time he'd ever seen her in a really warm coat. So of course I had to take a picture.Marjorie and I left them to go to the National Gallery of Art, while they went to the National Portrait Gallery to await Abi.

At the National Gallery, we discovered that the Turner exhbiit was in the main gallery. Tbe exhibit we wanted to see, the Edward Hopper exhibit, was in the East Wing. In the cold, Washington's long blocks feel even longer.

As we were walking in, Marjorie noted that there seemed to be quite a line visible above the entrance, where the exhibit was. Since it was warm inside and we had time to kill, we went in anyway. Great choice!

I really can't overstate how good this exhibit was. You can see the website for it here: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/hopperinfo.shtm

But, as Marjorie emphasized as we were leaving, it was seeing all the paintings together and in person that really made the difference. You could see how Hopper would make the centers of his pictures incredibly detailed, while often leaving the edges in more of an impressionist style, moving your eyes exactly as he intended. We also saw how, as he and his wife (often his model) aged, his interest in older people grew. While growing older, I can appreciate that.

We had lunch at Legal Seafoods, which had its sign in Chinese, although my shot of it didn't come out as well as I'd have liked. Also, no fish chowder.

Then we walked back to the Sidney Harman, where we met Amelia's father, mother and brother, who were hosting us at the theater's premier production, which is of Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine. There was an explanation on the website of the reasons why they started their Shakespeare theater with a production of Marlowe, but I really don't buy it. Phil and Amelia arrived soon after, having finally met Abi, who had been delayed by the Washington Metro. We caught up with the Sagoffs after we found our seats, which were surprisingly comfortable and had a huge amount of legroom. Given the show was nearly three hours long, it was nice to not have leg cramps when it was over.

The show was "interesting." The basic problem with Tamburlaine was that Marlowe preceded Shakespeare, and it was only with Shakespeare that the depth of character development and the moral arc of Elizabethan theater was invented. Tamburlaine was a huge hit in its day, but has rarely been performed since. You can see why both were true. It is great spectacle, and its foreign theme (it takes place in the Near East) clearly would have attracted the curiosity of the theatergoing public. But the play (actually two plays; Act II of what we saw was a sequel to what we saw as Act I, and was written after Shakespeare's Henry VI transformed history drama) has no real conflict, no real plot, no real character development. Basically, Tamburlaine wins all his battles, kills everyone who stands in his way, and dies. There is some hint at the end that he died because he had descrated the Koran, but it's only a hint. The more interesting characters are those he killed or imprisoned or enslaved, but their fate is hardly the stuff of cliffhangers.

It is, however, one of Phil's favorite plays, and since this was the first major production in his lifetime, he was very appreciative of the opportunity the Sagoffs gave us. And everyone agreed they were glad they got to see the play. In my case, because now I will never have to see it again.

We went to dinner afterward at a Tapas restaurant, and had a great time and a ton of food.

From there, we left the Sagoffs and made our way to Rockville to see cousins Jim, Lisa, Laura and Ally Onken. We were stuffed, but then Lisa had made this lovely looking set of brownies. We had a great time talking to them, and learned that Lisa's dad has taken up sculpture after retirement and her mom teaches psychology at Montgomery College. There are a lot of psychologists on both sides of the family. Neither girl seems inclined to take it up, though. Laura, in fact, is going to take the LSAT and look for JD/MBA programs. Ally is considering colleges, with Columbia the leader in the clubhouse. And Jim has a job that intersects a little with Marjorie's, to work on publications, including websites, for NIH.

Long day, long drive.