Back from Toronto and Stratford

Things done:

* Saw Stratford Festival production of Coriolanus, one of Shakespeare's later tragedies, with fabulous Fiend and two friends, "Noth" and a fellow for whom I do not yet have a convenient online handle. (NOTE: the "extended synopsis" link contains spoilers.)

The Toronto Star reviewer praises the lead actor's performance. I concur, but it also seemed that the play was effective and powerful because it avoided much of the discursive banter and meandering subplots that bog down other, lesser Shakespearian plays. Every scene, maybe even every line, contributed directly to the plot. It's a lean and direct play, a bitter and cynical look at the rise and fall of a superbly capable soldier who's just too proud for his own good. Too proud to play politics, too proud to pander to the plebian mob, and thus easy prey for those more skillful in that art.

I found myself reflecting that this is exactly how many political thinkers of Shakespeare's time viewed democracy: as violent, unpredictable mob rule, subject to the machinations of designing demagogues who promote themselves by manipulating the opinions of the ignorant herd and, in the process, deliberately driving out any capable potential leaders who might threaten their position. That is, after all, what frequently did happen in democratic Athens, where successful generals and rulers were exiled from the city with rather monotonous regularity. When the founders of the US were hammering out the terms under which their new nation would govern itself, the same thoughts haunted the mind of Alexander Hamilton and others. ("Your people, sir, is a great BEAST....")

* Saw The Da Vinci Code. A busy and baffling movie. As with the book, I found it rather implausible that an elderly man dying of a bullet in the gut would be able to run all over the Louvre, composing clever anagrams to scrawl on different paintings, hiding artifacts here and there, writing intricately-coded messages on the floor, and then arranging himself in an artful pose before expiring. Entertaining otherwise. Ian McKellan nearly steals the show from stolid Tom Hanks and subdued Audrey Tatou with his irascible but debonair portrayal of Sir Leigh Teabing. Dang it, when I'm his age, I hope I have wavy hair and twinkling eyes like that.

The movie is visually good-looking, with lots of mysteriously dark settings and baffling imagery. The use of computer-generated animations to portray Robert Langdon's thought-processes was a good idea, but relying on it as a crutch so that the movie doesn't have to really let the viewer see certain critical objects and locations in their entirity is excessive.

I note that various Christian groups and individuals are protesting against the movie, although so far as I know no Catholic or other Christian clergyman has issued the kind of public calls for riot and murder that characterized the Danish Cartoon brouhaha of a few months ago.

* Watched BBC miniseries of Dorothy L. Sayer's Strong Poison, in which the aristocratic amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey meets and is romantically smitten with an accused murderess, Harriet Vane. The actor playing Lord Peter was perhaps a bit older than I expected, but seemed otherwise well suited to the role. Bunter seemed a bit young but quite capable. Harriet Vane didn't have much to do in this episode, since she spent most of the time either locked in a prison cell or stoically enduring the accusations of the court. Fiend assures me that strong-willed Harriet plays a much more active role in other episodes.

* Accidentally discovered miniscule-but-lovely Cloud Garden Park in downtown Toronto.

* Debated merits of SmartCar.

* Bought a boring-but-servicable Generic Dark Suit to replace the one that was in the back of the Pontiac when it was stolen.


Things not (yet) done:

* Canoe/paddleboat race along the river in Stratford. Future fellow Stratford-goers may expect to be challenged to such a contest.

* Exploring Toronto's Music Garden.


And that was my Memorial Day weekend. Anyone else care to describe theirs?