Sunday, March 18, 2007

Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung

With feigning voice verses of feigning love...

I spent some of yesterday cooking a dessert for dinner that evening. Mmm, chocolate pavlova topped with whipped cream and crushed Peppermint Crisp (chocolate bar).

I decided that I wanted to see the Australian Shakespeare Company's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for my birthday and invite my friends along. I discussed this with Noshie a couple of weeks ago and thought that I would arrange to have a picnic dinner in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and then move into the "seating" for the show. That way people could join us for dinner and not necessarily be forced into paying to see a show that they didn't want to necessarily fork out the money for and I got to see everyone for a little while.

It seemed to work. There were six of us who went to the show and about five others who just came for dinner.

Usually I would arrange to cater for everyone at one of my parties but this time I asked everyone to bring a plate of food to share and said that I would supply dessert. It worked really well. Bevis and his family came along and Wifey gave me a necklace she made for me herself, which is beautiful! Noshie said that she would contribute some money towards my ticket to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform King Lear later this year (starring Sir Ian McKellan) which she is coming to see with me - so exciting!. Another of my friends bought me an Asian cookbook which is very comprehensive and I immediately picked out a few recipes to try out - excellent! All I need now is to get myself a new wok and some bamboo steamers and I'll be ready.

We had dinner and then I served the pavlova. Bevis tried to tell me that we needed thirteen slices - he started by counting himself, finished by counting himself and also included Sweetums, methinks so that he could have three pieces for himself? The ants had also discovered my sugary creation so we forcibly evicted them (hilarity ensued) before I plated the food.

We said goodbye to Bevis, Wifey, Sweetums, Alison and her partner, and Gerri. The rest of us moved our rugs and cushions into the seating area and got set up for the show (lolly bags open, drinks organised, fluff that cushion, ooh the wind's getting chilly - better put on that jacket).

The performance was electric. High-energy acro-fairies (acrobatic fairies) buzzed, flipped and jiggled around the stage. The "rude mechanicals" performed their play about Pyramus and Thisbe with enthusiasm. There were pop-culture references aplenty and the minor deviations from the script added to the comedy and increased my enjoyment of the performance. "Dream" is one of the most understandable and oft-performed Shakespearian play which means that for some it can become quite stale but this troupe breathed fresh life into the bard's work.

I had a lot of fun and I want to send a thank-you to my friends for helping to make it such a great evening.


...So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

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