I have lost count of the shows and concerts I haven't seen over the years, due to there never being the money for such luxuries when we were raising children and, in more recent years, the tyranny of tiredness that comes from travelling home after a night in the city an hour's drive away. So when this opportunity appeared locally, I snapped it up.
As a fan of Charles Dickens and in the midst of a personal challenge to get through as many of his books as I can in this, his 200th anniversary year, the appeal of a performance by one of Britain's premier actresses bringing to life the female characters from many of his stories is obvious!
Miriam Margoyles has that rare ability to transform herself, without props or costume, into the persona of another. It is almost startling when she "returns" to her true self, so convincing is the transformation.
This tiny women (she must be a good head shorter than I, and I am only 5' 4"!), whom I have loved in both Blackadder and Harry Potter, has recently appeared in the wonderful ABC series featuring Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher and I must admit being hesitant about her character, who does not appear in the books. But she is so wonderful, I think Kerry should add her!
This was not a show idealising Charles Dickens, indeed he lessened a little in my eyes as a man, given some of the background Miriam shares about his treatment of his poor wife. But he was a man of his times and perhaps he knew no better.
I then drove home to the ongoing soundtrack of A Tale of Two Cities!
If you can see the show, do go. But if you can't, treat yourself to the book.
A proposal is at hand |
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