American Shakespeare Center
Staunton, Virginia
November 3, 2012
Brad - A
Chelsea - B
We fell in love with Staunton, The American Shakespeare Center, and Joel at the Frederick House Inn in March. So, we decided to turn our last trip to the only replica Blackfriars Playhouse in Virginia into a whole weekend affair.
So, we dropped the pup off at doggie overnight camp:
And then we headed out to Staunton. We decided to do a little wine tour on our way to Staunton, yes, Virginia has wine, and we were pretty impressed.
About an hour outside DC, we stopped at our first vineyard.
Chelsea was not very impressed with the vines, but of course, it is well outside grape season. The wine was tasty, and our wine pourer was very talkative. In case you are curious, she has two pugs, dates the general manager of the local walmart, and teaches elementary. She was great. We bought a bottle of white wine and headed down the road.
About 45 minutes down the road we stopped at a much larger winery. This place was huge.
After taking the self-guided tour, we tasted ten wines, and Chelsea had a taste of the frozen-drink-esque Sangria and Bellini, at the same time.
Once I could drag Chelsea away from the tasting counter, we headed down the road, through Charlottesville, to our last stop at Blue Mountain Brewery.
Nice mid-drift, huh? This place was awesome. We got a flight with their nine unique brews.
She liked the cider; I liked the rest.
De-lish-us. And as you can see, it was a beautiful day. But today would not end at a winery or brewery. It would end in Staunton. We got to our hotel at the Frederick House Inn. We went and got some dinner, enjoyed one of our bottles of wine, and headed to the theatre. Of course, before we went to the play, Chelsea read the Oxford book and explained the connections between Oxford and the play King John:
Then we headed to the playhouse.
So, King John: The King of France --- Phil --- approaches King of England --- John --- and tells him to give the English throne to the Arthur --- Art --- the rightful heir. John refuses and tends to the business of his kingdom, deciding a dispute between Robert Falconbridge and his older brother Philip the Bastard. During the dispute, John and his mom realize Phil the B is King Richard I's illegitimate child. John knights Phil-B and gains a viscious ally. So, Phil of France lays siege to Angiers (an English controlled city) and demands they recognize Art as the English King. John arrives and threatens war, but like most almost-wars, it is avoided because Phil's son and John's niece marry. Moral of the story: weddings can resolve international disputes . . . Enter trouble. Out of nowhere, a bishop arrives from Rome, tells him he appointed the wrong archbishop of canterbury, and tells him to recant. John refuses. From what I can tell, the bishop then issues a fatwa for John, forcing Philip of France to declare war. War rages in England. John goes back and forth on having Art killed, but Art accidentally dies trying to escape from a tower. Philip the Bastard non-consensually takes Louis the Dauphin's head. John ends up dying, and his son Henry takes the throne.
So, most of the action in this production took place in the first half of the play. It was a epic first half, and the second half was a bit slower. But it was great. Chelsea's favorite actor from our entire project, the fellow that played Richard III, was awesome. There were no weak actors. The music was great. They did a rockin acoustic version of Van Halen's Jump. Like always, great cast, great music, great production.
We headed back the next morning to pick up the pup.
He was tired but happy to see us. A great weekend.
King Brad