Othello, Into Great silence

Wednesday was an extraordinary day. I spent some time reading "Othello". Ann did not come on Skype. To Coulsdon to choose music for June with Vickie. There was a line side fire at London bridge so had to get train to Victoria and then tube to Southwark. Met Bruce at Shakespeare's Globe for the outstanding production of "Othello". We had excellent seats against the wall in the lower gallery. The couple next to me had seen Paul Robeson play it at Stratford and apparently he sang after the performance - quite a feat! Olivier's film has influenced our perceptions. Tim McInerney commanded the stage as Iago. There was a class of 11 year olds from a special needs school and they were restless - what could they make of such a play? Fortunately they went at interval. The final scenes were so moving with Desdemona fighting for her life and Othello's tragic end taunted by Emilia. "Oh the pity of it" "It is the cause" "farewell the pomp and circumstance of war" - what wonderful lines! I was close to tears. The consequences of adultery and jealousy are too awful to contemplate.
Bruce and I enjoyed a pizza and double chocolate ice cream at Pizza Express beside the river and then I got the underground to Hammersmith to join Liz at Riverside studios. Der grosse stille (Into great silence) is an engrossing insight into the life of the Grande Chartreuse monastery set in the Alps. One longed for dialogue after a while. I could NEVER live alone on a desert island! The monks seem to have such serenity especially the blind monk waiting to die in peace. There was a special moment during the Corpus Christi procession when they sang Pange lingua and lovely scens of the monks tobogganing in the snow and out for a summer walk! Liz kept me awake. The lady next to me could not sit still!