Of nursing, couches and theatre

Work has been crazy busy this week and then on my day off on Wednesday I accompanied my daughter to a nursing college she had applied to so she could take an entry test there (she really wants to be a paramedic one day). The test was an aptitude and character test, to see if she would potentially be up to it, and in the afternoon we heard she had done brilliantly and that yes, they would love do admit her. Pending her passing her finals in June, she’ll start nursing school next September. Baby girl is growing up!

Mr Esther had taken the day off as well, because on Wednesday our new couch arrived. Our old one was worn out, holes popping up everywhere from the fabric getting thin and the seating was getting hard and uncomfortable. You can see the fray on the side of the couch Mr Esther is sitting on, and that long piece of fabric behind my daughter on the other couch is covering up holes.

In January we went couch shopping and found an L-shaped one we really liked. It was quite huge, even in the shop, but oh so comfortable! We were doubting in the shop whether to go for it or not, so the seller lowered the price. When we were still in doubt he threw in an armchair for free as well. So, in the end we measured it all up at home and went for it, along with the decision that we will now definitely get rid of our piano (we’d been wanting to do that for a while now). So, the couch came on Wednesday. Yes, the piano is still there, the piano shop I have provisionally sold it to still needs to get back to me on when they’ll come pick it up. So, for now it’s a bit crowded with the new big couch and chair, but it is all oh so comfortable! Takes up some extra space but no regrets, we love it. My daughter even fell asleep in the huge armchair last night. The screws for the chair legs weren’t delivered, so they’ll be coming back with the right screws for the legs soon.

Mr Esther stripped the leather from the old couch for repurposing and the old stripped couches are now gone too. I almost hated going away on Thursday evening to the cinema, I want to live on that couch! Having said that, I did not regret going to the cinema as my friend and I went to see the National Theatre live performance of James McAvoy in Cyrano de Bergerac. We were not disappointed!

The trailer can be seen here and we loved it. The staging was minimalist (with no long prosthetic noses) and unusual with the actors mostly facing the audience when they spoke. A lot of the dialogue was rapped in rhyme and while it was set in the 17th century, the costumes were contemporary. There was a lot of cast on stage at the beginning (I also loved the diversity of the cast), the build up seemed a bit confusing and long, but a little while later it really hit its stride for me. The play worked best in the more intimate scenes with less actors on stage, the intensity then hitting you right in the heart. James McAvoy blew me away, he is such a great actor, totally disappearing into his role. The scene when Roxane tells him of her love for Christian is heartbreaking, the friendly touches she bestows on his arm mean so much more to him than to her; that whole scene moves from secret ecstasy to secret despair and is pure torture. There was another scene where Cyrano has this soliloquy in which he expresses his love for Roxane and that had me riveted. I think out of everything, that will stay with me the longest. I consciously caught myself not wanting to blink during that scene, I didn’t want to miss even a split second. I also really enjoyed Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Roxane.

Yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing this again, just to make sure I catch everything I might not have caught the first time around from the dialogue. My friend was afraid she’d not understand fully as there were so subtitles (her English is alright but not great) but she needn’t have worried. She understood fine and loved this too.

Two weeks ago I had also gone to see the Metropolitan Opera’s staging of Porgy and Bess with my mother in the cinema and had loved that too (despite the sound not being great in the cinema we were at).

It seems I’m in full on theatre mode these days, with more to come (this time live, in the flesh, and not on a cinema screen) as I fly to London tomorrow to see Richard Armitage in Uncle Vanya. I hope I like it as much as the hype promises… And if not, I can find comfort on my new couch when I return.