Your Mutual Friends

OMF on Radio Literature!

2011-06-23T21:21:00.001-07:00

In case you missed it live, listen to OMF actors on WORT. They did a wonderful job!

http://archive.wort-fm.org/mp3/wort_110623_193001rlit.mp3

THE LONG AWAITED...

2011-06-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

EUGENE WRAYBURN

Ah, Eugene. Enemy of bees everywhere.

Eugene is one of those conundrums of personality who confuse even themselves. The strange, intricate development of his character, and his attempts to figure out what is going on with himself are intriguing, and for much of the book his morals seem slightly…off.

When you first meet Eugene he is a lazy, unmotivated, and altogether an indifferently selfish person. His comments and biting sense of humor were endearing to me as a reader, but I am quite aware that other people have differing opinions on that point, so I will not go too far into that.

Again, as with Bradley, nearly as soon as you meet Eugene, he meets Lizzie. It is interesting that the turning point for their characters is so early on in their respective stories, many authors like to get a long buildup to establish the character before they began to change.

Eugene is very interested in Lizzie. That is probably as far as his emotions get at this point, that of being interested. However, remembering that Eugene is lazy and indifferent, this should probably alert some people’s character development radars. And the fact that he is interested is interesting even to himself. He has a strange way of looking at himself-he is very analytical of his own personality, to a degree, and seems to want to understand why he feels things, especially if they are different than before. But then, he’s lazy and tends to be indifferent if things start to look too confusing.

Not so with Lizzie. In fact, Eugene goes to great lengths to figure out what is going on with his feelings regarding her. He continues to lend help in the form of education and an interest in her affairs and life, to the point that Lizzie is able to fall in love with him. Eugene, however, remains confused and skeptical of himself and his motivations until Lizzie disappears, and then he sort of gets his act together and at least decides to do something. Unfortunately, his morals then begin to be in question.

Eugene has tried to do nice things for Lizzie. He has attempted to be a kind person. Unfortunately, all the things he does are also a little selfish. He wants to have her educated because he likes her-and indeed, there is a strange thing going on with Lizzie’s education. Her father disapproved of it and now the two men interested in her are fighting over who gets to have her indebted to them for education, as if that settled everything.-

Back to Eugene. He is having her educated because he likes her, not because he has strong moral feelings about educating the poor. He is extending the offer to Jenny so as not to be exclusive to Lizzie and therefore seem ungenerous. And he even guilt-trips Lizzie to some extent (especially earlier on) into agreeing with these things. However, it’s a learning process, and he is really trying. to be nice. He’s just not very good at it yet.

After Lizzie is traumatized by her brother and Bradley Headstone, and warns Eugene off (who was coming to walk home with her-how late is this taking place?) he is confused, bemused, and a bit irritated. And then she disappears, triggering a decision on his part, and also throwing his whole character very close to ‘horrible person’ territory.

Eugene is still moody and gloomy, but now with a sort of plan or scheme working in his mind. Considering his unmotivated person at the beginning of the book, this is a huge step in change for his character. He broods over Lizzie’s disappearance, and decides to find her. When trying to cajole Jenny into giving up the address fails, he leaves. Coincidentally, however, he is followed by Mr. Dolls, Jenny’s drunken father who only wants threepennorthsrum and will do anything to get it. Interestingly enough, Eugene wants to find Lizzie and will do anything to find her. This must be fate. Awkward, dangerous fate.

The next part of this storyline is very much concerned with the bribery of Mr. Dolls by Eugene and then the infamous Bradley stalking Eugene plot. Eugene behaves very, very badly. The romantic in people may want to excuse him for what he does here, but his love for Lizzie is not in any way enough to excuse him for this, considering he didn’t HAVE to bribe Mr. Dolls with so much rum, and he didn’t HAVE to torture Bradley Headstone to the brink of insanity. In fact, he found the whole Bradley thing kind of amusing, and while he expresses a little regret about the whole Mr. Dolls deal, he doesn’t really seem to do anything to remedy it. He has Lizzie’s address at the end of it all, and that is enough for him.

This, morally, is a problem. Eugene is not crazy, he does not have Bradley’s excuse. He is not madly in love either, though he’s getting there. None of the usual excuses work here, because Eugene is still in the middle of figuring out his own feelings and consequently while his mind is a grey area, his motivations become a grey area and then bad moral things happen.

Somehow, Eugene is not quite a bad person. But he is a VERY MORALLY QUESTIONABLE one.

The rest of this is pretty simple. He finds Lizzie. He is stalked by Bradley. He and Lizzie have a sort of confrontation in which Lizzie just keeps telling him to GO AWAY and he keeps saying BUT WHY and she finally manages to make him sort of promise to leave her alone (though at this point whether or not he means it is also questionable). He soliloquizes, and just as he is finally getting to the heart of things and maybe going to start to figure things out, he is attacked (BRUTALLY, IN A STROBE LIGHT. IT’S AWESOME). and interrupted in his musings. This might be a good thing for his character, though, because considering his personality, it might have taken him forever to just decide to marry Lizzie and be done with it. (if he ever did, which is also doubtful.) As it happens, the attack and aftermath make him think faster than usual, probably because there is a very good chance that he will die.

It is strange, but in my humble opinion, Eugene’s deathbed choice to marry Lizzie is his moment of heroism. By choosing to marry her he is effectively rejecting society (oh the wonderful ‘Tippins’ speech), and also his respected father, and breaking lots of social rules and in general having a right good time being rebellious and that sort of thing. Not to mention he’s married to his one true love and they’re happy and all that. Also, he isn’t dead. Because she saved him! How cute is that?

Well, it’s NOT cute to Bradley Headstone. But we can thank him for being integral to Eugene and Lizzie’s relationship and the person who basically bashed Eugene into marrying Lizzie. So it all works out in the cause and love and justice or something.

IN CONCLUSION

When I consider Eugene and Bradley in light of these musings, the first thing that comes to mind is not that flattering to either of them. Because, no matter how much you try to ignore it or shove it out of the way, the fact remains that they are both stalkers. Bradley stalks Eugene, who stalks Lizzie. Deadly triangle. Bad news. Someone’s going to end up dead. And someone’s going to end up beat up and nearly dead. And someone’s going to end up very not beat up, very far from death, and happily married way above her station with her one true love.

Eugene and Bradley are really brilliant characters, despite their numerous failings. In fact, these failings make them the more brilliant. And I have written way too much about them, probably, but it was fun, and I promised Greer I’d finish someday, and I hope I didn’t ramble too much (though I did) and I hope that my musings and interpretations at least make some sense to whoever is currently reading this. I also didn't bother to do any tweaking to this, so apologies for grammatical errors.

~Boots

OMF videos on YSP website!

2011-04-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Check out the YSP website here to see some video clips of OMF scenes!

Because you know you're all waiting for casting, and watching videos of the show is the best way to take your mind off it...right?

photos from rehearsal!

2011-04-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

here are some rehearsal photos! i love you all!

I love you all so, so much.

2011-03-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

photos from early in the rehearsal process:

I can't wait to see what the next part of journey holds...

Top 10 things to do while waiting for the fulll OMF

2011-03-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

I know it's only been a few days since the workshop ended. Sure, maybe my attention span is short. But I'm bored. And I want to start the full OMF.

But this post also goes to those of you who won't be in the full play. And after the intro, there's going to be another whole week and a half while we wait for our casting. So for the impatient among us, or those who won't be with us for the full play, 10 things to do while waiting for all your free time to mysteriously disappear:

1. Read the book.

2. Re-read the book. It's surprising all the things you notice the second time around, especially when you've played some of the characters. Among other things--Bradley Headstone has a scene with John Harmon?

3. Watch a film version. Or two. I know we're critical of the versions, and you shouldn't let them influence your interpretation too much, but as Richard often says, there is no performance without at least some good things about it. (Alternatively, if you're a monomaniac, you can join me in my quest to find the lost film version of OMF--a silent short called "Eugene Wrayburn" with only the Eugene/Lizzie plot made by Thomas Edison's film company in 1911. I haven't been able to find these anywhere yet, but I'm going to keep trying!)

4. And what was four? Why, making pudding, he was four!

5. If you've done 1-3 already, read something else by Dickens. My personal favorites are Bleak House and David Copperfield, although I love Nicholas Nickleby as well. Or get adventurous and read some other Victorian novel--I'm currently in the middle of Vanity Fair, but I'd also recommend Middlemarch, Wuthering Heights, Barchester Towers...those were pretty good years for the novel.

6. Sit in the corner of your room at night and turn your lights on and off very quickly, to mimic a strobe light. Or walk down the bike path in character, muttering your lines under your breath. Yes, I have tried both of these.

7. Feel nostalgic about rehearsals by watching this video, filmed by Nick. (Back when we were still saying Georgiana incorrectly. Also, watch Alex come up with the Georgiana/Fledgeby not- wanting-to-sit-next-to-each-other idea--it's so cool to see everyone's thoughts happen in real time!) Or, if you're really desperate, watch this section 14 OMF workshop blooper video. Yep.

8. Volunteer to help out with the incredibly FUN process of counting lines and creating stage change lists for acts 3 and 4! That's what your directors are doing! Fun, fun, anyone want to join in the fun? Why are you all running away?

9. Read the 19th-century reviews of OMF. Two of the most interesting are that of G. K. Chesterton (he praised it) and Henry James (he Wray-burned it pretty badly).

10. I can't think of a ten. Write blog posts about OMF?

Anyway...I can't wait until the intro!

Eugene Wrayburn and Bradley Headstone PART THE FIRST

2011-03-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ah. Hello. I've been writing this for a while now, and basically it's not even done yet. But I promised to put it up this week-or part of it, and here is roughly the first half.

I would like to thank everyone who I talked about these characters with, but especially Greer, Oliver, and Brewer, because they play these fantastic characters and it's so interesting to see what they come up with.

It has been extremely interesting these past weekends to see the result of some buildup in farther past weekends relating to the topic of certain persons Eugene Wrayburn and Bradley Headstone. The general opinion seems to be all in favor of Bradley! Why is this? While I acknowledge that he is an incredibly interesting and quite sympathetic character, and very deserving of all the love, I have not been able to fully understand why Eugene is so disliked, and I also have been confused as to why people are comparing them. Simply because persons are involved in a love triangle does not mean that is the defining part of their character.

While I confess myself strongly bias towards Lizzie and Eugene on the love triangle level, I regard Eugene and Bradley as equally interesting on a character level. And so, if you do not all mind reading a little analytical rambling of character on my part, I would like to ramble a bit about both of them.

One may argue that one of the points of Bradley Headstone is to make, through comparison, Eugene more favorable as a match for Lizzie. This may work in some places, but as demonstrated by the strong bias towards Bradley Headstone at YSP, that is not really working here.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I am not fond of love triangles, they always seem to make someone unhappy or dead (or in Bradley’s case, both, so I was not incredibly pleased to see one developing on my first read-through of Our Mutual Friend. Eugene or Bradley was going to end up unhappy (or dead), and that’s just a depressing thought to be reading with. At this point I considered Eugene amusingly aloof and dismissive (but actually, I thought Mortimer was even more so), and Bradley was just a guy who repressed his emotions WAY TOO MUCH for it to be healthy. So they weren’t great-but not that bad either.

AND ON REFLECTION

BRADLEY HEADSTONE

Bradley Headstone is many things. Object of romantic interest to Miss Peecher. Romantic pursuer of Lizzie Hexam. Stalker of Eugene Wrayburn. Schoolmaster to Charley Hexam. Schoolmaster in general. Conflicted. Confused. Man of repressed emotions. Passionate. Obsessive. And possibly just a little crazy. But that is up to you.

When you first meet Bradley Headstone you are given a brief glimpse into his ‘normal’ persona. I say brief, because pretty much as soon as you meet him, he meets Lizzie and then, sadly, it is all downhill from there. He is decent, constrained, and from the beginning it is hinted that there is something lurking beneath.

Bradley Headstone, for all his tragic character and somewhat sympathetic villainry, is not exactly a good man. He is briefly shown as in control of his life, but changes to being ruled by his passions very quickly. While love can be a redeeming passion, hate is not really regarded as such.

So he falls madly (literally!) in love with Lizzie and starts to pursue her, and rather abandons his stable life for the passions of the heart. His love for Lizzie leads him to develop a very deep hate for Eugene Wrayburn, very fast, and for very little cause. Raging jealousy, hate, and love are often a bad combination.

What did Eugene do? His air-his speech-his condescending aloof and disinterested laziness seem to affect Bradley almost immediately. Admittedly, he is not very nice to Bradley Headstone either, but is that really enough to justify murderous hate? But more about Eugene later.

I find it important, when talking about Bradley Headstone, to mention his proposal to Lizzie. On his part it seems desperate and sympathetic, a man who is madly in love attempting to win over object of said love. However, what is it to Lizzie?

Take the location, for instance. A graveyard. Consider his name. Headstone. While you roll your eyes and go ‘Oh, that Charles Dickens!’ and also thank the various worshipped heavenly powers that his name wasn’t Deadstone, also consider that if you were being proposed to-would you want to be proposed to in a graveyard? At night? I will not add ‘from a man whose name is Headstone?’ because the name really isn’t his fault, poor man.

However, the whole ordeal mostly freaks Lizzie out. I cannot blame her because it is just not a position that any young woman wants to find herself in, at night especially. She refuses his proposal of marriage, and then he fixates on Eugene as the causer of all his problems. He cannot blame Lizzie for this-he blames Eugene. For everything. And Lizzie realizes this and gets even more frightened because she actually kinda likes Eugene. Bradley retreats with some dignity left (actually he makes a pretty good exit, considering the way things went) and actually doesn’t really ever bother her again, except to attempt to kill Eugene, but that’s an indirect bother.

Eugene, on the other hand, is a different story. He is now the object of an obsession for Bradley Headstone-he is the reason that Lizzie refused him, and after all, Bradley was in love with her, so yeah, Jealousy and all that fun stuff. Good thing there wasn’t a Iago around, eh?

As the story continues, Bradley gets more and more unhinged. However, soon, a very notable Bradley and Eugene interaction takes place.

THE BAITING OF BRADLEY HEADSTONE

The big all-caps title was probably unnecessary. However, it sounded cool and ominous.

In all honesty, and I will talk about this later, this is not exactly Eugene’s shining act of humanity. And as the line between the two in terms of ethics becomes blurred-by this time both of them are doing strange, selfish things, or at least planning to do strange, selfish things. And while it is very entertaining to picture Eugene running around town, stalked by Bradley, and taking all the silliest and odd routes just to irritate and further infuriate Bradley, it just doesn’t click with the moral evaluators. So really, this is where Bradley is portrayed as quite a victim. Provoked by Eugene’s amused…provoking, he starts to really go crazy. As long as we note that he started following Eugene, which prompted Eugene to bait him, we can continue. (Also interesting is that it is implied that Charley too takes part in this follow-the-Eugene game from time to time. In fact, in my copy of OMF, which I found in a used bookstore, the lines of Eugene describing his followers are underlined, and beneath is written ‘headstone&charley’).

You may all glare at Eugene now, so we can get back to Bradley.

Bradley is murderous. And angry. And wrathful. And absolutely bent on following Eugene in the hope that Eugene will lead him to Lizzie. I do, though, wonder if that is just one of the reasons he is following Eugene. After all, when he finally follows Eugene to Lizzie, he doesn’t even bother with her and beats up Eugene instead.

In my humble opinion, throughout the rest of the book, Bradley is strangely enough, a really sympathetic character. Before he proposed to Lizzie, Charley was a very bad influence on him, I think. But then, as things near an end, something happens to make Bradley go completely insane.

And it is ALL CHARLEY’S FAULT.

He’s rejected by the woman he loved. He’s baited and provoked by the man he loathes. And finally, he is ‘cast off’ by Charley Hexam. The horrible part? It’s thanks to Charley that he met Lizzie, and consequently went insane (and then died) because of the events that happened after.

There’s not much else to say. He hangs about with Riderhood, stalks Eugene to Lizzie, and then in a fit of fury, beats him nearly to death and dumps him in the river.

In this murderous act, Bradley has actually imitated the dress and look of Riderhood, probably to lay the blame on him if there should be an investigation. Riderhood is no fool, and notices. He proceeds to attempt to blackmail Bradley, and in a final act of, well, something, Bradley grabs him, they struggle, and then fall to their deaths in the river. It’s pretty much suicide, he knows that if he kills Riderhood, he’ll die too, and that makes Bradley’s death very tragic, and really rather heroic, in a way.

To be continued...

Not a Real Post, or You too could be a blogger

2011-03-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

This isn't a real post. Every time I try to write one, I have to think about OMF, which immediately provokes a train of thought something like this:

"Our Mutual Friend gotta do those stage changes and re-tape the stage and finish blocking Anne's costumes are so cool I can't wait to read act 4 God I love Bradley Headstone I can't believe we have only two more weeks of this production this is so amazing!!!!"

So, yeah. I'm a little distracted. So instead, I would like to open up this blog this week to all of you who are not directors but are dedicated OMF actors. Do you have any thoughts about the production? About your characters? Pictures/stories you'd like to share? Email me. I'll compile them into a post which I'll put up by the end of the production.

In the mean time, relax, sleep, run lines, come to our last two rehearsals, and I'll see you all at dress rehearsal.

--your friendly neighborhood intern/articulator of human bones/creeper-and-arch-nemesis

P.S. Try this! Name all 20 novels Dickens' novels within 10 minutes. I remembered 16 of them--how many can you get? http://www.sporcle.com/games/dickens.php

How Dickens wrote Our Mutual Friend, or Amos Deadstone

2011-03-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

So the other day, I was reading scholarly articles about Our Mutual Friend. (Yes, I read academic scholarship for fun). And I found this fascinating article from 1944 about how Dickens planned OMF--with copies of Dicken's original notes!!

So here, in all their typographically-reproduced glory, are Dickens' own notes about how the story of Our Mutual Friend should go. He's also experimented with some lines and some names in the margins. A few interesting observations:

Miss Peecher was almost named Miss Pitcher, Mr. Riah was almost Mr. Oden, and Bradley Headstone was almost Amos Deadstone. (Amos? Really Dickens? I'm glad you switched to Bradley).

When comparing the notes to the original OMF manuscript, the scholar who wrote the article found that each book was written in the same ink as the notes for the next book. So Dickens was planning as he went--he didn't plan the whole book from the beginning.

The most interesting speculation the scholar makes is that Eugene Wrayburn might have originally been supposed to die! By Eugene's scene with Lizzie, Dickens has "Eugene dying" underlined, and a line written by Eugene: "I hope I should amend, if I recovered, but I'm afraid I shouldn't." As much as I hate to say it, I'm glad Eugene doesn't die. It seems like Bradley was fated to die from the beginning, so it would be really sad for Lizzie if she was left without both of them at the end of the story. Plus, Bradley's death would be totally in vain. So...darn.

Anyway, here is the article. If you want to skip to the notes themselves, go to page 8.

At The Capitol

2011-02-28T15:14:00.000-08:00

It has been very hard, these past few weeks, to think of anything without also thinking of the events in Madison and particularly at the capitol. Everyone is talking about it. In fact, it is often all that anyone does talk about. So it is not surprising that a cold, but cheerful Sunday morning would bring about a discussion of Our Mutual Friend and The Capitol.

In fact, the topic of conversation was in fact 'What would they be doing at the capitol?'

It all start with a connection between Podsnappery and certain government types. Then Veneering was brought into it on their side. After some time, it was decided that Rokesmith was the 14 Democrat senators. There was a strong, strong connection between pretending to be dead and running off to Illinois, we thought. (We being Melissa, your truly, and Zoe)

So, now that the government was all figured out-what was everyone else up to?

Some people were easy. Eugene and Mortimer are camped out in the capitol, sleeping bags, and maybe even a tent. Jenny Wren and Lizzie are sitting on a wall somewhere outside. Eugene keeps running back and forth between Mortimer and Lizzie because he wants to be inside, protesting, but he wants to make sure Lizzie is okay-and back and forth and back and forth.

Mortimer has a ukulele.

Blight is sitting near Mortimer, going over a printed-out copy of The Bill with several highlighters and a pencil, trying to figure out exactly what is in it.

Bradley Headstone is really supposed to be protesting, but he's hovering *coughstalkingcough* around Lizzie, in the crowd just a little ways away. Eugene is perfectly aware of this and gives him a cheeky wave every now and then. Charley Hexam isn't bothering with this business, and is nowhere to be found. But Miss Peecher and all her students are there, in a little group, and each of them has a very neatly handwritten sign of protestation-and with very lovely penmanship on the B in 'Bill'.

Since there isn't a poorhouse around right now to worry about, Betty Higden is protesting with all her might for workers rights. She is constantly at the megaphone, giving inspirational speeches.

As for the shadier characters, Silas Wegg is sitting on a bench somewhere, glaring at people, with no real purpose but glaring. Rogue Riderhood is skulking about, but Pleasant has set up shop, selling pre-made signs and lots of t-shirts.

The Boffins are strolling around, perhaps a little ways away from the crowds, but very certainly supporting them. Mrs. Wilfer is protesting. Loudly. She has dragged Lavinia and George Sampson there with her. But Bella and R. Wilfer are sitting at a little cafe on state street, chatting, and calling in to Ian's pizza every now and then to buy pizza for protesters. Mr. Boffin has given Bella spending money for this very purpose.

Speaking of pizza, Venus is delivering it, somberly, and hoping to catch a glimpse of Pleasant.

If we have forgotten any characters, we apologize. There are a few smaller ones-Lady Tippins is a tea partier, and so is Aunt Medusa-but Aunt Medusa is pretending not to be because she doesn't like Lady Tippins. But they aren't at the protest for very long.

Hoping that this was at the very least, amusing.

Interesting Dickens stuff.

2011-02-24T20:00:00.001-08:00

Here is a website that has a few interesting facts about Dickens,

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/05/26/8-odd-facts-about-charles-dickens/

Crossword!

2011-02-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Crossword Puzzle: Fill in the Blank-Lines from acts 1+2

http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2011.02/1718/17182255.600.html

The Dead March in Saul

2011-02-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

I have been exceedingly curious these past few weeks, as to find out what tune is so frequently referenced in connection with Mrs. Wilfer in Our Mutual Friend. What sort of music must it be that she lives her life to the tune of?

A quick search on the internet remedied my curiosity. While not quite as ominous as I was hoping for, I can definitely see why Bella and R. Wilfer associate it with Mrs. Wilfer! Slow, steady, and rather depressing. However, the tune is quite defined, and shouldn't be too hard to remember for certain members of the Wilfer family who must hum it.

For your listening convenience I have linked to a nice recording I found on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12tvIp8enpA

It may be just me, but I felt that this would also be an appropriate wedding march for the thankfully averted marriage of Georgiana and Fledgeby. I could also see it playing softly in the background during Mrs. Wilfer's speech at the end of section 17 of Act I.

I hope this is enlightening for anyone wondering about this particular piece of music. Also-I expect you to all be able to hum the general theme by this weekend. Get listening!

Specials this Weekend

2011-02-11T08:31:00.001-08:00

If These times don't work for you please call me(Rebecca) and let us know.

SATURDAY 2/12(10, 15, 17, 18, 22, 30)
4-6 Sarah, Jacob, Katie, Alex, Emmaline, Michael Fl, Greer, Zoe, Isabel, Arwen, and Nick

SUNDAY 2/13(4, 6, 7, 27 w/o Nick)
4-5 Melissa, Greer, Ruthanne, Jacob, Alaina

Update from New York

2011-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, I had the honor to attend The Friends of Dickens New York celebration of "our mutual friend's" (that would be C. D. of course!) 199th birthday.
What an energetic, pleasant, welcoming bunch! Their book of the year is "Tale of Two Cities" so we were treated to a short dramatic reading of the confrontation between Madame Defarge and Miss Pross. I happened to be the youngest person in attendance and most far afield, but everyone at our table was really nice to talk to--the party was a luncheon at an Irish bar. They even forgave my confusion about not having money for the meal--I had read on their website that meetings were 'free and open to the public'--and kindly offered to pay for me and insisted that I join them for lunch. and tea. and strawberry shortcake. so nice!

The highlight was hearing Lillian Nayder talk about her book "The Other Dickens", a biography of Catherine Hogarth, or Charles Dickens' wife. I'll confess I didn't know who she was, but I am very eager to read a copy of her book. She was so enthusiastic, describing the ways in which Charles slighted Catherine (he was not so nice, apparently) and had clearly researched their lives throughly. Nayder described some accounts of dinner parties the Dickens' attended and seemed also as if she had been a guest herself. How does one research such a book? Well Nayder's description makes me envy historic research if it involves traveling to an amazing city like London, spending all day in a historic library, and reading a Victorian diary. Sounds pretty good indeed.

It was great to spend an afternoon in the company of fellow Dickens enthusiasts since I couldn't be at the run through with my usual cohort. Some even dressed up in period clothing! The guy who dressed as Sydney Carton was fantastic, and he even wore a red string around his neck--you know, because of Carton's encounter with a guillotine...awesome.

Where are they going?

2011-02-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

While an appropriate answer might be a hearty cry of 'shares!' or 'on the river Thames!', it might be worth it to go a little deeper into this question. You all know many of the characters of Our Mutual Friend, and now that we have a pretty good grounding in what they are like and what they do, the next question to be pondered is where are they going?

Luckily for us, there's a book!

And I am going to enlighten you as to some of the things that end up happening to the characters in this story. Some you will see coming. Some you might already have an idea of from Act II, and you will definitely start to see these things taking shape once we start reading through Act III. But for now, I will try to explain just some of the intriguing endings for some of these characters.

First and foremost is not probably all that surprising. John and Bella get married, quite before the end in fact, and have a baby soon after. However, she still doesn't know he's John Harmon. That is revealed later, which brings me to another thing. It turns out that Mrs. Boffin (and Mr. Boffin soon after) realizes that John Rokesmith is John Harmon very early on, quite as early as the end of Act II or thereabouts (and she had suspicions from even Act I, which explains that whole scene where she feels like she's seeing ghosts)! It is not until very near the end that all is revealed (Bella is shocked. I don't blame her.)

For those of you interested in the whole Lizzie story, I can assure you that it's got quite some developments coming soon! If you thought the end of Act II was crazy, that's nothing to what happens later. Eugene actually gets hit over the head by Bradley Headstone, falls in the river, but is saved by Lizzie (in a boat!), and nearly dies. He marries Lizzie on his deathbed....and then gets better. Happy ending after all, eh?

Speaking of Bradley Headstone, he and Rogue Riderhood have a fight, and fall in the river and drown. Kind of brutal, actually.

Poor Miss Peecher.

There is a lot of death in this play, as you may have noticed. Betty Higden for instance, travels for a time, but then sits down to die and is found by Lizzie, who is with her in her final moments. Mr. Dolls also meets his end during the story.

On a lighter note, it may interest (and perhaps surprise?) some of you to know that Pleasant Riderhood is none other than the lady who does not wish to regard herself in that 'boney' light. However, her and Venus sort it out near the end and settle down.

Georgiana does not marry Fledgeby (thankfully!) because Sophronia actually backs out of the scheme. Wegg attempts to blackmail the Boffins, but is foiled in true Dickensian and Boffinly fashion. Charley 'disowns' Bradley Headstone (probably contributing to the latter's slightly unbalanced state of mind). Jenny Wren and Sloppy hit it off very nicely and probably even get married eventually!

The final thing that I, in particular, think is just brilliant, is the final scene of the book. Society is discussing the marriage of Eugene and Lizzie-in disapproving tones. But Twemlow, wonderful man that he is, bravely defends them. He has come a long way from being confused about whether he is Veneering's newest friend or oldest friend, and now dares to challenge Society's views in a beautifully simplistic and honest way. He is truly a great character.

There are many more fantastic scenes in this book, and you should all really just read it! But I hope this has given you an idea of how things work out and even given you something to think about in relation to your characters.

So technically I post on Saturdays, but...

2011-02-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

...I thought I would take a minute of this very special day (see below) to tell you all two important things:

1. Where am I and WHY DID I MISS THE RUN-THROUGH?! Sorry. I've been auditioning for acting schools and going to a poetry conference. I will be back on Wednesday.

2. But more importantly--whose birthday is it today? Mine? No. Gabby's? No. Rebecca's? No (it's two weeks from yesterday, so get her something nice). No, it happens to be the birthday of our very own

CHARLES DICKENS!!

Charlie is 199 years old today. (He was born in 1812). I'm not going to write out his full biography here (you can find that here). Instead, here are 9 lesser-known facts about Dickens (I would have done 199, but that's just way to many):

1. Dickens rearranged the furniture of his house several times every week. If the furniture was not in the exact correct position, he could not write.

2. He was famously obsessed with neatness, too--he used to inspect his childrens' bedrooms, and send them notes if he thought they weren't up to his standards. And he combed his hair dozens of times each day.

3. He suffered from epilepsy.

4. He liked nicknames--his pen-name was Boz, and he called one of his children Skittles.

5. He was either the inventor of or one of the earliest writers to use the word 'boredom'. Other words coined or inspired by Dickens include 'scrooge' (from the Christmas Carol), 'Dickensian' (from his own name), and 'gunpowderous'. And yes, I will give you an extra-large brownie if you use 'gunpowderous' in a conversation with me.

6. His middle name is John Huffam.

7. All of Dickens' novels have remained in print continuously since they were first printed.

8. Dickens almost became an actor. The day he was scheduled to audition for the first time, however, he fell ill, and started writing his first stories soon afterward.

9. There is a theme park in Britain called Dickens World, with replicas of Victorian stores and places from the novels. (This is not a very interesting fact, but it is hilarious).

Overview of the Weekend

2011-02-07T10:13:00.000-08:00

-Very productive stage changes rehearsal for Act 1 cast Y. We finished early so we got to take some requests of scenes to run!
-Breakfast Extravaganda, arranged by Michael Fl. Lots of goodies of all kinds. The upstairs smells like bacon now. Alaina has offered to host another soon!
-Secret Valentines got assigned, remember to start working on them!
-Formal day with some wonderful gowns!
-Had a wonderful runthrough of cast X. Everyone's characters really started to come alive.
-Got through Section 19 of cast Y
-Distributed the First CD of Act 2
-Started working out the schedule for special rehearsals
-Welcomed our new tester Caryl Farkas
-Met a bunch on new props including a skeleton, 3 beautiful dolls, a boat wheel and anchor, and a mangle!

Things to look forward to:
-Finishing the act 1 runthrough!
-Readthroughs of act 3
-Secret Valentines on Sunday
-Wear red/pink/white on Sunday
-Starting rehearsals for act 2

Crossword of Act 2 Characters

2011-02-05T18:09:00.001-08:00

A look ahead at the characters we will be working with!

http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2011.02/0518/05180813.675.html

Hello from New York

2011-02-04T20:25:00.001-08:00

I made it out of Madison just before the blizzard hit on Tuesday! Unfortunately this means I will miss the run thru of Act I this weekend. And I've been thinking about it a lot, and we're definitely ready to prove we can pull this off.

So I wish you all impeccable blocking, snappy lines, peppy stage changes, attentive spectatoring, nary a cue and hopefully we'll have some glimpses of what a tremendous show this will be!

As for me, I will be thinking of all of you often this weekend, and I happen to be embarking on a Dickensian event tomorrow myself... details to follow...

A Dickens timeline

2011-02-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

While poking around on the web trying to find interesting Dickens related stuff I happened on a timeline of Dickens life, I found it interesting So I thought i'd share it.

http://charlesdickenspage.com/timeline.html

Dickensian Weather

2011-02-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

As I sat here in snowed-in Madison, I realized that Dickens does not talk about snow. He talks about lots of rain, and even more fog, but things don't seem to freeze much in Dickens' world.

Therefore, I decided to check the weather in London for today, and I now offer a comparison between the weather of Our Mutual Friend's birthplace, and that of the city where Our Mutual Friend currently finds himself:

In Madison, the current temperature is 13.2 degrees Farenheit, and feels like -2 degrees.
In London, the current temperature is 45 degrees Farenheit, and feels like 39 degrees.

The current humidity in Madison is 49%, while in London it is 81%.

Tonight and tomorrow, both cities will experience partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures.

In Madison today, the sun rose at 7:11 AM and set at 5:11 PM.
In London, the sun rose at 7:37 AM and set at 4:54 PM.

I am sure that Madison received much more snow in the last 48 hours than London received.

Now the question is: which location's weather is preferable? Cold and snowy or cool and damp? (Keep in mind that Madison got 43 more minutes of daylight today than London did.)

Schedule for the Week

2011-01-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 2/1
5-7 Optional Rehearsal
Thursday 2/3
5-6 Dead Gaffer Special
Friday 2/4
5-? Lines Running
Saturday 2/5
9-12 Stage Changes(EVERYONE COME!!!)
12-1 Potluck Brunch
1-4 Act 1 Runthrough Cast X
Sunday 2/6
11-4 Act 1 Runthrough Cast Y(and a readthrough of most of Act 3!!!)
Note: On Sunday there will be no lunchbreak. We will be eating while reading through act 3 meaning there will be NO TIME to go get food. Please make sure to bring a lunch with you.

Words of Our Mutual Friend

2011-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Rebecca and I found this cool website that lets you put words together in cool ways. Here are the collages:
The Characters
The Participants
The Narration at the end of Act 2
Our Mutual Friend

Marcus Stone

2011-01-29T17:43:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you've noticed, but there are a lot of pictures of OMF characters at YSP right now. They're in your script (Act 1, scene 1, for instance). They're sitting on the ground, blown up to large sizes and framed. And Imany of them will be gracing our program at performance time.

If you're like me (which I'm sure none of you are--I'm a total geek) you probably looked at these illustrations and said, "Who made these? How were they made? Did Dickens commission them?" So, being a total geek, I went and researched some answers.

These drawings were made by a man named Marcus Stone. Marcus Stone was an engraver: he carved sketches onto wood blocks, which would then be transferred to copper plates, and finally printed in the newspapers that Dickens' novels first appeared in. Stone was a long-time friend of Dickens and his illustrator for almost a decade. (They were friends from Stone's childhood: when the artist was 12 years old, Dickens saw a sketch that Stone had done of Jo from Bleak House, and liked it so much that the novelist showed it to his publisher).

Most people from Dickens' time did not like Stone's illustrations. They preferred the silly, cartoonish style of Dickens' first illustrator, Phiz, to Stone's darker, more realistic style. However, Dickens himself preferred Stone's illustrations to Phiz's. This might be because Dickens' literary style was becoming more darker and more serious--and more like Stone's drawing style.

Personally, I like Stone's illustrations, and the darker and weirder the scene, the better. This one of Johnny's death is one of my favorites:Don't you feel like that fireplace is about to swallow Betty Higden up?
(You can see the complete set of Stone's OMF illustrations here).

One of the coolest things about Stone's illustrations is that Dickens himself helped with them. He gave Stone notes about character, clothing, and facial expression. So Stone's pictures are what DICKENS HIMSELF thought your character looked like.

Below is Stone's picture of Bradley Headstone. If I start writhing on the ground like a maniac during rehearsal, you'll know why.

This Weekend in Rehearsal.....

2011-01-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

-BLOCKING!!!
-A Super Awesome Questionnaire
-Pajama Day on Sunday!
-Warm-ups by Melissa
-New and Exciting Scenes

Words, Words, Words

2011-01-27T22:43:00.000-08:00

The first of many weekly games related to Our Mutual Friend!

Crossword Puzzle of Act 1 Characters!

P.S. for anyone in or related to Idle Conversation my mother just got me a novel written by a Shakespearean actress , director and founder of the Pasadena Shakespeare Company, Gillian Bagwell. It is 'The Darling Strumpet' and it is the story of Nell Gwynns life through poverty, prostitution, acting, and of course Charles.

Totally Tuesday

2011-01-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

So I slipped up and forgot to post on Tuesday. Please accept this photo from the amazing Ben Rifken. So proud everyone looks like they're paying attention!!

Well, If Jenny Wren gets to be a song...

2011-01-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

...then Lizzie Hexam gets to be a comic book character.

It turns out that if a director, sitting at a computer at night, types her character's name into Google, only the first result of the search actually manages to be about the Dickens character. Results two and three reference a character by the name of Lizzie Hexam who exists as part of a comic book series known as The Unwritten. There's even an issue with the title The Many Lives of Lizzie Hexam. So it seems she was at least reasonably important to the story in the comic books.

Of course, I haven't been able to find out if there is any connection between the Lizzie Hexam of Dickens and the Lizzie Hexam of comic books. But I doubt that the shared name is a complete coincidence. And, to use one of Boots' positive adjectives, it was astounding to discover that even in a world where, perhaps, few people have read Our Mutual Friend, the characters' names keep showing up in unlikely places, unnoticed by most who encounter them.

And I just thought that was interesting and worth sharing.

[Insert Positive Adjective Here]

2011-01-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hey. Boots here.

I was trying desperately to figure out a good way to start my blog post, and then, while I was writing the weekly email, I used the word stupendous. So I suppose I can just start from there.

Positive adjectives are kind of awesome. Everyone should have at least ten or fifteen memorized for exciting occasions. And let me tell you, it is quite easy to forget some and start using the same ones over and over. Fond as I am of the word awesome, sometimes it just gets repetitive.

And so I challenge you to expand your vocabulary of positive adjectives. Splendid, marvelous, grand, superb, fabulous, magnificent, super, wicked*, cool, amazing, awesome, astounding, and (my personal favorite) tremendous! are only a few of the brilliant words out there that you can use to describe OMF. Or you know, other stuff. Hot tea, a sunny day, over 10-degree weather, the fact that you are totally memorized for the next deadline, etc...

Outstanding, huh?

*To be used like in Harry Potter. 'That's wicked!' and the like. Can also be combined with other positive adjectives as in 'wicked cool!' and 'wicked awesome!'. Combine with care. 'Wicked splendid' doesn't have much of a ring to it.

A Pleasingly Productive Sunday

2011-01-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

My goodness. Today I, like many of my fellow actors spent from 8am to 4pm at YSP today.
And I didn’t go nearly as crazy as I thought I would! (though I was a little grumpy in the middle, sorry)

Here’s why:
-a breakfast meeting with 8 optimistic people, caffeinated beverages and scones
-commenting on several wonderful Shauvians
-an enthusiastic morning warm up enacting modes of transportation: kayak, ice-skate, pogo stick, bumblebee
-watching a very technically intense scene go from total chaos to nearly performance ready in 2 hours
-a person not connected with YSP (until now...) being very generous with his time and energy
-a refreshing...conversation...
-fun vocal exercises: that’s absurd!, sirens loud enough to be heard upstairs, Old McDonald had a farm and on that farm he had a sheep helicopter, zip zap zop (then slow mo!), crash light boom, and for the finale: an orchestra of siren noises
-seeing smiles still present at 4pm
-wonderful people who helped clean up after this long rehearsal! you’re my heroes!
-the privilege of going to sleep now

Jenny Wren "The Musical"

2011-01-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36dtjxUMWdM
this was found by our very own Jenny Wren. She knows I love the Beatles..... So she was looking up songs for me. We came across the song "Jenny Wren" by Paul McCartney. We were like WOAH!!!!!! OMFg! Then, we looked up the story behind the song and found out that it is really is about the Jenny Wren from Our Mutual Friend. Here are the lyrics:

Like so many girls, Jenny Wren could sing
But a broken heart, took her soul away

Like the other girls, Jenny Wren took wing
She could see the world, and it's foolish ways

How, we, spend our days, casting, love aside
Loosing, site of life, day, by, day

She saw poverty, breaking all the home
Wounded warriors, took her song away

[Solo]

But the day will come, Jenny Wren will sing
When this broken world, mends its foolish ways

Now we, spend our days, catching, up on life
All because of you, Jenny Wren

Our Discovery of this song went something like this:

Becca: Listen to this song..... Who is singing?

Izzie: Is it the Beatles?

Becca:Yes

Izzie:Paul McCartney

Becca:Listen to the lyrics.

-instrumental-

Izzie: nice.....

-Songs plays from the start-

Izzie: Oh... THATS REALLY COOL!

A Virtual Ramble of the London of OMF

2011-01-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

1. Southwark Bridge

2. London Bridge

3. Limehouse Hole

4. Six Jolly Fellowship Porters

5. Wilfer residence

6. The dust heaps/Boffins' Bower

7. Bradley Headstone's school

8. Jenny Wren's home

9. Podsnap residence

10. Temple Bar

11. Pubsey & Co.

12. Lammle residence

13. John and Bella's cottage

Go to the south side of Portman Square, W1. Portman Square, you will remember, was where Mr. Podsnap's house was. The squares north of Oxford Street formed a quarter - "Stucconia," as Dickens calls it - much favoured by the prosperous mercantile and professional classes in the mid nineteenth century. A few early and mid nineteenth-century houses survive among the modern buildings in the square, but the spacious under-stated elegance of the district can best be appreciated today, not in the squares, but in the quieter streets running north and south between Oxford Street and Marylebone Road. Mr. Veneering was another denizen of "Stucconia."

Now walk east from Portman Square along Wigmore Street to another of the squares of "Stucconia," Cavendish Square. Silas Wegg's stall was situated outside a house in the square.

From Cavendish Square, take the southern exit, Holles Street, cross Oxford Street, and continue southwards through Harewood Place, Hanover Square and George Street, as far as Conduit Street, where you turn left. Notice how the streets are becoming narrower, the houses, or what you can see of the original houses over shop fronts, though still grand, are smaller. Turn right at Savile Row, and left at Vigo Street, passing, on your right, the rear entrance of Albany (the front entrance is in a court off Piccadilly). Albany, sometimes called "the Albany," was originally the town residence of George III's brother, the Duke of York and Albany. It was converted in 1803 into exclusive apartments for wealthy bachelors. Dickens lodged Fascination Fledgeby in one. He was thrashed there, you may remember, by his neighbour Alfred Lammle, and ministered to afterwards by a less than sympathetic Jenny Wren.

I say "his neighbour Alfred Lammle." Mr. and Mrs. Lammle, recall, acquired a "temporary" residence, after their marriage, in Sackville Street. This is reached by continuing along Vigo Street to the next corner, and turning right. Above the shop fronts at street level, you see eighteenth-century frontages. Whether you use the front or the rear entrance of Albany, Sackville Street is just around the corner. Though it is now very grand, full of expensive shops and corporate headquarters, in the 1860s, the parish of St. James, where you now are, was developing a raffish reputation. Once the most fashionable of quarters, it was being deserted by respectable members of the beau monde, in favour of Belgravia, further westwards, the aristocratic counterpart of "Stucconia." Now St. James's was becoming the haunt of wild young upper-class bachelors, and financially embarrassed older ones. Hence the Lammles' insistence that their residence in Sackville Street was temporary.

Continue walking southwards along Sackville Street until you emerge into Piccadilly. On the other side you see St. James's Church, designed by Christopher Wren, where the Lammles were married.

Cross the road, and cut, via Church Place to the east of the church, into Jermyn Street. Cross that too and walk south down Duke of York Street (a little to the West) into St. James's Square, haunt of Mr. Twemlow and his friends. Mr. Twemlow was one of the financially embarrassed older bachelors inhabiting St James's. He lived "over a livery stable yard in Duke Street, St James's," a block to the west. There are still a number of old yards to be found up alleys off Duke Street.

Leave St James's Square by one of its southern exits, and head east along the grand thoroughfare of Pall Mall. On the opposite side of the road you see exclusive clubs such as the Reform and the Athenaeum (the latter on the corner of Waterloo Place) - clubs such as the one to which Mr. Twemlow belonged, where there was much lobbying on Mr. Veneering's behalf.

Continue along Pall Mall, pass along the north side of Trafalgar Square, cross into Duncannon Street opposite, and thence into the Strand, the ancient route (with Fleet Street) between the cities of Westminster and London. Opposite you see Charing Cross Station and, in front of it, the Victorian replica of Charing Cross itself, a memorial to Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I. It was here that Eugene Wrayburn witnessed the "ridiculous and feeble spectacle" of Jenny Wren's "bad boy" trying to cross the road. The station covers the site of Hungerford Market, Hungerford Stairs, and Warren's Blacking Warehouse, where Dickens was put to work as a boy of twelve. Many feel it was this episode that excited, or at least reinforced, both Dickens's compassion for the dispossessed, and his horror at the thought of sinking into the underclass. It might be said that his accommodation of the two sentiments in later life is manifested by the marriage of Eugene and Lizzie Hexam, and their indifference to Society's opinion.

Turn to the left and walk eastwards along the Strand, as did Bradley Headstone, plotting, and Rogue Riderhood, muttering. Opposite the approach road to Waterloo Bridge on the right, you will find Wellington Street, running north. Here, on the southern corner of Tavistock Street, may be found the former offices of All the Year Round, the weekly periodical Dickens owned and edited from 1859 until his death in 1870. From 1860, Dickens's London home was a set of chambers over these offices. Here, much of Our Mutual Friend was written.

Continue eastwards along the Strand. At the junction with Chancery Lane, on the left, the road becomes Fleet Street. Still continue eastwards, as far as Inner Temple Lane on the right, which leads downhill into the Temple. Once the London headquarters of the Knights Templar, since the fourteenth century the Temple has been a centre for lawyers. It now houses the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, two of the Inns of Court, as they are known - unincorporated societies for barristers (as advocates at the English bar are called), training schools for fledgling barristers, and accommodation for lawyers of all kinds. To enter the lane, you must pass through the early renaissance Inner Temple Gate, near to which Bradley Headstone lurked, "in a doorway with his eyes on Temple Gate," watching for Eugene Wrayburn, on whom he had murderous designs.

Walk southwards down the lane. Just before you reach the Temple Church, consecrated in 1185 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, on your left you will see the Goldsmith Buildings, erected in 1861, the chambers within which overlook the graveyard. Dickens may well have had in mind an earlier building on this site for the chambers of Eugene Wrayburn and Mortimer Lightwood.

Pass the church and turn to your left. Walk through the square (Tanfield Court), and through the passageway at the end into King's Bench Walk. Turn right and walk south until, on your left, you see Whitefriar's Gate leading out of the Temple. Go out here, and walk straight ahead along Tudor Street until you emerge into New Bridge Street. Turn right, and walk as far south as the big traffic island. Look for the entrance to Blackfriars railway and underground stations, at the corner of Queen Victoria Street on the other side. Go into the Underground station and catch a tube train eastwards to the Monument.

When you emerge from the Monument station you are in the City, as the heart of the city of London is known. It is, and was in the 1860s, London's bustling financial and business centre. Dickens locates the business houses of Our Mutual Friend here, has his businessmen and clerks work here. But first, take a short walk westwards along Monument Street, towards the busy traffic, and emerge into King William Street. Turn left and walk towards the river, crossing to the other side. When you see the river below you, you are on London Bridge. Beyond Cannon Street railway bridge, upstream, you can see Southwark Bridge. Both London Bridge and Southwark Bridge have been rebuilt since the 1860s, but the stretch of water between them is where, at the opening of Our Mutual Friend, we discover Gaffer Hexam and Lizzie, in his boat, searching the water for corpses, close by the very heart of the City.

Now retrace your steps northwards, away from the river, along King William Street, until it reaches a busy and complex junction. Cross to the other side, turn to the right, and follow the road that branches to the left, Gracechurch Street. Walk almost as far as the next crossroads, but turn into the last narrow alley on the left, which will take you into the churchyard of St. Peter's Church, Cornhill, which seems to have been the chief model for the one where Bradley Headstone asked in vain for the hand of Lizzie Hexam. It's a surprising oasis of quiet amid the noise of the City.

Emerge into Gracechurch Street once more, turn left, and then immediately right at the crossroads, in order to walk eastwards along Leadenhall Street. The second turning on the left is St. Mary Axe, where the offices of Pubsey & Co were situated, and where Riah reluctantly did the bidding of Fascination Fledgeby. The roof garden of the premises was where Jenny Wren and Lizzie Hexam used to talk.

Turn right out of Leadenhall Street into Lime Street, the southward continuation of St. Mary Axe, then left at Cullum Street, and left again at Fenchurch Street. The first turning on the right is Mincing Lane, where Bella Wilfer visited her father at the offices of Chicksey, Veneering & Stobbles.

Continue eastwards along Fenchurch Street, until you see the approach to Fenchurch Street Station on the right. Go in, and take a train to Stepney East. It's only the second station, but make sure the train you catch stops there.

Emerge from Stepney East Station into Commercial Road. You are now in London's East End, to which the prevailing wind has always carried the air pollution and the Thames the water pollution of the rest of London. Not surprisingly, it has always been the home of, among others, London's poorest. Dickens houses many of the poorest and roughest characters of Our Mutual Friend here. Turn to the right, eastwards, and right again almost immediately, into Branch Road. This issues into the Highway, formerly the Ratcliff Highway. This was a notorious criminal quarter in the 1860s, natural habitat of such as Rogue Riderhood, and of Gaffer Hexam, whose home was "down by Ratcliff . . . down by where accumulated scum of humanity seemed to be washed from higher ground."

Turn left into the Highway, follow the road as it turns south through a right angle, then turn left at Narrow Street, and start walking eastwards. Note the dockside milieu as you cross the bridge over the channel from the Thames on your right into Limehouse Basin on your left. On the right-hand side you eventually come to the Grapes Inn, generally held to be the model for the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters. It's now a pleasant pub and restaurant. If the time is right and you so wish, go in, refresh yourself, and pass through to the rear, where you will find the "crazy wooden verandah impending over the water."

When you reach the junction with Three Colt Street on your left, you are close to where Rogue Riderhood lived, "deep and dark in Limehouse Hole, among the riggers, and the mast, oar and block makers, and the boat-builders, and the sail-lofts." Strictly speaking, Limehouse Hole was a feature not of the shore but of the river - a stretch of deep water once found at this bend in the river, useful for turning ships in - but the name also attached itself to the area of shore adjacent to the old Limehouse Hole Pier. Dickens knew about riggers in Limehouse Hole. His godfather Christopher Huffam, whom Dickens often visited as a child, had been a rigger, ship's chandler and contractor, with a place of business in a part of Garford Street now covered by the wharves to your south, as you stand at the junction of Narrow Street and Three Colt Street.

Start walking northwards along Three Colt Street, and turn left into Newell Street. This was once Church Row where Christopher Huffam's house was, at number twelve (later renumbered five).

Turn right into Commercial Road, and go into the churchyard, on the right, of Hawksmoor's St. Anne's Church, parish church of Limehouse. It was here that Miss Abbey Potterson, Dickens tells us, the landlady of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters, "had been christened some sixty and odd years before." It was here, too, that John Harmon awaited George Radfoot, only to be drugged, robbed and thrown into the Thames.

You may now return to central London, if you want to, on a number 15 bus heading west along Commercial Road.

This ramble hasn't taken you to all the parts of London featured in Our Mutual Friend. You may care to visit others on separate excursions.

The dust mounds of the novel are modelled on those which used to be located in and around the area now occupied by King's Cross Station. "Maiden Lane, Battle Bridge," of which Mr. Boffin speaks, is now called York Way. It flanks the station to the east of it. There is still a Battle Bridge Road to the north of it. Dickens may have had in mind a particular dust mound in the Camley Street area, between St Pancras Way and York Way.

The Wilfers' home was in Holloway, a district north of King's Cross. The Caledonian Road, just east of York Road, runs north through Lower Holloway to the Holloway Road, which runs northwest to Upper Holloway. The inn overlooking the river at Greenwich, in which Bella Wilfer entertained her father, and later ate her wedding dinner, was probably modelled on the Trafalgar Tavern there. The Children's Hospital where Johnny dies is clearly the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street, Bloomsbury.

Church Street, Smith Square, home of Jenny Wren, is now known as Dean Stanley Street, and can be found running west off Millbank, opposite The Victoria Tower Gardens to the south of the Palace of Westminster. The area is quite transformed, and the "little quiet houses" are much sought after by Members of Parliament and other political figures. Smith Square itself, at the other end of Dean Stanley Street is particularly handsome. The "very hideous church," Dickens describes, "with four towers at the four corners, generally resembling some petrified monster, frightful and gigantic, on its back with its legs in the air," is in fact St. John's, Smith Square. It is an extremely fine building, for all its not being to Dickens's taste, and is now used as a concert hall rather than as a church. There are still black doors under it, leading to the vaults, the ones through which Jenny Wren dreamed of blowing pepper at the boys who teased her, locked inside for the occasion. The vaults now house the refreshment rooms of the concert hall.

In these times of ours...

2011-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

...though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, seven directors of dirty and disreputable appearance were sitting at Barriques as a winter evening was closing in.

It was a typical meeting. Rebecca was making a to-do list three pages long. Michael Fleischman was offering to do things. Michael Feakins was being nice. Melissa was being sane. Greer was being obnoxious. Izzie was ingesting a novel's worth of paper. Gabby was having ideas. We were talking about how awesome this production is--how unique it is--and how much we'd like to commemorate it. And then Gabby said--"Why don't we start a blog?" And we all said, why didn't we think of that before!

So we started a blog. An OMF blog.

I can hear your skeptical questions. What will this blog be about? Who's going to write it? Why should I read it? Do you guys really have time for this?

What will this blog be about? Anything and everything that your directors can think of relating to OMF: What we're doing at rehearsal, maps of London, sneak-peak make-up previews, the RSC's Nicholas Nickleby, camels, home-made cross word puzzles, pictures of people at rehearsal, lessons on British accents.

Who's going to write it? Each of your directors will blog one day a week. Rebbecca and I had an epiphany the other day: there are seven directors--and guess how many days in the week there are! A match made in heaven, right? Of course right.

Why should I read it? Because it's going to be awesome. Because your directors are good writers. Because you'll learn something that will make this production better and more fun. Because this production is special and worth extra thought and time. And because, just maybe, Greer will make brownies for those who have read her posts.

Do you guys really have time for this? Well, er, um, technically no. But, come to think of it, nor do we technically have the time to stage a 10-hour original adaptation of a Dickens novel with actors who range from age 8 to age 60.

Enough said. Let the blogging commence.

Camels!

2011-01-19T20:07:00.001-08:00

Yup, we like camels. And Dickens.