Haven’t got much work done, but have fitted in lots of culture over the weekend.
This included:
1. Seeing The Mandate at the National Theatre, a curious blend of madcap drawing room comedy – people getting locked in chests, sitting on loaded guns, being mistaken for others – with serious political comment. It might have worked when Stalinism was a looming, immediate threat; now I think the tone and the content just don’t hang together with the subject matter. Amusing, but no more. Still did learn that the Cottesloe £10 restricted view seats are well worth sitting in; useful for future reference.
and
2. Reading The Flood, by David Maine, a telling of the story of Noah and the ark in historical fiction. Noah, his sons and their wives each take it in terms to tell the tale (and their own “back stories”) in a delightfully terse, minimalist style. Amazingly feminist and real about the women’s feelings, can it really have been written by a bloke?
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