Yesterday, I went to the Tower of London with Kerrie and Nathan. Last month, I played Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Day Queen, in a play called "For the Least of These." Naturally, after spending so much time on the role, she became very dear to me. I've seen the Tower before, and while I loved it the first time, this trip was more of a pilgrimage. I made sure I stopped to buy a rose from a very friendly flower vendor in the Leicester Square station (I wanted to buy her an entire bouquet, but it was too expensive) to place on her grave.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that her grave was roped off, as it is next to the altar in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula. Our Yeoman Warder gave us his condensed-but-excellent tour speech in the chapel, since it was raining, then had us leave quickly before the next tour group came. His account of Lady Jane Grey's plight was more sympathetic than I had heard anyone (besides me and Gil Elvgren, the writer of the play I was in) recount before, so I knew he would understand. I asked him if he would place the rose on her grave for me.
"Yes, of course I will, sweetheart. I saw you with it earlier, and I'll be happy to place it for you right now."
He seemed truly touched by my request. When he was called away, briefly, he placed it aside and promised to return and place it on her grave right away. It was really special to me, because I believe he understood exactly what I was feeling. Anne Boleyn gets a bouquet of red roses every year on the anniversary of her execution from a local society. While she was innocent of the charges against her, she was certainly not an innocent woman in other ways. In my mind, Lady Jane Grey is far more deserving, but she's often overlooked, since her reign was so short.
That being done, we went on to tour the rest of the Tower. I thought of the Tower's previous occupants and wondered what they would have thought of what the Tower's become. William the Conqueror, the king who ordered it to be built, would be irate, I'm sure. He built it to be a fortress, and a source of intimidation. The precision and symmetry with which it was built struck fear into the hearts of the townspeople, who were not used to seeing such order and knew that it could not bode well. They were right.
Can you see the archer guarding the walls? He's perched on edge the furthest tower.
While we walked through the exhibits, we saw the Queen's Jubilee Crystal! It will be the last beacon (out of hundreds all over England) to be lit on her Jubilee. It will be lit by the Queen herself at 10:30 PM.
Of course, the Crown Jewels filled me with envy. They do sparkle so... *sigh*
The rest of the exhibits were pretty cool. I had a new appreciation for the arms and armor section, after studying it extensively during my Rapier and Dagger class this past semester.
This shows how the different English coins form different parts of a shield! Cool, huh?
One of the guard statues up close
Tower Bridge
"Jane," carved into the wall of Beauchamp Tower by her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley
As we walked through Beauchamp Tower, there was a children's field trip there as well. Is there anything more adorable than a British child? One little boy kept walking around saying, "this is SERIOUS, an ADULT DIED!" with all the severity that such a statement must have required. It was ADORABLE. And they were all in their little matching uniforms and matching rain coats--SO CUTE! Their teacher told them that they were going to take them to a place that they had been advised not to take them, but they were going to anyway because they believed that they would behave. Another little boy (or possibly the same one), said "the graveyard?!" I smothered a chuckle as the teacher asked who said that. Why can't you buy little British children in the gift shops?
After the Tower, I parted ways with Kerrie and Nathan to get some shopping done at Covent Garden. Most of the stores I couldn't afford to do anything more than browse in, but I finished the shopping that I needed to. I also bought an incredible apple tart from Fortnum and Mason, which I am determined to replicate:
After that, I headed to the Lyttelton at the Royal National Theatre to see "Misterman," starring Cillian Murphy! It was a funny, moving, 90-minute monologue about a sweet, loving, kind-hearted man that believes that he is a prophet sent from God to reform his small, Irish village. He lives in a warehouse (a truly incredible set with functioning water pipes, tons of lights, props, etc.) and replays the events of a day in his past that he recorded. Cillian plays the entire town! I wasn't surprised that his performance was so incredible, because that's just how he is! But this was an entirely new side of him. I usually see him as the small-yet-intimidating young villain (he looks even smaller in real life! Still taller than me though. Go figure.), but this time he was filled with a manic energy, smiling and laughing, jumping and running, and playing each character with full-out, specific choices and a boldness that put me to shame. I was encouraged, on one hand, because I had to do the same thing in that play that I mentioned above (where I played Lady Jane Grey), and I saw that we had made the same choices! But then, he was so much better than me (obviously). So he inspired me to work even harder! He was truly amazing.
And the message was wonderful. It was about the moral choices that people make, and how everyone needs to be aware of how they treat those around them, because everyone has something to say. It was special to me, because I talk to mentally ill people on an almost daily basis, and I feel awful for them. Their fears are real, and they are never given the care they need (which they don't think they need anyway). Most people turn them away or ignore them, but they just need someone to listen, which is why I don't hang up on them when they call. They usually just talk themselves out, then hang up themselves. I can't help them, except by listening to them and praying for them, which is what I do. So this play was incredibly touching. It was so great that I bought the script! I waited outside of the stage doors to see if I could meet him, but after waiting for about 40 minutes, the door man came out and informed the small crowd that had gathered that he very rarely uses the stage door to leave the theatre, which didn't surprise me at all. All of his interviews, and even his bows after the show, seem to indicate that he's a more quiet, introverted man that would want to avoid crowds. It's understandable. Still, I waited another half an hour, just in case. It was just me and another woman, at that point, haha. The few, the faithful. I gave up around 10:30 though, feeling certain that he wasn't going to come, and I was numb from the cold. Austin Pendleton walked right past me though, so that was kind of cool.
What a day!
Lovely!
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