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First a quick note: I’m on Casi McLean’s blog today talking about the relationship between photography and writing: http://casimclean.com/nicci-carrera-4/

We saw Richard II at the Thomas Theater in Ashland. Seeing Shakespeare at the Oregon theater festival has been a dream since college. Well, I’ve done it and I loved it.

I’ve recently gained a newfound interest in Shakespeare. For one thing, I’m drawing on one of his plays for a book, and for another thing, I read a historical mystery called An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, (reviewed here) which sparked an interest in history. Because of how much I enjoyed the fictional lens on history provided in this book, of the various plays being offered in this year’s festival, I wanted to see Richard the II, the first of a four-part series about the royal house of Lancaster (according Spark Notes, which I mention and link to below.)

Motivated by the fact that I was seeing the play, I spent a few hours reading the modern-day replacement for Cliff Notes: Spark Notes. Wow, this free resource did a fantastic job of explaining the play. I also read some of the history surrounding Richard the second. You do have to take a bit of what, well, more than a bit of what Shakespeare is writing with a grain of salt. It is after all historical theater, so there’s license for guessing some of the events and doing so in a way that amplifies the drama. That said, I have such a different sense of that period and of Henry IV, which they are going to do next year, presumably they’ll also do Henry IV part two the following year and the final of the series, Henry V in 2019.

Henry IV deposed Richard the Second, which is what the play is about. I’ve seen Henry IV as a movie, but knowing how he came to the crown definitely changes my perspective of him and I’m looking forward to continuing the enjoyment of learning.

The theater is small and we were right next to the stage. I will say as a point of caution, don’t sit in the first row because the stage comes out into the crowd and, I don’t know if this is usual or not, but there was a lot of say it don’t spray coming from the actors, let me just put it that way, LOL! I would opt for the second row or further back. I’m not sure anyone in the audience actually got sprayed, but given I’m a germ-phobe, that’s not something I would want to think about while watching the play, and I figured you wouldn’t want to either.

However I don’t want to leave you with just that point because the show was good. My husband is from New York so I asked him if the show was good, to be sure. He has very high standards. He pronounced it good, so there you go. They used modern clothes and they threw in some modern props, which was a little distracting, but actually once we grew used to it, we both felt that these elements enhanced the experience and accomplished what we assume was the purpose, which was to keep making Shakespeare relevant to current times.

I didn’t have much chance to take photographs. When I had time, it was smoky from the fires that raged in the town just south of Ashland. However on the morning we were leaving, the air was clear enough, and I did manage a few shots. Today I will show you a collection of fancy cars. There must’ve been a fancy car show this weekend because all kinds of cars were arriving in the parking lot of the hotel just as we were leaving. Or it might have been a hot rod club, but the first car that stopped us in our tracks was this:

What was a Rolls-Royce doing in the parking lot of one of the more modest hotels in town?

When we carried on and saw this, we thought, something was up.

We loved how the black surface of this Audi mirrored the trees, and you could actually see green on the black background.

These folks were nice enough to let me take a snap of their car while they were unloading.

Interestingly, after we had driven about 150 miles back into California, we stopped to get gas, and there was yet another fancy car, a vintage Ferrari circa Magnum PI. Since I already had the lens on, I was able to grab a snap. Here you go.

It’s Labor Day here, and I’m laboring on my romantic suspense novella. It’s due on October 4, so I’ll be concentrating now to finish it in time. Once that’s done and submitted, I’m going to start working on some short Sci Fi fiction under my Antonia Moran identity.

Have a great week.