The Normal Vacation

Today was the breeze of a first day back at work. It’s easy when day one is working remotely. My computer at home was not quite ready for prime-time Monday, as I got bumped from a few sites I was working on. Whatever, I’m prepared for it all. That’s my attitude after a good vacation and a few days of rest before the grind.

Joel and I got to see five shows in London, all professional quality productions. There were a couple of musicals in there that were wonderful and a drama, where we both got up from our seats and wiped tears away at the end. 

Larry Kramer’s The Normal ❤️ Heart was a powerful play to read but when you put a good National Theatre cast to it…wow. It was a three-hour appeal to action that grabs you and refuses to let go. (I’m still playing back scenes in my head).

As we sat there in the Olivier Theatre wearing our masks, one couldn’t help but notice the irony of connection with Kramer’s urgent message about the powers that be sticking their heads in the sand about the disease and today’s COVID reality. 

The timing, particularly in the UK with Boris Johnson slammed for little action on the COVID front is interesting and adds a 2021 poignancy to it. There are a handful of differences though, the PM acknowledges COVID but says the UK will live with it. In the early days of AIDS politicians (Koch, Reagan) wouldn’t mention it. Newspapers gave it little to no mention. That said, I think Kramer would have roasted Johnson. He doesn’t have patience for inaction.

His main character, Ned Weeks wanted action after gay men start dying. Weeks is fashioned after Kramer’s own story and the start of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City. Ben Daniels played Weeks with the outrage and fire needed for the part. But really the entire cast moved us with their portrayals. 

The vacation week contained a mixture of light and heavy shows. We opened with a couple of musicals, then Romeo and Juliet at the Globe. We saw Robert Shaw’s son Ian play his dad in The Shark 🦈 is Broken, which is all about the backbiting behind the scenes of Jaws. This was fun and really Ian Shaw is a dead ringer for his pop.

There were some extra hoops to jump through to make the trip happen, but it was worth it. Vacations are essential; bring on the slow computers, and bring on the coffee.