Adamantis

Waiting in the BL for a manuscript to come up (and hoping they let me photograph it!) before a mad dash across the river for Troilus and Cressida at the Globe. (To be followed by Mincemeat tonight…again!)

It was an enjoyable night of lowbrow comedy. It’s not the best production I’ve seen, but it was very funny (which is always a good start!). Feste and Maria were the standouts for me, but a crowd pleasing show from the whole cast. It was my first time at the Globe (shocking!).

It was Twelfth Night!

Yes, that review pretty much summed up my take on it. I might have worded it a bit more strongly (“ramming a single message down our throats with a sledgehammer” perhaps). But the delicate balance and complexity of the original is very much lost.

I suspect if I’d gone in without 30 years of love for the play (and having seen an awful lot of productions and recordings of it) I would have enjoyed it far more!

I like the picture painted by the lowlifes of the effects that changes at a governmental level have across the spectrum of society, but what do I know… I think adding text from other plays to dictate the motivations of characters, and making them far less complex, was a travesty.

Next up - 23.5Ct gold leaf time. Of course, it wasn’t until I’d tooled it onto the leather that I realised my lines aren’t quite true 😒 Still, it’s a sample board and not an actual book, so that’s a relief!

It was, yes. It got a lot of good reviews, however the one I felt closest to what I felt while watching it was from Whatsonstage (3*). The cast were great, they worked amazingly with what they were given. But what they were given was… subpar.

I may have whiplashed slightly when PH was mentioned! 6 years of studiously avoiding those letters, and then his name pops up in the book! ❤️

Went to see my “other” Thomas’s things today, and spent some quality thinking time in Wolsey’s Closet.

Front row “seat” tonight for my second favourite Shakespeare.

What an absolute waste of an evening.

Having now read the programme, I’m dreading @the-rsc.bsky.social MfM even more than I was when I saw the reduced cast list. Wish me luck…

I remember listening to a history podcast (with actual historians) discussing how many deaths Henry VIII was “responsible” for, and they had never heard of the Pilgrimage of Grace…

My Saturday consisted of a seven hour round trip over the Cat and Fiddle to collect this baby. Well over 100kgs of Victorian cast iron, and stairs of death to navigate with it. Luckily I am extremely bloody minded, and refused to leave empty handed.
It is now Monday, and the DOMS is very real.

A trio of washi covered notebooks, with split endpapers (I have a beautiful sample book. The issue being that there is only one sheet of each paper. This is my solution, and I have to say that I rather like it!)

Looks like the @the-rsc.bsky.social policy this season is to erase the humour 🙄

Tom Lehrer, Influential Satirist Whose Topical Songs Poked and Prodded America in the ’50s and ’60s, Dies at 97 Tom Lehrer, an influential musical satirist who came to fame with songs addressing topical events in the '50s and '60s, has died at age 97.

Stop taking the wrong old white guy ffs.

Tom Lehrer has been part of the soundtrack to my life for almost thirty years. I’ll be raising a glass or two to his memory tonight.

variety.com/2025/music/o...

Apparently the @the-rsc.bsky.social don’t proofread their programmes…

Next up is the very well reviewed “The Winter’s Tale”. A play I haven’t seen before, and only vaguely know, so this should be a fun ride!

Is it just me that gets really excited to see an understudy in the role? (Although, had I not seen it before, I might be a little disappointed I suppose).

Also, I think they’ve cut a fair amount off the run time, so this should be a fun ride!

Last minute ticket for 4:48 Psychosis in the early hours of Sunday morning!
A triple bill for me this weekend then, although I might find myself sleeping in the car.

When you realise you got a couple of loops back to front on the early signatures, and decide to just pray to St. Bartholomew that it’ll aaaaaallllll be fine later on…

Note to self - make sure you have spare ribbon (I did not) in case you screw up the lettering (I did).

Three-part Bradel binding with springback style cloth-jointed endpapers.

Before and after…
An overhaul of the 1888 edition of Mrs. Beeton - a skip find 30 years ago, that has been sat in a box ever since. Fortunately the stitching was sound! Cover off, old glue off, tapes reinforced, sewn endbands and an Oxford hollow. New leather, boards and cloth. Saved the spine print

When your 4 day workshop in that there London coincides with Charles Dance at the OT? Don’t mind if I do!

2/2 I’ve seen 38 different versions. I keep trying in the hope I’ll finally realise why people rate it. It would be boring if we all liked the same things.

The Constant Wife - beg, borrow, steal, but see it! If it was this outstanding in previews, it’ll be sensational later! @the-rsc.bsky.social

1/2 A flying visit to Stratford today (4 hours each way from sunny Carlisle!) for a double bill of Hamlet: Hail to the Thief, followed by The Constant Wife.

Even the extreme editing and addition of music couldn’t make me like Hamlet apparently…

That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.

And now we wait. And wait. And wait… for the glue to dry (book is actually the same colour as the loose leather. That’s how much moisture is added in the process!). But it’s covered! Tomorrow, I get to play with the endpapers, and fill the inner boards ready for doublures.