MOVEMENT / May 2018

After waiting for over a year to see Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, it was a truly magical experience to finally watch a production of this magnitude. Wherever you sit in the auditorium, you instantly enter into this world that feels simultaneously like the present and past (take this from someone who sat on the very back row.) Every part of the experience is charged with anticipation; it's a phenomenal piece of theatre. It's impossible to write a more nuanced or complimentary review than the many other critics and theatregoers who have already written extensively on Lin-Manuel Miranda's ground-breaking production. So instead I shall simply say this: yes, it really is worth the wait. If you are lucky enough to have the means to see the show, do it, do it, do it. 

Another anxiously anticipated event this month was Season 7 of Scandal. The final season of any show can be so bittersweet; sometimes it's just sad to see such a good show go, other times you watch wrought with worry that the characters we've grown to love won't receive the send off we feel they deserve. Scandal set out to achieve a lot in Season 7 and of course Shonda Rhimes successfully achieved it all. (Spoilers will follow so click away now if you've not yet watched all of the episodes.) Overall, the final season was thoroughly enjoyable. It had all of the plot twists, the high impact stakes and the intensity of every other season of Scandal, with some pretty dramatic character arcs. It was interesting to follow Olivia's fluctuation from white hat and back but the character who stole every scene, who demanded our attention and had the most emphatic series arc of all was, perhaps surprisingly, that of Eli Pope played so brilliantly by Joe Morton. And yes, of course we're happy that Olivia didn't finish the finale defined by a romantic relationship (though there's certainly enough evidence to infer that the rekindling with Fitz may very well continue). It's hard not to spare a few thoughts for Captain Ballard, though (despite his somewhat terrifying trajectory). I would be lying if I said I hadn't held out an ever-diminishing hope that somehow Olivia might save Jake once and for all. Mostly though, I'm just glad I stumbled across the show while searching for something to help me procrastinate from my university work all those years ago. Scandal, it's been scintillating. Thank you.

Literary Life

Managed to move through quite a few books this month. First of all was Hamilton: The Revolution. If you like the musical and finding out behind the scenes information into how said musical was created, this is absolutely worth purchasing. It's a (super splendorous) bonus that the book itself is crafted so magically, with textured paper and authentically archaic typescript. I revelled reading about the origins of each song in the soundtrack and the way Lin-Manuel Miranda's idea moved from a concept album to arguably the biggest new musical is both mind blowing and massively inspiring.

Quite by chance was the discovery of Samuel Bjork and his two Norwegian bestsellers, I'm travelling alone and The owl always hunts at night. Multiple train journeys to and around London provided a wealth of time for reading, but Bjork's books are that gripping that you want to use every spare five minutes you can find to reach just one more chapter. The tone is gritty and dark, the characters compelling and highly complex. Perhaps because Bjork's style was new to me, I'm travelling alone holds slightly more intrigue but both are daring novels that delve in the depths of the human condition. 

Hamilton inspired nail art. (There's a theme here, no?) Seeing Hamilton was such a momentous occasion that it demanded to occupy every inch of my creative resources. It's not the best nail art design by far, but what it lacks in artistry, it makes up for in fond memories.