"Old Students" and the Old Vic

This is the email we got from a former High School student of mine, who had gotten a degree in Theater Lighting Design and has his own company in London, where he works  as a Lighting freelancer.
"How the devil are you old chap? Married 50 years already. I thought you were still 30! At the moment I will be in London, except for the 1st of April where I have to go to a friend's wedding. Of course my schedule keeps on changing as is the nature with the freelance world, so it may be best to touch base when you know whats what! What shows are you going to see? You will have just missed Aida which I am doing at the royal Albert Hall at the moment. As far as I know I won't be working on any theatrical type shows then, so unfortunately don't think I will be able to get you in to see anything that I am doing. Anyway let me know what your plans are. It would be lovely to see you! I haven't seen you in ages! All the best, Will (William Gallegos, Production Electrician and Rescue Climber)"

William was one of two students who were the technical crew at the American High School of The Hague where I taught theater for 39 years. The other is Chris Pistols, who is a Senior Lighting guy at a company in Texas. These two fellows were inspirational to me, their teacher. I would design a set and do some basic lighting and they would walk in, look around and say, "Do you mind if we change a few things?" Of course I would agree. They would then come in after school and sometimes work ALL NIGHT (with the collusion of the security team) to make GOOD LIGHTING. Everything they did was perfect. And they were fearless (some would say stupid). Without anyone knowing about it, they would hang from lighting bars, swing off HIGH ladders, crawl along beams and generally re-do the whole system. They would program the lighting board with all kinds of fancy stuff and then go home to sleep. No matter what I said, they dis-obeyed. No matter what I did, they improved upon it. No matter what I thought was good, they would nod and smile and do it better. I learned more from them than they learned from me, that's for certain. And both of them have gone on to excel in their professions. It makes me proud to have been their teacher/student. I am pretty sure I would have gotten a C from them on my Lighting Design report card.

William is also typical of the kind of students I taught in The Hague. His father is British and his mother is French. Many of my students came from these "mixed salad" families. I even taught two sisters whose father was Japanese and mother was Polish. I taught three sons whose father was from Kenya and mother from Italy. I taught Greeks, Russians, Americans, Brazilians, Spaniards, Icelanders, South Africans, Koreans, Scots and, of course, Dutch. I think there were 40 nationalities represented in the school and perhaps 35 languages. It was very exciting work.

We met William at Strada Restaurant right over the bridge at Charing Cross. He had told another former student to join us. Katie Gouder also graduated from the American School in 2004 and now worked in London for a large international company. Katie is also typical of international students, one parent is Scots and the other is Canadian. We had a great lunch with Bloody Mary drinks and Italian food. Of course, Katie did not touch a drop of alcohol. She told us that her employer had a ZERO TOLERANCE policy about drinking during the working hours. There were even surprise tests given to employees to see if there was any alcohol in their blood. This was news to us, considering that the pub lunch with a pint is ingrained in the British culture. We had one hour to relax and laugh about old times at school and life in London. William explained that it was financially better to be an independent operator than work for a company. He said that the work was demanding, with long hours late at night, but he loved it. Katie told us that she was working until she could decide what to do next in her life. Katie is a wonderful author and we hoped that she gets back to her writing soon.

After lunch, Katie returned to her job and William walked us down Waterloo to The Cut where the Old Vic Theater is located. We had thought it was too far away to walk, but William took us right there in 10 minutes. We picked up the tickets for the evening show and he walked us to his bus stop. We said good-bye and walked back to Rupert Street.

When we crossed the bridge, we happened to pass the Korean National Tourist Board office. Judy walked inside, but before I could enter, four young German children, ages 13 or so, asked me a question. "Sir, can you please tell us where the Hard Rock Cafe is?" One of the girls had been chosen to practice her English. I laughed and looked at her map. The others crowded around. One was a boy and he had a huge smiling face. He said, "Good evening!" The girls whispered, "Good MORNING." "OH," he said, "Good MORNING!" We all laughed. I said, "Listen, I am a 72 year old grandfather. Why would I know where the Hard Rock Cafe is. I'm old." The first girl said, "The Hard Rock Cafe is for ALL ages." We had a good laugh at that. I pointed up the street to Trafalgar Square and said, "There are many policemen there who can give you good directions to Hard Rock Cafe. Enjoy yourselves. Good bye." They said good bye, except the boy who said (this is the truth) "Good Evening!" They walked on and I entered the store.

We had our tickets in our hands, so we could take a nap and not worry about eating before the show. Anyway, a package of M&Ms would tide us over at the theater. We took a slow walk over the bridge and down Waterloo to The Cut and went into the theater.

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI was written by John Webster in 1613 and is a pure Jacobean tragedy, filled with mystery, anti-Catholic ideas, sexual powers, murder (on AND off the stage), and a strange mix of women's rights and family ties. The program says: "The Duchess of Malfi is defined by her fertility. The abiding impression of THE DUCHESS OF MALFI may well be of rotten bodies, corruption and stench. There is a notion that this play might need a health warning to be enjoyed."

The set was all black and dark with a large walkway over the upstage area. Side entrances lined with pillars and a curtained alcove stage center were the complete set. The play opened with a Dance of Death by hooded and robed "monks" carrying candles. The music was somber and eerie. Smoke filled the stage, so the dancers looked as if they were floating. The mood was dark and deadly.

Eve Best played the Duchess of Malfi. Eve has won many awards for her acting, including Best Actress for the Broadway run of A Moon for the Misbegotten. She represents the best, in my opinion, of the tradition of British repertory theater. Not only has she acted on the stage of the National Theatre, but also in the Young Vic, the Globe, and inthe movie The King's Speech, Eve played Wallis Simpson.

 This is a photo of Katie Gouder and me at lunch that afternoon.

 The play has a violent end. Bosola, a villain, has been hired by the brothers of the Duchess to murder her and her children. The reasons why are steeped in darkness and mystery, but simply put, she has married against their wishes. The real Duchess of Malfi was murdered and tortured and her husband stabbed to death on the streets of Milan. The last scene shows Bosola and his helpers, strangling the Duchess and rushing off stage to kill her two sons. One brother, a Cardinal, is poisoned by a prayer book that he has used to poison her maid, who dies.Her younger brother enters and struggles with Bosola who kills him. BUT....before he dies, Bosola  is fatally stabbed. It was tragic, but I had a tremendous urge to laugh: I mean, after all, Two brothers killed, the Duchess killed, her two sons killed, her maid AND her maid's children killed, AND the killer killed. It was like a picnic of death. Bodies everywhere. Of course, I didn't laugh. There were a lot of similarities with RIGOLETTO. I guess we had managed a balance of slapstick comedies and classical tragedies on this trip.

We walked back to Rupert Street,  had our usual bread and cheese snack, watched ITV about smugglers at Sydney Airport and went to bed. Two days and two plays to go.