London: we were spirited away

26 June 2024

Another hot and sunny day in London. We lunched just around the corner from our apartment on Lower Marsh Street. There we found vendors galore! The sizzle, the scent, the calls. A friendly Shwarma man serving up huge portions of fragrant spiced meat and veg in whole wheat chapati. The family indulged and enjoyed. A West Indian woman had a table of clothing made of reclaimed sari fabric. I bought a brightly colored silk crop top with bell sleeves. I feel so beautiful!

Our destination was across the river to, ironically, Upper Marsh Street where we had the hottest tickets in town: Spirited Away.

This beloved Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki has always been one of our favorites. So having a chance to see it staged for the first time outside of Japan was an opportunity we did not want to miss. The show did not disappoint. In fact, it passed what Mike calls The Ellen Parker Cry Test.

In contrast to The Globe, The London Collesium is a big indoor Broadway-style house. There was a full orchestra. Scenery pieces moved electronically to transform from train station to witch’s hut to all the rooms of the bath house for the spirits. A surprisingly small company of dancers donned a huge variety of costumes to become spirits large and small, bright and dull, stiff and fluid. Puppeteers, dressed in beige, faded into the background maneuvering tiny little coal sprites, a sassy frog, a flying witch, a wispy river spirit, a giant baby, a spider-like herbalist, a rapidly growing masked man, and the beautiful river dragon. The girl and the humans and almost-humans moved and spoke and sang and….at the end I stood and cheered and cried. It was all incredibly spectacular. And yet it was still very much a play, standing on its own away from the film from which it was inspired. To experience the artistry of Japanese theatre is something we will always remember and always appreciate.

After the show it was time for the Daily Ritual which we ate walking back to The Globe. It was on our way anyway, and last night we didn’t have time to look in that well curated gift shop.

Not far along Jubilee Way some kind of corporate charity 5 K was about to begin. But why did they decide the start line should be in the narrowest bottleneck of the waterfront walkway? We squeezed by the crowd and split up.

Emi and David went off to spend their last night in London bar hopping. Because why not?!

Turns out they didn’t hop. At that Philadelphia theme bar the two of them were treated like celebrities as they hung out with the bartender, an American actor. Patrons bought these authentic Philadelphians several rounds of drinks. Good times!

Mike, Ben and I headed back to Waterloo for more fish and chips and to pack up to leave London in the morning.

The night was positively roaring outside my window with traffic and clubbers. My mind swirling with the music and images of the show. I am not much of a city person, but being inLondon with the people I love most in the world has been a blast!