Death of a Salesman - Too good to be missed

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy Loman, in the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller and currently directed by Mike Nichols

The story is depressing. At the end of the play, the actors are so depleted of energy that they can barely stand in front of the also exhausted public to receive their well deserved "standing ovation". It's indeed a very good production.

The play is so intense, so well interpreted that you, as a spectator, end up participating in the suffering of the characters and that is why you're completely washed out at the end. You actually want the tragedy to end, but at the same time you are curious to know how those people found themselves in that situation. It is so real, so well played, that is almost as if you were living the whole drama under your skin. As if you became one of them.

According to my husband they screamed too much. I agree with him. At some point it was unbearable and I just wanted to ask them to stop arguing. But I don't think it's an exaggeration of the actors, I think it's part of the play. They want you to feel uncomfortable with their pain and their choices in life. You almost feel like a voyeur. You shouldn't be in their house, looking at their problems. Don't you have your own back at home? Why are you judging them? 

The actors are fantastic. I already admired Philip Seymour Hoffman for his work on screen, but seeing him on the stage was priceless. In my opinion, he's by far one of the best actors of the moment. And Linda Edmond is so credible, she makes us feel that acting is easy. 

Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols is currently being played at Ethel Barrymore Theater, here in New York and I definitely recommend to buy the tickets early because they are selling fast and the play only goes until June 2nd. 

The Weekender - Reflexions

Réflexion from Planktoon on Vimeo.

If you're a woman, you've probably already felt like this before. This short film is fantastic.

Any plans for the weekend? We are going to see the play "Death of a Salesman", by Arthur Miller, starring Philip Saymour Hoffman. It's suppose to be excellent.

There's also another Lollipop concert this weekend. And the theme is one of my favorite ones: Peter and the Wolf. So I'm probably taking the kids to listen to some Prokofiev.

Have an excellent weekend!

Spring in New York

One of the most enjoyable time of the year here in New York.

The Disney World experience - Part II

The Goods:

• The kids faces and reactions;
• Under our children perspective, it was actually kind of fun;
• I've never been to a real safari, but the one in Animal Kingdom was very nice. And, according to the family who was right behind us in the van and who had gone on a real safari last year, it was very well done;
• The fireworks - I'm always mesmerized by them;

The Bads:

• Too many people - lines for everything;
• The food was absolutely disgusting;
• I don't understand adults going by themselves (I mean without any kids with them). There's no "magic" whatsoever to justify this trip. You live the so famous "magic" that Disney tries to sell through the eyes of the youngsters. Besides they were just taking space and making the lines longer. Really, who wants to ride "Peter Pan's Flight", "Snow White's scary Adventures" or event worst "It's a small world" if you are older than 10 years-old? It just doesn't make sense to me...
• The average weight of the people there. Unbelievable!
• The service was also a disappointment. I was maybe expecting too much.

I guess I have more negative points than positive ones. All in all, we had a good time.

Books of the week - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

The Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is one of the most fantastic initiatives I've ever heard. It's a program that sends free books, on a monthly basis, to all eligible children. If you live in the U.S., in Canada or England and you have young children (under 5 years-old), you can enroll them in the program.  It may take some months though before they start receiving their books.

We received our first book yesterday: The Little Engine that could, by Watty Piper. And I was extremely pleased. The book is a classic story and it is the same quality as the one I linked above or any other bookstore.

We are now looking forward for our next book!

The Disney World experience

We survived!
I'll post more about it later, with more time.
Have a great week!

A story for Tomorrow - an inspiring video

We're going away for a few days. We're certainly not going on such an inspiring and fantastic journey as the one presented on the video above. We're heading to Orlando - Disney World more specifically. 

I think that for the kids it's going to be fun. However, wish me luck, for this is not really my ideal vacation (we were more and less "forced" to it, since we have a wedding in Orlando). 

Like a very wise friend of mine told me once and I'm going to steal her expression: I suffer from "people phobia".