Sea-ing Red

Paul Cummins' installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London features the "Weeping Window" front and center 

             What I am about to introduce doesn’t really need much of a prelude, because it really is poignant enough to stand on its own. Today marks Remembrance Day, in honor of November 11^th 1918, when at 11 a.m., World War I came to its end.

The Tower of London's 16-acre moat filled with poppies

              In the weeks leading up to today, London has been awash with the famous red remembrance poppy. The poppy is used to commemorate soldiers who have died at war. People pin paper or metal versions of the flower on their coats, while buses and trains opt for poppy decals. It’s a heartwarming sight to witness, especially in such a big city, when everyone unites under the same cause.

Lest we forget

             There can be no sight more moving, however, than the Tower of London installation, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. 100 years after World War I, the installation is comprised of 888,246 ceramic poppies created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins. Each poppy represents one death in the British or Commonwealth forces in World War I. A staggering figure on its own, it is even more alarming when visually represented.

All of the 888,246 ceramic poppies were handmade, each one taking three days to complete

             Stage designer Tom Piper was responsible for the setting, with the end result producing an undulating effect. The poppies are a sea of red, creating a very uncanny and very unsettling resemblance to blood. The poppies fill the Tower of London’s 16-acre moat and pour out of what is called the “Weeping Window” in deliberate artistic dexterity. 

Stage designer Tom Piper was responsible for giving the poppies their wavelike effect, producing what resembles a sea of blood

             Over 200 volunteers a day planted 50 poppies per square meter and the turnout amassed almost 5 million visitors. The handmade poppies (which took three days each to make) were made available to purchase by the public and sold out, with 10 percent of proceeds and all net proceeds shared equally amongst six service charities. Buyers will then be sent their poppies by January 2015.

The "Wave" of poppies 

             The installation has been so popular that a public campaign wanted to make the display permanent, but 1,000 volunteers will gather tomorrow (November the 12^th) to start dismantling and cleaning the poppies. However, you will still be able to see two sections, the "Wave" of poppies and the "Weeping Window," at the Tower of London until the end of November. The "Wave" and the "Weeping Window" will then be transported across England to different museums until they settle in their final resting place at the Imperial War Museum in London and Manchester in 2018. 

My dad, a retired U.S. Army veteran who served for 25 years, looking out over the poppies

             We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, just like the above photograph of my dad. It was really special to be able to experience the installation with my parents while they were visiting me in London over the weekend. The "Army brat," military lifestyle has always been a pervasive factor for me and I cannot express enough how grateful I am for those who are currently serving or who have previously served in the armed forces.

The extreme contrast of new and old is evident as the Tower of London is pictured with the Gherkin in the background

             I hope that the photographs of my visit to the installation speak for themselves. I was rendered speechless by the vast scope of the project and I’m sure you will be too. Its transitory nature acts as a reminder that life is exactly that: transient, impermanent, fleeting. Each one of those 888,246 men died for us, so we owe it to them to well and truly live. 

             The idea to fill the Tower of London’s moat with poppies came to Cummins after discovering a poem written by an unknown soldier. Sent home before the soldier's death, the poem is also how the installation received its name: 

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

The blood swept lands and seas of red,

Where angels dare to tread.

As God cried a tear of pain as the angels fell,

Again and again.

As the tears of mine fell to the ground

To sleep with the flowers of red

As any be dead

My children see and work through fields of my

Own with corn and wheat,

Blessed by love so far from pain of my resting

Fields so far from my love.

It be time to put my hand up and end this pain

Of living hell. to see the people around me

Fall someone angel as the mist falls around

And the rain so thick with black thunder I hear

Over the clouds, to sleep forever and kiss

The flower of my people gone before time

To sleep and cry no more

I put my hand up and see the land of red,

This is my time to go over,

I may not come back

So sleep, kiss the boys for me

The view of City Hall and the Shard in all of their glistening modernity can be seen opposite the historic Tower of London

             To donate to the Poppy Appeal, which is devoted to raising money to help servicemen and women, veterans, and their families, get involved here. If you’re interested in learning about how the poppies were made, read all about the process here. Cummins actually lost one of his fingers in an industrial roller while working on the poppies!

Let the Right One In at the Apollo Theatre

             The Apollo Theatre has made a quick and innovative recovery after its ceiling collapsed during a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (reviewed here) earlier this year. In its place, a mystical purple-blue sky has appeared, with a full moon, twinkling stars, and elongated tree branches. Much more pressing than the issue of a new ceiling, the new concern has become the collapsing of boundaries with the stage rendition of Let the Right One In, a National Theatre of Scotland production. The book, a cult classic written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, has also been adapted into Swedish and American films, both executed with severe precision.

The Apollo Theatre's dreamy new ceiling  

             For all of you theatregoers, there are an abundance of tasty dining options available to you before your show starts, conveniently situated near your theatre. Luckily for my friend and me, T.G.I. Friday’s is very close to the Apollo Theatre, which is near the Piccadilly Circus tube station. In fact, we even ate there on a Friday, which was unplanned, but clearly befitting. I suppose we had to quench our thirst before watching a blood-thirsty vampire on stage…Trust me, nothing beats London at night when the streets are abuzz with activity and restaurants are filled with fellow theatre patrons. Soak it up! It’s all a part of the grand theatre experience.

T.G.I. Friday's anyone? Don't skimp on the brownies!

 With a nod to vampires, and with specific emphasis on a female vampire at that, Let the Right One In does feature the macabre, but emphasizes an overarching theme of forbidden, transient love. Where Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga has become a household name, Eli (Rebecca Benson), our young yet strong main character in Let the Right One In is a feisty addition to the vampire market. Vampires are not all about sparkles or sexual appeal, as mass media romanticizes them as of late. Eli is animalistic, sometimes smells funny according to her new friend Oskar (Martin Quinn), and has an androgynous nature. No sparkles here then.

The play does not shy away from the ravage beast that Eli attempts to hide inside of her. No, we are subjected to a full-on blood bath, with Eli’s ravenous urges leading to stained snow, sullied faces, and inevitable carnage. Although, the play’s program makes a good point that perhaps the true monsters are the bullies. In the story, Oskar is the victim of many taunts from his classmates, which makes for uncomfortable ensuing scenes. Bullying is a product of society and the people that inhabit it. Eli is a vampire and it is in her nature to kill, but the cruelty of man is the most unsavory and unsatisfactory of all tastes.

             The stage set is chillingly lonely. A very convincing substitute for snow is scattered across the landscape, while vast, barren trees stand at attention. A single climbing frame is the main focus, but even its cold, metal structure can be equated with frigidity. Oskar exchanges a Rubik’s cube with Eli, which injects color into this otherwise colorless milieu. The Apollo Theatre always yields outstanding acoustics, and this play is no exception. Let the Right One In incorporates instances of modern dance, which marries up with the modern music that extends the loneliness into a soundscape. The music finds itself nestled in amongst the trees, which are used as tender dance partners for the cast, and winds it way up into the rafters until it dissipates into deafening silence.

The cast of Let the Right One In performs the tree dance sequences, photo courtesy of the Let the Right One In production 

 At first glance, it appears that the characters in this grim tale are just as desolate and emotionally devoid as their surroundings. However, Eli and Oskar’s innocent relationship exists as the central theme of the play and in direct contrast to the necessary horror. Eli’s former lover, Hakan (Clive Mendus), who kills for her and supports her, pours acid on his face when he thinks he will be caught for his misdeeds. Although a rather extreme form of love, love knows no end and certainly is reciprocated in Eli’s “generosity.” She ends Hakan’s life for him by doing what she knows best – draining blood.

The pivotal climbing frame where Oskar and Eli (Rebecca Benson) first meet, photo courtesy of the Let the Right One In production

             The closing scene of the play is a further illustration of this unfaltering love. Oskar is preparing to do some laps at the swimming pool when the boys who have been bullying him show up, one of them accompanied by his older brother. You see, our underdog Oskar dared to bite back and harmed one of the boys, who have returned to teach him a lesson. I was particularly curious as to how this scene would be recreated, because it is one worthy of an accurate translation. The brother, turning a knife over in his hand, gives Oskar an ultimatum: hold his breath for three minutes underwater or else Oskar will be without his eye. That’s when the climbing frame slowly started to swivel around.

Oskar's (Martin Quinn) bullies (Angus Miller and Graeme Dalling) pose a serious threat, photo courtesy of the Let the Right One In production 

             The back of the climbing frame quickly converted to its new purpose as a tank, filling with water as soon as Oskar hopped inside. I was honestly shocked at what was taking place before my eyes. Quinn, who plays Oskar, actually remained underneath the water for what seemed like a painstakingly long time. During that time, Eli reappears on the scene, attacking and killing all of Oskar’s tormentors one by one. When he surfaces, Eli is just whom he wants to see, bloodstains and all. Oskar always accepted Eli for who or what she was. Who would have thought that it would take the love story of a vampire and a young boy to clue us in to the life lesson of acceptance?

             Be sure to let the right one in and book your tickets for the show here. 

Photo courtesy of the Let the Right One In production