Frida

 And so to the opera. Earlier in the summer I went to see 'In Dreams', a musical using songs by or associated with Roy Orbison. It was very, very good and I'm not entirely sure why I never wrote about it at the time. It was set in New Mexico and many of the characters were of Mexican origin; inevitably the 'Day of the Dead' loomed large. The reason I mention it now is that I have been to see the first production in the UK of 'Frida', the opera by Robert Rodriguez portraying the life of the painter Frida Kahlo and, sure enough...

photo credit Rhian Hughes

I don't know how accurate the retelling of her story was. I have always taken issue with the widespread assumption that she was overlooked as a painter because she was a woman; given that her husband, Diego Rivera, was a far superior artist (*) it is at least possible that the only reason for her being so well known is actually because she's a woman. Based on the version told in the opera the thing we should most admire her for is the overcoming of innumerable physical disabilities and illnesses. In any event, what happens here - and I've no idea whether it happened in real life - is that her success comes about because Rivera sells several of her paintings to Edward G. Robinson rather than selling his own. Robinson is one of a number of eclectic characters who pop up, including Henry Ford, Nelson D. Rockefeller and of course the Trotskys. The latter give rise to a slightly odd design choice; when Natalia Trotsky first appears she is wearing a fur hat, presumably to underline just how Russian she is rather than it being strictly necessary under the Mexican sun. 

I enjoyed it all immensely. Any show that contains marching soldaderas carrying banners saying 'Tierra y Libertad' and singing 'Long live Zapata' is going to be OK with me. Add on to that a bus crashing into a tram and the assassination of Trotsky and you have all the makings of a good night out.

* In your bloggist's opinion obviously.

He didn't fly to Bruges

Or indeed Courtrai. I have spent much of the last fortnight not going to Belgium; an activity which has occupied a paradoxically large amount of my time. You will be relieved to learn however that boardgaming has somehow struggled on regardless. Games played were:

6 nimmt!: The higher the number of players then the more random it gets, but I rather like it.

Guillotine: Once again the French aristos got what was coming to them, and quite right too.

Kemet: I led the dog people of ancient Egypt (you know, the dog people of ancient Egypt; come on, don't pretend that you haven't heard of them) to a respectable second place.


Mottainai: I have no idea how to describe this any more than I had any idea what the rules were while I was playing it. Peculiar, but on the plus side seems to reward the ability to plan ahead.

The Pillars of the Earth: Pretty standard, fairly light worker placement game with a cathedral building theme that, apparently, has something to do with a book by Ken Follett. Notwithstanding any of that it was nice to play and doesn't outstay its welcome. It's all accounting really so I won. It does contain the best turn counter that I think that I've ever come across.

The Resistance: Seriously, I hear you ask, seriously? All I can say is that my resistance was low (did you see what I did there?) and I went with the flow. I got it completely wrong, but in my defence the chap sitting next to me works at Menwith Hill and so must be considered a professional and he had no idea either.

Revolver: I haven't played this for a yonk, not since the episode with the Malaysian midwife; one of those stories for which the world is not yet ready. Anyway, it came out because Peter and I finished Katzbach a bit early and then I squeezed in another couple of games, including the first time I've ever seen it won by removing all the tokens from the Mexican Border card. It's a damn good game.

San Juan: It occurs to new players fairly early on during the rules explanation that this is about running a slave plantation, but distasteful theme aside, this is a good game. It is rather similar to Citadels, but for some reason that game is looked down upon by the cognoscenti whereas this one is deemed OK. It's a funny thing, fashion.

Tzolk'in: This is the one with the cogs on the board that are rotated each turn. I very much enjoyed it. Again, a mostly standard worker placement game except for the gear wheels. It is, of course, all accounting and so as I often do in those circumstances, I won. For the record I have been to Chichen Itza. It rained.