Monday, May 8, 2023

I ate my way through the embassies

 

Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/By Patricia Leslie

At the first two of three embassies where I stopped Saturday I found plenty to eat.

The embassies of Saudi Arabia and Iraq had huge spreads, but it was not the food I went for, right?  But the culture and learning...and not the food!  Riiiggghhhttttt.....

Saturday was "Open Embassies" Day (AKA "Around the World Embassy Tour" and DC Passport) when more than 50 embassies in Washington, D.C. welcomed visitors

I got to eight of them, but, alas, the embassy at the United Republic of Tanzania on 22nd had closed early by the time I dragged myself there. Three other visitors waited with me for a door to open. Not. Maybe, the staff had gone over to Saudi Arabia for some food fuel. 

But what a good and informative the day was!  And a beautiful one to match!

At the entrance to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with fresh floral bouquets galore/By Patricia Leslie
A live horse to see (but not ride) at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/By Patricia Leslie

I know that Saudi Arabia is the "bad guy" and it's not politically correct to have anything to do with that nation (see Jamal Khashoggigolf and Neom), but for my own selfish reasons and curiosity, the embassy was open!  How many times have I strolled past it on my way to the Kennedy Center and wondered about the interior?  Once in my car adjacent to the embassy, idlying for a few seconds while I searched my phone for directions, a guard shooed me away!  You think I was going to pass up a chance to see inside?  Sorry,  no.
Inside the entrance at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia whose national color must be green...on a desert?  Okay, I get it/By Patricia Leslie

I was wooed by the "free lunch" listed on the web and what a show, food, and "merch" Saudi Arabia offered.  

Even a live horse! (To admire, not to ride.)

FDR on the wall at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/By Patricia Leslie
The best tea I've tasted!  At the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/By Patricia Leslie
Tasty and plentiful Saudi food at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a yummy baklava pastry for dessert/By Patricia Leslie

The food was delicious and as much as you could want, finishing off with baklava and the tastiest tea I've consumed and water bottles aplenty to take. Even a Saudi lavender cardboard bag with a synthetic handle to carry away the loot, like mugs, hats, frisbees, t-shirts (more than one? sure!), and a dance program! 

Plenty of staff were on hand to greet visitors (once we got through the heavy security which wasn't too bad and the guards almost smiled).

Frisbees, t-shirts, caps, mugs and a light cardboard bag with synthetic handle to carry "merch" were given to guests at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/By Patricia Leslie
A dance program with swords at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/By Patricia Leslie
Next up was the Egyptian Cultural & Educational Bureau at 1303 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. It's a satellite linked to the much more elaborate Embassy of Egypta few miles away on International Court which has been open to the public in the past/By Patricia Leslie
The beautiful and varied stained glass windows on the first floor of the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau grabbed my attention/By Patricia Leslie
At the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau where helpers served small cups of orange juice/By Patricia Leslie
Another beautiful stained glass window at the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau/By Patricia Leslie
  
At the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau/By Patricia Leslie

The longest line I saw all day was at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq at 1801 P Street, NW, off Dupont Circle.  The line stretched around the corner on the left, but it moved swiftly with excellent directions at the door by a staff member who told us what lay in store for us: delicious food and merchandise but not in that order/By Patricia Leslie 

 At the entrance to the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq/By Patricia Leslie 
 Inside on the first floor at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq/By Patricia Leslie 
 A "merchandise mart" was crowded inside the Iraqi embassy. To get free food, guests were first routed to the merchandise mart/By Patricia Leslie 
Goods for sale at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq. Everything looked handmade/By Patricia Leslie 
Inside this case is a Sumerian harp, c. 3500 BC, decorated with a bull's head. Displayed at the Iraqi embassy and presumably NFS. Embassy guests are seen through the glass/By Patricia Leslie 
Al-Hikma Bookstore, 5627 Columbia Pike, Falls Church sold books at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq/By Patricia Leslie 
  Handmade items at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq/By Patricia Leslie 
At the Iraqi embassy, he said he was not the artist but a representative of the gallery selling the artist's works /By Patricia Leslie 
Out back at Iraq (almost sounds like the name of a tune!), there was a party going on with free Iraqi beverages and foods, including the age-old (in tradition, not in taste!) cookie, kleicha, traced back to Mesopotamia when women would offer kleicha to the goddess, Ishtar.  Also, among other delicacies, qeema, a stew of chickpeas and diced meat, was served Saturday/By Patricia Leslie 
Some of the treats served at Iraq included balango (chia seeds drink, made with water, sugar, cardamom, sometimes saffron, and cut fruits) and blenco (soaked chia or basil seeds mixed with sugar water and often flavored with rose water). Both, delicious!  Also, the dried desert lime tea was unlike any tea I've tasted in the U.S. These beverages and that drunk at Saudi Arabia far exceed the taste of any U.S. teas/By Patricia Leslie 

Over near the corner of 17th on Massachusetts, things were a bit rowdier near 
the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Visitors stood on balconies admiring the scene below/By Patricia Leslie

On the balconies at the Embassy of Uzbekistan on Massachusetts Avenue, the view from above. The wait to enter the embassy was not long/By Patricia Leslie

At the Embassy of Uzbekistan, these were for sale. I wasn't sure if the posted number "2,000" meant $2,000 or 2,000 sum/By Patricia Leslie
At the Embassy of Uzbekistan/By Patricia Leslie
Wooden works of art on display at the Embassy of Uzbekistan/By Patricia Leslie
At the Embassy of Uzbekistan/By Patricia Leslie
On the second floor of the Embassy of Uzbekistan with open balconies overlooking Massachusetts Avenue on the right/By Patricia Leslie

At the Embassy of Uzbekistan/By Patricia Leslie
A volunteer said this woman was dressed for a dance at the Embassy of Uzbekistan/By Patricia Leslie
Dignitaries and dancers at the Embassy of Uzbekistan/By Patricia Leslie
On the second floor of the Embassy of Uzbekistan. See the rich wall paneling/By Patricia Leslie
On down Mass Ave., raunchy grew. After waiting in an immobile line outside the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago for a coconut about 15 minutes, I ignored sunk time and strolled further down to another line where people waited in line to pay for Caribbean food.  Paying guests?  They didn't know you could eat for free at Saudi Arabia and Iraq!/By Patricia Leslie
At the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago/By Patricia Leslie
Inside the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago/By Patricia Leslie
Inside the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago/By Patricia Leslie
Inside the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago/By Patricia Leslie
She was not shaking a tail feather outside the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago. One of the t-shirts for sale inside said "TriniBAD"/By Patricia Leslie
It was a long line but it moved quickly at the Embassy of Peru/By Patricia Leslie
At Peru, ice cream was for sale outside ($5.50) and you could also buy inside a cup of Peru's national drink (like a marguerita), the pisco sour and highly recommended for $8. Sweet cola was given away there, too, and although I refrain from sweet cola, for sweet cola, it was good!/By Patricia Leslie
At the Embassy of Peru, there was dancing to live music outside/By Patricia Leslie
Protesters opposed to President Dina Boluarte and her tactics at Peru/By Patricia Leslie
These protesters at Peru carry signs, some of which showed faces of the 62 killed and missing in the latest Peruvian upheaval. Protesters blasted President Boluarte and her right-wing agenda, still supported by the U.S. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says Peru has committed human rights violations, including the murders of Peruvians for political reasons which Boluarte denies. The people of Peru invite the world to join them in their battle for accountability and the end of suppression/By Patricia Leslie
At the Embassy of Peru, guests walked up and down, to and fro the second floor in single file/By Patricia Leslie
The ambassador's office on the second floor at the Embassy of Peru/By Patricia Leslie

The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 1401 16th St., NW. The line was long and fairly immobile for the food section outdoors in the back, but getting inside did not take much time. I did not wait for food!/By Patricia Leslie

At the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, students answered questions/By Patricia Leslie
Inside the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan/By Patricia Leslie
At Kazakhstan, a table for children's play was set up/By Patricia Leslie




Next stop, May 13, 2023, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the 25 open European Union embassies, plus one country-in-waiting ....


patricialesli@gmail.com



Friday, April 28, 2023

Alexandria's queens duke it out


From left, Sally Cusenza, Paul Donahoe, Sarah Cusenza, and Maria Ciarrocchi in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Mary Stuart/Matt Liptak

The present drama on stage at the Little Theatre of Alexandria is a 2005 version by Peter Oswald of the 1800 play Mary Stuartby German playwright Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), a masterpiece production certain to attract historians and theatre lovers alike to learn more about the conflict between two queens, to gauge accuracy and see nobles vie for the throne of England before ostensible  orders by Elizabeth I ended Mary's life with beheading, like Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, had died upon direction by Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, who was Mary's great uncle.

(Did you get all that?  If not, the play provides clarity and background for  better understanding.)

Mary Stuart of Scotland (AKA Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587), a Catholic, and Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), a Protestant, experienced different upbringings and lifestyles which no doubt contributed to their clash.

The two powerful women never met but Schiller brings them together for his play. 

A fierce verbal battle erupts on stage when Mary and Elizabeth compete amidst secrets and courtiers who have no allegiance except to themselves

But Mary's chilling words hurled at her cousin cannot be forgotten and seal her doom. 

In the production, both actors (Sarah Cusenza is Mary Stuart, and Maria Ciarrocchi is Elizabeth) are more than convincing in their styles and portrayals of the two queens, although Ciarrocchi's screams became taxing at times.

From left, Sarah Cusenza and Maria Ciarrocchi in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Mary Stuart/Matt Liptak


The Earl of Leicester (Thomas O'Neill) was a typical hypocrite who does a splendid job of loving both two queens, but neither is more important than his love of self. 

John Paul Odle is the Schiller-fictionalized and aptly named "Mortimer," Mary's confidant who commits suicide after Mary's enemies learn about his plan to rescue his queen from imprisonment.

Poor William Davison (Stuart Fischer), one of Queen Elizabeth's aides who is understandably confused by the death warrant for Mary which Elizabeth gives him.  

To kill or not to kill?

The surly and conceited Lord Burleigh (John Henderson) takes the warrant from Davison without hesitation, making headway to do the Queen's will...which was? 

Lord Burleigh will interpret it his own way, if you please. Off with her head!   To which Elizabeth claims error.  

"How dare you?" and to the tower and banishment they go. 

The show runs three hours, but its complexity, intrigues, and costumes (!) demand attention, and make it seem shorter.  

Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned for 19 years and the play begins and ends in 1587 at the Castle of Fotheringhay, the scene of Mary's last confinement and her trial. 

The set by Matt Liptak is a realistic depiction of high brick walls (and landscaping) found in pictures of English castles in the Middle Ages.

With a few quick turns, Mary's prison quickly converts to Queen Elizabeth's Westminster Palace.

If the script were absent, Juliana Cofrancesco and Abbie Mulberg's  lavish costumes and hair and makeup by Robin Maline and Lanae Sterrett, assisted by Karen Malin, are practically worth the cost of admission. 

Elizabeth's gowns sparkle with jewels, multiple "diamonds" lining her apparel. Standup collars, and the men's white stockings and their own luxurious wardrobe produce gladness and a singing heart that these styles are not in vogue today.  

Wardrobe coordinators, Mary Beth Smith-Toomey and Margaret Snow help fit Mary in a white gown for her execution, like the one she wore for her death by ax.  

To maintain historical accuracy as much as possible, bright red and auburn hair for the queens result in appearances similar to portraits of the women.  

Queen Elizabeth I, c. 1575/Wikimedia Commons
Mary, Queen of Scots/
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Life Museums, unknown artist


Sound director Janice Rivera and her crew use drums to herald strife and stringed instruments, choruses, crowd and animal noises in the background at critical moments to complement the show.  

Even now, hundreds of years later, the interminable themes of man v. woman and who's in charge here? can be heard and seen today, echoing in courtrooms, state legislatures and found in daily (and hourly) news reports, including art reviews, like one recently in the Washington Post about the misognyist, Pablo Picasso.  

 Sam Beeson, John Barclay Burns, Paul Donahoe, Richard Fiske, Kirk Lambert, Sally Cusenza, and Lee Swanson are other cast members.

Production crew members also included Margaret Chapmen and Hilary Adams, producers and (Adams) dialect coach; Helen Bard-Sobola and Fred C. Lash, assistant producers; Kathleen Barth, director; Mia Amado and Jenna Dawkins, assistant directors.

Also, Dana Maksymova, stage manager; Lauren Markovich, assistant stage manager; Griffin Voltmann, dramaturg; Matt Liptak, set design; Julie Fischer, set construction; Luana Bossolo, set painting; Donna Reynolds, set decoration; Allison Gray-Mendes, properties; Matthew Cheney, lighting, Pam Leonowich, master electrician; Ian Claar, fight/intimacy choreographer; and Russell M. Wyland, rigging.

 When: Now through May 13, 2023, Wednesday - Saturday nights, 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees, 3 p.m.

Where:  Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314

Tickets:  $24 (Wed.- Fri.), $27 (Sat. and Sun.). Prices includes fees.

Masks are required in the auditorium and strongly encouraged but optional in other areas of the theatre.  

Audience:  For ages 13 and up. 

Duration:  About 3 hours with one 15 minute intermission

Public transportationCheck the Metro and Dash bus websites. Dash is free to ride and has routes which are close to LTA.

Parking: is free on the streets and at Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets, a block away.  Paid parking is available at nearby garages.

For more information:  Box Office: 703-683-0496; Main Office, 703-683-5778 or boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com.


patricialesli@gmail.com





Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Vienna's hilarious open and shut show



From left, Bob Cohen, Janice Zucker, Bruce Alan Rauscher and Dave Wright in Vienna Theatre Company's Unnecessary Farce at the Vienna Community Center/By Matthew Randall

It’s a bedroom romp-o-rama!

For a laugh-a-minute good time, head for the motel rooms, see the action, and watch the jamboree unfold in a dive of a place where the crazies jump and hide and keep you in suspended animation wondering who's gone where.

And, what's next?

It's delightful, it's delirious, and very funny by the name of Unnecessary Farce now onstage at Vienna Theatre Company where the cops, the lovers, an accountant and, of course! the politicians and a sneaky criminal chase one another from room to hall to room and back again, in and out of beds hoping to catch the criminal(s) in the act. (Which act?)

They run and hide behind eight doors, reminding me of a commercial break at a Capitals' hockey game to "find the puck." (Huh?)  It's easy to get lost in this swingathon.


From left, Liz Owerbach, Dave Wright, Bruce Alan Rauscher and Kate Bierly in Vienna Theatre Company's Unnecessary Farce at the Vienna Community Center/By Matthew Randall


Eddie Page makes his directorial debut at the Vienna theatre, drawing on these actors' strengths and passions (!) to flatten the possibility of any weak-willed characters in the adult comedy.  (There are none.) 

Take the Scotsman (Bob Cohen) who speaks gibberish. Was it just me who couldn't understand him?  

But, no, those on stage couldn't interpret his remarks either except for Vienna debut actor, Kate Bierly, as a policewoman who repeats in rapidfire order the Scotsman's words, winning applause in the middle of a scene for her incredible memory and performance. 

Theatre favorite Bruce Alan Rauscher is another cop, quite effective at stuttering and repeating words as he tries to find his pants.  (His pants?)

Liz Owerbach is the "hot, very hot" (!) animated accountant, Karen, who almost manages to snag a two-for-one deal, caught by video in suspicious circumstances with another officer (Dave Wright) who rolls in and out like the rest of 'em.

Not to overlook the mild and bumbling, appropriately named mayor of the unnamed town near D.C., Mayor Meekly (Steve Rosenthal) and his lovely wife (Janice Zucker), the mayor enjoying some of the benefits of the romps he observes and interrupts.

Producer Laura Fargotstein helps to ensure the show rocks all night long.  

At the end, you may think you are bouncing on a bed, but for sure, you'll be chuckling, happy you spent a good time in the old town tonight.

Other members of the production team are:

Larry Grey, stage manager; Susie Poole, assistant stage manager; Ari McSherry, lighting; Adam Parker, sound; Helen Bard-Sobola and Charles Dragonette, properties and Dragonette, set decoration; Michelle Harris, costumes; John Downing, set; Robin Maline, hair and makeup; Mark Adams, dialects; Michael Page, fight and intimacy choreographer; Art Snow, special effects; De Nicholson Lam and Beverly Benda; set painting.

WhatUnnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith

When: Friday and Saturday ni
ghts at 8 p.m. through May 6, 2023 with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., April 30 and May 7, 2023. The May 7 show will be sign-interpreted with reserve seating in the front row. Email 
lily.widman@viennava.gov or call 703-255-5738 for reserved seats.

Where: Vienna Theatre Company, Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., SE, Vienna, VA 22180

Tickets: Buy in advance at www.viennava.gov/webtrac, or in person at the Vienna Community Center or at the door, if available, $15.  

Language: "X" 

Audience: For mature teens and adults

Duration:  About two fast hours with one 15-minute intermission.   

For more information, please call: (703) 255-6360


patricialesli@gmail.com





 

Friday, April 14, 2023

Maya Lin's 'One Life' closes Sunday


Maya Lin, age about 4, who said later that "play," despite advice from a professor, has always been an important part of her life and work. From a photograph at the National Portrait Gallery exhibition.


Maya Lin  (b. 1959) was only 21 years old and an undergraduate student when her submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial  was chosen as the winning design from approximately 1,420 entries.

When the winner was announced, her design met considerable opposition and resistance. Former U.S. Senator James Webb of Virginia, himself a Vietnam veteran, called it "a nihilistic slab of stone"; President Ronald Reagan's secretary of the interior delayed issuing a building permit. 

Since its dedication in 1982, the memorial has become "something of a shrine," according to the founder, Jan Scruggs. 

The U.S. Department of Defense says more than five million people visit the memorial annually, making it the most popular monument on the National Mall ...  and the first monument there to be designed by a woman.

On two pieces of black granite, the names of 58,320 persons (the number is debatable) who are missing in action or died as a result of the Vietnam War are carved in chronological order of their deaths.

Closing Sunday at the National Portrait Gallery is a short celebration of Ms. Lin's life in an excellent exhibition, One Life:  Maya Lin.  

In 2016 President Barack Obama awarded Maya Lin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S./by Chip Somodevilla (b. 1972)
In the Maya Lin gallery at the National Portrait Gallery/by Patricia Leslie
In the Maya Lin gallery at the National Portrait Gallery/by Patricia Leslie

Her life's story is shown in chronological order with family photos, personal items, three dimensional models, designs and pictures of other buildings she has accomplished since the memorial thrust her into the world's limelight which has never waned.

Dorothy Moss, the museum’s curator of painting and sculpture, curated the show.

Maya Lin's Langston Hughes Library in Clinton, Tennessee, from a photograph by Timothy Hursley (b. 1955), National Portrait Gallery
Maya Lin's Riggio-Lynch Interfaith Chapel, Clinton, Tennessee, from a photograph by Timothy Hursley (b. 1955), National Portrait Gallery
The introduction to Maya Lin at the National Portrait Gallery/by Patricia Leslie
The introduction to Maya Lin at the National Portrait Gallery/by Patricia Leslie


When Ms. Lin entered college, she wanted to be a zoologist. Part of her schooling took her to Denmark where she learned memorials could become community spaces. 

As a child she spent hours playing with her brother in the woods behind the family home in Ohio, nature's surroundings which continue to play a criticial role in her life and work as an environmentalist and climate change soldier.

This is the museum’s first One Life exhibition dedicated to an Asian American.

For photos from the memorial on Memorial Day 2014, go here. For a visit Ms. Lin made to the former Corcoran Gallery in 2009, go here.


What:  One Life:  Maya Lin

When: Closing April 16, 2023. The National Portrait Gallery is open daily from 11:30 a.m - 7 p.m. 

Where: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F streets, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20001

Admission: No fee

For more information: 202-633-8300 or visit the website

Closest Metro station: Gallery Place-Chinatown or walk 10 minutes from Metro Center

patricialesli@gmail.com

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Easter at the Washington National Cathedral

 

Easter Day at the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023.  Repairs continue at the Cathedral damaged by the 2011 earthquake. (See tower above.) Some $14 million still need to be raised to meet the total $38 million cost of restoration/By Patricia Leslie

Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie


Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

The War Memorial Chapel on Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023 in /By Patricia Leslie

Easter Day at the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023 in the War Memorial Chapel. British artist Steven Barry Sykes (1914-1999) sculpted the head of Jesus surrounded by a halo which hangs above the altar. British women, including the Queen Mother (1900-2002), mother of Queen Elizabeth (1926-2022), made the kneeling pads in the chapel in commemoration of sacrifices made by U.S. Armed Forces during World War II/By Patricia Leslie

A banner of Armed Forces in the War Memorial Chapel on Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

Detail of the 9 x 12 foot Tree of Life embroidery which hangs at the left of the altar in the War Memorial Chapter with seals of all 50 states. Some of the seals (Tennessee's, above) appear to be unfinished which matches Tennessee's unfinished chapter in granting justice for all its citizens. Pictured Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

The entrance to the Children's Chapel on Easter Day, the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

The altar in the Children's Chapel, Easter Day, the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

Flowers on the altar at the Children's Chapel, Easter Day, the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

The baptismal font in the Children's Chapel, Easter Day, the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

At the altar in the Children's Chapel, Easter Day, the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

A kneeling cushion at the altar in the Children's Chapel, Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie


The conclusion of Choral Evensong, Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

The conclusion of Choral Evensong, Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

A tower undergoing repair due to the 2011 earthquake, Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie
A tower undergoing repair due to the 2011 earthquake, Easter Day, Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

Easter Day at the Washington National Cathedral, April 9, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

patricialesli@gmail.com