Oedipus and the Bonfire

Keith here. Tonight was theatre night for the Wingate-in-London students, an experience I've enjoyed this semester. Each week, they've seen a different play for their Drama class, from contemporary one-acts to classics like tonight's performance of "Oedipus" at the National Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames.

Ralph Fiennes -- you may have seen him in movies, like a couple in the Harry Potter series and "Schindler's List" -- gave a pretty powerful performance in the title role. It's not exactly the feel-good story of the year, as they say in the reviews, but the National's take on Sophocles' classic tragedy, in which the actors dressed in modern-day clothing, was interesting.

But I'm digressing already. Our journey (they don't say "trip" here) to the bus stop to get to the theatre was marked by a dramatic display of another kind. It's Bonfire time in London and here, that means fireworks on the order of our Fourth of July celebrations back home.

As near as I can figure out, Bonfire goes hand-in-hand with the celebration of Guy Fawkes Weekend in London. Fawkes, a former soldier and explosives expert, was the head of a gang who conspired in 1605 to kill King James I and blow up the Houses of Parliament. The so-called Gunpowder Plot was foiled on Nov. 5 and the date has been set aside for celebrating the preservation of the monarchy ever since. (For their trouble, Fawkes and his co-conspirators were executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered -- look it up, but not while you're eating.)

Anyway, Bonfire Night and Nov. 5 are a big part of English culture. Jayne is now hooked on a British soap opera called "Coronation Street," and on today's episode one of the characters explained to his grandson what Bonfire Night was all about. Charles Dickens wrote about it and John Lennon mentioned it in one of his songs.

Since darkfall tonight, which is now happening at about 5 p.m., we have been able to see the fireworks out the window of our flat here in the Towers, and they're still going off every once in a while. And our group enjoyed seeing the display and dodging some stray bottle rockets or something as we walked down the alleway to Old Street.

It reminded me a little of our visit, as Jayne recounted a few days ago, to the Imperial War Museum -- our own personal Blitz experience!