It's not quite New York, not yet, but I stumbled upon Shakespeare in the Park today in the Green. That is to say, I obtained a leaflet the previous day and then spent a rare Sunday afternoon in the city and then - even rarer! - remembered something.

There was a smallish crowd when we arrived at 5pm which, by 7pm, had turned into quite a decent crowd.

The play was Twelfth Night. Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with this play apart from the cross-dressing bit which I remembered from studying the first act years back in secondary school. However, this was really all I needed to know - it was most entertaining all round. Lots of dancing about, silly voices, dressing up and clever word play. That Shakespeare fellow could really write.

The announcer made some mention at the start of "15 minutes", but this was the two hour-long play in its original text (so far as I could tell). When finished the same announcer emerged to say that the play is free because they cannot charge for it in the park....however, if we wished to loan the actors some money then we could deposit it in their umbrellas. Very inventive, although I'm reminded of the Bill Bryson book where a beggar on the street asks him could he "loan" a dollar. I loaned them a fiver.

Anyway, this (along with the inevitable trip to the Porterhouse) concluded a very enjoyable weekend swanning about Dublin 2...